« La Toilette, Naissance de l’Intime » au musée Marmottan Monet

Étiquettes

"Après le bain", "Devant la psyché", "Etude pour une photographie publicitaire", "Femme au miroir", "Femme dans son bain s’épongeant la jambe", "Femme peignant ses cheveux", "Gaby d'Entrées", "Jeune femme à sa toilette", "Jeune femme nue, "Karen Mulder portant un très petit soutien-gorge Chanel, "La Femme à la puce", "La toilette : Madame Favre (femme se faisant les mains)", "L’enfant gâté", "Le Bain, "Le rouge à lèvres", "Les femmes à la toilette", "Nu au tub", "Nu dans la baignoire", "Portrait présumé de Gabrielle d’Estrées et la Duchesse de Villars au bain", "Une dame à sa toilette", "Vanité" ou "Jeune femme à la toilette", 1638, 1738, 1742, 1885-1890, 1890, 1891, 1897, 1898, 1902, 1903, 1908, 1920, 1927, 1948, 1965, 1996, 30 avril 1936, Alain Jacquet, École de Fontainebleau, à mi-corps, Berthe Morisot, Bettina Rheimsve, Circa 1626, dit Cagnaccio di San Pietro, Edgar Degas, en train de se peigner", Erwin Blumenfeld, Eugène Lomont, Femme a la Montre, femme nue couchée", Fernand Léger, Fin du XVIème siècle, François Boucher, François Eisen, František Kupka, Georges de La Tour, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, janvier 1996, musée Marmottan Monet, Natalino Bentivoglio Scarpa, Nicolas Régnier, Pablo Picasso, Paris, Pays-Bas du Sud, Pierre Bonnard, Salomon de Bray, tenture de la vie seigneuriale", Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, Vers 1500, Vers 1635, Vers 1883, Wladyslaw Slewinski

Nicolas Régnier, « Vanité » ou « Jeune femme à la toilette« , Circa 1626. Huile sur toile, 130 x 105,5 cm, Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts © 2014 DeAgostini Picture Library/Scala, Florence

PARIS – Après avoir célébré les quatre-vingts ans de l’ouverture du musée au public à travers les deux expositions temporaires « Les Impressionnistes en privé » et « Impression, soleil levant », le musée Marmottan Monet présente du 12 février au 5 juillet 2015 la première exposition jamais dédiée au thème de La Toilette et à La Naissance de l’Intime.

Edgar Degas, « Femme dans son bain s’épongeant la jambe« , Vers 1883. Pastel sur monotype, 19,7 x 41 cm, Paris, musée d’Orsay, legs du comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911 © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski

L’exposition réunit des œuvres d’artistes majeurs du XVe siècle à aujourd’hui, concernant les rites de la propreté, leurs espaces et leurs gestuelles.

Edgar Degas, « Après le bain« , 1903. Fusain et rehauts sur papier, 71 x 71 cm, Suisse, Collection Nahmad © Suisse, Collection Nahmad / Raphaël BARITHEL

C’est la première fois qu’un tel sujet, unique et incontournable, est présenté sous forme d’exposition. Dans ces œuvres qui reflètent des pratiques quotidiennes qu’on pourrait croire banales, le public découvrira des plaisirs et des surprises d’une profondeur peu attendue.

Pays-Bas du Sud, « Le Bain, tenture de la vie seigneuriale« , Vers 1500. Laine et soie, 285 x 285 cm, Paris, musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Age © RMN Grand Palais (musée de Cluny – musée national du Moyen-Âge) / Franck Raux

Des musées prestigieux et des collections internationales se sont associés avec enthousiasme à cette entreprise et ont consenti des prêts majeurs, parmi lesquels des suites de peintures qui n’avaient jamais été montrées depuis leur création.

Pierre Bonnard, « Nu dans la baignoire » – Sans date (vers 1940?). Aquarelle et gouache sur papier, 23,5 x 31,5 cm, Collection particulière, courtesy Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris © Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris / Christian Baraja ADAGP, Paris 2015

Une centaine de tableaux, des sculptures, des estampes, des photographies et des images animées (« chronophotographies ») permettent de proposer un parcours d’exception.

Pierre Bonnard, « Nu au tub », 1903. Huile sur toile, 44 x 50 cm, Toulouse, Fondation Bemberg © RMN-Grand Palais / Mathieu Rabeau, ADAGP, Paris 2015

L’exposition s’ouvre sur un ensemble exceptionnel de gravures de Dürer, de Primatice, de peintures de l’Ecole de Fontainebleau, parmi lesquels un Clouet, l’exceptionnelle Femme à la puce de Georges de La Tour, un ensemble unique et étonnant de François Boucher, montrant l’invention de gestes et de lieux spécifiques de toilette dans l’Europe d’Ancien Régime.

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, « La toilette : Madame Favre (femme se faisant les mains)« , 1891. Peinture à l’essence sur carton, 72 x 76 cm, Suisse, Collection Nahmad © Suisse, Collection Nahmad / Raphaël BARITHEL

Dans la deuxième partie de l’exposition, le visiteur découvrira qu’avec le XIXe siècle s’affirme un renouvellement en profondeur des outils et des modes de la propreté. L’apparition du cabinet de toilette, celle d’un usage plus diversifié et abondant de l’eau inspirent à Manet, à Berthe Morisot, à Degas, à Toulouse Lautrec et encore à d’autres artistes, et non des moindres, des scènes inédites de femmes se débarbouillant dans un tub ou une cuve de fortune. Les gestuelles sont bouleversées, l’espace est définitivement clos et livré à une totale intimité, une forme d’entretien entre soi et soi se lit dans ces œuvres, d’où se dégage une profonde impression d’intimité et de modernité.

František Kupka, « Le rouge à lèvres« , 1908. Huile sur toile, 63,5 x 63,5 cm, Paris, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle, don d’Eugénia Kupka, 1963 © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Jean-Claude Planchet ADAGP, Paris 2015

La dernière partie de l’exposition livre au visiteur l’image à la fois familière et déconcertante de salles de bains modernes et « fonctionnelles » qui sont aussi, avec Pierre Bonnard, des espaces où il est permis, à l’écart du regard des autres et du bruit de la ville, de s’abandonner et de rêver.

La Toilette, Naissance de l’intime. Du 12 février au 5 juillet 2015. Musée Marmottan, 2, rue Luis-Boilly – 75016 Paris. Ouvert du mardi au dimanche de 10h à 18h (20h jeudi)

François Boucher, « L’enfant gâté« , 1742 ? Ou années 1760 ?. Huile sur toile, 52,5 x 41,5 cm, Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe © akg-images

François Boucher, « L’Œil indiscret » ou « La Femme qui pisse« , 1742 ? Ou années 1760 ?. Huile sur toile, 52,5 x 42 cm, Collection particulière © Christian Baraja

Abraham Bosse (d’après), « La Vue (femme à sa toilette)« , Après 1635. Huile sur toile, 104 x 137 cm © Tours, musée des Beaux-Arts

François Eisen, « Jeune femme à sa toilette« , 1742. Huile sur bois, 36,5 x 27,3 cm, Abbeville, Musée d’Abeille © RMN-Grand Palais /Thierry Ollivier

François Boucher, « Une dame à sa toilette« , 1738. Huile sur toile, 86,3 x 76,2 cm, Collection particulière © Image courtesy of P & D Colnaghi & Co, Ltd, London

Edgar Degas, « Après le bain, femme nue couchée« , 1885-1890. Pastel sur papier, 48,3 x 82,3 cm, Suisse, Collection Nahmad © Suisse, Collection Nahmad / Raphaël Barithel

Eugène Lomont, « Jeune femme à sa toilette« , 1898. Huile sur toile, 54 x 65 cm, Beauvais, Musée départemental de l’Oise © RMN Grand Palais / Thierry Ollivier

Georges de La Tour, « La Femme à la puce« , 1638. Huile sur toile, 121 x 89 cm, Nancy, Musée Lorrain © RMN-Grand Palais / Philippe Bernard

Salomon de Bray, « Jeune femme nue, à mi-corps, en train de se peigner« , Vers 1635. Huile sur bois, 54 x 46 cm, Paris, musée du Louvre, département des peintures, don de la Société des Amis du Louvre, 1995 © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Gérard Blot

Anonyme (École de Fontainebleau), « Portrait présumé de Gabrielle d’Estrées et la Duchesse de Villars au bain« , Fin du XVIème siècle. Huile sur toile, 63,5 x 84 cm, Montpellier, Musée Languedocien, Collections de la société Archéologique de Montpellier © Musée de la Société Archéologique, Montpellier, France / Giraudon / Bridgeman Images

Alain Jacquet, « Gaby d’Entrées« , 1965. Sérigraphie quatre couleurs sur toile, 119 x 172 cm, Courtesy Comité Alain Jacquet et Galerie GP & N Vallois, Paris © Comité Alain Jacquet ADAGP, Paris 2015

Bettina Rheimsve, « Karen Mulder portant un très petit soutien-gorge Chanel, janvier 1996, Paris« , 1996. C-print, 120 x 120 cm, Signé au dos sur le cartel, Paris, collection de l’artiste © Bettina Reims copyright Studio Bettina Rheims

Pablo Picasso, « Femme à la montre« , 30 avril 1936. Huile sur toile, 65 x 54,2 cm, Paris, musée Picasso -Dation Pablo Picasso, 1979 © RMN-Grand Palais / René-Gabriel Ojéda, © Administration Picasso 2015

Natalino Bentivoglio Scarpa, dit Cagnaccio di San Pietro, « Femme au miroir« , 1927. Huile sur toile, 80 x 59,5 cm, Vérone, collezione della Fondazione Cariverona © collezione della Fondazione Cariverona, Italy

Fernand Léger, « Les femmes à la toilette« , 1920. Huile sur toile, 92,3 x 73,3 cm, Suisse, Collection Nahmad © Suisse, Collection Nahmad / Raphaël BARITHEL ADAGP, Paris 2015

Erwin Blumenfeld, « Etude pour une photographie publicitaire« , 1948. Dye transfer, 51 x 41,5 cm, Signé en bas à droite, Paris, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle, achat en 1986 © Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Christian Bahier / Philippe Migeat, © Estate of Erwin Blumenfeld

Berthe Morisot, « Devant la psyché« , 1890. Huile sur toile, 55 x 46 cm © Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny

Wladyslaw Slewinski, « Femme peignant ses cheveux« , 1897. Huile sur toile, 64 x 91 cm, Cracovie, musée national © Photographic Studio of the National Museum in Krakow / Jacek Świderski

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, « Le bain« , 1902. Pastel , 49, 5 x 64, 6 cm, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne / J.-C. Ducret Acquisition 1936 © Musée cantonal des Beaux-arts de Lausanne

« De Raphaël à Gauguin. Trésors de la collection Jean Bonna » opens at the Fondation de l’Hermitage

Étiquettes

"Etude de deux Tahitiennes pour Trois Tahitiens", "Etude de tête vue de dos, "Feuille d’études : deux coquelicots, "La barque", "L’homme à la pipe", "Les baigneuses au crabe", "Un marcassin", 1555-1560, 1578, aquarelle et gouache sur quelques traits à la pierre noire, aquarelle et gouache sur traces de pierre noire, Baccio (Bartolomeo) Bandinelli, collection Jean Bonna, crayon Conté et fusain, de profil vers la droite", fusain et estompe, Gustave Courbet, Hans Hoffmann, Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, nielle des blés et bleuet", Odilon Redon, pastel, Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Sanguine, vers 1518, vers 1848, vers 1897-1900, vers 1898-1899, vers 1900

Baccio (Bartolomeo) Bandinelli, « Etude de tête vue de dos, de profil vers la droite », vers 1518, sanguine, 250 x 196 mm, collection Jean Bonna © photo Patrick Goetelen, Genève Hermitage

LAUSANNE.- La Fondation de l’Hermitage a le rare privilège d’accueillir plus de 150 chefs-d’œuvre de la prestigieuse collection Jean Bonna. Réunissant les génies du dessin, ce magnifique ensemble se distingue par sa variété, qu’il s’agisse des artistes, des techniques utilisées ou encore des époques de création, depuis la Renaissance italienne jusqu’au début du XXe siècle.

Le musée inscrit ainsi un nouveau chapitre à l’exploration des grandes collections privées suisses, qu’il mène depuis plus d’une quinzaine d’années : collection Weinberg (1997), Jean Planque (2001), Arthur et Hedy Hahnloser (2011).

Odilon Redon, « La barque », vers 1900, pastel, 585 x 482 mm. Collection Jean Bonna © photo Patrick Goetelen, Genève Hermitage.

Tout d’abord bibliophile, Jean Bonna est un amoureux du papier, une passion qui l’a mené du livre aux ouvrages illustrés, puis à l’estampe, et enfin au dessin ancien. Pour le seul plaisir des yeux, sans souci d’exhaustivité, il réunit depuis trente ans des œuvres graphiques de très haute qualité, qui composent désormais un ensemble remarquable, digne des plus grandes collections privées constituées en Europe depuis le XVIe siècle.

D’une richesse exceptionnelle, ce « musée secret » révèle une prédilection pour les œuvres très achevées et harmonieuses, et un goût marqué pour la grâce féminine, la nature somptueuse et tranquille, le monde enchanteur des animaux.

Paul Gauguin, « Etude de deux Tahitiennes pour Trois Tahitiens », vers 1898-1899, crayon Conté et fusain, 430 x 305 mm. Collection Jean Bonna © photo Patrick Goetelen, Genève.

Après quelques expositions retentissantes, notamment à l’Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux arts de Paris (2006), au Metropolitan Museum de New York (2009) ou à la National Gallery d’Edimbourg (2009), la collection Jean Bonna trouve un nouvel écrin à la Fondation de l’Hermitage. Le parcours offre l’occasion unique de découvrir des trésors rarissimes et méconnus des écoles italienne, française et nordique, pour se conclure avec une sélection remarquable d’œuvres impressionnistes et symbolistes. Les grands maîtres de l’histoire de l’art sont ainsi mis à l’honneur, à travers leurs plus belles pages graphiques : Boucher, Canaletto, Cézanne, Chardin, Degas, Delacroix, Dürer, Gauguin, Géricault, Goya, Liotard, Lorrain, Manet, Parmigianino, Raphaël, Redon, Rembrandt, Renoir, Tiepolo, Van Gogh ou encore Watteau.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, « Les baigneuses au crabe », vers 1897-1900, pastel, 450 x 610 mm, Collection Jean Bonna © photo Patrick Goetelen, Genève Hermitage

LAUSANNE.- The Fondation de l’Hermitage is exhibiting works belonging to the Geneva-based collector Jean Bonna. Primarily comprising works on paper, this exceptional, highly consistent collection has been assembled over many years for its aesthetic pleasures alone, rather than any desire to be exhaustive.

This exhibition represents a new chapter in the museum’s exploration of prestigious Swiss private collections, which it has pursued for more than fifteen years (Weinberg collection in 1997, Jean Planque collection in 2001, Arthur and Hedy Hahnloser collection in 2011).

Hans Hoffmann, « Un marcassin », 1578, aquarelle et gouache sur traces de pierre noire, sur vélin préparé en blanc crème, 297 x 451 mm. Collection Jean Bonna © photo Patrick Goetelen, Genève Hermitage

Jean Bonna is a bibliophile with a love of paper. This passion led him from books to illustrated works, prints and finally to period drawings. For thirty years he has collected graphic works of the highest quality, which now form a remarkable collection on a par with the greatest private collections assembled in Europe since the 16th century.

Beyond its riches, this collection is notable for its variety in terms of the artists represented, techniques used and periods covered, which range from the Italian Renaissance to the early 20th century. It is also the work of one man, reflecting his preference for finished pieces and his connoisseur’s appreciation of the female figure, landscapes and images of animals.

Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, « Feuille d’études : deux coquelicots, nielle des blés et bleuet », 1555-1560, aquarelle et gouache sur quelques traits à la pierre noire, 215 x 159 mm. Collection Jean Bonna © photo Patrick Goetelen, Genève

Following two major exhibitions at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris (2006), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2009) and the National Gallery, Edinburgh (2009), the Jean Bonna collection is now on display at the Fondation de l’Hermitage. Visitors will be able to explore the development of the collector’s taste through his acquisitions, with a very wide selection of nearly 150 graphic masterpieces by artists including Boucher, Carracci, Cézanne, Chardin, Degas, Delacroix, Gauguin, Géricault, Goya, Greuze, Guardi, Liotard, Lorrain, Manet, Raphael, Redon, Rembrandt, Renoir, Tiepolo and Watteau.

Gustave Courbet, « L’homme à la pipe », vers 1848, fusain et estompe, 457 x 353 mm, collection Jean Bonna © photo Patrick Goetelen, Genève Hermitage

Museum acquires important paintings by Cézanne, Manet, Pissarro, Morisot, and Duchamp

Étiquettes

'Avenue de l'Opéra: Morning Sunshine', 'Basket of Fruit', 'Mont Sainte-Victoire', 'Portrait of Gustave Candel’s Father', 'Young Girl with Basket', 1898, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Edouard Manet, Marcel Duchamp, Paul Cézanne

‘Mont Sainte-Victoire’, Paul Cézanne, French, 1839 – 1906. Philadelphia Museum of Art © 2015 Philadelphia Museum of Art

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- The Philadelphia Museum of Art announced today several important gifts to its collection. As a bequest from longtime supporter Helen Tyson Madeira are five paintings by French artists, including Mont Sainte-Victoire (1902–6) by Paul Cézanne; Basket of Fruit (1864) by Édouard Manet; Railroad to Dieppe (1886) and Avenue de l’Opéra: Morning Sunshine (1898), both by Camille Pissarro; and Young Girl with Basket (1892) by Berthe Morisot. In addition, two rare early portraits by Marcel Duchamp have been received from Yolande Candel, the daughter of Duchamp’s lifelong friend, Gustave Candel. They depict her grandparents and were painted in Paris in 1911–12.

These works, all of which are currently on view in the galleries, add greater depth to areas of the collection that are already very strong. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has extensive holdings of the works of Cézanne and houses the world’s largest collection of works by Duchamp.

Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and CEO, stated: “The distinctive character of our collection is due largely to transformational gifts, almost all of which have come from Philadelphians who cared deeply about both this institution and their city. The extraordinary paintings bequeathed to us by Helen Madeira had long been promised to the Museum and can now be seen in the context of the great collection that was a bequest from her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Carroll S. Tyson, Jr., more than five decades ago.

Monumental in form and yet lyrical in character, Cézanne’s view of Mont Sainte-Victoire is among the masterpieces of the last decade of the artist’s life. Depicting one of his favorite motifs—a mountain near his home in Aix-en-Provence—the painting is composed of closely valued tones of blue, green, and ochre that form a sumptuous, tapestry-like surface of rich color. This work is presently installed in Women’s Committee Gallery 164 with two other late major works by Cézanne: a closely related painting of the same title executed from almost the same vantage point, and his celebrated The Large Bathers (1900–1906).

Manet’s Basket of Fruit is the first still life by this great nineteenth-century painter to enter the Museum’s collection. Depicting a small wicker basket filled with fruit atop a white tablecloth, its surface punctuated with prominent creases, the small painting is a superb example of Manet’s ability to animate the simplest forms through lively brushwork and the use of a simple, yet rich palette of colors. Basket of Fruit, on view in Lassin Gallery 153, approaches abstraction by taking simple objects as subject and concentrating on the physical aspects of the paint.

‘Basket of Fruit’ (1864) by Édouard Manet, from longtime patron Helen Tyson Madeira. Philadelphia Museum of Art © 2015 Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Pissarro’s charming canvas Railroad to Dieppe depicts planted fields in summer under a blue sky inflected with notes of cream. In the middle distance a train approaches, smoke billowing, and to the right a dirt road leads past a country house stretching toward a low line of hills in the distance. The oldest of the Impressionists, Pissarro briefly embraced Pointillism in the 1880s, the decade in which he painted this picture. Later in his career he turned to the urban landscape for inspiration, producing a series of impressive panoramic views of Rouen and Paris, of which Avenue de l’Opéra: Morning Sunshine is a fine example. Both works are on view in Toll Gallery 152.

‘Avenue de l’Opéra: Morning Sunshine’, 1898. Camille Pissarro, French, 1830 ‑ 1903. Oil on canvas, 26 x 32 1/4 inches (66 x 81.9 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. Helen Tyson Madeira, 1991.

In Berthe Morisot’s loosely brushed Young Girl with Basket, a seated figure relaxes on a cane chair, her back turned from the viewer and a hat covering her eyes. The painting hangs in the Alice Jones Eshleman and William Thomas Vogt Gallery 162.

‘Young Girl with Basket’ (1892) by French painter Berthe Morisot. Philadelphia Museum of Art © 2015 Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Duchamp’s portraits of the parents of his friend Gustave Candel, on view in Anne d’Harnoncourt Gallery 182, were painted at a pivotal moment in Duchamp’s career and reflect the beginning of a radical shift in his approach to representation and, ultimately, to the function of the work of art itself. Portrait of Gustave Candel’s Father presents a realistically rendered figure seated comfortably in a three-quarter view. Portrait of Gustave Candel’s Mother is enigmatic in character. Her head and shoulders appear to be mounted on a vase-like, pedestaled stand. By contrast with the depiction of the husband, the treatment is cool and precise.

Yolande Candel said: “While growing up, I vividly recall Marcel expressing to my father his personal satisfaction with the fact that so much of his work remained together at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. . . . Furthermore, I think that both paintings would nicely complement the other early canvases by Marcel already in the Museum’s collection.”

Despite Duchamp’s status as one of the great artists of the twentieth century, he produced a relatively small number of works. The Museum’s collection contains 22 paintings, including these new gifts, executed between 1902 and 1914, and nearly 180 works in other media. The two portraits have been exhibited in a number of important exhibitions but have been the subject of little study until recently. Portrait of Gustave Candel’s Mother was recently on view in the exhibition Marcel Duchamp: Painting, Even at the Centre Georges Pompidou.

‘Portrait of Gustave Candel’s Father’, 1911‑1912. Marcel Duchamp, American (born France), 1887 ‑ 1968. Oil on canvas, 28 3/4 x 21 5/8 inches (73 x 54.9 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Mme Yolande Candel in memory of her father, Gustave Candel, and Marcel Duchamp, 2014. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Estate of Marcel Duchamp.

Christie’s Evening Sales of Impressionist, Modern + Surrealist Art total $222 million

Étiquettes

"La lampe", "Vue sur L'Estaque et le Château d'If ", 'Badende am Waldteich', 'Femme de Venise V', 'Jeune fille au cheval', 'L’Oiseau au plumage déployé vole vers l’arbre argenté', 'Les deux filles', 'Painting (Women, 'Quand l'heure sonnera', 'Three Piece Reclining Figure No. 2 (Bridge Prop)', Alberto Giacometti, Amedeo Modigliani, Birds, Erich Heckel, Henry Moore, Joan Miró, Juan Gris, Marc Chagall, Moon, Paul Cézanne, René Magritte

Members of staff carry a painting by Paul Cezanne entitled « Vue sur L’Estaque et le Chateau d’lf, » which is estimatd at 8-12 million British pounds (12-18 million USD, 10.5-16 million Euros), during the impressionist, modern and surreal art preview at Christie’s auction house in central London on January 30, 2015. AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL.

LONDON.- The Evening Sales of Impressionist and Modern Art and The Art of the Surreal that took place at Christie’s London on 4 February realised a combined total of £147,031,000/$222,751,965/€194,080,920, selling 88% by lot and 94% by value. The auctions had a combined pre-sale estimate of £92.8 million to £133.8 million. The top price was achieved by Joan Miró’s Painting (Women, Moon, Birds), which sold for £15,538,500/ $23,540,828/ €20,510,820 against an estimate of £4 million to £7 million. In total, 36 works of art sold for over £1 million / 45 for over $1 million.

Jay Vincze, International Director and Head of The Impressionist and Modern Art Department, Christie’s London: “We are very pleased with the strong results of this evening’s sales of Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist art which exceeded the top pre-sale estimate and welcomed registered bidders from 34 countries across 5 continents. The broad range of styles and periods of the works offered – many of which came to the market for the first time in generations – contributed to the extraordinary depth of bidding we witnessed. Pan Asian buyers continue to compete for the best works across 20th century avant-garde art, notably extending this season to Surrealist masters such as Magritte, Ernst and Dominguez. This is a strong start to the overall week of five sales for the category at Christie’s in London, which presents new and established collectors with opportunities across price levels.”

Olivier Camu, Deputy Chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art, Christie’s: “This is the first ever surrealist to sale to break the $100 million barrier; this is an exciting moment made possible by the inclusion of two important private European collections which also included Impressionist and Modern works. One of the collections had been hidden away for 50 years and had never come to auction. A great evening for Magritte and Miró: the sale set record prices for a Post-War Miró and a new record for a Magritte work on paper; all 9 Magrittes offered were 100% sold.”

Further leading highlights of the sale include:

Leading the sale’s Impressionist selection was Vue sur L’Estaque et Le Château d’If, circa 1883-1885 by Paul Cézanne, which realised £13,522,500/$20,486,588/€17,849,700 (estimate: £8-12 million). This work was acquired in 1936 by Samuel Courtauld, founder of the illustrious Courtauld Gallery and Institute of Art in London. The auction marked the first time that Vue sur L’Estaque et Le Château d’If has appeared on the market in almost 80 years.

Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), « Vue sur L’Estaque et le Château d’If « , oil on canvas, 28 3/4 x 23 1/2 in. (73 x 59.7 cm.). Painted circa 1883-1885. Estimate £8,000,000 – £12,000,000 ($12,120,000 – $18,180,000). Price Realized £9,154,500 ($13,740,905). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The auction included six works by Joan Miró, which provided the market with what is arguably the best group of works by the artist to be offered in a single sale. The selection achieved a combined total of £32,700,500/$58,700,932/€43,164,660, and was led by the auction’s top lot, Painting (Women, Moon, Birds), which sold for £15,538,500/ $23,540,828/ €20,510,820 (estimate: £4-7 million). The 1950 canvas was executed during the artist’s prodigious post-war period and comes from a Private European collection. It has never before appeared at auction.

Joan Miró (1893-1983), ‘L’Oiseau au plumage déployé vole vers l’arbre argenté’, signed ‘Miró’ (lower centre); signed, dated and titled ‘Miró. 1953. L’OISEAU AU PLUMAGE DEPLOYÉ VOLE VERS L’ARBRE ARGENTÉ.’ (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 35 3/8 x 45 3/4 in. (90 x 116 cm.) Painted in 1953. Estimate £7,000,000 – £9,000,000 ($10,507,000 – $13,509,000). Price Realized £15,538,500 ($23,323,289). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Also highlighting the selection of works by Miró was his masterful L’oiseau au plumage déployé vole vers l’arbre argenté, 1953, which realised £9,154,500/$13,869,068/€12,083,940 (estimate: £7-9 million).

Joan Miró (1893-1983), ‘Painting (Women, Moon, Birds)’, signed and dated ‘Miró 1950’ (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 44 7/8 x 57 1/2 (114 x 146 cm.) Painted in 1950. Estimate £4,000,000 – £7,000,000 ($6,004,000 – $10,507,000)). Price Realized £15,538,500 ($23,323,289). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

La Lampe, 1914, by Juan Gris fetched £4,562,500 /$6,912,188/ €6,022,500, (estimate: £2.5-3.5 million). This work is considered to be among the artist’s greatest contributions to Cubism, establishing Gris as a leading innovator of the revolutionary movement and placing him alongside Picasso and Braque. Christie’s set a new benchmark for the artist in February 2014 when Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux, 1915, sold for £34,802,500, setting a world record price for the artist at auction.

Juan Gris (1887-1927), « La lampe », signed ‘Juan Gris’ (on the reverse), paper collage, gouache and charcoal on canvas, 21 3/4 x 18 1/4 in. (55.2 x 46.3 cm.). Executed in May – June 1914. Estimate £2,500,000 – £3,500,000 ($3,787,500 – $5,302,500). Price Realized £4,562,500 ($6,848,313). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Femme de Venise V by Alberto Giacometti, which was offered from A Distinguished European Collection, realised £6,802,500/$10,305,788/€8,979,300 (estimate: £6-8 million). With an extraordinarily rich brown and green patina the bronze belongs to the renowned series of sculptures created for the Venice Biennale of the same year; it was conceived in 1956 and cast in the artist’s lifetime.

Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), ‘Femme de Venise V’, signed and numbered ‘Alberto Giacometti 4/6’ (on the left side of the base); inscribed with the foundry mark ‘Susse Fond Paris’ (on the back of the base), bronze with brown and green patina. Height: 43 1/4 in. (110 cm). Conceived in 1956 and cast in 1958. Estimate £6,000,000 – £8,000,000 ($9,090,000 – $12,120,000). Price Realized £6,802,500 ($10,210,553). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Amedeo Modigliani’s rare double portrait Les deux filles, 1918, sold for £7,586,500/ $11,493,548/ €10,014,180, it was offered from A Distinguished European Collection, (estimate: £6-8 million).

Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), ‘Les deux filles’, oil on canvas, 39 3/8 x 25 5/8 in. (100 x 65.1 cm). Painted in 1918. Estimate £6,000,000 – £8,000,000 ($9,090,000 – $12,120,000). Price Realized £7,586,500 ($11,387,337). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Leading the group of works offered from The Collection of Carl Hagemann, was one of the masterpieces of Die Brücke art, Erich Heckel’s Badende am Waldteich. The 1910 canvas realised £2,994,500/ $4,536,668 /€3,952,740 (estimate: £1.5-2 million), and set a world auction record for the artist.

Erich Heckel (1883-1970), ‘Badende am Waldteich’, signed with the initials and dated ‘EH 10’ (lower left); signed and dated ‘Erich Heckel 10’ (on the reverse); titled ‘Badende am Waldteich’ (on the stretcher), oil on canvas, 32 3/8 x 37 7/8 in. (82.2 x 96.2 cm). Painted in 1910. Estimate £1,500,000 – £2,500,000 ($2,272,500 – $3,787,500). Price Realized £2,994,500 ($4,494,745). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Offered from a Private German Collection, Three Piece Reclining Figure No. 2 (Bridge Prop), a monumental sculpture by Henry Moore, is a powerful example of the artist’s unique ability to balance figuration and abstraction in a sculptural, three-dimensional form, it fetched £4,338,500/ $6,572,828/€ 5,726,820 (estimate: £2-3 million). Conceived in 1963 and cast in an edition of six, other casts are housed in major museums and collections across the world.

Henry Moore (1898-1986), ‘Three Piece Reclining Figure No. 2 (Bridge Prop)’, signed ‘Moore’ (on the bottom of the left leg), inscribed with the foundry mark and numbered ‘H. NOACK BERLIN 4/6’ (on the lower extremity between the legs), bronze with green patina. Length (including base): 99 in. (251.5 cm.) Width (including base): 51 7/8 in. (132 cm.) Height (including base): 42 1/2 in. (108 cm.) Conceived in 1963 and cast in an edition of six. Estimate £2,000,000 – £3,000,000 ($3,030,000 – $4,545,000). Price Realized £4,338,500 ($6,512,089). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Among the 9 works by René Magritte in the sale the top lot was Quand l’heure sonnera, which realised £4,338,500/ $6,572,828/ €5,726,820 (estimate: £2.5-3.5). The group offered constitutes the most extraordinary and extensive selection of works by the artist to come to the market since the landmark Harry Torczyner sale that took place in 1998 at Christie’s New York.

René Magritte (1898-1967), ‘Quand l’heure sonnera’, signed ‘Magritte’ (lower right); titled ‘Quand l’Heure sonnera’ (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 39 3/8 x 31 7/8 in. (100 x 81 cm.) Painted circa 1964-1965. Estimate £2,500,000 – £3,500,000 ($3,752,500 – $5,253,500). Price Realized £4,338,500 ($6,512,089). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Presented at auction for the first time, having been acquired by A Private European Family almost 60 years ago, Jeune fille au cheval, 1927-1929, by Marc Chagall realised £5,906,500 / $8,948,348/ €7,796,580 (estimate: £2.2-2.8 million).

Marc Chagall (1887-1985), ‘Jeune fille au cheval’, signed and dated ‘Marc Chagall 929’ (lower left), oil on canvas, 30 1/4 x 39 7/8 in. (77 x 101.5 cm.) Painted in 1927-1929. Estimate £2,200,000 – £2,800,000 ($3,302,200 – $4,202,800). Price Realized £5,906,500 ($8,865,657). Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

In one hour, five paintings by Claude Monet fetch $84 Million at Sotheby’s London

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"Etude pour une baignade, Asnieres", Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, Henri Matisse, La chouette, Le Grand Canal, Les Peupliers à Giverny, Odalisque au fauteuil noir, Pablo Picasso

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), Le Grand Canal, signed Claude Monet and dated 1908 (lower right), oil on canvas, 73 by 92cm. 28 3/4 by 36 1/4 in. Painted in 1908. Est. £20 – 30 million. Lot Sold 23,669,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby’s.

LONDON.- Five paintings by French impressionist Claude Monet, including his famous 1908 « Le Grand Canal » view of Venice, sold for a total of $84 million (73 million euros) in a London auction on Tuesday.

« Le Grand Canal », a hazy blue-and-green view of the banks of the Italian city painted at the peak of Monet’s career, sold for $35.6 million (31.4 million euros).

It was part of a Sotheby’s auction of impressionist and modern art works including paintings by masters Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse, and sculptures by Auguste Rodin.

Sotheby’s said the artworks in the sale raised $283 million overall, a record total for an auction in London.

« Tonight’s London Imp., Modern & Surrealist sales achieved £186.5m – the highest total for any auction ever held in London, in any category, » the auction house wrote on its Twitter account.

Other works sold included Monet’s « Les Peupliers a Giverny », a view of tall trees at sunset which previously hung in New York’s Museum of Modern Art and sold for $16.2 million.

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), Les Peupliers à Giverny, signed Claude Monet (lower left), oil on canvas, 74 by 92.7cm. 29 1/8 by 36 1/2 in. Painted in 1887. Est. £9 – 12 million. Lot Sold 10,789,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby’s.

A brightly-coloured Matisse portrait of Princess Nezy-Hamide Chawkat, the great granddaughter of the last Sultan of Turkey, sold for $23.8 million.

Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954), Odalisque au fauteuil noir, signed Henri Matisse and dated 1/42 (lower left), oil on canvas, 38 by 46cm. 15 by 18 1/8 in. Painted in January 1942. Est. £9 – 12 million. Lot Sold 15,829,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby’s.

An owl sculpture named « Chouette » hand-painted by Pablo Picasso and inspired by his own pet owl, sold for $1.9 million.

Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973), La chouette, signed Picasso; signedPicasso and dated 5.1.53. on the underside, hand-painted terracotta, height: 34.5cm. 13 1/2 in. Conceived on 25th December 1950, and cast in a small edition of hand-painted terracottas in 1953. An edition of six bronzes was also cast from the same model in 1950. Est. £350,000 – 450,000. Lot Sold 1,265,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby’s.

The $11.7 million paid for a drawing by Georges Seurat — a study for his monumental « Une baignade, Asnieres » oil painting — was a record for a work by the artist on paper, Sotheby’s said.

Georges Seurat, « Etude pour une baignade, Asnieres« . Conté crayon on paper, 32.4 by 24.1cm., 12 3/4 by 9 1/2 in. Executed in 1883-84. 5,000,000 — 7,000,000 GBP. Lot Sold 7,765,000  GBP. Photo Sotheby’s.

Francesca Antonacci Damiano Lapiccirella Fine Art at TEFAF 2015 Paper (13-22 March 2015)

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Francesca Antonacci Damiano Lapiccirella Fine Art, Horse head, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, Pastel on beige paper, Pencil and black charcoal on paper, Two Sikh, Vincenzo Camuccini

Vincenzo Camuccini (1771-Rome-1844), Horse head. Pencil and black charcoal on paper, touches of white, 57 x 44 cm. Francesca Antonacci Damiano Lapiccirella Fine Art (stand 716). TEFAF 2015 Antiques (13-22 March 2015)

Provenance: Camuccini private collection, Cantalupo

Literature: Carlo Falconieri, Vita di Vincenzo Camuccini e pochi studi sulla pittura contemporanea, Rome, 1875

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer (1865-1953), Two Sikh. Pastels on beige paper, 61 x 47.3 cm. Signed and dated lower right ‘Levy-Dhurmer 1917. Francesca Antonacci Damiano Lapiccirella Fine Art (stand 716). TEFAF 2015 Antiques (13-22 March 2015)

Exhibitions: Brussels, Galérie des artistes français, Lévy-Dhurmer, 1927-1928, no. 31

Francesca Antonacci Damiano Lapiccirella Fine Art. Director: Antonacci Francesca , Lapiccirella Damiano.

Francesca Antonacci Damiano Lapiccirella Fine Art merges two historical antique galleries, respectively based in Rome and Florence, which have been among the points of reference of both Italian and international collecting since the beginning of the 1900s.
Francesca Antonacci, belonging to the fourth generation of antique dealers, started her own personal business in a charming artist courtyard off via Margutta in Rome; specialised in neo-classical artists, paintings of ‘The Grand Tour’, sculptures and works of art from the XVIII and XIX century.
Damiano Lapiccirella started his activity in London in 1978. Once back to Italy, he took over the family business by inaugurating his own gallery dealing in Old Masters paintings, drawings and works of art; since 2012 he moved to Rome and joined Francesca’s gallery and create e new company: Francesca Antonacci Damiano Lapiccirella Fine Art. They exhibit at the major international art fairs, such as Salon du Dessin in Paris, as well Masterpiece in London, Biennale of Palazzo Corsini in Florence, Mostra Internazionale dell’Antiquariato in Rome.
Specialized in Pantings and Drawings from the XVII to the XIX century, neoclassical sculpture, objects of art.

The San Diego Museum of Art announces two major acquisitions by Sorolla and Zurbarán

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'By the Seashore, ca. 1655, Francisco de Zurbarán, Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, St. Francis in Prayer in a Grotto, Valencia'

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, By the Seashore, Valencia, 1908. Oil on canvas. Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by the Legler Benbough Foundation, 2014.133. San Diego Museum of Art

SAN DIEGO, CA.- The San Diego Museum of Art proudly announces the acquisitions of two major paintings, St. Francis in Prayer in a Grotto by Francisco de Zurbarán and By the Seashore, Valencia by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida. These acquisitions of works from two influential artists continue to build on the strength of the Museum’s renowned Permanent Collection of Spanish art. St. Francis in Prayer in a Grotto will be on view beginning January 21, 2015, and By the Seashore, Valencia will be on view starting February 26, 2015.

The notable acquisitions were made possible by generous donations from Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner, in the case of the Zurbarán, and the Legler Benbough Foundation, whose donation led to the acquisition of the Sorolla. The gift from Prebys and Turner follows a $1.5 million donation in 2013 to support exhibitions and programming around The San Diego Museum of Art Celebrates 100 Years of Art in Balboa Park, the Museum’s initiative celebrating Balboa Park’s Centennial in 2015.

The Legler Benbough Foundation continues a tradition of 35 years of immeasurable support by the organization. The Sorolla gift is particularly notable since the first work to enter the Museum’s collection was the artist’s Maria at La Granja, donated in 1925. This acquisition also follows the success of Sorolla and America, held at The San Diego Museum of Art from May 31 through August 26, 2014.

“The San Diego Museum of Art is thrilled to welcome these masterpieces into the Permanent Collection and further build on our holdings of Spanish art,” said Roxana Velásquez, Maruja Baldwin Executive Director of The San Diego Museum of Art. “To have philanthropists like Conrad Prebys, Debbie Turner, and the Legler Benbough Foundation, value the importance of art is a true gift to San Diego. These works will be enjoyed for generations to come.”

Celebrating these Acquisitions and the Museum’s History

In 2015, The San Diego Museum of Art will celebrate 100 years of art in Balboa Park. In addition to a series of exhibitions and programs, the Museum will call attention to the value and significance of its own history and Permanent Collection, which began with a donation of Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida’s Maria at la Granja by Archer Milton Huntington, the founder of the Hispanic Society of America.

The Museum’s newest acquisition, By the Seashore, Valencia, is among several well-known bather and beach scenes completed by Sorolla during the summer of 1908. Portraying a beautiful, auburn-haired girl and a toddler on the Valencian seashore, this painting was featured in Sorolla’s 1909 touring exhibition, which was organized by the Hispanic Society of America and helped propel the artist to international fame. Included in the same series as After the Bath and Running Along the Beach (both featured in Sorolla and America) this painting is characteristic of the artist’s signature luminous style.

Spanning the centuries from the Renaissance to Post-Impressionism, the Museum’s collection of Spanish Masterpieces is among the finest in the world. The façade of the Museum itself includes life-sized sculptures of Velázquez, Murillo, and Zurbarán. And its upstairs galleries include significant paintings by El Greco, Sánchez Cotán, and Juan de Valdes Leal, among others.

Francisco de Zurbarán’s St. Francis in Prayer (ca.1650-55) joins three important works by the artist: St. Jerome (ca. 1640-1645), Agnus Dei (ca. 1635-1640) and the Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John the Baptist (1658).

Pictured within a grotto set in a rugged landscape, Zurbarán’s St. Francis in Prayer in a Grotto portrays the saint with his eyes fixed on the viewer—a hallmark of his late work. Formerly in the collection of the Counts of Ibangrande for more than 300 years, this painting is exemplary of the artist, one of the greatest painters of the Golden Age of Spain.

Francisco de Zurbarán, St. Francis in Prayer in a Grotto, (detail) ca. 1655. Oil on canvas. Gift of Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner, 2014.132. San Diego Museum of Art.

M.S. Rau Antiques presents ‘Innocence, Temptation and power: The Evolution of Women in Art’ works by fine art masters including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Norman Rockwell

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A Signal, Berthe Morisot, Employment Station New York, Girl in a Green Coat, Jean Gabriel Domergue, John William Godward, La Danseuse du Lido, Martha Walter

A Signal by John William Godward, 1918; Oil on canvas; 31 3/4″ high x 24″ wide. MS Rau

Long established and leading art, antiques and jewelry specialist M.S. Rau Antiques will present Innocence, Temptation and Power: The Evolution of Women in Art from March 27–May 4, 2015 at the M.S. Rau Gallery in New Orleans. Organized by recognized expert in 18th and 19th century fine art, art patron and owner of M.S. Rau, William Rau, the exhibition will include more than forty notable works, many of which will be exhibited for the first time, by fine art masters including William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Jean-Leon Gerome, Henri Matisse, Berthe Morisot, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Norman Rockwell, among others. The exhibition will trace the evolving representation of women and the female body, archetypes of ideal beauty and model behavior, and the interplay between art and society.

Girl in a Green Coat by Berthe Morisot, 1894. Oil on canvas. Canvas 45 7/8″ high X 32 1/8″wide. MS Rau

Rau’s extensive knowledge in the field and his understanding of the international art market has not only allowed him to help clients cultivate museum quality fine art collections, but has also afforded him the opportunity to amass the remarkable and important works in this comprehensive exhibition.

« With this second thematic exhibition at M.S. Rau, I am excited to present several important paintings by 18th and 19th century fine art masters for the first time and to invite a deeper examination of the evolving representation of women in art and society,“ said, Founder, CEO and President of M.S Rau, Bill Rau.

La Danseuse du Lido by Jean Gabriel Domergue, circa 1930, oil on canvas, 25 5/8 high x 21 1/4 wide. MS Rau

Innocence, Temptation and Power follows M.S. Rau’s 2012 exhibition entitled Impressionism: Influences & Impact, a presentation of more than 45 significant works of art by world-renowned Impressionist artists, including paintings spanning the pre-Impressionist through post-Impressionist movements, by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot and others. These works, many of which belonged to private collectors, had never before been exhibited to the public. Art history scholars, Michelle Foa, Assistant Professor of Art History at Tulane University and Lisa Rotondo-McCord, Assistant Director of Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, presented lectures at the M.S. Rau Gallery during the exhibition on the topic of Impressionism.

Employment Station New York by Martha Walter, circa 1915, oil on canvas, 32 high x 40 wide. MS Rau

Five major works by Claude Monet lead Sotheby’s London Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art

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Antibes vue de la Salis, Au lit: le baiser, Auguste Rodin, Claude Monet, dit Moyen Modèle, Edgar Degas, Gino Severini, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Matisse, La chouette, L’Embarcadère, Le Grand Canal, Le Penseur, Les Peupliers à Giverny, Moskau II, Odalisque au fauteuil noir, Pablo Picasso, Quatre Danseuses, Ritmo Astratto di Madame M.S., Taille de la Porte, Tête, Vase de pivoines, Wassily Kandinsky

LONDON.– Sotheby’s London Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 3rd February 2015 is characterised by its breadth of range within this collecting category, combined with an outstanding level of quality across the board. Encompassing works of the highest order by the most sought-after artists including Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Auguste Rodin, and Wassily Kandinsky, to name but a few, the 53 lots in the Evening Sale are estimated to fetch a combined total in excess of £124,200,000 / $199,676,340 million / €145,226,550 million.

In November 2014, Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York totalled a record $422.1million, marking the fourth consecutive year as the leading auction house in this field. This February, the group of works presented for sale comprises a selection of paintings and sculpture that will appeal to the most discerning of collectors, offering access to pieces from prestigious private collections and works with exceptional provenance that have been internationally admired and exhibited at the most celebrated museums and galleries.

Helena Newman, Sotheby’s Co-Head of Impressionist & Modern Art Worldwide says: “We are extremely excited to be launching the first auction season of 2015 with an Evening Sale that presents a combination of outstanding and museum-quality works by the leading names in the field – including five major works by Claude Monet – and exquisite paintings by sought-after artists whose works appear only rarely on the market – such as Toulouse-Lautrec and Gino Severini.”

“In 2014 we saw growth of more than 20 per cent in sales of Impressionist & Modern Art at Sotheby’s, marking our fourth consecutive year as global leader in this field. This reflects the strength of the market and the wealth of extraordinary Impressionist & Modern works that we have sourced, and we are honoured to have been entrusted with such outstanding works as those featured in our forthcoming sale.”

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), Les Peupliers à Giverny, signed Claude Monet (lower left), oil on canvas, 74 by 92.7cm. 29 1/8 by 36 1/2 in. Painted in 1887. Est. £9 – 12 million / $13.8 – 18.4 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

The cover lot of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale is Claude Monet’s exquisite painting Les Peupliers à Giverny of 1887 which comes to sale from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and will be sold to benefit the Acquisitions Fund. The painting marks a highpoint in Monet’s mastery of the evanescent impressions of light and colour that had been his preoccupation over the previous two decades. It represents a pivotal moment in the artist’s career, because Les Peupliers à Giverny also looks forward to his great series paintings of the 1890s, one of the most important of which featured these same poplar trees.

Les Peupliers à Giverny has a long and distinguished provenance, having adorned not one but two of the greatest museum collections in America – both The Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. In its early years in France Les Peupliers à Giverny was acquired by the writer and politician Denys Cochin from Boussod, Valloton et Cie. in 1892. Durand-Ruel acquired it from Cochin’s collection, and exhibited it extensively throughout Europe and in the United States following which it was purchased by Martin A. Ryerson, the Chicago-based industrialist and philanthropist. Upon his death in 1932 the painting joined the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago at Ryerson’s bequest. It remained there for sixteen years when it was acquired by William B. Jaffe and his widow Evelyn (née Annenberg), who in 1951 donated the work to The Museum of Modern Art, where the painting has remained until today.

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), Le Grand Canal, signed Claude Monet and dated 1908 (lower right), oil on canvas, 73 by 92cm. 28 3/4 by 36 1/4 in. Painted in 1908. Est. £20 – 30 million/ $30.6 – 45.9 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

A highlight of the Evening sale is an exceptionally rare and important view of Venice by Claude Monet, Le Grand Canal of 1908, estimated at £20 – 30 million. Reflecting the outstanding quality and beauty of the work, Le Grand Canal was displayed for the last eight years at The National Gallery, London. Painted during a three-month trip to Venice in 1908, such works depicting Venice are highly sought after by collectors as they represent the peak of Monet’s career.

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), L’Embarcadère, signed Claude Monet (lower right), oil on canvas, 54 by 73.5cm. 21 1/4 by 29in. Painted in 1871. Est. £7.5 – 10 million / $11.5 – 15.3 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

L’Embarcadère was painted by Monet in Zaandam in Holland, where the artist lived with his family for four months over the summer of 1871. He produced a series of 25 pictures that explored several areas surrounding Zaandam, focussing his attention upon the architectural motifs of the Dutch landscape, canals, mills, and boats. Within a strong compositional framework and in a boldly inventive style, Monet’s use of colour and the areas of lively brushwork represent his attempts to evoke the atmosphere of the scene, and he includes subtle, but evocative, signifiers of the weather in the full sails of the river-boats, glistening yellow painted houses and the cool relief of the shaded river-bank.

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), Antibes vue de la Salis, signed Claude Monet and dated 88 (lower right), oil on canvas, 65.5 by 91cm. 25 3/4 by 35 7/8 in. Painted in 1888. Est. £5 – 7 million / $7.7 – 10.7 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

Monet’s dazzling view of the south coast of France, Antibes vue de la Salis, is one of his most accomplished and brightly hued compositions of the 1880s. He was transfixed by the brilliance of the light he found in Antibes and completed four paintings of this view shown at different times of the day, placing a particular emphasis on the tonal contrast between the olive trees in the foreground and this distant shoreline. This painting represents dawn, and is perhaps the most successful juxtaposition of light and shade in the group. The canvases resulting from his trip to Antibes in 1888 are testament to Monet’s masterful reconciliation of his earlier Impressionist manner with the Mediterranean conditions of the South. Antibes vue de la Salis is one of a remarkable series of works unique within Monet’s oeuvre, and the paintings received an enthusiastic reception when they were first exhibited shortly after the artist’s return to Paris.

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926), Vase de pivoines, signed Claude Monet (lower right), oil on canvas, 100 by 81cm. 39 3/8 by 31 7/8 in. Painted in late spring 1882. Est. £1.2 – 1.8 million / $1.8 – 2.8 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

Monet’s approach to still life was as innovative as his painting of landscapes and he returned to painting still-lifes periodically throughout his career, executing an array of traditional subjects, the most compelling of which are his vibrant pictures of flowers, of which Vase de pivoines is an outstanding example.

Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954), Odalisque au fauteuil noir, signed Henri Matisse and dated 1/42 (lower left), oil on canvas, 38 by 46cm. 15 by 18 1/8 in. Painted in January 1942. Est. £9 – 12 million / $13.8 – 18.4 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

Offered from a distinguished American collection, together with a further eight works that include outstanding examples by Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley, is an exquisite portrait depicting Princess Nézy-Hamidé Chawkat, the great granddaughter of the last Sultan of Turkey. Odalisque au fauteuil noir is one of Henri Matisse’s finest paintings from his famed ‘Odalisque’ series, with which he created one of the most recognisable emblems of eroticism in Modern art. Princess Nézy had moved to Nice to live with her grandmother after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic and was spotted in the street by Matisse in 1940, who was drawn to her striking dark looks. A dazzling composition of pattern and colour, Odalisque au fauteuil noir reflects Matisse’s interest in Orientalism, which he had first explored in the 1920s and drew on his attraction to the vibrant colours, fabric and patterns that were so evocative of the Orient.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 – 1901), Au lit: le baiser, signed H. T. Lautrec (lower right), peinture à l’essence on board, 39 by 58cm. 15 1/4 by 22 3/4 in. Painted in 1892. Est. £9 – 12 million / $13.8 – 18.4 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

Celebrated as the principal artist to have recorded fin de siècle bohemian Paris, ToulouseLautrec’s images of the maisons closes are considered to be his greatest accomplishments. Au lit: le baiser is an especially beautiful and vibrant example of these important works and paintings of museum quality such as this seldom appear on the market. Painted in 1892, Au lit: le baiser dates to an extremely sought-after period of the artist’s career which is considered to be a central date to Toulouse-Lautrec’s greatest works. The work is one of a series of four compositions in which Lautrec depicts a moment of tender intimacy, one of which is held in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. For the present work Lautrec chose a viewpoint almost unique in his oeuvre, and certainly unique among the other works of this group. The two young women are pictured in a loving embrace, with their bodies foreshortened so that all that is visible of them are their intertwined arms and their two closely interlocked faces. The result is a painting of extraordinary intimacy, and among Lautrec’s most psychologically insightful works.

Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917), Quatre Danseuses, signed Degas (lower left), pastel on paper, 84 by 73cm. 33 by 28 3/4 in. Executed circa 1903. Est. £3 – 5 million / $4.6 – 7.7 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

Executed shortly after the turn of the century, Edgar Degas’ highly expressive Quatre Danseuses depicts one of the artist’s favourite subjects – ballet dancers preparing for a performance. Throughout his career, Degas’ treatment of this subject underwent a radical metamorphosis, and in his later years he developed a highly expressive use of materials. In Quatre Danseuses the artist’s vibrant markings, applied in coat after coat of coloured chalk, achieve an effect that appears to be painted. By the end of his career Degas had become a modern artist whose expressive techniques influenced many more of the greatest colourists that followed.

Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), Moskau II (Moscow II), oil on canvas, 52.8 by 38cm. 20 3/4 by 15in. Painted in 1916. Est. £6 – 8 million / $9.2 – 12.2 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

Moskau II, painted in 1916, is one of the finest canvases from Kandinsky’s Russian period in private hands. The tumultuous events that led Kandinsky back to his birthplace precipitated a revival of the artist’s deep-seated love of the city of his birth, Moscow. This kaleidoscopic composition, with its dazzling energy and rich colouration, depicts the city as a place of dynamic beauty, as spiritually enriching as the mountains of Murnau which had informed his development of abstraction in the first years of the twentieth century. In the painting Kandinsky has created a celebration of his vibrant home city which does not derive its character from specific references to the place that inspired it, but rather is a symphonic arrangement of its essential character.

Gino Severini (1883 – 1966), Ritmo Astratto di Madame M.S., signed G. Severini (lower right); signed Gino Severini twice, inscribed « Portrait » de Madame S., 1912, Réplique faite par moi avec variente on the reverse, oil on canvas, 92 by 65.5cm. 36 1/4 by 25 3/4 in. Painted in 1915. Est. £5 – 7 million / $7.7 – 10.7 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

Appearing at auction for the first time, having been acquired directly from the artist in 1961 and remained in the same family collection ever since, Ritmo astratto di Madame M.S. of 1915 is an exceptional and highly important Futurist portrait by Gino Severini. The artist first painted Madame M.S. in 1912 and produced a number of studies in pastel between the first version executed in oil and this work. The variations represent the finest and most complete exploration of portraiture within the artist’s œuvre. Although the Futurists executed only a few portraits, both Severini and Boccioni considered them to be an important part of their work. Portraiture enabled the artists to further explore the deconstruction of form and animation which formed the basis for their work; as Severini explained: ‘One should consider that the research into movement and the dynamic perception of the world does not at all demand paintings exclusively of racing automobiles or dancers moving in space, for a seated person, or any object, apparently static, can be considered dynamic and suggest dynamic forms. I give for an example the Portrait of Madame M-S’. Severini was evidently attached to this painting, for it remained in his possession until his death and he produced several versions of it. The painting was exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, while on loan from 1984-1993.

Sculpture

Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973), Tête, iron and steel, height: 105cm. 41 1/4 in. Executed in Mougins in 1962-64. Est. £5 – 7 million / $7.7 – 10.7 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

Tête (Maquette pour la sculpture en plein air du Chicago Civic Center) is one of two iron and sheet-metal maquettes that Picasso developed between 1962 and 1964. One of these was sent to the United States as the model for the large-scale sculpture planned for the Chicago Civic Center (later renamed the Richard J. Daley Center) which, standing at twenty metres high and completely dominating the surrounding environment, represented Picasso’s paramount achievement in monumental sculpture. The design of Tête is a continuation of Picasso’s explorations of the female physique that began with his earliest cubist experiments. This experimentation was particularly pronounced in his sheet metal sculptures of the 1950s and early 1960s, where the medium allowed him to focus on building the face out of separate planes and opening up the body to reveal the space within. One of the two original maquettes was presented by the artist as a gift to the Arts Institute of Chicago, and Picasso chose to keep the present work in his own collection where it remained until his death in 1973, after which it passed to his granddaughter Marina Picasso. The work comes to auction from the estate of Jan Krugier.

Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973), La chouette, signed Picasso; signed Picasso and dated 5.1.53. on the underside, hand-painted terracotta, height: 34.5cm. 13 1/2 in. Conceived on 25th December 1950, and cast in a small edition of hand-painted terracottas in 1953. An edition of six bronzes was also cast from the same model in 1950. Est. £350,000 – 450,000 / $540,000 – 690,000. Photo Sotheby’s.

The owl interested Picasso greatly, and alongside the horse and the bull, it was a subject he returned to frequently. Owls appeared in a number of paintings and at least two lithographs, as well as a number of ceramics. However, it was this terracotta model that was subject to the greatest attention. The maquette for La chouette was created in plaster on Christmas Day 1949. A couple of years later Picasso returned to the model and created a small edition of terracotta casts. Picasso treated these casts individually, painting them in a variety of ways, some with the dazzling monochromatic pattern found on this particular work, others using colour and anthropomorphic features. A few examples of this model remained with the artist until his death and feature in numerous photographs of the artist’s studios. Two of the painted terracotta casts from Picasso’s own collection are now in the Musée National Picasso in Paris and another is in the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. This cast was inherited by his granddaughter, Marina Picasso, and was exhibited alongside the rest of her celebrated collection at a series of shows held in the early 1980s. The work comes to the market from the estate of celebrated gallerist Jan Krugier.

Auguste Rodin (1840 – 1917), Le Penseur, Taille de la Porte, dit Moyen Modèle, inscribed A. Rodin; inscribed with the foundry mark Alexis Rudier fondeur Paris and with the raised signature A. Rodin, bronze, height: 71.5cm. 28 1/8 in. Conceived in 1880, and cast in bronze between 1919 and 1925. Est. £3 – 4 million / $4.6 – 6.1 million. Photo Sotheby’s.

Rodin’s Le Penseur has become one of the most recognisable sculptures in the history of art, a true masterpiece that continues to transfix contemporary society. The Alexis Rudier foundry, known for having created some of the most desirable casts of Rodin’s oeuvre, executed approximately 30 casts of Le Penseur in this scale beginning in 1902. Other casts from this edition hold positions in prominent museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University; the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia; The Montreal Museum of Art and the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo. The first owner of this particular cast was likely to have been The Prince Takamatsu (Takamatsu-no-miya Nobuhito Shinnō), the younger brother of Emperor Shōwa – better known as Hirohito. A further work by Auguste Rodin to feature in the sale, Éternel printemps, one of Rodin’s most celebrated sculptures of the 1880s (pictured right, Conceived in 1884 and cast in bronze during the artist’s lifetime, probably between 1887 and 1894) and is estimated at £1.8 – 2.5 million / $2.8 – 3.8 million.

Sotheby’s to offer exceptionally rare view of Venice by Claude Monet estimated at £20-30 million

Étiquettes

Claude Monet, Le Grand Canal

Claude Monet, Le Grand Canal, 1908, estimated at £20-30 million /$30.6 -45.9m / €25.6-38.3m. Photo Sotheby’s

‘When I looked at your Venice paintings I experienced a deep emotion . . . I admire them as the highest manifestations of your art’ Paul Signac.

LONDON.- Sotheby’s forthcoming London Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 3rd February 2015 will be led by an exceptionally rare and important view of Venice by Claude Monet, Le Grand Canal of 1908, estimated at £20-30 million /$30.6 -45.9m / €25.6-38.3m.

Helena Newman, Sotheby’s Co-Head, Impressionist & Modern Art Worldwide, said: “The market for works by Claude Monet has now reached an all-time point of strength, with bidders coming from four times as many countries as a decade ago. Reflecting the outstanding quality and beauty of the work, Le Grand Canal was prominently displayed for eight years at The National Gallery, London. Given the painting’s rarity and exceptional quality, and the strong price of £19.7m achieved when we sold Monet’s Venice view Le Palais Contarini in 2013, we anticipate enthusiastic global interest prior to the sale in February.”

Painted during a three-month trip to Venice in 1908 – the year of one of the first Venice Biennales – such works depicting Venice are highly sought after by collectors as they represent the peak of Monet’s career. Le Grand Canal has been exhibited around the world, most recently on loan to The National Gallery, London, for eight years (2006-2014) and previously exhibited at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the Royal Academy of Arts London. Prior to Sotheby’s auction on 3rd February in London, the painting will be exhibited in Taipei (7th January 2015) Hong Kong (9th-12th January 2015), New York (21st-23rd January 2015) and then London (28th January – 3rd February 2015).

Monet’s depiction of the domes of Santa Maria della Salute in Le Grand Canal, seen from the steps of the Palazzo Barbaro, highlights the development from the Old Masters’ detailed depiction of Venice and the more lavish and picturesque depictions of the 18th century. Monet’s series introduced a fresh approach that captured so finely the ever-changing splendour of light upon the city’s ancient stone walls and the water that surrounds. Monet drew upon his artistic predecessors in Venice such as Turner and Whistler, as well as his personal achievements of his own London series of paintings. Unlike Monet’s usual methods of charting the changes of time and light as the course of the day would progress, in Venice time was not to be one of the factors of variations for his motifs. It was what he called ‘the envelope’ – the surrounding atmospheric conditions, the famous Venetian haze – that became the principal factor of variation with these motifs.

On 19th December 1908, a few days after Monet’s return to Paris, the influential Impressionist gallerist Bernheim-Jeune acquired twenty-eight of the thirty-seven views of Venice, though Monet kept the pictures in his studio to add finishing touches. It was only in 1911 after the death of his wife Alice – with whom he had travelled to Venice – that Monet finally agreed on a date for the exhibition Claude Monet Venise at Bernheim-Jeune, which opened on 28th May 1912 and was greeted with considerable critical acclaim.

A year after the exhibition at Bernheim-Jeune Le Grand Canal was acquired by Hunt Henderson, a New Orleans-based sugar magnate. Henderson was one of the most important collectors in the American South in the first half of the 20th Century whose collection included a significant number of works by the Impressionists, including paintings and drawings by Monet, Renoir and Degas.