Diego Rivera linen painting tops Latam art sale
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A vibrant Diego Rivera painting on linen fetched nearly $800,000 at Sotheby's Latin American art auction, but the overall sale was the weakest in years because of the economic downturn.
"It (the recession) is catching up in different countries," said Carmen Melian, Sotheby's Latin American art chief. "Things are cyclical."
The sale late on Wednesday totaled $6.7 million, a fraction of the previous Latin American sale in November of $16.7 million sale.
But there was spirited competition for Rivera's portrait of a kneeling Mexican Indian girl, "Nina con Rebozo," (Girl with Shawl). It sold for $794,500, well above its $450,000 estimate.
"The colors are as fresh as they just came off Diego's brush," said Melian about the superb condition of the 1930s work.
A 1942 painting by Uruguay's Joaquin Torres-Garcia called "Construccion Portuaria" was the second best seller at
$626,500.
The panorama of Montevideo's port recalls square patterns of Piet Mondrian, Torres-Garcia's fellow member in 1930s Parisian abstract art group. Melian said massive Inca stones may have inspired some of the work's iconography.
World auction records were set by a clutch of 20th century abstract artists and 19th century painters including French artist Edouard-Theophile Pingret, known for his 1850s portrayals of Mexican Indian life.
"Procession de la Virgen," which fetched $278,500 portrays a religious column, led by male musicians in tunics under the gaze of women with bold stares.
Auction records were also set, all for under $54,000, for another five artists' works.
They included works from a trio of 20th century artists born in Argentina -- a painting by Enio Iommi, a sculpture by Hugo Demarco and a work on paper by Leon Ferrari.
Remaining records were for the late Caracas-born Mercedes Pardo and an 1803 religious work by Mexican Andres Lopez.
Overall, the evening sale was the weakest since 2004 or 2005, perhaps earlier said Melian. A quarter of the 60 lots for sale, including Leonora Carrington's "Chiki, Ton Pays" with an estimate of $1.6 million, failed to find buyers.
