Matisse Portrait Sells for $4.97m to Deliver a 6% Annualized Return

Henri Matisse, Lydia (Étude pour 'Portrait au manteau bleu') (1935), sold for $4.97m (GBP3.75m), more than twice the low estimate at Sotheby's in London on June 24.

The sale beat the previous auction result for this work by $4.27m, equivalent to an annualized return of 6%. It last sold at auction in 1996 for $700,000 at Christie's.

Charcoal on paper, 67.2 x 47.5cm. The work has been traded 7 times in the past.