AP 6/14

MUSEUM AUCTION NETS $76.5 MILLION TOTAL

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s sale of more than 200 pieces raised $76.5 million, far more than the $15 million the museum’s board had anticipated.

A series of auctions by Sotheby’s in New York City concluded recently with the sale of five Old Master paintings and nine European works, including an enamel dove from France, circa 1200, that fetched $1.7 million, the museum said.

The contemporary art gallery will add the auction proceeds to its restricted endowment fund to acquire art that fits the collection better than the mostly older works that were sold off. Only five percent of the fund can be used annually.

The most famous work auctioned was a bronze sculpture of the Roman goddess Artemis, which sold for $28.6 million, a world record auction price for a sculpture of any period, Sotheby’s said.

“Artemis and the Stag,” dating from the First Century BC to First Century AD, was purchased by London art dealer Giuseppe Eskenazi on behalf of a European private collector, Sotheby’s spokeswoman Lauren Gioia said.