antiquesandartireland.com

Francis Bacon (1909-1992)
Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards (Click on image to enlarge).  UPDATE: IT MADE $80,805,000

Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards will highlight Christie’s sale in New York on May 13.  It is one of the most important triptychs from the 1980’s still in private hands. Celebrating one of the most significant relationships in Francis Bacon’s life the painting represents John Edwards, a bar manager from the East End of London, who Bacon had met a decade earlier and who went onto to become one of the artist’s inseparable companions, his most trusted confidents,  and the rare witness to the artist at work. Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards, embodies the sense of calm and confidence that came over Bacon’s work in the last decade of his life. It is estimated at around $80 million.  Last year Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud  sold for a world record of $142,405,000.

“We are honored to announce one of the greatest paintings from Francis Bacon’s acclaimed Late Period. Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards, executed in 1984 was the centerpiece of the artist’s retrospective at the London Tate Gallery in 1985-86, and a work that the artist himself ranked amongst his best works. It shows an incredible tenderness and harmony that was prompted by Bacon’s paternal relationship with the sitter, and this period of contentment elicited a confidence of style that has been compared to late Matisse”, said Brett Gorvy, Chairman and International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art.

AN exceptional selection of 54 works of every media by the most revered artists of the 20th century come up at Christie’s  Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, Including Property from the Estate of Edgar M. Bronfman  in New York on May 6.  The best Impressionist works by Monet and Renoir to come to market in many years from the estate of Huguette Clark are coupled with equally distinguished examples by Degas from the estate of Edgar Bronfman.  Important Modern works by Picasso, Kandinsky, Braque and Dalí from the collection of Viktor and Marianne Langen pair with an orientalist van Dongen and an arcadian Picasso also from the Bronfman estate. The evening sale is expected to achieve in excess of $245 million.

Claude Monet
Nymphéas, oil on canvas, 1907 ($25.35 million). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $27,045,000

Pablo Picasso
Portrait de Femme (Dora Maar) ($25-35 million) Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014  UPDATE: THIS MADE $22,565,000

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Jeunes filles jouant au volant circa 1887
($10,000,000-15,000,000) Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014  UPDATE: THIS MADE $11,365,000

Andy Warhol’s White Marilyn, 1962, one of the most iconic portraits created by the artist and recognized as one of the finest examples of his Death and Disasters series comes up at Christie’s in New York on May 13.  Created immediately after Monroe’s death in 1962 it is estimated at $12-18 million. The work was one of eight Marilyns selected for Warhol’s first one-man exhibition at Eleanor Ward’s Stable Gallery in New York in 1962, and was once part of her personal collection.

“Compared to the perfectly coiffed media propagated publicity images of the actress, in White Marilyn she appears touched by humanity, and transcends reality to become a modern Saint. Warhol dedicated this work to Ward and expressed his gratitude scattering hearts on the reverse of the painting. Warhol gave Mint Marilyn to Jasper Johns, Gold Marilyn Monroe and Blue Marilyn were acquired by Phillip Johnson and Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Barr before being gifted respectively to the National Gallery of Arts in Washington, and the Princeton University Art Museum.” declared Laura Paulson, Christie’s Chairman and International Director for Post-War and Contemporary Art.

UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $41,045,000 in the highest grossing sale in art history which brought in $744 million.

Zhang Xiaogang’s Bloodline: Big Family No. 3 sold for a world record price of $12.1 million US.

Auction records were established for Chinese, Japanese and South East Asian artists at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Asian Art sale in Hong Kong.  There were eight auction records in a sale which realised US$85.9 million.  The top lot was Zhang Xiaogang’s Bloodline: Big Family No. 3 which sold for US$12.1 million.  Collectors from around the world competed vigorously and Asian buyers took most of the top pieces. Seven bidders competed for Potted Chrysanthemums, a previously unrecorded painting by modern Chinese master Sanyu which sold for US$10.4 million.