Greek art at Bonhams sale reports resounding success
The «Greek Sale» held by Bonhams auctioneers yesterday morning in London was, according to organizers, a success, with many of the works actually selling at prices high above their original estimates (which were fixed by Art Expertise which jointly organized the sale with Bonhams). The works, which were shown roughly a month ago in Athens, mostly drew Greek buyers, both those living in Greece and abroad. Highlights of the sale included Constantinos Volanakis’s «Moonlit Harbor of Volos» sold off at 209,000 euros, above the original estimate of 122,500-155,000 euros. «The First Music Lesson,» a newly discovered painting by Georgios Iakovidis and a unique piece in the sale, also went for 209,000 euros, which was within the estimated price range. Far higher than expected was the final bid for another of Iakovidis’s work; «The Crying Baby» sold for 95,000 euros. «Paysage au Rocher,» a cubist-like landscape by Dimitrios Galanis also fetched an unexpected price – of 68,000 euros, 20,000 euros above the high estimate. Bids for Constantinos Romanidis’s «Ships at Sunset» began at 9,000 euros and peaked at 40,000 euros, four times the painting’s high estimate. Within the sale’s predicted scale were Yiannis Tsarouchis’s «Two Sailors,» which was auctioned for 36,000 euros, and Yiannis Moralis’s «Epithalamion,» for 57,000 euros, both at their lower estimates. An unexpected letdown was Nicholaos Gyzis’s «A Woman Sewing beside a Doorway» which did not even reach its low estimate of 114,000 euros. The commission Bonhams is to receive amounts to 17.5 percent of what each painting sold for. Overall, the organizers feel very pleased with the results of the sale and will most likely repeat another «Greek Sale» next year. Robotics
