L’Apocalypse by Albrecht Durer, considered to be the first “painter’s book”, comes up at Christie’s in Paris on February 20 as part of the Marc Litzler Collection.
Durer breaks with the traditional medieval representations of the 15th century with a new a personal vision in this book published in 1498. It was influenced by his trip to Italy to study the works of the Renaissance. It features more dramatic subjects portrayed through wood engravings. L’Apolalypse is estimated at 150,000-200,000.
The Litzler is notable for the quality and rarity of its illustrated editions and art books, which comprise the majority of the sale. It features the groundbreaking Jazz series by Matisse made of 20 stencilled coloured plates made from the artists’ collages and cutouts. Jazz is estimated at 200,000-300,000.
UPDATE: L’APOCALYPSE sold for 346,000, Jazz for 298,000. The auction brought in 4.4 million.
