International trouble for the auction house Christie’s. The Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has accused it of messing up the sale of 85 Mirós that was needed to plug a hole in the country’s dire finances.
On Tuesday, Christie’s held its Art of the Surreal auction, which raised £177 million, including the sale of a Juan Gris for £35 million.
It was the best financial night ever for a London auction house. However the sale should also have included the batch of Mirós, which might have added £40 million to the total. But the paintings, including Women and Birds — estimated value £7 million — had to be withdrawn just days before because a Lisbon judge said the export papers were “irregular”.
“The auction house was responsible for dealing with everything,” said the Prime Minister yesterday. “With its experience, it should have taken more care.” Christie’s said it had withdrawn the Mirós “due to concerns raised by ongoing disputes between other parties” and “stands ready to support a future sale once these differences are resolved”.
But first to crow about this might be Sotheby’s, which held its own Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist Art Evening sale last night. It shifted a Pissaro for £20 million and came close to Christie’s total, at £163.5 million.
The two London auction houses are serious rivals and the Prime Minister will only have stoked up tensions when he said his Mirós would return for sale. “maybe at other auction houses”. Which other one could there be?
