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Yiannis Morales (b 1916), “Composition,” 1965, achieved $968,384, making it the highest price ever paid for a work by a living Greek artist at auction. Theofilos Hadjimichalis, “Katsantonis in the Ravine near Pende Pigadia” fresco, realized $568,742, a world record for the artist.

The tenth Greek Sale at Bonhams’ 101 New Bond Street gallery on May 15 achieved $7.6 million and broke a number of world records for Greek artists.

The sale of predominantly Twentieth Century Greek art featured more than 200 pictures and sculptures by the very best Greek artists, including Yiannis Moralis (b 1916), Theofilos Hadjimichalis (1867–1934), Nikos Engonopoulos (1910–1985) and Constantinos Volanakis (1837–1907). Top prices were led by the modern and contemporary Greek art in the sale, with no fewer than five paintings topping $495,360.

A painting by Moralis from 1965 titled “Composition,” which was estimated to sell for $258/356,500, achieved $968,384, making it the highest price ever paid for a work by a living Greek artist at auction.

Accepted as being the greatest living Greek artist, Moralis’s monumental piece, 35½ by 86½ inches, simply called “Composition,” is a revival of the archetypal universe of an Ionian frieze or a Doric metope. Architectural motifs portray fragments of an ancient Greek temple or neoclassical Athenian mansion and the artist has combined these with austere horizontal and vertical lines from which the human form appears, a young woman and a loving couple embracing.

Another Moralis picture was the third highest price at the sale, making $638,000 for an image titled “West Side Room.” The previous top price for a Moralis work was $616,400 at a Sotheby’s sale.

A Bonhams’ spokeswoman, Titi Terpsichore, said, “This sale indicates that the market for Greek art continues to grow and also shows strength in depth. The sale topped the last Greek sale at Bonhams by more than $1.9 million, with 90 percent sold following a very successful preview at Art Expertise in Athens, Bonhams’ local agents. Buyers were almost exclusively Greek, with 500 bids left before the sale.”

A world record price was also achieved for one of the most significant items in the sale, a fresco “Katsantonis in the Ravine near Pende Pigadia” by Theofilos Hadjimichalis, which has been in a private collection for 40 years. The painting pays homage to Katsantonis (1873/5–1907/8), one of the great figures of prerevolutionary Greece, who was a constant source of inspiration to Hadjimichalis. It is one of just a few surviving murals by the great Twentieth Century artist. At the sale, it achieved $568,742, the best price for this artist.

Originally, Hadjimichalis had produced the work for the wall of a coffee shop in the village of Parkoila on the Greek island of Lesvos, where it remained for 30 years, accumulating soot and smoke residue from the coffee shop’s stove, gas cooker and cigarette smoking patrons. In the early 1960s, the work was transferred onto canvas and subsequently restored by an Athens National Gallery expert.

Another Twentieth Century artist, Nikos Engonopoulos, also achieved a strong price at $250,000, a distinctive nude, the bold Hero (Philopemen), which was painted in oil in 1957.

Prices reported include the buyer’s premium and have been converted from British pounds to US dollars. For information, www.bonhams.com or 20 7468 8229/8259.

On June 8, Christie’s New York will hold its bi-annual sale of Antiquities.

This season, the auction will offer a particularly beautiful selection of Greek works of art, including a superb limestone head of Hermes and a marble torso of Artemis, alongside fine examples of Roman, Egyptian, Phoenician and Near Eastern works of art.

Among the Greek highlights are >
A Greek limestone head of Hermes, Classical Period, circa 4th century B.C. Mainland and Western Greek artists employed limestone for their sculptures beginning in the Archaic Period. Like all Greek sculptures, this fine statue of a god would have been brightly painted. The fact that a deity is presented, sculpted in the round, harmoniously proportioned and showing crisp, refined details, suggests that this work may once have served as a cult statue or in a temple pediment. Estimate: $250,000-350,000

A Greek marble torso of Artemis, Hellenistic Period, circa 1st century B.C. This sculpture depicts the goddess wearing diaphanous garments, revealing her body beneath, and is sculpted in an elegant and sophisticated way, particularly the treatment of the drapery and the rendering of the vigorous forward movement. Estimate: $180,000-220,000

A Greek marble portrait of a man, Late Hellenistic Period, circa 1st century B.C. The head is slightly turned to the right and reveals a distinctive hooked nose, thin lips pressed together, a finely trimmed moustache and a beard roughly picked to be completed in stucco. The use of stucco to finish details is typical of sculpture associated with the Ptolemaic court of Egypt. Also unusual in this portrait is the extent of preservation of the painted details, especially for the individual eye lashes. Estimate: $50,000-80,000

A Greek bronze dancer, Hellenistic Period, circa 2nd-1st Century B.C. Among the striking characteristics of this sensual bronze is the depiction of a female dancer in such a risqué costume. Indeed, the torso is elongated, the small breasts are set high on the chest, she is playing the castanets and the only garment worn by her is a band-like perizoma, covering her buttocks. Estimate: $60,000-90,000

Related Links > http://www.christies.com

Cypria Auctions is organising a second event to auction the work of Cypriot and Greek artists, following the success of their first auction in December last year.

The auction, will take place tomorrow at 6.30 pm at the Nicosia Hilton and includes the works of leading Cypriot artists such as Christoforos Savva, Victor Ioannides, Spyridon Ventoura and Michalis Kassialos as well as Greek painters Costas Parthenis and Alekos Fasianos.

Works from Parthenis have fetched around £600,000 Sterling in the past, while the auction will be hosted by the well-known Greek auctioneer Petros Vergos.

The paintings will be on display today at the Akamas Room at the Hilton Hotel from 9am-9pm and tomorrow 9am-1pm.

Yiannis Moralis’s ‘Composition,’ which dates to 1965, drew the highest bid

Another Greek-related art auction, held in London last Tuesday, has proved to be a great hit. Following the most successful Greek Sale of all times, organized by Sotheby’s on May 10, Bonhams auctioned off more than 200 lots of 19th and 20th century works by Greek artists as well as Greek-related works by foreign artists.

The auction, which raised almost 6 million euros, lasted four hours and 15 minutes. Bids were placed not only by those present but also by phone. What is noteworthy and demonstrates that interest in Greek sales is not confined to Greek buyers, is that some of the artworks were sold to buyers in the USA, Canada, Europe and India. There is of course a possibility that the new owners are of Greek descent, but according to Terpsihori Angelopoulou of Art Expertise, which represents Bonhams in Greece, there were also many foreign art dealers.

Yiannis Moralis’s 1965 “Composition” drew the highest bid. It was sold for 735,000 euros, which marks a new record for the Greek artist. The auction also featured works by Nikos Engonopoulos and Constantinos Parthenis.

Giorgos Bouzianis’s ‘Father and Sons’ was sold for 606,010 euros.

How high can the demand for Greek works of art go? This was the prevailing question at Sotheby’s London last week at the conclusion of the international auction house’s 12th Greek Sale, which, once again, reached new records. Sales from last week’s auction reached 10,994,082 euros, surpassing the figure of the previous auction, which took place last November and reached 7,315,436 euros.

In the rainy British capital, Greek art appeared to be blossoming last week. Although the sale didn’t break the record for the most expensive work sold, which was Nikiforos Lytras’s “Yiorti sta Megara” went for 1,138,396 euros in November, it did reach record prices for 25 Greek artists.

Constantinos Volanakis’s “Volos Harbor at Night” was the sale’s top-selling work at 951,965 euros, while Constantinos Parthenis came in second with “The Walk of the Caryatid” which sold for 853,121 euros. Other records included Theodoros Vryzakis’s “The Young Man’s Farewell” in third place, selling for 853,121 euros; Giorgos Bouzianis with “Father and Sons” at 606,010 euros in fifth place; Nikolaos Vokos’s “Young Girl with Flowers” in seventh place at 490,692 euros and Yiannis Moralis, whose “Figure I” went for 457,744 euros. Yiannis Spyropoulos’s “Vuraicos” was sold for 353,016 euros in ninth place, while Michalis Economou’s “Along the Shore” sold for 291,238 euros, ranking in 10th place.

The first 10 works also include Volanakis’s “Pushing out to Sea”, 704,854 euros in fourth place, and Nikolaos Gyzis’s “The Orphans” in sixth place with 523,640 euros. Records were also reached by works of other artists including Constantinos Romanidis, Emmanuel Zairis, Alexis Akrithakis, Nikos Kessanlis, Apostolos Tsirogianis, Stephanos Daskalakis, Alecos Kontopoulos and Sophia Laskaridou.

What led to the great success of the 12th Greek Sale? The works sold were of high quality and buyers’ interest has picked up, while it is obvious that the Greek market has a good number of players, whether old-school collectors or just people who see art as an investment. The auction was conducted by renowned auctioneer Adrian Biddell, head of Sotheby’s 19th century European paintings department. “In 20 years’ time, Greek art will be bought by foreigners,” said Biddell after the auction.