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The major November art sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in New York this November will feature art from the 20th and 21st centuries. A series of sales at Sotheby’s from November 14-17 will showcase the artistic movements from Impressionism to the groundbreaking artists working today. At Christie’s auctions on November 17, 18 and 19 will be led by Jean Michel Basquiat’s Sugar Ray Robinson.
The first highlights from the collection of Hubert de Givenchy were unveiled by Christie’s today. They include Woman Walking by Alberto Giacometti (€20-30 million); Passage of the Migratory Bird by Joan Miro (€2.5 – €3.5 million) and Faun with a Spear by Pablo Picasso (€1.5 – 2 million). With over 1,200 lots dating from the 17th to the 20th century, this collection features a remarkable gathering of nearly 800 pieces of French and European furniture, including many masterpieces of classical furniture from the French Regency period to the Neoclassical period and onwards.
In the decoration of his homes, Hubert de Givenchy always considered the furniture in constant dialogue with the works of art, both ancient and modern. Alongside numerous major sculptures and paintings by old masters such as Hubert Robert, the collection includes several masterpieces of modern art: from the couturier’s friend and collaborator Alberto Giacometti’s Woman Walking, a key painting by Joan Miró never before presented on the market, several works by Alberto’s brother, Diego Giacometti and more contemporary works by Claudio Bravo and François-Xavier Lalanne.
Already underway in Palm Beach, a selection of works from the collection will be previewed in several cities including New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Sales will take place in Paris from June 14-17 and online from June 8-23.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 2, 2022)
One of the most important collections of any kind ever to come to market – the Macklowe Collection – will come up at two landmark sales at Sotheby’s in New York on November 15 and in May of 2022. The 65 artworks are estimated in excess of $600 million which is the highest estimate ever placed on any collection at auction. The first sale will feature 34 works which encompass an extraordinary breadth of 20th and 21st century art, ranging in date from the 1940s to works painted less than a decade ago, and including masterworks by Alberto Giacometti, Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol. Jeff Koons, Agnes Martin, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter and Brice Marden all feature. The works will be on view in London, Taipei, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Paris before the first sale in New York. Here is a short video on the sale:
The collection of the spectacularly rich New York couple Harry and Linda Macklowe is being sold on the orders of a judge as part of an acrimonious divorce. After 59 years of marriage the couple, both in their ’80’s, began divorce proceedings five years ago. Harry Macklowe is one of New York’s best known property developers, his ex-wife Linda is an honorary trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a trustee of the Guggenheim Foundation.
Sotheby’s scored a white glove live streamed Impressionist and Modern Art auction from New York last night. Specialists in New York, London and Hong Kong took bids and interacted with auctioneer Oliver Barker. All lots were sold and the evenings auctions realised $284 million.
The Impressionist and Modern sale totalled $141.1 million and was led by Giacometti’s Femme Leon which sold for $25.9 million. There was a new auction record for Giorgio de Chirico when Ariadne’s Afternoon made $15.8 million.
The Contemporary Art sale brought in $142.8 million. A trio of Alfa Romeo concept cars led the sale and sold for $14.8 million. This was first in Contemporary evening art auction history. Italian architect and designer Carlo Mollino’s dining table caused a three-continent bidding battle. It eventually sold for $6.2 million, a record for any work of Italian design. It was from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Tamara de Lempicka, Alberto Giacometti, Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali are among the big names due to come under the hammer at Christies in London on February 5. The Impressionist and Modern evening auction will be followed by The Art of the Surreal, together launching 20th century at Christie’s. de Lempicka’s Portrait de Marjorie Ferry from 1932 and Giacometti’s Trois hommes qui march from 1948, each estimated at £8-12 million, will highlight the first of the sales. There is a similar estimate on Magritte’s A la rencontre du plaisir from 1962. It is one of seven works by the artist in the auction.
Diego Giacometti, ‘En Souvenir de la Levrette Bucky’ Table. ($250,000-350,000) © Christie’s Images Limited 2018.
A sale of 27 lots created by both Giacometti brothers will take place at Christie’s in New York on November 12 as part of their marquee 20th century week. Lots on offer represent their crucial contribution to the field of decorative objects, lighting, and furniture.
Highlights include an ‘Arbre Au Hibou’ table, circa 1980 ($200,000-300,000), and a ‘Grecque’ table, circa 1965 ($250,000-350,000) by Diego Giacometti.
There is a sculpture of Giovanni Giacometti, ‘Tête du Père Ronde II’ ($300,000-500,000) and a drawing of Diego, ‘Tête’ ($30,000-50,000) both by Alberto Giacometti.
In the Post-War and Contemporary evening sale Christie’s will be auctioning an Alberto Giacometti Cat estimated at$14-18 million
Highlights will be on view in Paris from October 19-21 and at the Rockefeller galleries in New York from November 4-11.
Alberto Giacometti – Lustre avec femme, homme et oiseau UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £7.6 MILLION
A dramatic chandelier by Alberto Giacometti comes up at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale on February 28. Estimated at £6-8 million Lustre avec femme, homme et oiseau brings together the artist’s most celebrated figures, Walking Man and Standing Woman. It is one of only three casts by Giacometti for select patrons and a unique instance where all of the key motifs of the artist’s career appear in a single work.
The chandelier encapsulates the existential anxiety of the post-war period whilst casting magical shadows that animate Giacometti’s heightened reality. It is coming to auction for the first time.
Thomas Bompard of Sotheby’s said: “This beautiful chandelier by Alberto Giacometti is the tangible coming together of visual arts, decoration and theatre. Despite a natural tendency for introversion, Giacometti became a figurehead of existentialism – finding his place at the centre of the avant-garde scene of artists and intellectuals in Paris. He was sought after by patrons, dealers and fellow artists, collaborating with the likes of modernist playwright Samuel Beckett to capture the fragile but powerful beauty of what hadn’t been destroyed by the Second World War. This is much more than a chandelier: it is a beacon of universal symbolism, of hope and humanism.”
Giacometti’s L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man) is set to become the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction at Christie’s curated sale in New York on May 11. It is widely recognized as one of the most important sculptural achievements of the Modern era. Giacometti conceived the work in 1947 and made just six casts of it plus one artist’s proof. It is estimated at $130 million. Here is a video from Christie’s about the work.
UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $141,285,000 TO BECOME THE MOST VALUABLE SCULPTURE EVER SOLD AT AUCTION
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 15, 2015).
