Cuba art auction falls short of expectations

Cuba art auction falls short of expectations
Malaysia News.Net
Friday 13th November, 2009 (IANS)

An auction of 69 lots of Cuban plastic and decorative art raised some
400,000 euros (about $600,000), less than half the expected total,
organisers said here.

Wednesday's auction of works by acclaimed painters such as Mariano
Rodriguez, Rene Portocarrero, Servando Cabrera Moreno and Roberto Fabelo
had been expected to bring in 1 million euros ($1.5 million).

The painting that brought the highest price was 'Television aerials' by
Mario Carreno (1913-99), which was initially valued at 70,000 euros
($105,000) but ended up being sold for 55,000 euros ($82,000).

All of the works up for sale belonged to private collections, with the
exception of one presented by Cuba's La Acacia state gallery, the
director of the auction, Luis Miret, told EFE.

Despite the gap between the expected and actual proceeds, this year's
result was 'very positive and acceptable' with 51 percent of the works
sold, compared with 38 percent in the previous edition of the auction,
Miret said.

Cuba art auction falls short of expectations (13 November 2009)
http://www.malaysianews.net/story/564970