FRANCIS BACON – Figure in Movement, 1978
Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection will highlight Christie’s London Marquee Week in October. Offered in three dedicated auctions with an evening sale on October 14,, a day sale on October 15 plus an online sale from October 1-20 collectively comprising nearly 200 works, this selection from the personal collection of British businessman Peter Simon, the founder of Monsoon, will be offered during Frieze Week. The paintings in these sales span the history of Modern and Contemporary art, connecting the St Ives School with European Modernism, Abstract Expressionism with Op Art, and the School of London with contemporary painting from around the world. Major works by masters of modern and contemporary art (such as Francis Bacon, Piet Mondrian, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and Hurvin Anderson) are presented alongside lesser-known and rarely seen pieces, each selected for its individual character and story. Bacon’s Figure in Movement is estimated at £14 million – £18 million.
The collection bears witness to Simon’s love of colour, form and pattern, honed by hours spent reviewing prints with Monsoon’s fashion and textile designers, and guided by an innate understanding of shades, textures and composition. Alighiero Boetti’s Mappa, created in 1988 (£2,000,000-3,000,000), is an emblematic example of this: vibrant hand-sewn silk embroideries that depict the world’s landmasses fragmented into nation-states, with flags filling their irregular outlines to create a melee of colour, pattern and symbol. They were produced in partnership with Afghan weavers who crafted the maps to Boetti’s instructions.
ALIGHIERO BOETTI – Mappa, 1988
