B idders were left hot under the collar in London this week as Sotheby’s inaugural Erotic sale brought a total of £5,297,000 ($6,612,775), exceeding the combined pre-sale estimate of £3.1–4.6 million. The inaugural Erotic: Passion & Desire sale, featuring over 100 lots of fine art, photography, sculpture and design, saw almost half of the works sold achieve prices above the high estimate.
The sale was led by two sculptural masterpieces - Jacques Loysel’s La Grande Névrose and a rare surviving work by Sarah Bernhardt, both of which established auction records. Speaking after the auction, Constantine Frangos, Sotheby’s Specialist & Head of Sale, said: "We’ve seen unprecedented interest from collectors across the globe with bids flying in from eighteen countries. The auction has not only given us the opportunity to tell a story, with specialists from across the company bringing their own perspectives, but it has also been wonderful to witness the animated discussions that each work has sparked since the sale went on view." Click ahead to see the top ten highlights.
