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Works from the collection of art market luminary Jan Krugier, who represented many major artists and was the world’s foremost Picasso dealer, come up at Christie’s in New York on November 4 and 5.  The sale entitled A Dialogue Through Art: Works from The Jan Krugier Collection will span the fields of Impressionist & Modern, Post-War & Contemporary, Old Masters, American, Latin American, and African Art. More than 150 lots are expected to achieve $170 million.

Born in Poland in 1928 Jan Krugier survived Auschwitz and moved to Paris in the late 1940’s. After being persuaded by Alberto Giacometti to become an art dealer he became a towering figure in the art world. Among the modernist highlights of the evening sale is Wassily Kandinsky’s Herbstlandschaft – the mountain in the painting is a metaphor for that peak which the artist as prophet must ascend.  The lead work of the Picasso group is Tête (Maquette pour la sculpture en plein air du Chicago Civic Center), a sheet metal maquette conceived and created by Picasso during 1962-1964 and estimated at $25-35 million.

His collection toured to enthusiastic crowds in Berlin, Venice, Madrid, Paris, Vienna, and Munich in a series of exhibitions entitled ‘The Timeless Eye.’ Krugier dedicated these landmark shows to his family and those who had perished in the Holocaust, as well as to the men and women like himself who had survived, to anyone “forever locked in the prison of their memory.”  Jan Krugier died in 2008. (Click on any image to enlarge it).  UPDATE: PART ONE OF THE COLLECTION, ENTITLED A DIALOGUE THROUGH ART, REALISED $92,533,000.

Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)
Herbstlandschaft
signed and dated `KANDINSKY 1911.’ ($20-25 million). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.

Baule mask Ivory Coast ($500,000-800,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013  UPDATE: THIS MADE $1,445,000

Joan Miró (1893-1983)
Peinture–L’Oiseau ($8-12 million), Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.

Works by Munch, Rembrandt, Picasso, Basquiat and Warhol will feature at Sotheby’s sale of Prints and Multiples in London on September 17.  The auction will be led by several rare woodcuts by Edvard Munch, an offering concurrent with the series of exhibitions in Oslo marking the 150th anniversary this December of the artist’s birth.  Rembrandt is represented by a selection of etched self-portraits spanning the years from 1630-1642. The sale will include a selection of over 100 ceramics by Picasso.

Further highlights include work by Joan Miro and Louise Bourgeois.  Here is a small selection from the sale:

UPDATE: THE sale brought a total of £5,284,600 ($8,408,856), exceeding the pre-sale high estimate (£3,056,700 – 4,298,800  / $4,863,821 – 6,840,251), and was 91.6% sold by lot and 94.3% sold by value.

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) Untitled, screenprint, 1982 (£3,500-5,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE £11,250

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669) Self Portraitn leaning on a stone sill, 1639 (£8,000-12,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE £27,500

Edvard Munch (1863 – 1944) EVENING, MELANCHOLY I, woodcut (£550,000-750,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE £962,500

Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog (Orange), one of the most recognizable images in today’s canon of art history, will come up at Christie’s in New York on November 12.  This spectacular artwork has graced the rooftop of New York’s Metropolitan Museum, Venice’s Grand Canal and the Palace of Versaille outside Paris.  It is an icon of popular culture, loved for its celebration of childhood, hope and innocence.

It is estimated to  make $35-55 million at Christie’s sale of Post War and Contemporary Art.  Balloon Dog (Orange) is expected to surpass the artist’s current record of $33.6 million, established in 2012 by Christie’s New York with Koons’ chromatic Tulips (now on display at the Wynn Casino Las Vegas), and is set to make history for the sale of a work by a contemporary artist. Balloon Dog (Orange) is part of the Brant Collection and proceeds from the sale will be used to help fund future activities of The Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich, CT.

UPDATE:  IT SOLD FOR $58,405,000 MILLION, THE MOST EXPENSIVE WORK BY A LIVING ARTIST EVER SOLD AT AUCTION.

Red Flag I (1971) by Chen Yifei. (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $10,210,156 US.

The Last Supper (2001) by Zeng Fanzhi. (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $23,273,151 US, A WORLD RECORD FOR A WORK OF ASIAN CONTEMPORARY ART.

Icons of modern and contemporary Chinese art from the collection of Baron and Baroness Guy and Myriam Ullens de Schooten, renowned collectors and philanthropists based in Switzerland, come up at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on October 5.  The two works are Red Flag I (1971) by Chen Yifei and The Last Supper (2001) by Zeng Fanzhi.  They are estimated respectively at US$5.8-7.7 million and in excess of US$10.3 million.

The Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation was established in Switzerland in 2002, sponsoring exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art in Europe and China and loaning works of art from their collection to museums worldwide.

Stephen McKenna’s Basket and Vessels.

Stephen McKenna’s Basket and Vessels was the top lot at the James Adam sale of the Anglo Irish Bank collection in Dublin on September 3.  It made 17,000 over an estimate of 8,000-12,000. The sale brought in 281,000 and was more than 90 per cent sold.

James Adam is delighted with the result, saying: “it once again proves the point that collections with interesting provenance are very much sought after by Irish collectors”.

See post on antiquesandartireland.com for August 22, 2013.