Dutch art fair reports 'record' prices for Van Gogh, Picasso

THE HAGUE - Europe's largest art fair closed its doors on Friday with organisers saying that sales, including a rare Van Gogh and works by Picasso and Kees van Dongen, fetched "record prices".

Although a total figure of sale for some of the world's most sought-after artworks could not be given, organisers of The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) said that sales ran up to "tens-of-millions of euros".

"It's impossible to tally the total sales as many are not made public," TEFAF organiser Noepy Testa said.

"But we have had record sales, running into tens-of-millions of euros," she told AFP.

Top ticket items for sale this year included a rare early Van Gogh, painted when the artist was living in southern Netherlands around 1884, and a multi-million-euro work by abstract art pioneer Wassily Kandinsky.

The US-based gallery selling the Van Gogh, titled "Tete de paysanne a la coiffe blanche" confirmed a buyer, with Dutch media saying the asking price of $4.9-million was reached.

Kandinsky's 1910 "Murnau mit Kirche II" was put up for sale by art dealer Robert Landau, who bought the work last year for $45-million at auction at Sotheby's.

It was not known whether a new buyer had been found, but Landau at the fair told AFP that the painting was recently valued at "100 million euros".

Other big ticket names also fetched top prices.

A work on paper by Pablo Picasso called "Femme au tablier" sold for almost two million euros, while a painting by Dutch-French artist Kees van Dongen titled "Femme au Chapeau" sold for a "seven-figure sum to a private European collector".