Painting by Spanish artist Miro fetches record 11.6 million euro at Paris auction

Published December 22nd, 2007


A painting by Spanish artist Joan Miro fetched a record-breaking 11.6 million (US$16.6 million) at a Paris auction, the Drouot Richelieu auction house said Friday.

‘Blue Star,’ a 1927 canvas featuring an irregularly shaped electric blue star surrounded by the artist’s trademark colored squiggles and shapes, was one of 10 works by Miro to hit the auction blocks Thursday.

The painting’s going price broke the record for a work by the artist, the auction house said. ‘Blue Star’ had been estimated at between 5 million to 7 million, (US$7 million to US$10 million).

The paintings belonged to the collection of the late banker Andre Lefevre and were sold off by his descendants. The collection, which fetched a total of ¤21.8 million (US$31.3 million), also included works by Spaniards Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris.
One Gris painting, a cubist ‘The Guitar Player,’ from 1918, fetched ¤2.2 million (US$3.1 million), the auction house said. A Picasso watercolor estimated at ¤1.5 million to ¤2.5 million (US$2.1 million to 3.5 million) was not sold, Drouot Richelieu said.

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