ONLY ONCE BEFORE DID A SALE OF MODERN FRENCH PAINTINGS IN THIS COUNTRY BRING IN MORE MONEY THAN LAST NIGHT'S AUCTION PRODUCED AT THE PARKE-BERNET GALLERIES HERE IN NEW YORK
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MORE THAN 2-THOUSAND PEOPLE....SOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS COLLECTORS AND CELEBRITIES....TURNED OUT TO BID FOR 29 PAINTINGS. ON THE BLOC WAS THE COLLECTIONS OF ARNOLD KIRKEBY (CQ)....29 PAINTINGS BY FRENCH IMPRESSIONISTS AND POST-IMPRESSIONISTS MASTERS.

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ACTRESS GREER GARSON WAS AMONG THOSE, WHO JAMMED THE GALLERIES FOR THIS SALE. OTHERS SPOTTED INCLUDED SOVIET AMBASSADOR MIKHAIL MENSHIKOV (CQ) PRIOR TO THE SALE, 10-THOUSAND PEOPLE HAD LOOKED AT THE PAINTINGS.

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ONE-HUNDRED-AND-FIVE-THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR THIS RENOIR. THE THIRD-HIGHEST PRICE PAID LAST NIGHT.

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THIS CEZANNE PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST'S SON WENT FOR 125-THOUSAND. DOLLARS. IT WAS PAINTED BETWEEN 1882 AND 1887. AND IT WAS THE SECOND MOST EXPENSIVE PAINTING SOLD. KIRKEBY, A HOTEL OWNER, ACQUIRED THE COLLECTION OVER A PERIOD OF TEN YEARS. HE SAID HE WAS SELLING THE PAINTINGS "FOR PERSONAL REASONS."
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THE TOP PRICE WAS PAID BY THIS EARLY PICASSO: 152-THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A PAINTING CALLED "MOTHER AND CHILD." PICASSO PAINTED IT IN 1903.

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AND IF, PER CHANCE, 152-THOUSAND DOLLARS IS A BIT HIGH FOR YOU, A "STEAL" WOULD HAVE BEEN THIS PAINTING BY RAOUL DUFY (CQ) FOR A MERE 19-THOUSAND DOLLARS.

TOTAL INCOME FOR THE 29 PAINTINGS: MORE THAN ONE-AND-A-HALF-MILLION DOLLARS.

IN RECENT SALES IN LONDON AND PARIS, IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS HAVE BROUGHT EVEN HIGHER PRICES.

BUT, FOR THE UNITED STATES: THIS WAS THE SECOND HIGHEST AMOUNT EVER PAID. JUST ABOUT A YEAR AGO, A SALE WETTED ONE-MILLION-700-THOUSAND DOLLARS.