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Francis Bacon (1909-1992) Man in Blue VI (£4-6 million) courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013. (Click to enlarge). UPDATE: IT MADE £4,969,250

PETER DOIG (B. 1959) The Architect’s Home in the Ravine (£4-6 million) courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013. (Click to enlarge).  UPDATE: IT MADE £7,657,250, A NEW WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST.

Francis Bacon’s Man in Blue VI of 1954 is among the highlights at Christie’s Post War and Contemporary auctions in London on February 13 and 14. Dating from 1954 – the year Bacon represented Britain at the 27th Venice Biennale – Man in Blue VI is the penultimate work in a suite of Man in Blue paintings. It is estimated at £4-6 million. Three are in museum collections: Man in Blue I, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Man in Blue IV, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna and Man in Blue V, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfalen, Dusseldorf.
On offer are some important works created by celebrated British artists including Peter Doig, David Hockney, Damien Hirst and the fetishistic Pop artist Allen Jones. Last year Sotheby’s sold three furniture sculptures by Allen Jones estimated at £90,000-120,000 for £2.6 million. (See post on this website for May 14, 2012). One of them, from an edition of six, has now turned up at Christie’s. Hatstand from 1969 is estimated at £1.5 million. David Hockney’s Great Pyramid at Giza with Broken Head from Thebes, is a classic image by the artist commemorating his first trip to Egypt in 1963. Peter Doig’s The Architect’s Home in the Ravine recreates Canadian
architect Eberhard Zeidler’s modernist home at Rosedale in Toronto. Away from the Flock (Divided), a single sheep suspended in two minimalist tanks, was created by Damien Hirst in 1995, the same year he was awarded the Turner Prize. The auctions will feature a selection of European art from the 1950’s and includes significant works by Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Gerhard Richter.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for January 7, 2013).

THE first  on-line art auction of 2013 by Morgan O’Driscoll is nearing a close.  It continues until 7 p.m. on January 28.  The sale is on view in Skibbereen in west Cork. The catalogue, with current bidding, is on-line.   Here are some of the highlights. You can click on any image to enlarge it.

Brian Denington (b.1944) Still Life of Pear (600-800).

John Kingerlee (b.1936) Kilcatherine 2005 91,200-1,800).

Kenneth Webb RWA FRSA RUA (b.1927) West of Ireland Seascape (3,000-4,000).

Frank Egginton RCA (1908-1990) New Lake at Sunset, Donegal (1,500-2,000).

Mark O’Neill (b.1963) Kylemore Green (2,000-3,000).

Matt Grogan (20th/21st Century) Cafe in Venice (500-700).

The Sacrifice of Polyxena created in 1647 by Charles Le Brun (1619-1690). (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: IT MADE 1.44 MILLION ERO.

A rediscovered painting by Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) to be offered at Christie’s sale of Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings in Paris next April 15 was hiding in plain sight at the Ritz. Louis XIV declared Le Brun to the greatest French artist of all time. His most important works are at Versaille and he was the originator of the Louis XIV Style. Painted in 1647 The Sacrifice of Polyxena – estimated at 300,000-500,000 euro – was recently recognised by the Ritz’s art adviser Joseph Friedman and fellow consultant Wanda Tymowska. It was in the Coco Chanel Suite. Archives have not revealed how the painting came to the hotel but it is possible that it was already in the 1705 townhouse when it was acquired by César Ritz in 1898. The Le Brun attribution has been unanimously supported by leading French museums.
Painted when he had newly returned to Paris from Rome the work displays the profound impact of the art of Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) on Le Brun’s style. It shows the artist’s fidelity in reproducing the antiquities of Imperial Rome, evident in the details of the bronze vase, tripod and marble sarcophagus that ornament the scene, and the incense casket, taken from a drawing made by Le Brun in Rome after an Antique prototype.

It will be on view at the Rockefeller Centre in New York from January 26-29.

UPDATE:  It was sold to the Metropolitan Museum in New York for 1.44 million euro.

Joan Miró’s rare work L’Echelle de l’évasion – “The Ladder of Escape? – leads Christie’s landmark Art of the Surreal sale in London on February 6.

Joan Miró’s rare work L’Echelle de l’évasion – “The Ladder of Escape” – leads Christie’s landmark Art of the Surreal sale in London on February 6. Painted in December 1939 whilst living in Normandy during the months of the so-called “phoney war” when France awaited a German invasion L’Echelle de l’évasion is the culmination of a series of new works marking Miró’s flight from the grim realities of Europe at that time. The “Ladder of Escape” was an important motif for Miró from the early 1920’s. It served as a potent metaphor for the artist’s escape from reality into the world of his art. L’Echelle de l’évasion is one of two works of this title. Making its first appearance on the market in almost 60 years it is estimated at £5-8 million. The other, a gouache from January 1940, is at MoMA in New York.
The auction presents significant work by leading names of the Surrealist movement, from René Magritte and Max Ernst to Paul Delvaux and Óscar Domínguez. Estimates range from £30,000 to £8 million, with a pre-sale estimate of £30,880,000 to £46,870,000, a 50% increase on last year’s pre-sale low estimate. This reflects the quality of the work on offer and the dynamic growth in market demand for Surrealism. Olivier Camu, Deputy Chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art, Christie’s said: “This pioneering movement of 20th century art now commands the attention of the global art market, with Christie’s auctions attracting new collectors each year from around the world and from other collecting areas, notably Contemporary art.”
Christie’s pre-sale estimates for Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist works offered in the February auctions range from a low of £115,216,300 to a high of £171,250,000.

Paul Delvaux (1897-1994) Les nymphes des eaux (£3-5 million) courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.

Joan Miró (1893-1983) Femme (Femme debout) (£3-5 million) courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.  UPDATE: THIS MADE £6,313,250

Óscar Domínguez (1906-1957) Machne à coudre électro-sexuelle (£1.3-1.8 million) courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.  UPDATE: THIS MADE £2,113,250

René Magritte (1898-1967) Tous les jours (£1.8-2.5 million) courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2013.  UPDATE: THIS MADE £1,721,250