Sotheby's: Record Sale for Picabia at Paris Auction

A logo is pictured on Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
A logo is pictured on Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
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Sotheby's: Record Sale for Picabia at Paris Auction

A logo is pictured on Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
A logo is pictured on Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland, June 21, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

A painting by Francis Picabia sold on Wednesday for 10 million euros ($11 million), Sotheby's said, in a record for a work by the late French surrealist painter.

"Pavonia", painted in 1929, was among several works by surrealists that the auction house sold for a total of 33 million euros ($36 million) in the French capital, it said in a statement.

"We're particularly proud of having set a new world record for Picabia," said auction director Thomas Bompard.

Another work by the artist had previously sold for 8 million euros ($8.8 million), AFP said.

"Pavonia" depicts overlapping images inspired by motifs in the ancient city of Pompeii.

It was first commissioned by art dealer Leonce Rosenberg to decorate his wife's bedroom in their Parisian apartment.

Among the other paintings on sale, Belgian artist Rene Magritte's "Le paysage fantome" went for 2.1 million euros ($2.3 million) and his "Le Palais de la Courtisane" for 2 million euros ($2.2 million).

They fetched far less than his "L'Empire des lumieres", which was sold for £59.4 million ($79.4 million, 71.4 million euros) at the start of the month, shattering the record for one of his works.



World War II Sergeant Whose Plane Was Shot Down over Germany Honored with Reburial in California

This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
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World War II Sergeant Whose Plane Was Shot Down over Germany Honored with Reburial in California

This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)

After 80 years, a World War II sergeant killed in Germany has returned home to California.

On Thursday, community members lined the roads to honor US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport to a burial home in Riverside, California, The AP reported.

Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany, according to Honoring Our Fallen, an organization that provides support to families of fallen military and first responders.

One of the surviving crewmembers saw the plane was on fire, then fell in a steep dive before exploding on the ground. After the crash, German troops buried the remains of one soldier at a local cemetery, while the other six crewmembers, including Banta, were unaccounted for.

Banta was married and had four sisters and a brother. He joined the military because of his older brother Floyd Jack Banta, who searched for Donald Banta his whole life but passed away before he was found.

Donald Banta's niece was present at the planeside honors ceremony at the Ontario airport coordinated by Honoring Our Fallen.

The remains from the plane crash were initially recovered in 1952, but they could not be identified at the time and were buried in Belgium. Banta was accounted for Sept. 26, 2023, following efforts by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency within the US Department of Defense and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.