Cat in the Mirror III sold over 160 million yuan, a global auction record for Baltis

The famous painter Baltis's "Cat IN the Mirror III." sold for 166.75 million yuan (RMB, the same below) on the evening of the 3rd, which not only refreshed the global auction record of Baltis's works, but also set a record for the most expensive Western artworks auctioned Chinese mainland.

Yongle 2021 Autumn Auction "International Vision - Global Modern and Contemporary Art Night Show" held up the gavel on the evening. "Cat IN THE MIRROR III" was auctioned at 68 million yuan, and the telephone commission took the lead in the price, and the buyers in the venue immediately responded with 70 million yuan. At least six buyers bid on the painting that night, and after just ten minutes, the price quickly climbed to $123 million. At the time of reaching 136 million yuan, there was a bidding glue in the venue, and even new buyers began to compete. After 20 minutes, the price reached 142 million yuan. In the end, the work fell for 145 million yuan, plus commission for 166.75 million yuan.

Baltis was born in Paris in 1908 to a Polish painter and art historian to a Russian mother. As a master of figurative painting, Baltis was once called "the greatest painter of the 20th century" by Picasso. In his 93-year-old life, there are only more than 80 complete oil paintings.

During his lifetime, Baltis worked on several paintings of Cats in the Mirror. The painting, which was unveiled from 1989 to 1994, was painted three times by the painter before he finally achieved satisfactory results. This is Baltis's last work and the most important in the Cat in the Mirror series.

The painter weaves together three iconic painting elements – the maiden, the mirror and the cat. The painting is based on the girl who is the daughter of his neighbor and the model Thatnica Valtis most often depicts in his later years, Anna Vari. He uses "angel" to refer to the image of a young girl in his paintings, and believes that this is the source of inspiration for his continuous breakthroughs.

Text/Ma Haiyan

Source/China News Network