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A private collection of more than 100 ceramics by Pablo Picasso will be auctioned at Sotheby’s  in London on March 19. The single owner sale will include a collection of prints by Picasso, Joan Miró and Andy Warhol. Individual ceramic estimates range from £2,000-£30,000.

Picasso stunned the art world when, in 1947, as one of the most famous western artists, and approaching 65 years of age, he absconded from post-war Paris to undertake an apprenticeship at the then little-known Madoura pottery in Vallauris, in rural Southern France. Over two decades he transformed plates, bowls and vases into owls, goats, men, women, bulls and fishes. Pottery has been produced in Vallauris since Roman times.

 Pablo Picasso Vase Gros Oiseau Vert  9£25,000 – £35,0000.  (Click on image to enlarge).

Pablo Picasso Chouette (£6,000 – £8,000). (Click on image to enlarge).

Pablo Picasso – Cavalier et Cheval (£4,000-£6,000). (Click on image to enlarge).

Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) Jeanne Hébuterne (Au chapeau), painted in 1919 – (£16,000,000-22,000,000). Photo courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.  UPDATE: IT MADE £26,921,250 

A Modigliani portrait of his muse and lover Jeanne Hébuterne leads Christie’s sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in London on February 6. This is an auction of 37 works which builds on the strengths of the international market of 2012 at which the best and rarest works were celebrated. The elegant and lyrical portrait that Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) created of his muse and lover is estimated at £16-22 million.
The auction features work by a roll call of the most important artists of the period including Renoir, Picasso, Kandinsky and Matisse. Estimates range from £200,000 to £22 million, with a pre-sale estimate of £67,470,000 to £99,710,000. Jay Vincze, Christie’s international director who heads the sale said: “Buyers continue to be hungry for the best and rarest works of Impressionist and Modern art. We have ensured that this sale focuses on significant works by the most important artists and are proud to present a rich and focused offering which spans figuration to abstraction, presenting international collectors and institutions with rare and exciting opportunities.”

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) L’ombrelle (£4-7 million). Photo courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013. UPDATE: THIS MADE £9,673,250

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Nu accroupi (£3 – 5 million). Photo courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.  UPDATE: THIS MADE £7,321,250

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) Jeune fille a la mauresque, robe verte (£2.5-3.5 million). Photo courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.  UPDATE: THIS MADE £3,065,250

AN art auction by the Galway based Dolan’s  Irish Art Auction House will take place at Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on Sunday, January 20.  There will be 146 lots of mostly contemporary Irish art on offer at very affordable prices.  Here is a small selection.  You can click on any image to enlarge it. The catalogue is on-line.

Manus Walsh – BURREN, OLD FARM, GLEAMING POOL – Acrylic On Canvas Board. (480 – 650). Update:  This sold for 55o.

Alan Kenny – Trad Session with Troupies – Acrylic on Canvas Board. (650 – 850). Update: this sold for 550.

Shawlies by Markey Robinson – Mixed Media. (3,000 – 3,500). Update: This was unsold.

Eileen Meagher – In the Heart of Connemara – Oil on Canvas. (900 – 1,400). Update: This made 950.

James Brohan – Mending the Nets, Kinsale – Oil on Canvas. (4,000 – 6,000). U;date: This made 4,000

FRANCIS BACON 1909 – 1992 THREE STUDIES FOR A SELF-PORTRAIT signed, titled and dated 1980. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS MADE £13,761,250.

Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for a Self-Portrait will headline Sotheby’s evening auction of contemporary art in London next February 12. Dating from 1980, when Bacon was 71, the work is part of a corpus of 11 small scale triptych self-portraits in the artist’s standard 14 by 12 inch format. Sales of contemporary art at Sotheby’s in 2012 totalled $1.25 billion, making it the third most successful year ever for contemporary art. Dealers note that wealthy individuals who are concerned about the wider economy are turning to contemporary art as an alternative investment. Gold standard names have been making record prices. The Bacon is estimated at £10-15 million.
Another headline work in the sale, an untitled piece by Jean Michel Basquiat, was previously in the collection of U2. It is estimated at £7-9 million. The evening auction, which features outstanding works by Gerhard Richter, Alexander Calder, Mark Rothko, Lucio Fontana and others, comprises 56 lots. It is estimated to make more than £63 million.

UPDATE: THE SALE BROUGHT IN £74,364,200.

GERHARD RICHTER b.1932 WOLKE (CLOUD). (£7-9 million). (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE: THIS MADE £7,601,250

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT 1960 – 1988 UNTITLED (PECHO/OREJA) (£7-9 million). (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE: THIS MADE £6,817,250

ALEXANDER CALDER 1898 – 1976 THE RED BASE (£500,000-700,000). Click on image to enlarge.  UPDATE: THIS MADE £690,850.

David Hockney (b. 1937) Great Pyramid at Giza with Broken Head from Thebes. Painted in 1963. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: IT MADE  £3,513,250

A landmark Egyptian painting by David Hockney  will feature at  Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary  sale  in London on February 13.   Dating from 1963 Great Pyramid at Giza with Broken Head from Thebes is the only surviving canvas to commemorate the artist’s first trip to Egypt at the age of 26.  In terms of style, scale and composition it marks a watershed in his practice.  It was commissioned by art critic David Sylvester and journalist Mark Boxer at the Sunday Times.  The painting has been in a private collection for 40 years and this is the first time it has come to auction. It is estimated at £2.5-3.5 million.

Francis Outred, Christie’s head of Post War and Contemporary Art said: “The style of the painting is unmistakably Hockney, the artist breaking up the foreground with a piece of piping, forming a stark contrast to the broken Head of Thebes lying buried in the sand. In doing so, the artist was drawing a clear link between ancient and modern, the human and natural landscape.”

Since it was first exhibited in 1963 this painting has featured in major shows including the Calouste Gulbenkian exhibition of important post-war artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Francis Bacon and Jasper Johns at the Tate Gallery, London in 1964, Hockney’s major retrospective at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London in 1970 and in Paris at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre in 1974.