10 March 2010 / REUTERS, AMSTERDAM
An auction at Sotheby’s of more than 160 works of post-war and contemporary art from the Peter Stuyvesant Collection exceeded all expectations on Monday, raising a record 13.6 million euros ($18.6 million).
The works on offer in Amsterdam were the property of British American Tobacco The Netherlands and formed the largest collection of such art ever to come to auction in the country.Sotheby’s had expected to raise between 4.4 million and 6.3 million euros, and the 13.6 million euros raised was the highest amount achieved in the Netherlands for a sale of fine art. The collection was started by Alexander Orlow, who in 1960 invited 13 artists from 13 European countries to create paintings for the production hall at the Turmac Tobacco Company in the Netherlands. The highest price offered on Monday went to Martin Kippenberger’s “Dinosaurierei,” sold for 1.07 million euros. Completed in 1996, a year before his death at the age of 44, the work is part of the artist’s series of Egg Paintings.
