William Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825-1905), Chansons de printemps signed and dated 'W-Bouguereau-1889' (lower right), oil on canvas, 58½ x 39¼ in. (148.6 x 99.7 cm.) Painted in 1889. Sold for $1.7 million. © Christie’s Images Ltd. 2007.

NEW YORK.-Today's sale of 19th Century European Art and Orientalist Art totaled $11.7 million and was 78% sold by lot and 73% by value. The top lot was Bouguereau's Chanson de Printemps which achieved $1.7 million. The sale performed strongly throughout and twelve world auction records were set in the Orientalist section alone.
The top lot was William Adolphe Bouguereau’s Chanson de printemps, 1889, which sold for $1,720,000. Mihaly Munkacsy’s The Little Sugar Thief, 1883, sold for $611,200. Rudolf Ernst’s Entering the Palace Gardens, sold for $552,000, a world auction record for the artist.
“The market in 19th Century Paintings is expanding in the upper as well as the middle echelons, as today’s auction successfully showed. With Bouguereau’s Chanson de Printemps leading the day, the sale saw consistent buying throughout, with a remarkable strong activity in the $20,000 to $50,000 range. Buyers and bidders were predominantly private and besides being active on the phones and through Christie’s LIVE™, they were noticeably present in the room. The Orientalist section alone set twelve new world auction records,” said Deborah Coy, Head of 19th Century Paintings department. (Courtesy www.Artdaily.rg)