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Saturday, 12 February 2011 04:01

Record Dali Portrait, Bacon Triptych Boost $150 Million Sotheby's Auction

"Paul Eluard" (1929) by Salvador Dali was included in Sotheby's auction, ``Looking Closely: A Private Collection,'' held in London on Feb. 10, 2011. It fetched 13.5 million pounds with fees, beating a hammer-price estimate of 3.5 million pounds to 5 million pounds. "Paul Eluard" (1929) by Salvador Dali was included in Sotheby's auction, ``Looking Closely: A Private Collection,'' held in London on Feb. 10, 2011. It fetched 13.5 million pounds with fees, beating a hammer-price estimate of 3.5 million pounds to 5 million pounds. Source: Sotheby's via Bloomberg

A record Salvador Dali painting and a triptych by Francis Bacon last night boosted a sell-out auction at Sotheby’s London as collectors snapped up 20th-century art from a private collection.

The sale raised 93.5 million pounds ($150.5 million), led by the Bacon portrait’s 23 million pounds. The Dali became the most expensive Surrealist lot sold at auction, with its 13.5 million-pound price stirring interest in the Spanish artist and breaking the record for his work, set 24 hours earlier at Christie’s International.

Art buyers are continuing to invest in trophies, and this sale was admired for its quality levels, said dealers. Sotheby’s declined to identify the seller, who had acquired the material from dealers and auctions from the 1960s to the 1990s. The pieces had belonged to the Geneva collector George Kostalitz, who died last year, said dealers with knowledge of the matter.

“Single-owner collections carry enormous cachet,’’ London- based dealer Offer Waterman said in an interview. “The guy had good taste and a lot of things made beyond expectations. The market is good for great works.’’

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