Christie's Presents the Impressionist & Modern Art
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PRESS RELEASE | N E W Y O R K | 23 OCTOBER 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CHRISTIE’S PRESENTS THE IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART WORKS ON PAPER AND DAY SALES ON NOVEMBER 6 OVER 250 LOTS TO BE OFFERED, INCLUDING MASTER WORKS BY DALÍ, MOORE, PICASSO, PISSARRO AND SISLEY New York – On November 6, Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Works on Paper Sale and Day Sale in New York will present a strong offering of fresh-to-the-market paintings, drawings and sculptures from the leading Impressionist and Modern masters. With pieces ranging in style, medium and estimate, the sales present an exciting opportunity for collectors of all levels to acquire works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Henri Matisse, Salvador Dalí, Henry Moore, among others. In total, Christie’s will offer over 250 works between the two sales, with a combined total that is expected to realize in excess of $31 million. WORKS ON PAPER PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973) | Mousquetaire, buste colored wax crayons and brush and India ink and gray wash on paper Executed on 19 July 1967 Estimate: $600,000 - $800,000 Several museum-quality works by Pablo Picasso demonstrate the artist’s enduring originality, including his whimsical Mousquetaire, buste, which perfectly captures his fascination with the subject of musketeers in the 1960s. Picasso’s interest in depicting mousquetaires may be traced to a combination of his love of classic literature, such as the works of Góngora, Vega, Dickens, and Dumas, as well as the artwork of old masters such as Rembrandt van Rijn and Velázquez. CAMILLE PISSARRO (1830-1903) | La foire de Gisors gouache over pencil on silk laid down on canvas Painted in 1889 Estimate: $400,000 - $600,000 Camille Pissarro’s La foire de Gisors is a highly worked gouache that depicts a lively fair in the town of Gisors. Pissarro has laid down the paint precisely and methodically – not in the tiny dots of Neo-Impressionists Seurat and Signac, but in a tapestry of alternately parallel and interlocking strokes, which produce an effect of heightened luminosity. This “divisionist” or “chromoluminist” phase of Pissarro's career was all the more notable for the fact that Pissarro was in his mid-fifties when he adopted this bold new style. EMIL NOLDE (1867-1956) | Tänzerin watercolor on Japan paper Painted in 1911-1912 Estimate: $250,000-350,000 Among the selection of German expressionist works on paper to be offered is Emil Nolde’s Tänzerin. The watercolor is a vibrant and fantastical image which perfectly embodies Nolde's experience of the dance, a subject which fascinated him throughout his career. HENRI MATISSE (1869-1954) | Odalisque étendue II pen and India ink on paper Drawn circa 1927 Estimate: $300,000-500,000 While most of Henri Matisse’s ink drawings were executed solely in pure, unadorned lines that traced the essential contours of the figure, Odalisque étendue II employs the classic technique of an etcher; select areas are hatched, lending weight and depth to the balance of the composition. Executed circa 1927, the present work was rendered in pen and India ink, the method that would become his signature style of draughtsmanship, following his move to a larger studio in 1926. The present work recalls the themes that had intrigued Matisse during his trips to Morocco during the early 1910s with the odalisque as both a celebration of the female form and a self- reflexive celebration of art itself. DAY SALE . ALFRED SISLEY (1839-1899) | Le chemin de Butte, Retour en forêt oil on canvas painted in 1889 estimate: $400,000 – $600,000 Le chemin de Butte, Retour en forêt was painted in 1889, when Sisley returned to his home in Moret, which was almost the exclusive subject of his art until his death a decade later. The various sections of the landscape are analyzed through carefully differentiated zones of brushwork: large, vigorous strokes for the swaying grasses in the foreground, for instance, versus a more uniform, delicate touch for the plain beyond. SALVADOR DALI (1904-1989) | March of Time Committee: Papillon oil and tempera on joined unstretched canvas Painted circa 1940 Estimate: $400,000 - $600,000 Among the largest scale paintings the artist ever produced, March of Time Committee: Papillon was commissioned by Wallace Laboratories around 1940 to serve as a dramatic backdrop to the launch of their much-anticipated tranquilizer at the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Dalí employs his favorite motifs and striking imagery in this dreamscape set piece – an arid, seemingly endless expanse, the recurrent crutch, butterfly and eye. GIORGIO DE CHIRICO (1888-1978) Ettore e Andromaca oil on canvas Painted in 1963 Estimate: $600,000 - $800,000 One of the most memorable images of his famed Metaphysical period, the subject of Ettore e Andromaca (Hector and Andromache) was one to which de Chirico returned on many occasions. He created numerous pictorial variations on the theme, which introduce a new dimension to the mysterious, haunting world of de Chirico's metaphysical paintings, where time stands still and the era in which the scene takes place is not clear. HENRY MOORE (1898-1986) | Two Piece Sculpture No. 7: Pipe polished bronze Conceived in 1966 Estimate: $600,000 - $800,000 Conceived in 1966, Two Piece Sculpture No. 7: Pipe displays Moore's preoccupation with creating multiple and varied viewpoints from separate sculptural units that are brought together into relationships of tension and interdependence. Developing an idea which had first appeared in his work in the 1930s, Moore began to divide his reclining figures into two and, later, three and four pieces in 1959. FERNAND LEGER (1881-1955) | Nature morte à l'oiseau oil on canvas Painted in 1951 Estimate: $600,000 - $800,000 Nature morte à l'oiseau employs a graphic and reductive design, rendered entirely as black outlines on a gray and black ground which has been partly covered with bands and patches of pure color. The effect is essentially architectural; Léger likened this type of painting to the flatness of a wall, broken up with color to create a livelier surface. The curved forms of the dove, vase and fruit stand out against the stiff vertical lines that surround them, creating both a sense of depth and movement. Notes to Editors: Christie’s previously announced the following highlights of Impressionist & Modern Art: A Dialogue Through Art: Works from The Jan Krugier Collection Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale Alberto Giacometti’s, Diego en chemise écossaise Henry Moore’s, Reclining Figure PRESS CONTACT: Sara Fox | +1 212 636 2680 | [email protected] For the complete eCatalogue for the Works on Paper Sale, click here. For the complete eCatalogue for the Day Sale, click here. About Christie’s Christie’s, the world's leading art business, reached a total of £2.4 billion/$3.68 billion in global auction and private sales in the first six months of 2013. In 2012, global auction and private sales totaled £3.92 billion/$6.27 billion, marking the highest annual revenue ever reached by Christie’s. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie's has since conducted the greatest and most celebrated auctions through the centuries providing a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers over 450 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewelry, photography, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie's also has a long and successful history conducting private sales for its clients in all categories, with an emphasis on Post-War and Contemporary, Impressionist and Modern, Old Masters and Jewelry. Global private sales totaled £465 million/$711 million in the first half year of 2013, an increase of 13% from the same period last year, breaking the sales record of half year private sales for Christie’s and the art market for three consecutive years. Christie’s has a global presence of 53 offices in 32 countries and 11 salerooms around the world including London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Zürich, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Christie’s has recently led in growth markets such as Russia, China, India and The United Arab Emirates, with successful sales, exhibitions and initiatives held in Beijing, Mumbai and Dubai. *Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium and do not reflect costs, financing fees or application of buyer’s or seller’s credits. # # # Images available on request FOLLOW CHRISTIE’S ON: .