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A remarkable assemblage of Dutch and Flemish paintings comes up at Sotheby’s in New York next April.  The Weldon Collection, with more than 70 works, is expected to bring in around $30 million.  It was assembled by the late Henry and June “Jimmy” Weldon over several decades.

Their collecting journey began in the 1960s with an initial focus on 17^th century Dutch and Flemish pictures, seeking out works by Balthasar Van der Ast, Rachel Ruysch and Ambrosius Bosschaert.  Over the years, as their taste broadened, they added remarkable gems including an early still life by the German artist Ludger Tom Ring the Elder, a pair of paintings by Jean-Antoine Watteau and an extraordinary collaborative work by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Younger. Yet, their love of the Dutch Golden Age remained a constant with masterworks by Hendrick Avercamp and Aelbert Cuyp entering the collection within the last decade. They also collected Asian art and Staffordshire pottery.  Highlights will be toured to London and Amsterdam before the auction on April 22.

Anthony van Dyck
Portrait of Martin Ryckaert ($700,000-900,000)

Balthasar van der Ast
Roses, a lizard, a butterfly, and a grasshopper on a ledge ($400,000-600,000)

Adriaen Coorte
Wild strawberries on a ledge ($800,000-1.2 million)

Claude Monet – Le Grand Canal.  UPDATE: IT MADE £23.67 MILLION

An exceptionally rare view of Venice by Monet will lead Sotheby’s sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in London on February 3.  Le Grand Canal dates to 1908 and is estimated £20-30 million. It has been exhibited around the world.  It was at the National Gallery in London for eight years to 2014 and previously at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth and the Royal Academy in London.

Helena Newman, Sotheby’s Co-Head, Impressionist & Modern Art Worldwide, said: “The market for works by Claude Monet has now reached an all-time point of strength, with bidders coming from four times as many countries as a decade ago. Reflecting the outstanding quality and beauty of the work, Le Grand Canal was prominently displayed for eight years at The National Gallery, London. Given the painting’s rarity and exceptional quality, and the strong price of £19.7m achieved when we sold Monet’s Venice view Le Palais Contarini in 2013, we anticipate enthusiastic global interest prior to the sale in February.”

The painting has already been toured to Taipei. It will be in Hong Kong from January 9-12 and New York from January 21-23.

Modern, Surrealist and Post-War works from a private European collection  will come up at Christie’s in London on February 4.  The collection showcases important examples by Modigliani, Miró, Magritte, Delvaux, Picasso, Giacometti, Moore, Fontana and others. The group is led by Joan Miró’s L’oiseau au plumage déployé vole vers l’arbre argenté, 1953 (£7-9 million) and Amedeo Modigliani’s Les deux filles, 1918 (£6-8 million). The full collection of 31 Modern, Surrealist and Post-War works of art is expected to realise a combined final total in excess of £64 million.

Olivier Camu, deputy chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie’s said that the collection spans the personal collection journey of a private collector over almost half a century from the 1960’s. “This collector’s discipline has always been to focus on quality rather than quantity, thus every painting and work in this collection is a signature work for the artist in question”.  Pictured below from left to right is Miro’s L’oiseau, Femme de Venise V by Giacometti, Les Deux Filles, a rare double portrait by Modigliani and Les Compagnons de la Peur 1942 by Rene Magritte, which centres on the subject of transformation with four owls transforming from bird to plant world or vice versa.

Works from the collection by Miro, Giacometti, Modigliani and Magritte.

An online auction of  292 lots of Irish art is running at Morgan O’Driscoll. It continues until January 19. The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

UPDATE:  A TOTAL OF 93% OF LOTS SOLD

Arthur K. Maderson (b.1942)
Market Day, Lodeve (4,000-5,000). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,600

Cecil Maguire RHA RUA (b.1930)
Derrynane (2,500-3,500)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,000

Peter Collis RHA (1929-2012)
Still Life – Fruit and Wine (2,500-3,500). UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600

Daniel O’Neill (1920-1974)
Two Figures in a Landscape (800-1,200).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 4,600

Henri Matisse – Odalisque au fauteuil noir.  UPDATE: IT MADE £15.83 MILLION

Henri Matisse’s Odalisque au fauteuil noir  will be a highlight at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale in London on February 3.  Dated 1942 the portrait depicts  Princess Nézy-Hamidé Chawkat, the great granddaughter of the last Sultan of Turkey.  The exquisitely coloured painting is one of the finest of the artist’s celebrated ‘Odalisque’ paintings to come to the market and is estimated at £9-12 million.  It will be shown at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong from January 9-12.

The Princess was spotted in the street by Matisse in 1940. He was drawn to her dark, striking looks. After a formal request permission was granted by the Princesses grandmother for her to sit for the artist, accompanied by a chaperone. Over the course of almost two years she became his favourite model. The painting reflects Matisse’s interest in orientalism, which he first began to explore in the 1920’s.