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    VAN GOGH, MONET LEAD SOTHEBY’S $368 MILLION SALE

    Wednesday, May 6th, 2015
    Vincent van Gogh, L'Allee des Alyscamps

    Vincent van Gogh, L’Allee des Alyscamps

    Vincent van Gogh’s vibrant L’Allee des Alyscamps  made $66.3 million at Sotheby’s in New York last year. It was the top lot in an Impressionist and Modern evening art auction that brought in $368.3 million over a pre-sale high estimate of $351 million.  Five bidders competed for the work, which had been estimated at in excess of $40 million.  It was sold to an Asian private collector.  Three of the top five lots of the night went to Asia.

    Monet’s Nympheas (Water Lillies) from 1905 was the second highest lot of the evening. It was sold to an American private collector for $54 million.  Five works by Monet totalled $115.4 million.

    All eleven pieces from the estate of Chicago businessman and philanthropist Jerome H. Stone found buyers, amounting to a total of $57.8 million. Alberto Giacometti’s Femme de Venise VI – the tallest from his standing female nude series – was held in the Stone collection for more than 20 years and sold for $16.2 million.

    Pablo Picasso’s Femme au chignon dans un fauteuil, which had remained in the Goldwyn Collection since 1956, made $29.9 million.  It set a record for a portrait by Picasso of his lover Francoise Gilot.  It was purchased by a major figure in the Chinese film industry: Wang Zhongjun, Chairman and co-founder of entertainment giant Huayi Brothers Media Group. Wang Zhongjun said: “I first fell in love with the painting and then I fell in love with its story. The Goldwyn family is legendary in our industry and in this one work, I can see not only Pablo Picasso’s genius, but also Samuel Goldwyn Sr.’s creative vision.”

    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for March 19, April 13 and April 29, 2015).

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    AN ICONIC FLOWER PAINTING BY GEORGIA O’KEEFFE

    Wednesday, May 6th, 2015
    Georgia O'Keeffe - White Calla Lily.

    Georgia O’Keeffe – White Calla Lily.  UPDATE: IT MADE $8,968,000

    An iconic flower painting by Georgia O’Keeffe, White Calla Lily, will lead Sotheby’s  American art auction in New York on May 20.  the artist kept the work in her own collection until her death in 1986.

    Between 1918 and 1932 O’Keeffe executed over 200 flower paintings, but it was arguably in the calla lily that the artist found her ideal motif, one that provided the perfect synthesis of subject and form that now defines her most celebrated work. White Calla Lily was acquired by the present owner in 1994 from Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has not been shown in public since. It is estimated at $8-12 million.

    The sale will feature 21 works by Martin Johnson Heade, Maxfield Parrish, Childe Hassam and more from a private collection, four paintings by Milton Avery and four works on paper by John Singer Sargent.

    UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $8,968,000.  White Calla Lily follows the sale of Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 for $44.4 million in Sotheby’s previous sale of American Art (November 2014), which set the current auction record for O’Keeffe as well as for any female artist

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    FLAMING JUNE UNDER THE HAMMER IN JULY

    Sunday, May 3rd, 2015
    FREDERIC, LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A., R.W.S 1830-1896 STUDY FOR FLAMING JUNE Coiurtesy Sotheby's

    FREDERIC, LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A., R.W.S
    1830-1896
    STUDY FOR FLAMING JUNE Coiurtesy Sotheby’s

    The only known head study for one of the most famous masterpieces of the nineteenth century has re-emerged 120 years after it was last reproduced in an art magazine in 1895. The important rediscovery of pencil and white chalk study for Frederic, Lord Leighton’s Flaming June provides the missing link in the preparatory work for the painting that has become known as ‘The Mona Lisa of the Southern Hemisphere’.  It is from the collection of Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe.

    The work was found hanging discreetly on a bedroom wall at West Horsley Place, her quintessentially English red-brick sixteenth-century mansion and 400-acre Surrey estate.  Contents from this extraordinary home – frozen in time – will be offered at Sotheby’s in London on May 27 and 28.  The drawing comes up at a separate sale of Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite and British Impressionist art in London on July 15.  It is estimated at £40,000-60,000. Pictures and objects brought together by the Crewe family, one of Britain’s greatest aristocratic families, were consolidated at West Horsley Place from numerous great houses across Britain. It is likely that the Leighton drawing was purchased from the artist’s studio after his death.  

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    RUBENS, TENIERS AND GUARDI FROM RUSSBOROUGH HOUSE AT CHRISTIE’S

    Friday, May 1st, 2015
    Russborough House.

    Russborough House.

    Works of art by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, David Teniers the Younger and Francesco Guardi are among eight paintings from Russborough House to be sold at Christie’s in London in July.  They are being sold by The Alfred Beit Foundation to safeguard the long term future of Russborough in Co. Wicklow.

    Two magnificent panels by Rubens – Head of a Bearded Man (£2-3 million) and Venus and Jupiter (£1.2-1.8 million) – lead the Old Masters to be offered. A Kermesse (religious festival) by David Teniers the Younger dating to the 1640’s is estimated at £1.2-1.8 million, Adoration of the Shepherds by Adriaen van Ostade is estimated at £600,000-800,000 and a pair of Venetian views by Franceso Guardi is estimated at £300,000-500,000.  They come up at Christie’s Old Master evening auction in London on July 9 and will be exhibited in New York, Hong Kong and London prior to the sale.

    Three further lots to be sold are Francois Boucher’s Aurore et Amour tenant une torche (£30,000-50,000) at the Old Master Drawings auction on July 7.  Two views of Yew Court, Scalby, Scarborough by John Atkinson Grimshaw will come up at the sale of Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite and British Impressionist Art on June 16. They are estimated at £50,000-70,000 each.

    Built almost 300 years ago Russborough is in continuing need of restoration and improvements to the main house, the wings, the colonnades, outbuildings, estate grounds, walkways, water features and visitor facilities. Acquired in 1952 by Sir Alfred Beit it was the scene of four major art robberies. In 1986 Sir Alfred and Lady Beit made a gift of many of the most celebrated works from their world famous art collection to the National Gallery of Ireland.  These included masterpieces by Vermeer, Gabriel Metsu, Jacob van Ruisdael, Goya and Gainsborough, all now house in the Beit Wing at the gallery.
    Following the four notorious robberies in the 1970’s, ’80’s and early 2000’s six of the eight lots being auctioned have not been in view or even in storage at the house for many years. Judith Woodworth, chair of the Alfred Beit Foundation, said the endowment fund to be established with the proceeds is an absolute necessity.  The roofs, stonework, electrical and heating systems all need attention, the interiors need refurbishment and conservation.
    UPDATE:  Christie’s formally withdrew the works following a request from the Beit Foundation for a postponement.
    Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) Venus and Jupiter (£1.2-1.8 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
    Venus and Jupiter (£1.2-1.8 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    Francesco Guardi (1712-1793). One of a pair of Venetian views: >The Piazza San Marco looking towards the Basilica © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    Francesco Guardi (1712-1793). One of a pair of Venetian views:
    >The Piazza San Marco looking towards the Basilica © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens - Portrait of a Bearded Man (£2-3 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 201

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens – Portrait of a Bearded Man (£2-3 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) - A village inn with peasants dancing and merry making to the music of a hurdy-gurdy (£1.2-1.8 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) – A village inn with peasants dancing and merry making to the music of a hurdy-gurdy (£1.2-1.8 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

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    RE-DISCOVERED SELF-PORTRAITS BY FRANCIS BACON

    Thursday, April 30th, 2015
    Francis Bacon Self-Portrait, 1975 - copyright Sotheby's

    Francis Bacon
    Self-Portrait, 1975 – copyright Sotheby’s

    Led by a pair of re-discovered Francis Bacon self-portraits never seen in public before and each estimated at £10-15 million a private collection of rarely seen masterpieces comes up at Sotheby’s this summer.  The collection of 21 works will be offered across a series of sales in London, New York and Paris between May and July.  Assembled in the 1970s and 80s, the collection draws together terracotta heads from Nigeria and Ghana and works by the greats of 19th and 20th century art: Edgar Degas, Edouard Vuillard, Yves Tanguy, Henry Moore, Lynn Chadwick and R.B. Kitaj tracing the human form over 400 years.

    The Bacon portraits come up at the Contemporary Art evening sale in London on July 1.  More works will come up at the Impressionist and Modern evening sale on June 24. There will be African works in New York on May 15 and Paris on June 24.

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    MONET, LEGER, PICASSO, GIACOMETTI AT SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK

    Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

    The 69 works at Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York on May 5 are estimated to achieve more than $270 million.  The eleven works from the collection of Chicago philanthropist Jerome H. Stone – largely unseen for the last 45 years – are led by Fernand Leger’s La Roue Bleue,  Etat Definitif ($8-12 million).

    The auction features six paintings by Monet spanning the period from the 1870’s to the 1910’s and including his most celebrated subjects like water lilies, Venice, a snowscape, the Seine and the Normandy coast. Nympheas (Water Lilies) is estimated at $30-45 million.  Nu couchee et femme se lavant les pieds by Picasso is from a private collection.  There is a strong selection of 15 Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist sculpture including Femme de Venise VI by Giacometti ($8-12 million) and Le Chat by Picasso ($2-3 million).

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 13, 2015)

    Pablo PIcasso - Le Chat

    Pablo PIcasso – Le Chat  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $1,810,000 

    Fernand Leger - La Roue Bleue, état definitif

    Fernand Leger – La Roue Bleue, état définitif  UPDATE: THIS MADE $10,554,000

    Alberto Giacometti - Femme de Venise VI

    Alberto Giacometti – Femme de Venise VI  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $16,154,000

    Pablo Picasso - Nu couche et femme se lavant les pieds.

    Pablo Picasso – Nu couche et femme se lavant les pieds.  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $10,330,000

    Nympheas (Water Lilies) by Claude Monet.

    Nympheas (Water Lilies) by Claude Monet. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $54,010,000

     

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    MORE THAN 300 LOTS OF ART AND COLLECTIBLES AT DOLAN’S

    Friday, April 24th, 2015

    More than 300 lots of art, antiques and collectibles will come under the hammer at Dolan’s Bank Holiday Sunday sale at Kelly’s Hotel in Rosslare, Co. Wexford on May 3. The catalogue is on-line.  Here is a small selection from the art on offer:

    David ffrench le Roy b.1971 SPRING FLOWERS (700-850)

    David ffrench le Roy
    b.1971
    SPRING FLOWERS (700-850)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 800

    Brian Ballard RUA YELLOW ROSES (950-1,250)

    Brian Ballard RUA
    YELLOW ROSES (950-1,250)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,475

    James le Jeune RHA 1910 - 1983 CHILDREN ON THE BEACH (3,500-4,500)

    James le Jeune RHA
    1910 – 1983
    CHILDREN ON
    THE BEACH (3,500-4,500)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 4,600

    Mainie Jellett 1897 - 1944 THE WAVE (4,500-5,000)

    Mainie Jellett
    1897 – 1944
    THE WAVE (4,500-5,000)

    Markey Robinson 1918 - 1999 WATCHING THE BOATS (!,200-1,400).

    Markey Robinson
    1918 – 1999
    WATCHING THE BOATS (!,200-1,400).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,000

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    SELF-PORTRAIT BY AMRITA SHER-GIL AT CHRISTIE’S

    Friday, April 24th, 2015
    Amrita Sher-Gil - Self portrait at the age of 18 (1931).

    Amrita Sher-Gil – Self portrait at the age of 18 (1931).  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £1,762,500

    A 1931 self-portrait by Amrita Sher-Gil, depicting one of India’s most important modern artists at the age of 18, comes up at Christie’s in London on June 10. This is the first painting by the artist ever to be offered in London, and one of only eight canvases by Sher-Gil to be offered at auction. It is the only known profile self portrait by the artist. It is estimated at £1-1.8 million.

    Born in Budapest in 1913 to a Hungarian mother and an India father Sher-Gil was a tour de force in the landscape of modernism in British India. In her brief 28 years she lived between India, Hungary and France. She painted the life of people and her surroundings with an intensity that remains unparalleled in modern Indian art. In Paris she was elected as an associate of the Grand Salon, a rare honor at the time for a young, foreign artist, as a result of the power of her portraits.  Most of her work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.  This self portrait is one of her undiscovered paintings and it has remained in France since the time it was painted.

    UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £1,762,500

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    VICTORIAN SCULPTURES FROM CARBISDALE CASTLE

    Thursday, April 23rd, 2015
    Pasquale Romanelli Italian, 1812 - 1887 ANDROMEDA (£80,000-120,000).

    Pasquale Romanelli
    Italian, 1812 – 1887
    ANDROMEDA (£80,000-120,000).UPDATE: THIS SOLD TO AN ASIAN COLLECTOR FOR £125,000. This is a record for the artist at auction.

    The Carbisdale Castle, Scotland collection of Victorian sculptures – not seen on the market for over a century – will come up at Sotheby’s in London on May 20.   “Encompassing the elegant Neoclassicism of the early part of the century to the fantastical Romanticism of the Belle Époque years, the works on offer shine a light not only on collecting tastes at the height of the British Empire, but also on how sculptors of the period created works of astonishing beauty and grace through their masterful handling of marble” Christopher Mason, Sotheby’s European Sculpture specialist, commented.

    Carbisdale Castle is a magnificent Scots Baronial residence in the heart of the Highlands.  The works are offered by the current custodians of the castle, the Scottish Youth Hostels Association . Together with an array of 36 Italian and Scottish nineteenth-century paintings, most of which are quality copies of Old Masters, the 17 sculptures will be presented for sale as part of Sotheby’s 19th and 20th century sculpture auction.  The group also includes a nineteenth-century textile, and is estimated to bring a combined total in the region of £500,000.

    Keith Legge Scottish Youth Hostels Associations ceo said: “It has been a privilege for SYHA to have been the custodian of Carbisdale Castle and its contents for the past 70 years enabling our members and guests to experience living in a castle”.  The proceeds will be used to sustain SYHA’s diverse youth hostel network of affordable fit-for-purpose accommodation.

    UPDATE: The sale realised £2.3 million, Sotheby’s highest ever total for an auction of 19th and 20th century sculpture. The Carbisdale Castle collection brought in £1 million.

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    KIPPENBERGER AND KOONS FROM TASCHEN AT CHRISTIE’S

    Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015

    Masterworks by Martin Kippenberger and Jeff Koons from the collection of renowned publisher and art collector, Benedikt Taschen come up at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art evening sale in New York on May 13.   Leaders of the New York and Cologne art scenes the controversial and ambitious artists first met in Cologne in 1986, where Taschen’s publishing empire was founded a few years earlier. Through Untitled and Louis XIV, Kippenberger and Koons, who possessed strong mutual respect for one another, were both taking the guise of art history to portray themselves, the first one as the greatest of all 20th century painters, Pablo Picasso; the second, as the royal figure of the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV.

    Jeff Koons (born 1955) - Louis XIV ($10-15 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    Jeff Koons (born 1955) – Louis XIV ($10-15 million) © Christie’s Images Limited 2015  UPDATE: THIS MADE $10,805,000

    Martin Kippenberger (1953-1997) Untitled - © Christie’s Images Limited 2015

    Martin Kippenberger (1953-1997) Untitled ($15-20 million) – © Christie’s Images Limited 2015  UPDATE: THIS MADE $16,405,000

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