Chardin's Melon makes €23m hammer!
June 12 2024
Video: B Smart
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Chardin's Le Melon entamé (est. €8m - €12m and without a third party guarantee it seems) will be coming up for sale at Christie's Paris in the next few hours. You should be able to watch live via the website.
Update - The painting sold for €23m hammer. That is €26.73m including fees. The price jumped at one point (via a bid from someone on the phone) straight from €18m to €20m, and then the same bidder later stepped it up from €21.5 to €23m - it doesn't get more exciting than that in our corner of the art world! This is several million more than the €24.4m (inc. fees) for the Louvre's recently acquired Strawberries.
A very good price for the Old Master market, congratulations to all those involved! Just shows that there is still lots of life in 18th century pictures.
Update 2 - Here are some of the records presented in the Christie's press release [ALL IN CAPITALS]:
ACQUIRED BY A EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
THE MOST EXPENSIVE OLD MASTER PAINTING SOLD IN FRANCE
THE MOST EXPENSIVE 18th CENTURY FRENCH OLD MASTER PAINTING IN THE WORLD
THE MOST EXPENSIVE WORK SOLD IN FRANCE IN 2024
