PARIS.- Christie’s totaled €6,607,875/£6,044,682/$7,520,137 for the African and Oceanic art sales including the Adolphe Stoclet which realised alone €1,4M. The Yaka headrest from the Adolphe Stoclet collection was the star of the sale selling for €1,2M against a presale estimate of €300,000-500,000, setting a new world auction record for a Yaka work of art. The various owner sale achieved strong results, especially for the works of art from the former Jacques and Denise Schwob collection such as the Fang Mask Ngil, which was exhibited at the Musée royal de l’Afrique Centrale in Tervuren (Belgium) in 1963, which sold for €2,407,500. From the same collection, an important Songye statue was sold for €439,500.

Yesterdays’ sales demonstrated that provenances are always an important criterion for collectors; the Dogon figure of a horse from the former collection of Tristan Tzara convinced the international collectors by its high quality and sold for €75,000 whilst the remarkable Kwele mask from the former collection of artist and sculptor Arman and later in Claude Berri’s collection realised €162,500. In addition, four other masks from the former Claude Berri collection realised strong prices including a Haïda mask sold €187,500.

The Adolphe Collection attracted nearly one thousand visitors who came at Christie’s to discover the masterpieces of such an illustrious collection. International collectors were present to pay a last tribute to the visionary collector Adolphe Stoclet and many of them were implied in several bidding battles such as for the Yaka Headrest which sold for €1,2M to an anonymous buyer on the phone.

Bruno Claessens and Victor Teodorescu, in charge of the sale: “It was an honour and a true privilege to offer the masterpieces from the Adolphe Stoclet collection as well as presenting our various owner sale. We are satisfied with the results which demonstrate that the demand is strong for this ever-growing category”.