Maurice de Vlaminck – Sous-bois sold for $16,378,000
There was a new world record for Rodin at Sotheby’s sale of Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale in New York on May 9. L’Eternel printemps – a white marble rendering of a passionate couple – sold for $20.4 million. There was spirited bidding for other masterpieces in a sale which brought in $144.5 million.
Auguste Rodin – L’Éternel Printemps
Sous-Bois by Maurice de Vlaminck sold for $16,378,000, Paul Signac’s Maisons du Port made $10,666,000, Claude Monet’s Maree Basses aux petites Dalles sold for $9,822,000 and Camille a l’Ombre by the same artist sold for $9,434,000.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 21, 2016)
An artwork which stopped the traffic in Paris in 1878 is still daring after all these years. Aged twenty-six, French artist Henri Gervex experienced a succès de scandale when he exhibited Rolla, his most famous work. The painting was pulled from exhibition at the Salon by the Surintendant des beaux-arts on grounds of immorality, and subsequently put on public view by a Parisian dealer for three months where, according to Gervex, ‘there was an uninterrupted procession of visitors with a queue of carriages backed up to the Opera’.
Sotheby’s will offer Henri Gervex’s réplique of Rolla, in which the artist faithfully reprises the detail and palette of the monumental original (now belonging to the French state, and a highlight of the recent Splendeurs et Misères exhibition in Paris and Amsterdam). Most likely painted on commission for a collector who wanted their own piece of the scandal, the painting is the first full version of Rolla to come to auction in over twenty-five years, and the only known variant of its size. It comes up in London at a sale of 19th century European Paintings on May 25, with an estimate of £400,000-600,000.
Three works by L.S. Lowry from the collection of the late Cilla Black will come up at Sotheby’s sale of Modern and Post-War British art in London on June 13. Cilla rose to stardom as a singer managed by Brian Epstein, with songs written for her by close friends Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Decades on, she continued to delight millions with her unique brand of unaffected humour and charm. She was introduced by Epstein to the pleasure of buying art. The three paintings have a total estimate of £520,000-830,000.
Her sons are quoted by Sotheby’s saying: “Mum and dad bought art that they loved and that they could relate to, and since L.S. Lowry painted the world that our mother grew up in there was very much a personal connection to each of these particular paintings. It was Brian Epstein who first introduced them to buying art when they were able to afford to, and he introduced them to a number of artists who were prominent at the time. Dad had a good eye for seeking out great works, and mum wanted to feel a connection to the works on a personal level and Lowry was an artist they were both drawn to”.
Laurence Stephen Lowry, Family Group, 1938 (£300,000-500,000)
Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Black Church, 1964 (£120,000-180,000)
Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Spire, 1949 (£100,000-150,000)
The largest rough diamond discovered in over a century – the 1109 carat Lesedi la Rona – will be offered in a stand alone sale at Sotheby’s in London on June 29. The largest rough diamond in existence today is estimated to make more than $70 million. Lesedi la Rona (“Our Light” in the Tswana language spoken in Botswana) was uncovered by Lucara Diamond Corp. in November 2015, at their Karowe mine in Botswana. Around the size of a tennis ball (measuring approximately 66.4 x 55 x 42 mm), this colossal rough diamond of exceptional transparency and quality is around 2.5 to over 3 billion years old.
Diamonds have been mined continuously for centuries in multiple locations around the world and yet nothing of the size and quality of Lesedi La Rona has been found in over 100 years. In terms of its size, the rough is exceeded only by the legendary Cullinan Diamond, mined in South Africa in 1905. The 3016.75-carat Cullinan Diamond produced nine major diamonds that are part of the historic Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, including the Great Star of Africa – currently the largest top-quality polished diamond in existence, weighing 530.20 carats.
According to a study by the Gemological Institute of America, the Lesedi La Rona’s “top colour and transparency exemplify the “limpid” appearance commonly associated with type IIa diamonds” – a rare and coveted subgroup which comprises less than 2% of all gem diamonds. Stones in this group are “the most chemically pure and often show extraordinary optical transparency”.
David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division, commented: “The Lesedi la Rona is simply outstanding and its discovery is the find of a lifetime. It is a huge honour for Sotheby’s to have been entrusted with its sale. Every aspect of this auction is unprecedented. Not only is the rough superlative in size and quality, but no rough even remotely of this scale has ever been offered before at public auction”. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Francis Bacon said, “Everything I do goes into painting.” In this short video, Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons brings to life excerpts from the artist’s interviews with David Sylvester and reveals Bacon’s own thoughts about his celebrated self portraits. ‘Two Studies for a Self-Portrait,’ painted by Bacon in 1970, highlights Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening quction in New York on May 11.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 17, 2016)
This large blue and white lotus bouquet dish at Sotheby’s sale of Important Chinese Art in London on May 11 embodies the creativity of Qing craftsmen.
They combined contemporary elements with antiquity. The fine porcelain body and smooth glaze is typical of the Qianlong period. The lotus bouquet motif is inspired by the wares of the early Ming Dynasty.
Dishes painted with a lotus bouquet were first revived under the Yongzheng Emperor who was keen to see historical pieces replicated as a reminder of the nations glorious past. By the Qianlong reign the style of painting of this motif was slightly altered and applied on dishes of various shapes and sizes of which this is the largest known type. It is estimated at £60,000-80,000.
The auction will feature jades, early ceramics and Chinese furniture.
Auguste Rodin – L’Éternel Printemps UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $20.4 MILLION, A NEW RECORD
A rare marble of one of Rodin’s most celebrated forms comes up at Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York on May 9. L’Éternel Printemps ranks among his most skillful renderings of embracing lovers. Conceived in 1884 and carved in 1901-02 from a single block of marble it is estimated at $8-12 million. This sculpture is believed to be the fifth of ten known uniquely finished carvings of the subject in marble, and this is the first time it has come to auction. It was singled out in Frederick Lawton’s 1906 biography on the artist as the most magnificent of the series. A Rodin marble of this subject has not appeared on the market in over two decades.
This marble was commissioned by the German diplomat Hellmuth Baron Lucius von Stoedten (1869-1934). Baron von Stoedten, who lived between Berlin and Paris, was a close friend of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who played a seminal role between artist and patron in the commission of this marble. Rilke was famously inspired by Rodin’s sculptures and wrote a series of poems in their tribute. The friendship between these three great minds of the late nineteenth century tells an intriguing story behind this carving of L’Éternel Printemps. Other marbles from this series belong in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest (1901); the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (1906); The Museum of Decorative Arts, Buenos Aires (1907); the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1906-07) and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen (1907-1910).
The first sale at Sotheby’s exclusively dedicated to European Ceramics, Silver and Objects of Vertu at Sotheby’s in almost a decade will take place in London on May 10. Testament to the ever-growing appetite of international collectors for unique pieces encapsulating the finest craftsmanship and materials of their time, the 265 lots in the sale are led by Dutch silver, ceramics and glass from the collection of the renowned Amsterdam antiques dealer Joseph M. Morpurgo. The focus of the “From Earth to Fire” auction is on the creation of pieces born from the earth and transformed through the kiln into exquisite works. The sale also includes sculptural Paul Storr silver, early Chelsea porcelain scent bottles and a private collection of French gold boxes. Estimates range from £2,000-70,000.
A pair of Victorian silver table centre dessert bowls Paul Storr for Storr & Mortimer, London, 1838 (£50,000-70,000)
An agate cup and cover Jean-Valentin Morel, Paris, circa 1836-40 (£40,000-60,000)
A selection from the auction.
An English opaque-white glass vase and a cover, circa 1760 (£7,000-10,000)
Vibrant paintings by Signac, Derain and Vlaminck will lead Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art in New York on May 9. Paul Signac’s Maisons du port, Saint-Tropez ($8-12 million) is a pointillist painting from 1882. Inscribed Op.237 ithas remained in the family collection of Ambassador John Langeloth Loeb, Jr. since his parents acquired it in 1958. It is at auction for the first time.
Andreì Derain’s Les Voiles rouges ($15-20 million) and Maurice de Vlaminck’s Sous-bois ($12-18 million) were acquired in 1954 by art patron and philanthropist Sarah Campbell Blaffer of Houston, Texas. She was the daughter of William Thomas Campbell, the founder of the Texas Company, later known as Texaco. They have remained in her family’s collection since. Only four major Fauve paintings have sold at auction since 2010. These are considered the finest works to have come to auction since Derain’s Arbres a Collioure sold for £16.3 million in June 2010.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 28, 2010)
The “Unique Pink” at 15.38 carats the spectacular stone is the largest fancy vivid pink pear-shaped diamond ever offered at auction, was unveiled at Sotheby’s in London today. It comes up at Geneva on May 17. The stone’s exquisite pear shape and brilliant cut accentuate its exceptional saturation, placing it in a rarefied category even among the world’s most beautiful diamonds. In addition to receiving the highest possible colour grading for a pink diamond from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the “Unique Pink” has been found to be Type IIa, displaying “exceedingly pure structure”. The estimate is US$28-38 million.
David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewellery Division, commented: “It is difficult to imagine a diamond that better illustrates the term Vivid Pink than this outstanding stone. The colour is simply astonishing and, for its size, it is in my experience truly unique.”
