LONDON.- Sotheby’s sale of European Paintings in London (including works by German, Austrian and Central European artists, The Scandinavian Sale, Spanish painting and The Greek Sale) brought a total of £6,264,175/€7,283,989.

Commenting on the sale, Adrian Biddell, Senior Director and Head of the European Paintings Department, and Claude Piening, Senior Director, European Paintings Department said: The sale featured a number of especially attractive groups of works from different regional schools across Europe. Buyers both locally and internationally responded very positively to these choice lots, with a range of top works by Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Italian and Turkish artists attracting particularly strong bidding from collectors around the world. It was very satisfying to achieve a new world record price for the work of Ignacio Zuloaga in the Spanish section, as this is a painter who deserves greater recognition. I was also pleased that four of the top ten lots were by Greek artists since this was the first time that we have included the Greek Sale in our European Paintings sale.

The Scandinavian Sale: A notable highlight of this section was Interior with Ida in a White Chair by Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916), achieving the third highest price for a Hammershøi painting sold at auction, selling for £577,250 (€671,227 ) (est. £500,000-700,000). Coming from a Danish Private Collection, it is one of the most important works by the artist ever to be offered at auction. Also by Hammershøi, Interior sold for a well-above estimate of £169,250 (€196,804) (est. £100,000-150,000) and Svend Hammershøi. Forarbejde til Møntsamleren (Svend Hammershøi. Study for the Coin Collector) brought £103,250 (€120,059) (est. £30,000-50,000). This painting is a preparatory study for the artist’s 1904 masterpiece Møntsamleren (The Coin Collector), which is held by the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo. All three works went to an international private collector.

Establishing a new record for the artist at auction, Eilif Peterssen’s Sunshine, Kalvøya sold for a well-above estimate £181,250 (€210,758) (est. £150,000-200,000). The painting depicts the artist’s second wife in a sun-drenched landscape and shows Peterssen at his most Impressionist.

Also highlighting this section was a group of four works from a Norwegian Private Collection which comprise intimate renderings of the nocturnal Nordic landscape, including works by Johan Christian Dahl and Peder Balke. They sold for a combined £73,400 (€85,350), against a combined pre-sale low estimate of £36,000.

Spanish Painting: Setting a record for the artist at auction was Ignacio Zuloaga’s Madame Souty, which sold for £713,250 (€829,368) (est. £400,000-600,000). The painting is the most audacious nude the artist ever did of one of his favourite models and is considered one of his best.

The Greek Sale: Highlighting the Greek component of the sale was Nicolas Gysis’ Dance of the Nymphs, which sold for £265,250 (€308,433) (est. 150,000-200,000) and Theodoros Ralli’s Sleeping Concubine, which sold for £193,250 (€224,711), more than double its pre-sale low estimate of £80,000-120,000.