antiquesandartireland.com

F.E. McWilliam (1909-1992) African Figure

The Irish sculptor F.E. McWilliam was among four artists to achieve new auction records at Christie’s in London tonight.  There was new records for McWilliam, Dame Barbara Hepworth, Elixabeth Frink and John Craxton.  African Figure, a carved wood piece by McWilliam sold for £266,500. Hepworth’s Figure for Landscape sold for £4.1 million.  The Modern British and Irish evening sale achieved £21.3 million.  Sir John Lavery’s portrait of Anna Pavlova as The Swan sold for £158,500.

Christie’s hailed these results, saying the market is buoyant.  Directors André Zlattinger and Rachel Hidderley commented:  “The market for British Art has never been more buoyant. The results of the ‘Modern British & Irish Art Evening Sale’ were the highest ever achieved for a various owner sale in the category and reflect the continued demand for 20th century British & Irish Art from collectors across four continents.

The modern British and Irish day sale takes place on June 26.

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for June 13 and June 12, 2014).

Kurt Schwitters Ja – Was? – Bild

THERE was a new world record for Kurt Schwitters at Christie’s in London tonight.  The top price of £13,970,500 at the evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art was paid for Schwitters Ja-Was?-Bild (Yes-What?-Picture).  It had been estimated at £4-6 million.  The previous record for the artist was £1.3 million.  The sale realised £85,784,000.  It was sold 67% by lot and 71% by value.  In total 22 works of art sold for over £1 million and 32 works made over $1 million.   Femme de Venise by Giacometti made £9,042,500; L’artiste et le modele nu by Matisse made £6,802,500 and Kinderbild by Franz Marc sold for £6,242,500.

Jay Vincze, International Director and Head of The Impressionist and Modern Art Department, Christie’s London said: “This sale was led by the exceptional 1920 Kurt Schwitters, ‘Ja – Was? – Bild (‘Yes-What?-Picture’)’, which soared to extraordinary new heights achieving £13.9 million /$23.7 million / €17.4 million and smashing the previous auction record price for the artist (£1.3 million / $2 million). This work was part of the remarkable Langen Collection and follows on from the great success of the New York sales in May; the collection tonight achieved £20,335,000/ $34,610,170/ €25,418,750 against a pre-sale estimate of £9.6-14.1 million. The auction as a whole presented an eclectic mix of exciting and rare impressionist, avant-garde and modernist works, many of which had not been seen on the market in a generation or more. Discerning collectors competed in a selective market for rare works by Matisse, Marc and Giacometti. Surrealism continues to excite new and established collectors across geographies and strong prices were achieved for Magritte, Ernst and Miró.”

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for June 5, 2014).

CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926) – NYMPHÉAS dated 1906.

A Sotheby’s employee admires Mondrian’s Composition with Red, Blue and Grey

Monet’s Waterlilies sold for £31.7 million at Sotheby’s £121,957,000 sale of Impressionist and Modern art in London tonight. This was the second highest price for the artist ever achieved at auction.  Driven by bidding from Asia and Russia the auction was 93.1 per cent sold by lot. A quintessential masterpiece by Mondrian – Composition with Red, Blue and Grey – sold for £15.2 million.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for June 11, 2014).

Small is Beautiful is the title of an online modern sculpture sale at Christie’s until July 3.  It is Christie’s first online sale of small scale sculptures by Impressionist and Modern artists and modern British artists. Salvador Dali, Henry Moore, August Rodin, Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso all feature.  The works on offer date from 1892 to the present and estimates are from £800-£100,000.  It is on view at Christie’s South Kensington until July 3.

Tom Best, Specialist and Head of Sale said: “We put together this new sale format as a response to the increasingly global demand we have seen for smaller works by these 20^th and 21^st century artists. This sale format also adds an extra dimension to the week of Impressionist & Modern sales in London, giving clients a new way to add to their collections and the ability to bid from around the globe.”

PABLO PICASSO Taureau
1955 (£45,000-65,000). Courtesy, Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

MAX ERNST (1891-1976)
Jeune homme aux bras croisés (£25,000-35,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

IN London Sotheby’s has launched the 2014 summer season with a whirlwind art historical tour that places ten of the greatest museum-quality works to be offered in the context of 2000 years of western art history – ‘A History of Art in 10 Magnificent Works’. For this experience, ten masterpieces have been selected from the forthcoming June and July auctions of Contemporary Art, Impressionist & Modern Art, Old Master Paintings, Old Master Drawings, Treasures (decorative arts, sculptures & antiquities) and Books & Manuscripts.  Here is a video on summer at Sotheby’s with Henry Wyndham.