Christie’s « antiquesandartireland.com

Posts Tagged ‘Christie’s’

BACON ONCE OWNED BY LE BROCQUY COULD MAKE £11 MILLION AT CHRISTIE’S

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

Francis Bacon Study for A Portrait, 1953. (click on image to enlarge)

A painting by Francis Bacon (1909-1992) once owned by his friend Louis le Brocquy could make £11 million at Christie’s. Study for a Portrait, 1953 will be a highlight of Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art sale in London on June 28.

It has previously been owned by two of Francis Bacon’s contemporaries: Rodrigo Moynihan, a pioneer of abstract painting in the 1930’s who was Professor of Painting at the Royal College of Art and le Brocquy.

This was one of the last paintings Bacon made in his studio at the Royal College of Art rented from Rodrigo Moynihan from 1951 to 1953. He created some of his greatest landmark works here including the definitive series of Popes and his first portrait triptych.

Le Brocquy acquired the painting from Moynihan. The Irish artist in turn sold it to Marlborough Fine Art. Never sold at auction, it has been in private hands since. In 1984 it was bought from Marlborough by the Swiss entrepreneur and wine producer Donald M Hess, one of the world’s top art collectors.

Francis Bacon’s work is among the most popular 20th century art sold at auction. His Three Studies for Self Portrait, 1974 made $25,282,500 / £15,422,325 at Christie’s New York earlier this month. Another Bacon, Untitled (Crouching Nude on Rail), 1952, made $9,602,500 / £5,857,525 at the same sale.

UPDATE: IT made £17,961,250

Tags: bacon, Christie's, le Brocquy, Moynihan, portrait
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on BACON ONCE OWNED BY LE BROCQUY COULD MAKE £11 MILLION AT CHRISTIE’S

A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin and Fabergé at Christie’s

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin will lead Christie’s Russian sale on June 6 in London. Painted in 1875, the work depicts a lively French café scene and represents a daring deviation from Repin’s celebrated Russian subjects. The picture was exhibited at the 1875 Parisian salon and is extensively recorded in the literature on the artist. It was acquired in 1916 by the present owner’s grandfather, who knew Repin. On the market for the first time in almost a century it is estimated at £3-5 million.

The afternoon session of the sale is devoted to Russian works of art. It features more than 40 works by Fabergé, many with Russian Imperial provenance. Leading the selection is a three-colour gold and guilloché enamel Imperial presentation snuff-box by Fabergé (estimate £300,000-500,000). This was given to Charles Robert Carrington in 1894 to commemorate his attendance at the funeral of Emperor Alexander III and the wedding of Emperor Nicholas II.

UPDATE: Christie’s achieved the highest price for a painting ever sold in a Russian sale by an international auction house with Repin’s A Parisian Café . The picture session was 92% sold by value. Fabergé was sold 96% by value. Christie’s say their strategy continues to prioritise quality over quantity; “with this in mind we look forward to our next sale in November.”

A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin. UPDATE: THIS WAS SOLD FOR £4.5 MILLION, A NEW WORLD RECORD FOR THE ARTIST.

Imperial presentation snuff-box by Fabergé. UPDATE: THIS WAS ACQUIRED BY AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTOR FOR £385,250.

Tags: Christie's, Fabergé, Russia
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES | Comments Off on A Parisian Café by Ilya Repin and Fabergé at Christie’s

WARHOL TOPS STELLAR CHRISTIE’S CONTEMPORARY SALE

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

The Andy Warhol self-portrait from 1963-64. (click on image to enlarge).

FOUR photo booth images of Andy Warhol in blue

The re-discovered Rothko from a private collection. (click on image to enlarge)

made a record $38.4 million over a high estimate of $30 million at Christie’s post-war and contemporary sale in New York on May 11.

The sale total of $301,683,000 was the biggest tally for a New York evening contemporary sale since May 2008. No less than 62 of the 65 lots on offer found buyers. There were records for Cy Twombly and Richard Diebenkorn while a Cindy Sherman at $3.9 million fetched the highest price ever for a photograph at auction.

The photo-booth style Warhol Self-Portrait, 1963-64 was the top lot and a new record for a Warhol self portrait. At the same sale Warhol’s 1986 self portrait – the one with spiky hair – made $27,522,500.

A re-discovered Mark Rothko work, Untitled No. 17, signed and dated 1961, made $33,682,500.

Tags: Christie's, Contemporary art, Warhol
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on WARHOL TOPS STELLAR CHRISTIE’S CONTEMPORARY SALE

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER AND POSTERS CAN BE FUN

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Diamonds are Forever concept artwork (left), detail (centre) and the final poster design (right).

Diamonds are Forever and posters are pretty important too. The original concept artwork for the poster campaign of the 1971 James Bond classic Diamonds Are Forever hand-painted by Robert McGinnis leads Christie’s sale of Vintage Film Posters in London on June 15. The unique prototype offers a rare chance to own an exceptional piece of James Bond memorabilia. It is estimated at £18,000-24,000.

The auction spans nine decades of film making with over 300 lots of promotional material. As well as James Bond posters, Dr. No through to Never Say Never Again, a rare advance British quad for Thunderball, 1965 (£6,000-9,000), original concept artwork for View to A Kill, 1985 (£4,000-6,000), and the final poster design used for the Eon/United Artists production Diamonds are Forever (£300-500), the sale features cinematic genres from Film Noir to Disney.

The selection includes Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour, 1967 (£300-500), Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961 (£1,500-2,500), Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958 (£300-500), Anita Ekberg in La Dolce Vita, 1959 (£4,000-6,000), as well as Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Lauren Bacall and many more.

Tags: Bond, Christie's, film posters
Posted in AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES | Comments Off on DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER AND POSTERS CAN BE FUN

de Vlaminck, Monet, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, de Chirico at Christie’s

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

MAURICE DE VLAMINCK (1876-1958) Paysage de banlieue at Christie's, New York.

Paintings and sculpture by masters Claude Monet, Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, Maurice de Vlaminck, Pablo Picasso, and Giorgio de Chirico are a feature of Christie’s sale of Impressionist and Modern art in New York on May 4. There are 57 exceptional works in a sale which is expected to realise more than $160 million.

Head of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie’s New York Conor Jordan said the London sales in February demonstrated that collector demand for top-quality works offered fresh to the market continues to reach new heights.

Among the most visually-arresting paintings in the sale is Paysage de banlieue, a fauvist masterpiece by celebrated French painter Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958). He was among the leaders of the movement dedicated to revolutionizing 20th century art through the use of pure, unmodulated color and expressive brushwork. Paysage de banlieue, painted in 1905, is estimated at $18-25 million.

Picasso’s Les femmes d’Alger, version L is estimated at $20-30 million. It is one of the largest works within the artist’s groundbreaking series of 15 paintings created in 1955 in homage to the masterpiece of the same name by the 19th century master Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863).

UPDATE: DE VLAMINCK’S PAYSAGE DE BANLIEUE MADE $22,482,500

Tags: Christie's, de Vlaminck, Impressionist, Modern, new york
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on de Vlaminck, Monet, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, de Chirico at Christie’s

MASTERPIECE BY STUBBS AT CHRISTIE’S

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

Gimcrack by Stubbs. (Click to enlarge) © Christie’s Images UPDATE: IT MADE £22,441,250

A masterpiece of British art will be offered by Christie’s next July. Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, with a Trainer, a Stable-Lad, and a Jockey by George Stubbs (1724-1806) depicts one of the most popular and admired of all 18th century racehorses. From the collection of Lord Woolavinton, a whisky magnate, it is expected to make more than £20 million. The painting measures more than six feet across.

John Stainton, Senior Director of British Pictures, Christie’s said: “This is a truly exceptional example of 18th century painting which holds immense importance on many levels – as an Old Master picture, as a great masterpiece of British Art, and as one of the finest sporting pictures ever painted”.

Richard Knight, International co-head of Old Master and 19th Century Art at Christie’s said: “The sale of this masterpiece will be a cornerstone moment in the history of Christie’s. It is telling that as a result of the global nature of the 21st century art market, Stubbs, a very British artist, is set to join a small and select group who represent the most valuable old master artists ever sold, placing him alongside Raphael, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Turner.”

Commissioned by Frederick St. John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke the work was painted in 1765. Gimcrack won an impressive 28 of his 36 races was was unplaced only once. The painting will be offered at the Old Master and British Paintings evening sale In London on July 5. The current auction record for Stubbs is £10.1 million paid at Sotheby’s last year for Brood Mare and Foals.

UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £22,441,250

See antiquesandartireland.com for December 11, 2010.

Tags: Christie's, George Stubbs
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on MASTERPIECE BY STUBBS AT CHRISTIE’S

CHATEAU de GOURDON COLLECTION BRINGS IN 42,387,113

Friday, April 1st, 2011

The Chateau de Gourdon Collection realised 42,387,113 at Christie’s in Paris. One of the finest private collections of early 20th century decorative art and design ever offered at auction was disposed of in a landmark series of five sales over three days at the Palais de Tokyo. It was sold 84% by lot and 84% by value. The 860 lots at the Palais de Tokyo had a minimum estimate of 40 million euros.

The sale viewing drew over 17,000 visitors in four days. Buyers were 75 per cent European, 21 per cent American, two per cent Asian and one per cent Middle Eastern.

See antiquesandartireland.com posts for March 30 and December 3.

Tags: Christie's, Gourdon Collection
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES | Comments Off on CHATEAU de GOURDON COLLECTION BRINGS IN 42,387,113

WOMAN SMILING, FREUD’S PORTRAIT OF SUZY BOYT, AT CHRISTIE’S

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Woman Smiling, 1958-59, by Lucian Freud, the only single portrait of Suzy Boyt who was to mother five of the artist’s children, will be sold by Christie’s in London in June. The auction house say it is the most significant work by Freud to be offered at auction since Benefits Supervisor Sleeping sold at Christie’s New York in May 2008 for $33.6 million – a world record price for a work by a living artist.

Woman Smiling, is a tender portrait of Freud’s former prize-winning Slade pupil and lover. Their friendship lasted many decades. She appears sitting with bashful eyes, radiating with a youthful smile and projecting the affection that existed between the artist and sitter. As Lucian Freud once said, ‘Painters who use life itself as their subject-matter…do so in order to translate life into art almost literally, as it were…The painter makes real to others his innermost feelings about all that he cares for’ (L. Freud, ‘Some Thoughts on Painting’ Encounter, July 1954).

Formerly in the collection of Mrs. Ian Fleming it is being offered as part of an important European private collection where it has been since 1985. The wife of the James Bond creator was an important early patron of Freud and subject of his paintings. She was the first owner and the seller of Woman Smiling when it last appeared at auction at Christie’s in 1973, selling for £5,040. Suzy Boyt’s other appearance in a Freud painting is as a character on the right hand side of Interior W11 (After Watteay) painted in the early 1980’s.

Francis Outred, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s Europe said Woman Smiling pioneered the style of painting for which Freud is most praised and recognised, using thick, expressionist brushstrokes and swathes of impasto to build a human physicality. The work is estimated at £3.5 million to £4.5 million.

At the sale on June 28 Christie’s will offer five drawings by Freud from the collection of Kay Saatchi.

UPDATE: IT MADE £4,745,250

Tags: Boyt, Christie's, Freud
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on WOMAN SMILING, FREUD’S PORTRAIT OF SUZY BOYT, AT CHRISTIE’S

INAUGURAL SESSION OF GOURDON COLLECTION BRINGS IN 24,293,400

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

This screen by Eileen Gray made 1,353,000 at Christie's in Paris. (click on image to enlarge)

The inaugural session of 20th century masterpieces from the Gourdon Collection at Christie’s in Paris brought in €24,293,400. The top lot of the opening day of the three day sale was a chaise longue ‘on skis’ created in 1929 by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann. It made €2,865,000.

The visionary designs of Irish designer Eileen Gray captivated the imagination of many during the public viewings at Palais de Tokyo. Gray’s black-lacquered ‘Brick’ screen circa 1922 made €1,353,000. Her ‘Bibendum’ armchair which clearly evokes the logo of tire-manufacturer Michelin made €709,000.

No less than eight works of art sold made over €1 million and there were five world records for artists. These included the Ruhlmann chaise longue, a carpet by Fernand Léger at €169,000, a carpet by Francis Bacon at €109,000 , a work by René Coulon at €85,000 and furniture by Louis Majorelle at €1,162,600.

The remaining four sessions of the sale take place today and tomorrow.

SEE antiquesandartireland.com post for December 3

UDATE: Overall this sale brought in 42.38 million euro over five sessions.

Tags: Christie's, Eileen Gray, Gourdon Collection
Posted in AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES | Comments Off on INAUGURAL SESSION OF GOURDON COLLECTION BRINGS IN 24,293,400

CHRISTIE’S TO SELL 150 ARTWORKS FROM JEFFREY ARCHER’S COLLECTION

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Christie’s is to sell around 150 works from the collection of Jeffrey Archer in London in June. The colourful former chairman of the Conservative Party spent five years in the House of Commons, 19 in the House of Lords and two at Her Majesty’s Pleasure. His years in jail spawned three best selling Prison Diaries.

Lord Archer will conduct a charity sale at Christie’s, King St., on June 27. One of the highlights is the senior timekeeper’s stopwatch that recorded Roger Bannister’s first four minute mile at Iffley Road in May, 1954.

On June 28 the art collection, expected to realise around £5 million, will be sold. It includes La Seine près de Vétheuil, temps orageux, 1878, by Monet (£800,000 to £1,200,000); L’Eternelle Idole (Grande Modèle) by Auguste Rodin (£300,000 to £500,000); Marilyn (Feldman & Schellmann II.24) by Andy Warhol (£100,000 to £150,000) and Rue de la Boucherie with St Jacques by Walter Richard Sickert (£50,000 to £80,000).

Jeffrey Archer has topped the bestseller charts around the world, with sales of over 250 million copies. He is published in 97 countries and 33 languages. He currently spends much of his time as an amateur auctioneer and conducts around 30 charity auctions each year.

Tags: Christie's, Jeffrey Archer
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on CHRISTIE’S TO SELL 150 ARTWORKS FROM JEFFREY ARCHER’S COLLECTION

antiquesandartireland.com

Posts Tagged ‘Christie’s’

COLLECTING BACKGROUNDER