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Henri Matisse, Portrait of Mary Hutchinson, 1936  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £3.1 MILLION

A Matisse portrait of the writer Mary Hutchinson comes up at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern evening sale in London on June 19. It was created in the Paris studio of Matisse in 1936 and is estimated at £2-3 million.  Mary Hutchinson, a member of the Bloomsbury gr0up, was an active patron of the arts throughout her life.  A cousin of Lytton Strachey and friend of artist Duncan Grant, Mary was introduced to the Bloomsbury set and commenced a decade-long love affair with the art critic Clive Bell, the husband of painter Vanessa Bell. In 1915, Vanessa painted her own portrait of Mary, in dazzling colours reminiscent of Matisse’s style.

The charcoal portrait  – one of only a handful of commissioned portrait drawings Matisse made of English women –  is coming for sale from the estate of the late Lord Hutchinson of Lullington, QC, the sitter’s son. He was a renowned criminal barrister who defended Christine Keeler and Howard Marks, as well as the publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover in a long career of watershed legal cases and cause célèbres.  The sitting was arranged by the artist’s son-in-law Georges Duthuit, who was a writer and friend of Vanessa and Duncan.

Matisse Nu de dos (1er état) is estimated at $20-30 million. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS WAS SOLD PRIVATELY BEFORE THE AUCTION.

A cast of each of four monumental bronze sculptures by Henri Matisse, known collectively as Les Nus de dos (The Backs), is to be offered by Sotheby’s in four consecutive sales of Impressionist and Modern Art in London and New York.  The first comes up in New York on November 2.  Nu de dos (1er état) is estimated at $20-30 million.  Conceived in 1908-09 at the culmination of Matisse’s involvement with the Fauves the sculpture exemplifies the fluidity of line that dominated his paintings from this era.

Each of the four works was conceived individually over the course of two decades, and together they chart the evolution of Matisse’s artistic development through the early 20th century. The bronzes have been consigned by The Burnett Foundation of Fort Worth  Texas, and proceeds will further support the community of Fort Worth – the Foundation’s primary mission since its inception 30 years ago.  Dos II, Dos III and Dos IV will be offered individually in the next sales of Impressionist & Modern Art at Sotheby’s: London, February 2012; New York, May 2012; and London, June 2012.

They were consigned by the Burnett Foundation of Fort Worth and proceeds will support the local community.  The Foundation acquired the works in 1982 from Californian collector Norton Simon, who bought them from the artist’s estate in 1966.  They were on show for ten years at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.

UPDATE:  THE Matisse bronze was sold on November 1 prior to the auction as part of a quartet of Matisse bronzes in a private transaction.  The deal was made by Sotheby’s who did not release any information about the purchaser or disclose the price.