NEW YORK, NY.- Leonora Carrington’s La Grande Dame achieves $11,380,000 at Sotheby’s in New York, to become the most valuable sculpture by the artist ever sold at auction and the second highest price ever achieved for the artist at auction. Tonight’s sale marked thirty years almost to the day since La Grande Dame sold at Sotheby’s New York for $299,500 in 1994.

The sculpture was contested by five bidders, over the course of five minutes, before the hammer finally fell to leading collector and champion of Latin American art Eduardo Costantini, bidding on the phone via Sotheby’s Head of Latin American Art, Anna Di Stasi. Mr. Costantini was also the buyer of the record- breaking painting, Les Distractions de Dagobert, which sold for $28.5 million at Sotheby’s New York in May this year.

Elsewhere in the sale Carrington's Temple of the Word sold for $4.56M, falling into line behind Les Distractions de Dagobert and La Grande Dame to become the third highest price achieved for a work by Carrington (all three top prices achieved at Sotheby's in the last six months). In addition to the standout results for Carrington, a work by Mexican artist Remedios Varo, Los Caminos tortuosos also achieved $2M, a record price for a work by the artist on paper.

"We are thrilled and incredibly fortunate that a collector with such a keen eye has chosen to part with two exceptional pieces this year, giving us the opportunity to acquire these great works. After more than 40 years of collecting masterpieces by the finest artists in modern and Latin American history, Carrington has remained a notable absence in our collection. This year presented a rare opportunity to acquire the two standout works by the artist – the best of their kind – and to ensure Carrington is fully represented in the collection of Malba. Together, La Grande Dame and Les Distractions de Dagobert will make perfect companions to the great works by Remedios Varo, Frida Kahlo and so many of the other leading lights of the Latin American Surrealist movement.” --Eduardo Costantini, Founder of Malba, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires

"Leonora Carrington has long been, in my view, one of the greatest exponents of the Surrealist movement, and now with these two successive records achieved at successive seasons at Sotheby’s, her star is shining fittingly bright. La Grande Dame is without question the best of Leonora Carrington’s sculptures — a true embodiment of her boundless imagination and mastery, and we were all thrilled to see its quality recognized by so many determined bidders tonight, and to know that the sculpture will now sit alongside the record-breaking Les Distractions de Dagobert sold at Sotheby's in May.” -- Julian Dawes, Sotheby’s Head of Impressionist & Modern Art, Americas