Feininger painting fetches 5.7 million euros in Paris

A painting by US expressionist Lyonel Feininger sold for 5.7 million euros in Paris on Sunday, making it a two year French auction high at more than double its estimated price.

Reuters

A total of 5,775,000 euros was paid by a US collector for Hafen von Swinemuende (Swinemuende Harbour), the highest sum paid for a work at a French auction since 2009.

Proceeds will go to the Institute Curie, Secours Populaire Francais and Unesco World Foundation for Aids Research and Prevention.

It had been estimated to fetch between one and a half and two million euros, but four bidders went right up to four million euros, said auctioneers Artcurial Briest-Poulain-Tajan.

Feininger took part in exhibitions by the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter founded in 1912, and was later part of the Bauhaus movement.