Early 17th Century Italian School, Follower of Leonardo da Vinci, The Hekking Mona Lisa. Oil on canvas, 79,5 x 47 cm. Estimate : €200,000-300,000. Sold for €2,9 million © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

PARIS.- Christie’s France have hosted three successful sales this week which achieved a combined total of €9,717,375 including its first edition of the Women in Art sale dedicated to women artists which totaled more than €3 million and attracted 20% of new clients. The Mona Lisa Hekking sold for €2,9 million setting a new world auction record for a replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

The Old masters sale held on 16 June achieved a total of €3,726,625. The top lot of the sale was a rediscovery of an impressive painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder, Orpheus in the underworld, which was sold for €1,556,000 more than doubling it high estimate.

Lot 13. Jan Brueghel l'Ancien  (Bruxelles 1568-1625 Anvers), Orphée aux Enfers, signé et daté 'Brveghel. 1594' (en bas à gauche), huile sur cuivre, contrecollé sur panneau, 26 x 35,2 cm. Estimate : €400,000-600,000. Sold for €1,556,000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

Astrid Centner, Director of the Old Master paintings department: “We are happy with the results achieved for our sale, some of which illustrate the success of the preview held in our Belgium office highlighting Flemish paintings, among which a very sensitive work by the Master of the Female Half-Lengths, A young woman writing a letter which sold for €275,000, tripling its presale estimate, as well as the poetic Winter landscape with a mill by Joos de Momper and Jan Brueghel the younger which was acquired for €362,500.”

Lot 5. Le Maître des Demi-Figures (Actif à Anvers,vers 1530-1560), Jeune femme écrivant une lettre, huile sur panneau, 54,4 x 40,5 cm. Estimate : €80,000-120,000. Sold for €275,000© Christie's Images Ltd 2021

Lot 14. Joos de Momper (Anvers 1564-1635) et Jan Brueghel le Jeune (Anvers 1601-1678), Paysage d'hiver avec un moulin à vent, huile sur panneau, 54 x 75,5 cm. Estimate : €200,000-300,000. Sold for €362,500 © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

Further highlights of the sale included a Dutch theatrical composition representing Tartuffe and Elmire surprised by Damis executed by Willem van Mieris which achieved €375,000 against a presale estimate of €80,000-120,000. Beyond the finest quality of these works, collectors were also particularly mindful of their private provenance, fresh-to-market, and their exceptional state of conservation.

Lot 19. Willem van Mieris (Leyde 1662-1747), Tartuffe et Élmire supris par Damis, fils d'Orgon, signé et daté 'W. van Mieris. Fecit Anno 1711' (en haut à droite, au-dessus de l'arcade), huile sur panneau, 60,7 x 48,5 cm. (23 7/8 x 19 in.), dans un important cadre sculpté doré, travail français d’époque Louis XIV. Estimate : €400,000-600,000. Sold for €1,556,000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

The first edition of the sale Women in Art auction held at Christie’s Paris on the same day achieved a total of €3,090,750, reaching its high estimate. The top lot of the sale was a large and delicate pastel executed in 1783 by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard representing Mrs Charles Mitoire with her children which was sold six times its presale estimate, for €644,000, establishing a new world auction record for a work on paper by the artist and achieving one of highest prices for a pastel sold at auction in Paris. This splendid pastel was acquired by the prestigious Getty museum (Los Angeles).

Lot 104. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (Paris 1749-1803 Paris),  Madame Charles Mitoire, née Christine-Geneviève Bron (1760-1842), avec ses enfants, allaitant l’un d’eux, signé et daté ‘Labille f. Guyard. 1783’ (en bas à gauche), pastel sur papier marouflé sur toile, 92 x 72.5 cm; signed and dated ‘Labille f. Guyard. 1783’ (lower left), pastel on paper laid down on canvas, 36 ¼ x 25 ½ in. Estimate : €100,000-150,000. Sold for €644,000 to The J. Paul Getty Museum. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

Another world auction record was established for Marguerite Yourcenar with L’oeuvre au noir which was sold €36,250 against a presale estimate of €6,000-8,000. Further highlights included a section dedicated to comics which offered the original cover of Culottées by Pénélope Bagieu which was acquired for €4,000. We can also not the great result achieved for the painting by Lee Krasner which realised €162,500, more than doubling its presale high estimate.

Lot 55. Marguerite Yourcenar (Bruxelles 1903-1987 Bar Harbor), L'Oeuvre au noir. Paris : Gallimard, 1968. In-8 (205 x 136 mm). Édition originale. Un des 45 exemplaires de tête sur vélin de Hollande van Gelder, celui-ci le n°43. Reliure signée de Nobuko Kiyomiya, datée 2012 : box ébène, plats ornés en relief de pièces de box ébène irrégulières, plissées et formant des motifs courbes, soulignées par endroits de motifs argent et cuivre, dos lisse, lettre poussée au palladium, doublure de box ébène, garde de daim bleu, tranches au naturel, couverture et dos conservés, emboîtage. Estimate : €100,000-150,000. Sold for €644,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

Alice Chevrier specialist in the Rare Books and Manuscripts department and Bérénice Verdier, specialist in the Old Master Paintings department, both in charge of the sale comment : “Planned one year ago but postponed because of the pandemic, we were pleased to organise this auction alongside several tributes to women artists held in Parisian museums such as the musée du Luxembourg and the Centre Pompidou. The strong results achieved on Wednesday demonstrate the appetite of international collectors to discover new sales concept such as Women in Art highlighting women artists such as Anne Vallayer-Coste with Vase of Flowers and Grapes on Entablature (1781) which was sold for €400,000 doubling its presale estimate. We were also pleased with the results achieved for contemporary Japanese artist Ayako Rokkaku achieving strong prices. Finally, it was also a great opportunity for Christie’s France to bring together several departments to offer a cross category sale of high quality ”.

 Lot 10. Anne Vallayer-Coster (Paris 1744-1818 Paris), Vase de fleurs et raisins posés sur un entablement, signé et daté ‘M Vall Coster / 1781’ (en bas à droite), huile sur toile, sur sa toile d'origine, 46 x 38 cm.; Vase of flowers and grapes on a stone ledge, signed and dated 'M. Vall Coster / 1781' (lower right), oil on canvas, unlined, 18 1/8 x 14 7/8 in. Estimate : €100,000-150,000. Sold for €400,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021

Finally, the Old Master paintings department Christie’s Paris was very pleased to hold a dedicated online sale from 11 to 18 June for the famous early replica of the Mona Lisa in a beautiful interpretation named the Hekking's Mona Lisa. After seven days of bidding between 14 international bidders from all around the world, the painting was finally sold to an European collector for an impressive €2,900,000, setting a new world auction record for a replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.