Matisse the Hot Ticket in N.Y. Auctions : Art: Artist’s works top sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. But an expert cautions that the market remains fragile.

It may have been dubbed the year of the woman in post-Anita Hill politics, but in the art world, it’s clearly the year of Henri Matisse.

“Harmonie jaune (Harmony in Yellow),” the French artist’s colorful 1927-28 depiction of a sleeping woman near a breakfast table, fetched $14.52 million from an anonymous telephone bidder during auctions in New York Wednesday night, surpassing all other auction sales since the art market’s crash two years ago.

The work, part of the big fall sale of Impressionist and modern art at Christie’s auction house, set a record for the artist, passing the $12.4 million garnered by rival auctioneer Sotheby’s in 1989 for “Woman With Red Umbrella.”

Matisse also snatched the top price Tuesday night during similar auctions at Sotheby’s, going for an even $11 million for “L’Asie (Asia),” an orientalized portrait reminiscent of the artist’s Moroccan period. That sale was the first time an artwork had reached above $10 million at auction since the market’s crash.

Both works are included in a blockbuster Matisse retrospective currently on view at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, a factor that had led many to accurately predict increased interest in the works.

Christie’s also beat the $10-million mark on a rare Claude Monet work, getting $12.1 million from an American private collector for “Le bassin aux nympheas (Waterlily basin),” a 1919 painting that is believed to be one of the few fully completed works of his waterlily series. The auction house had listed the work as “estimate on request,” but had expected between $7 milion and $8 million.

Michael Findlay, Christie’s senior director of Impressionist and modern art, said Thursday he was surprised by the Matisse record and high Monet price, but cautioned that although the art market may be stabilizing, it has not made a full bounce back.

“We had a great deal of good fortune last night because of the high quality of the work, but I think it would be a mistake to interpret this as a turnaround in the art market,” Findlay said. “I think what we are seeing is more simply a case of the market becoming firmer. . . . Most of the dealers I talked to felt (Wednesday night’s auction) was a good shot in the arm, but the biggest mistake we could make right now would be for everybody to raise their prices and their expectations, because it’s still fragile.”

An example of that fragility was evident in the single-owner sale Wednesday night of the 23-piece collection from the estate of celebrated composer Richard Rodgers and his wife Dorothy, which preceeded the main sale.

Although all pieces sold, fetching a total of $9.88 million (barely within Christie’s conservative estimate of $9.26 million-$12.6 million), the two top works--both by Pablo Picasso--went for significantly less than expected. The much trumpeted “Guitare et journal (Guitar and Newspaper)” garnered only $2.2 million of its estimated $3 million-$4 million value.

In the larger Christie’s sale, 17 of 53 works went begging, but the total night’s take of $70.69 million, well within the estimated $53.46 million to $73.2 million, was still a significant improvement over the same auction last fall, when buyers spent only $38.9 million of the $51 million to $80 million expected.

The news was not so good during Tuesday night’s sale at Sotheby’s, when only 35 of the 66 lots sold, for a total of $35.62 million. The Matisse was by far the highest-priced item, although three works did surpass the $2-million mark, including American Impressionist Mary Cassatt’s “Young Lady in a Loge, Gazing to the Right,” which brought $2.53 million, substantially above its $1 million-$1.5 million estimate.

The evening also set two sculpture records, drawing $1.21 million for Max Ernst’s “The King Playing with the Queen,” and $418,000 for Medardo Rosso’s “L’Eta d’Oro.”

Going, Going, Gone . . .

The big fall art season kicked off in New York with the bang of gavels at Christie’s and Sotheby’s earlier this week. First on the block were Impressionist and Modern paintings, drawings and sculpture. How the big works fared compared to their estimated auction prices:

Artist Title Estimate (millions) Matisse “Harmonie Jaune” $5-$7 (Harmony in Yellow) Monet “Le Bassin aux Nympheas” $7-$8 (Waterlily Basin) Matisse “L’Asie” (Asia) $8-$10 Degas “Deux Danseuses en Jupes Vertes” $4-$6 (Two Dancers in Green Dresses) Monet “Le Palais Ducal Vu de St.-Georges Majeur” $3.5-$4.5 (Doges’ Palace Seen From St. Georges Majeur) Picasso “Femme Dans un Fauteuil” $3.5-$4.5 (Woman in Armchair) Cassatt “Young Lady in a Loge” $1-$1.5 Picasso “Guitare et Journal” $3-$4 (Guitar and Newspaper) Gris “La Bouteille de Bordeaux” $2-$3 (Bottle of Bordeaux) Renoir “La Lecture” (The Reading) $1.8-$2.5

Artist Highest Bid Matisse $14.52 Monet $12.10 Matisse $11.00 Degas $7.15 Monet $3.08 Picasso $2.53 Cassatt $2.53 Picasso $2.20 Gris $2.20 Renoir $2.09

Note: At Sotheby’s, 31 of the 66 paintings and sculptures offered failed to sell, including several other Matisses and two Picasso canvases. At Christie’s, 17 of 76 works failed to sell.

Source: Associated Press and Reuters

Estimates are by the auction houses