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THE 82 lots at Christie’s most ambitious yet evening sale of Post-War and Contemporary art in New York on November 12 carry a combined estimate of $600,000,000.  An unprecedented selection of paintings, sculpture and photographs, illuminate the extraordinary talent and uncompromising vision of some of the most influential artists of our time. Masterworks by Andy Warhol, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Jeff Koons, Martin Kippenberger, Cindy Sherman and many others who explore powerful ideas—of truth, provocation, beauty, and life itself—that reached their creative apotheosis in art. The auction reflects the current demand from new and seasoned International collectors’s  for the  best of the best, with prestigious provenances, and exceptional museum exhibition history.  Almost half of the works featured in the sale come fresh to the market, having remained in private collections for a decade or more, while nearly 62% of the works have been featured in major museum exhibitions.  My personal favourite from among them is the Kline.  You can click on the following link to watch an interesting video about Kline’s King Oliver.

https://player.ooyala.com/iframe.html?ec

Franz Kline (1910-1962)
King Oliver – 1958 ($25-35 million). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014. UPDATE: IT MADE $26,485,000

Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Four Marlons 1966 – in the region of $60 million. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014  UPDATE: IT MADE $69,605,000

Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Triple Elvis [Ferus Type] 1963 – estimate in the region of $60 million. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014  UPDATE: IT MADE $81,925,000

Alberto Giacometti’s Chariot is estimated to achieve more than $100 million at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern evening sale in New York on November 4.  It is considered to be the masterwork of his career and a seminal achievement of modern art.  The bronze depicts  a goddess frozen in motion on her large wheeled chariot.  It was conceived in 1950 and cast in 1951-52. This example, set apart by its gold patina, is one of the only two casts in private hands and is the first Chariot to appear at auction in 30 years. Six casts of the piece, which has its origins in Surrealism, were made during his lifetime.

The sale will feature the finest still life by Van Gogh to appear on the market in decades.  Still Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppies is estimated at $30-50 million.  Amadeo Modigliani’s Tete is estimated to make more than $45 million.  Exhibited at the Paris Salon d’Automne in 1912 it has never before been offered at auction. It was quarried from a single block of limestone. Modigliani found these on construction sites around Paris – including work on the Paris Metro. He carted them back by wheelbarrow to his studio in Montparnasse.

Alberto Giacometti – Chariot.  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $101 MILLION.

Amadeo Modigliani – Tete  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $70.7 MILLION

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for September 29, 2014)

Composition néo-plastique by Dutch artist César Domela (£400,000-600,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

Modern art from countries across Europe and around the Mediterranean by artists who are not yet part of the international  mainstream will feature at Sotheby’s in London on November 12. The auction, entitled 20th Century Art – A Different Perspective, is lead by a group of works by artists who were at the fore of the intellectual avant-garde in Europe between the First and Second World Wars.  Their principal occupation was the exploration of non-figurative art and in the pursuit of art’s highest form of purity they decreed that painting must be abstract. The auction, comprising 74 lots, also features a strong selection of early twentieth-century figurative works by artists who had assimilated the tenets of impressionist and cubist painting.

The auction is scheduled to become an annual feature on Sotheby’s calendar focusing on artworks from the 1920’s to the 1960’s with a special focus on cubism, abstraction, constructivism and other works by members of the Bauhaus, Der Sturm, de Stijl and Osma.

UPDATE:  THE SALE TOTAL WAS £1,863,313 IN AN AUCTION  WHICH WAS 81.1% SOLD BY LOT.

A combined total of 407 works, including art by de Vlaminck, Pissarro and Modigliani, will be offered across Christie’s Day, Works on Paper and Picasso ceramics  sales in New York on November 6.  Paintings, sculptures, watercolours and drawings by some of the most acclaimed artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries will be featured.  Here is a small selection:

MAURICE DE VLAMINCK, Bouquet de fleurs (1905-06), $700,000 – 1,000,00, Courtesy Christies Images Ltd., 2014

CAMILLE PISSARRO, L’Anse des Pilotes et le Brise-Lames Est, Le Havre (1903), $1,000,000-1,500,000 Courtesy Christies Images Ltd., 2014

AMEDEO MODIGLIANI, Cariatide (1913), $120,000 – 180,000 Courtesy Christies Images Ltd., 2014

Art by Josef Albers, Jean Dubuffet, Franz Kline and Arnulf Rainer from the estate of Maximilian Schell will come up at Christie’s in Amsterdam, London and Paris.  The newly deceased Oscar winning Austrian actor, director, writer and producer Maximilian Schell was dedicated to the arts throughout his life.  As a collector he avoided the fashionable in search of the timeless. Christie’s will offer the 45 works from the Maximilian Schell Estate across five sales during November and December 2014 in Amsterdam, London and Paris. The main part will be included in Christie’s Amsterdam Post-War and Contemporary Art evening and day sales on  November 4 and 5, further works will be offered in the Amsterdam sales Old Masters and 19th Century Art – including Dutch impressionism on November 26 and Modern Art on December 16. Christie’s will auction two autographs from the Schell Estate in its November 25 sale of Books and Manuscripts and wo works in the Tribal Art sale on December 11 in Paris.

Dubuffet  Courtesy Christies Images Ltd., 2014

Kline  Courtesy Christies Images Ltd., 2014

Albers  Courtesy Christies Images Ltd., 2014

Maximilian Schell in front of a picture of his most intimate film, My Sister Maria, 2002.Copyright Prounenfilm.

Paintings, graphic works and sculpture from the Ib Jorgensen collection will come under the hammer at James Adam in Dublin on November 11.  The most significant  Irish works are Girl with Sunflower by Colin Middleton (1952) which is estimated at 15,000-25,000 and Camille Souter’s Blasted Ballyorney which is estimated at 8,000-12,000. Jorgensen Fine Art is no longer operating as a gallery but Ib Jorgensen will continue to represent artists and exhibiting at fairs.  The catalogue is online.  Here is a small selection:

Colin Middleton RHA RUA MBE (1910-1983) Girl with Sunflower  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 15,000 AT HAMMER

Rowan Gillespie (b.1953) Couple (4,000-6,000)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 13,000 AT HAMMER

Camille Souter HRHA (b.1929) Blasted Ballyorney   UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 10,000 AT HAMMER

Three remarkable paintings by Claude Monet from an important American collection will come up at Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art in New York on November 4.  Created in the 1880’s and ‘90’s the works trace the evolution of Monet’s style as he challenged the limits of High Impressionism and experimented with an approach that would culminate in the Series Paintings of his later years. Together they are estimated to achieve more than $40 million.

The group is led by Alice Hoschedé au jardin from 1881, which the artist personally selected as his standout work from that year ($25/35 million).  She was his 37 year old lover and the wife of his close friend Ernst Hoschedé.  Painted in 1887 Sous les Peupliers, a fine evocation of the French countryside, is estimated at $12-18 million.  Eglise de Vernon, soleil from 1894 is one of a series of the town of Vernon on the banks of the Seine.  It is estimated at $7-9 million.  Following a special viewing in Hong Kong this weekend the paintings will go on display in New York from October 31.

UPDATE:  The three works totaled $61.9 million, led by Alice Hoschedé au jardin from 1881 which made $33,765,000 million.

Claude Monet
Alice Hoschedé au jardin  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $33.7 million.

Claude Monet
Église de Vernon, soleil

Claude Monet
Sous les Peupliers

Manet’s Le Printemps and Leger’s Les constructeurs aver arbre will highlight Christie’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York on November 5.  These pivotal works of the Impressionist and Modern movements are estimated respectively at $35-35 million and $16-22 million.  The 40 lots on offer in this sale reflect current collector demand for works of great rarity, strong provenance, and exceptional museum exhibition history.  A total of 90% are fresh to the market, having remained in private collections for a decade or more, while nearly 80% of the works have been featured in a museum exhibition.

“We have assembled a sale tailored to the refined tastes of our global collecting community, keeping exceptional quality and rarity as our guiding principles. The resulting sale is an exciting, sweeping representation of the Impressionist and Modern eras in European Art, embracing multiple mediums and movements and tracing the evolution of art from Impressionism through to Cubism, and on to Surrealism in each of the media instructive to these genres. Matisse’s Nu assis, fond bleu and a suite of cubist works by Picasso, Braque, Gris and Severini, are particularly thrilling to offer alongside the openings of the Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs and Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection exhibitions at MoMA and The Met,” noted Brooke Lampley, Head of Department, Impressionist & Modern Art.  Here are some highlights and a video in which Adrien Meyer, international director of Impressionist and Modern Art, discusses Le Printemps.

EDOUARD MANET, Le Printemps, oil on canvas, 1881, $25-35million. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.  UPDATE: IT MADE $65 MILLION

FERNAND LÉGER, Les constructeurs avec arbre, oil on canvas, 1949-1950, $16-22million. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014  

HENRI MATISSE, Nu assis, fond bleu, oil on canvas, 1936, $4-6million. Courtesy Christie’s Images ltd., 2014  UPDATE: THIS MADE $5.4 MILLION