Millions for rare works by Giacometti, Van Gogh

A rare painting created by Vincent van Gogh weeks before his death sold for $61.8 million Tuesday night and a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti took $101 million at a sale kicking off New York City's fall art auctions of impressionist and modern art.

The sale total of $422.1 million was driven in part by an increasingly global pool of collectors, said Simon Shaw, Sotheby's co-head of Impressionist and modern art, who noted that with more than 40 countries represented, "we saw the most diverse bidding pool at Sotheby's since 2004," including "terrific activity from Asia."

Van Gogh's 1890 painting, "Still Life, Vase With Daisies and Poppies," was expected to fetch between $30 million and $50 million at Sotheby's evening sale in Manhattan. An Asian buyer drove up the price, acording to Sotheby's.

Van Gogh painted the bouquet of wildflowers at the French home of his physician, Dr. Paul Gachet, in 1890. It is one of the few works the Dutch artist sold during his lifetime.

One of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art, A. Conger Goodyear, acquired it in 1928. It remained in the family for decades and was on permanent exhibition at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo for 30 years. The most recent owner bought it around 1990. Sotheby's said it was the highest price achieved by a Van Gogh at auction since 1998 — long before the current boom.

"The competition is intense and the appetite is great" for masterpieces,  said David Norman, Sotheby's co-head of Impressionist and modern art.

The auction record for a Van Gogh is $82.5 million.

Giacometti's "Chariot" is a bronze sculpture featuring an elongated goddess-like figure perched atop a wheeled chariot. The price almost broke the $104.3 million record for the Swiss artist.

The 1951 piece, embellished with paint to enrich the textural quality of the bronze, has been in the same collection for over 40 years. Giacometti made six casts of the "Chariot" during his lifetime. The one sold Tuesday is one of only two painted examples.

Another important sculpture sold at the auction was Amedeo Modigliani's "Tete." It fetched $70.7 million, just topping the previous auction record for the artist at $69 million.

The elongated, deitylike head was carved in 1911 and 1912 from a block of limestone scavenged from a Paris construction site. It had a presale estimate of $45 million.

Estimates do not include commission fees of just over 12 percent.

The auction house Bonhams, which is selling more than 700 items from the homes of Lauren Bacall, offered two Henry Moore sculptures from her collection on Tuesday.

"Maquette for Mother and Child: Arms" sold for $281,000, just over its pre-sale estimate high of $200,000, and "Working Model for Reclining Figure: Bone Skirt," sold for over $1 million, topping its presale estimate of $600,000 to $800,000.

The actress' other artwork, jewelry and furniture will be offered for sale in March.

All prices included the buyer's premium.

Wire services