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Article: Christie's Day in Court; $5.5 Million Suit Against Auction House Opens
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- January 14, 1987
- Author:
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Opening arguments began today in Manhattan State Supreme Court
over a long-simmering $5.5 million lawsuit filed by Cristallina S.A.,
an art investment concern incorporated in Panama, against Christie's
auction house over an impressionist painting sale held in New York in
1981.
In that auction, Cristallina put up eight works that ranged from
a Renoir with a $500,000 reserve price-a price below which a work
will not be sold-to a van Gogh with a reserve of $2.3 million. The
aggregate secret reserve was set at $9.3 million. The only painting
that sold was Degas' "Portrait of Eugene Manet," which went for $2.2
million, a record for the artist. The rest were bought in-withdrawn
from the sale ...