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    • Posts Tagged ‘Christie’s’

    FREUD PORTRAIT IN THE HISTORICAL TRADITION AT CHRISTIE’S

    Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024

    Lucian Freud –  Ria, Naked Portrait. Painted in 2006-2007. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £11,810,000

    A seminal work by Lucian Freud – Ria, Naked Portrait – with an estimate of £10 million – £15 million is a highlight at Christie’s 20th/21st century evening sale in London on October 9 during Frieze Week. The painting is deeply rooted in the art historical tradition of the reclining female nude, drawing from a lineage that includes Giorgione, Titian, and Velázquez, and finds a modern culmination in Édouard Manet’s Olympia (1863), a work that Lucian Freud greatly admired.

    The sitter, Ria Kirby, was an art handler whom Freud initially met at the Victoria & Albert Museum during his joint exhibition with Frank Auerbach in 2006. Ria went on to become one of his most significant sitters during the final decade of his life, with sessions totalling an intense 2,400 hours over the course of 16 months. Ria, Naked Portrait was completed in 2007 and it is the only portrait of Ria the artist realised. The painting is offered at auction for the first time.

    UPDATE: The sale total was £81,980,050

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    THE MOST IMPORTANT SURREALIST WORK EVER AT AUCTION

    Monday, September 23rd, 2024

    René Magritte (1898-1967) – L’empire des lumières, 1954. UPDATE: THIS MADE $105,000,000 AT HAMMER – A NEW WORLD RECORD FOR THE ARTIST.

    This spectacular  L’empire des lumières by René Magritte which depicts a paradoxical Surrealist scene in which day and night are in simultaneous occurrence from the collection of Mica Ertegun is estimated by Christie’s at in excess of $95 million. It is billed as the most important Surrealist work ever at auction. There will be a series of auctions from the collection in New York beginning on November 19-20. The series spans a vast array of art and objects acquired over more than half a century and are part of Mrs. Ertegun’s personal collections in Manhattan, Southampton and Paris. An arbiter of style she was a renowned interior designer and co-founder of MAC II. A significant portion of proceeds is intended to benefit philanthropic initiatives. During her life, Mrs. Ertegun generously supported the Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities at Oxford University, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the World Monument Fund and more. Jewellery, Design and Decorative Arts sales will be held on December 10 and 13 in New York and Paris. The sale in New York on November 19-20 will feature the finest in Surrealism, rare examples of Russian and Ukrainian Modernism, Purism, de Stijl and Color Field paintings.

    Ioana Maria Banu Ertegun, known as “Mica,” was born in 1926, the only child of a prominent Romanian family. In 1948, the Communist takeover forced Mica from her native country to Switzerland; she later moved to Paris, then Canada, where she and her first husband settled and worked on their chicken farm on Lake Ontario. In 1958, Mica traveled to New York to meet with the Turkish ambassador in the hope that he could help extricate her father from Romania. There, she met her future husband, Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records. The couple married in 1961 and established their life in New York.

    René Magritte (1898-1967) – La cour d’amour, 1960. UPDATE: THIS MADE $8,800,000 AT HAMMER

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    JEFF KOONS’ BALLOON MONKEY (BLUE) AT CHRISTIE’S IN LONDON

    Thursday, September 12th, 2024

    Jeff Koons. – Balloon Monkey (Blue). Executed in 2006-2013. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £7,555,000

    Jeff Koons’ Balloon Monkey (Blue) will be offered by Christie’s as one of the highlights of the October Frieze Week 20th/21st Century London evening sale on October 9. With an estimate of £6,500,000 – 10,000,00 this sculpture is one of five unique versions (Red, Magenta, Blue, Yellow, and Orange).

    It is to be installed in St James’s Square, adjacent to Christie’s Headquarters in London, from September 30 to October 9. The work comes to auction following the success of Balloon Monkey (Magenta) sold in 2022 for £10,136,500 and is an evolution of Koons’ renowned Celebration series which began in 1993. The series includes some of his most iconic creations — such as Balloon Dog (1994-2000).

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    THE EINSTEIN LETTER THAT WENT NUCLEAR AT CHRISTIE’S

    Thursday, August 15th, 2024

    The 1939 letter from Einstein to President Franklin D Roosevelt that ushered in the age of the atomic bomb comes up at Christie’s in New York on September 10 with an estimate of $4 million – $6 million. It will lead the Pushing Boundaries: Ingenuity from the Paul G Allen collection sale. The Einstein letter resulted in the Manhattan Project and the story of atomic power told in the 2023 blockbuster film Oppenheimer might never have happened had it not been written. Two versions were drafted, the shorter version on offer here and a more detailed one delivered to the White House by hand – now in the permanent collection of the Franklin D Roosevelt Library in New York. The sale tells the story of science and technology from pre-history to the present day through nearly 40 inspirational documents and objects. The majority of lots date from the 20th century, reflecting Mr. Allen’s most personal passions and serving as a testament to the rapid pace of technological innovation in living memory. 

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    ART FOR THE OCEAN AT CHRISTIE’S IN LONDON

    Wednesday, August 7th, 2024
    Marina Abramovic – Performance for the Oceans Photograph by Marco Anelli

    Performance for the Oceans (2024) is the result of a collaboration between the Serbian conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramovic and Blue Marine, a charity dedicated to protecting the ocean and tackling overfishing. The work, filmed on Fire Island in New York, depicts Abramovic giving her unconditional love and energy to our oceans, stressing the urgent need for their preservation.

    The charity has partnered with Christie’s on Blue: Art for the Ocean. More than 20 world leading artists are donating works to be auctioned within Christie’s 20th/21st Century Marquee Week sales next October to coincide with Frieze Art Fair in London to benefit Blue Marine’s projects around the world. Blue Marine’s mission is to combat overfishing, in order to help life in the ocean perform its vital function of stabilising the Earth’s climate. Among other artists involved are Yoshitomo Nara, Edmund de Waal, Lydia Blakeley, and Jonas Burgert.

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    NEW WORLD RECORD FOR TITIAN AT CHRISTIE’S

    Tuesday, July 2nd, 2024

    TITIAN – REST ON THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT

    There was a new world auction record to Titian at Christie’s in London this evening when his early masterpiece Rest on the Flight into Egypt made £17,560,000. The painting was offered by Lord Bath and the Longleat Trustees as part of their long-term investment strategy. It has been owned by Dukes, Archdukes and Holy Roman Emperors, by Napoleon and stolen in the late 20th century.

    Lord Bath said: “It has been fabulous to see the interest in Titian’s work as this unique painting was previewed in the lead-up to this evening’s auction. It has been well-received which clearly demonstrates how the fascination with this exquisite early masterpiece has been maintained across the centuries. It has an extraordinary history, looted by Napoleon, bought by the 4th Marquess in 1878 and then stolen from Longleat in 1995 before miraculously being recovered. As the next chapter in the Rest on the Flight into Egypt’s story is written, I am pleased with the outcome of tonight; which will support our considerable long-term investment strategy at Longleat to build on the vision and legacy of my ancestors for the benefit of future generations.”  The Titian was the top lot at Christie’s Classic Week evening sales, Old Masters Part I and The Exceptional sale, which realised a combined total of  £50,788,420.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 4, 2024)

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    STRONG SHOWING FOR DECORATIVE ARTS AT CHRISTIE’S

    Wednesday, June 19th, 2024

    SEVRES ORMOLU-MOUNTED POWDERED LAVENDER AND GOLD-GROUND VASE c1805-1806 MADE $94,500. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd.

    There was energetic participation by bidders and buyers from 33 countries at Christie’s online sale of two American collections which brought in $2,157,624. More than 200 lots of mostly 18th and 19th century European decorative arts were from the estates of two passionate collectors, Adolphus and Emily Andrews, San Franciso and Donald Bruce Wilson of Memphis. The top lot of the sale came from the Andrews collection, a rare pair of marquetry table screens made for Joachim Murat, King of Naples, which made $378,000, more than seven times its low estimate. The top lot of the Wilson collection was a Sevres ormolu-mounted powdered lavender and gold-ground vase which made $94,500.

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    THE STARTLING DIFFERENCE MADE BY A PROFESSIONAL RESTORATION

    Monday, June 3rd, 2024

    What a difference a professional restoration can make.  Pictured here are before and after conservation images of The Madonna of the Cherries by Quentin Metsys, which will be a highlight at Christie’s Old Master sale in London on July 2.  Painted in the 1520’s in Antwerp all trace of the work was lost following the death of its then owner in 1668. It resurfaced in Paris in the 1920’s with an altered composition including a curtain across the window and was no longer recognised as work by Metsys. With its overpainting and varnish it was offered at Christie’s in 2015 as a studio variant deriving from the original, reflecting scholarly opinion at that time. Subsequent conservation was transformative and enabled scholars to recognise it as the original.  The estimate for the work is now £8 million – £12 million (€9.40 million – €14.09 million). 

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    AN EXPENSIVE BUNCH OF FLOWERS BY ANDY WARHOL AT CHRISTIE’S

    Friday, May 17th, 2024

    ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987) – FLOWERS WHICH SOLD FOR $35.5 MILLION

    Flowers, a 1964 work by Andy Warhol, was the top lot at Christie’s evening sale in New York on May 16. It made $35.5 million in a sale with global participation which totalled $413.3 million. Other top lots included Vincent Van Gogh’s Coin de jardin avec papillons, which realised $33.2 million, David Hockney’s A Lawn Being Sprinkled, which made $28.6 million and Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture, Femme Leoni, which brought $22.3 million. Of the 58 works sold, 15 achieved prices above $10 million, with Georgia O’Keeffe and Joan Mitchell counted among the top ten. 

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    MARES AND FOALS BY STUBBS AT CHRISTIE’S

    Monday, May 13th, 2024

    George Stubbs – Mares and Foals in an extensive landscape

    One of the largest pictures that George Stubbs painted – Mares and Foals in an extensive landscape – will be a highlight at Christie’s Old Masters sale in London on July 2. Stubbs was the most revered animal painter in the history of European Art and this work is one of the last two on this scale of any subject to remain in private hands. Dated to circa 1769, this monumental canvas is the artist’s grandest statement on the theme of Mares and Foals, the series of paintings executed in the 1760’s. The picture is believed to have been painted for the Prime Minister of Britain from 1768-1770, Augustus Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton (1735-1811), who was part of the closely-connected nexus of ‘Whig’ statesmen that provided Stubbs with his most important patronage during this career-defining period. Estimated at £7. – £10 million this painting last appeared on the market in 1976, since when it has been part of an important private collection in Illinois, U.S.A.

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