A public auction in Israel reported record high proceeds: USD 3.6 million were spent by affluent art collectors to purchase paintings by leading Israeli artists.
Three months ago Sotheby's, a premier auction house for fine art, reported proceeds of USD 6 million for an auction of Jewish and Israeli art in New York
On Sunday the Israeli auction house Matza in association with the Krief art gallery reported near record proceeds.
About 60 percent of the 335 items were sold, some in prices higher than expected. About 60 percent of the items were sold by phone and on the internet to collectors in Israel and abroad, while 40 percent were sold to people who attended the auction house.
Works of masters like Maurice Gottlieb, Abel Pan, Moise Kisling, Marc Chagall, were sold as well as painting by Israeli artists like Reuven Rubin, Mordechai Ardon, Nahum Gutman, Marcel Janko and Yaacov Eisenscher.
Chagall's Vase of Clay and Vase of Iron was sold for USD 379,500; The road to Galilee by Rubin was sold for USD 287,000; Mimosa by Kisling was sold for USD 276,000; Two donkeys in Ramallah by Gutman was sold for USD 86,250, and Biblical Image by Pan was sold for USD 52,900.
Meanwhile, work by artists like Lea Nikel, Yosef Zaritsky, Haim Levanon, and Yochanan Simon received much lower bids.
Moti Peled, owner of the Matza auction house, said on Monday that the success of the auction after a long slow period points to a renewed global interests in classic art.