When we think about 2017 it seems that we have a reason for the optimism when we think about sales. During this year’s Art Basel 2017 in Basel, the art world’s elite collectors were reaching deeper into their pockets than they have for at least the past two editions of the fair. In 2017 a long-lost Leonardo da Vinci painting “Salvator Mundi”, has sold at Christie’s in New York for $450.3m, including auction house premium, shattering the world record for any work of art sold at auction. Few months before an artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for a record $110.5 million at auction in New York. It also set a record price for an American artist at auction.
And what about Central Europe? Here you can find 3 highest sales in Poland.
Stanislaw Wyspianski, Maternity, 1904, pastel/paper glued on board, 62 x 47.4 cm
Artist: Stanisław Wyspiański
Title: „Macierzyństwo” [„Maternity”], 1904
Price (with fees): 4 366 000 PLN
A long-lost work. It first appeared at the auction in 2007 and was sold for 680,000 PLN. That means that its value has increased six times in value over last 10 years.
Stanisław Wyspiański (1869-1907) — one of the most important, original and appreciated artist from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Painter, playwright, and poet, as well as interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created a series of symbolic, national dramas within the artistic philosophy of the Young Poland Movement.
Jan Matejko, Killing of Wapowski During the Coronation of Henryk Walezy, 1861, oil on canvas, 132.5 x 101 cm
Artist: Jan Matejko
Title: „Zabicie Wapowskiego w czasie koronacji Henryka Walezego” [„Killing of Wapowski During the Coronation of Henryk Walezy”], 1861
Price (with fees): 3 683 000 PLN
For 100 years this painting was considered to be lost. It was found in 2012 in South America. After its return to Poland, he was exhibited at Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków, and then as a deposit, he was shown in the Silesian Museum in Katowice.
Jan Matejko (1838-1893) was a Polish painter known for paintings of notable historical Polish political and military events.
Mojżesz Kisling, Ingrid, 1932, oil on canvas, 111 x 83 cm.
Artist: Mojżesz Kisling
Title: „Ingrid”, 1932
Price (with fees): 3 481 000 PLN
Mojżesz Kisling [Moïse Kisling] (1891-1953) was a Polish-born French painter. He moved to Paris in 1910 and became a French citizen in 1915. He emigrated to the United States in 1940, after the fall of France, and returned there in 1946. A master at depicting the female body, his surreal nudes and portraits earned him the widest acclaim.
