Iconic auction shows rich are still paying huge prices

This week¡¯s Yves Saint Laurent auction, held over three days in Paris, raised a staggering €374m, indicating the very wealthy are still willing to part with their money for the best works of art. Record prices paid for top brand wines are also being realised.

More than 95% of the pieces in the YSL auction sold and the sale set a world record for the most valuable private collection sold at auction.

Top prices paid at the Grand Palais auction held by Christie¡¯s include €35.9m for a Matisse, €29.2m for a Brancusi sculpture, and possibly the most staggering of all, €21.9m for an Art Deco armchair.

Art experts were cited in the press as saying the auction was ¡°a one-off¡± and attracting huge interest because of the special aura around Yves Saint Laurent, pushing up prices particularly for the lesser objects.

Top wine brands are also realising top prices with a recent wine auction at Sotheby¡¯s in London beating estimates by 10% to raise close to £600,000. Top brands sold include a case of Château P¨¦trus 1978, which realised more than double the top estimate of £3,400 to sell for £7,425.

Although passion investing for the most rare and revealed art works as well as wine appears to be holding up well in the credit crunch, Sotheby¡¯s results for the fourth quarter of last year showed the overall auction business is struggling.

The New York-based auction house said revenues fell 52% year-on-year to $166.2m, which was blamed primarily on a 46% decline in net auction sales.