http://artyouknow.com Art You Know RSS feed votes Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:24:27 CDT en http://artyouknow.com/story/title/arts-club-auction-at-bonhams-will-offer-many-works-not-previously-seen-on-the-market/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/arts-club-auction-at-bonhams-will-offer-many-works-not-previously-seen-on-the-market/ Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:24:27 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/arts-club-auction-at-bonhams-will-offer-many-works-not-previously-seen-on-the-market/


London Club of Dickens, Swinburne, Millais, Whistler, Kipling, Monet, Rodin, Degas, Turgenev, Lutyens and Sir Alfred Munnings Sells Pictures



'The Arts Club Sale: Selected pictures from the Club and Members' will take place in London on Tuesday, 10th November at Bonhams in New Bond Street.



There will be around 200 pictures for sale, deaccessioned from the Club and entered by its members, many of whom are themselves artists. Current membership includes a number...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/picture-by-top-victorian-artist-%C2%96-taken-in-lieu-of-rent-makes-%A3240000-in-%A31-8m-sale-of-19th-century-art-at-bonhams-in-london/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/picture-by-top-victorian-artist-%C2%96-taken-in-lieu-of-rent-makes-%A3240000-in-%A31-8m-sale-of-19th-century-art-at-bonhams-in-london/ Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:35:43 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/picture-by-top-victorian-artist-%C2%96-taken-in-lieu-of-rent-makes-%A3240000-in-%A31-8m-sale-of-19th-century-art-at-bonhams-in-london/

PICTURE, WHICH HAS BEEN WITH THE SAME FAMILY SINCE 1883, SELLS IN
LONDON.



Bonhams sold one of Atkinson Grimshaw’s finest paintings, a view
of Headingley in Leeds, yesterday 22nd April in a sale of 19th
Century Paintings and Drawings at their Bond Street salerooms. The
picture, `Autumn Afterglow’, was estimated to sell for £120,000
to £180,000 but outstripped that to make £240,000.



John Atkinson Grimshaw is perhaps Leeds’s best-known and best-
loved artist. Born in...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/adolf-hitlers-watercolors-sell-for-over-100000-euros-at-mullocks/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/adolf-hitlers-watercolors-sell-for-over-100000-euros-at-mullocks/ Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:16:19 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/adolf-hitlers-watercolors-sell-for-over-100000-euros-at-mullocks/

Hitler landscape scene with figure identified in ink with a cross and the initials 'AH' sitting on a bridge over a river. Signed 'A Hitler' and dated '1910' lower right. Verso with further landscape scene showing cattle grazing signed 'A Hitler 1910' to bottom right hand corner. Three watercolors by Adolf Hitler were auctioned. EFE. LONDON.- Mullock's Art Auctioneers sold a series of watercolors painted by Adolf Hitler for over 100,000 euros. The works were mostly landscapes and were found earlier this year in a garage. A work that appears to be a self-portrait that portrays a man using a side-parting and sitting on a stone bridge sold for 10,000 pounds. The work was signed with the initials A.H. Richard Westwood-Brookes from Mullock's stated, "I am very pleased. I thought they would go for between five and six thousand. Unfortunately for the world, he was not accepted into the Vienna Academy, which was where he wanted to be. Of course, if he had been accepted, then we would have known him today as an artist and not as an evil tyrant." He had previously stated the works "are hardly Picasso". From 1905 on, Hitler lived a bohemian life in Vienna on an orphan's pension and support from his mother. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (1907–1908), citing "unfitness for painting", and was told his abilities lay instead in the field of architecture.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/classic-cars-fly-in-close-formation-with-%A31-7m-spitfire-at-bonhams-%A33-8m-sale/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/classic-cars-fly-in-close-formation-with-%A31-7m-spitfire-at-bonhams-%A33-8m-sale/ Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:59:21 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/classic-cars-fly-in-close-formation-with-%A31-7m-spitfire-at-bonhams-%A33-8m-sale/

Bonhams sale of an airworthy two-seater Vickers-Supermarine MkIX Spitfire aircraft for £1,739,500 on 20th April at the RAF Museum, Hendon, London, did not overshadow the cars in the same sale which enjoyed a virtual sell-out, raising the sale total of cars and aircraft to £3.83m



Top lot amongst the 76 cars – which achieved a 98 per cent sell rate by value – was lot 320, a 1905 Gardner-Serpollet 18hp Type L Steamer with Tulip Phaeton Coachwork. It’s pre-sale estimate was £100,000...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/the-former-maharajah-of-bharatpurs-1931-horch-cabriolet-which-he-swapped-for-a-horse-heads-bonhams-collectors-car-auction-in-australia/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/the-former-maharajah-of-bharatpurs-1931-horch-cabriolet-which-he-swapped-for-a-horse-heads-bonhams-collectors-car-auction-in-australia/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:51:09 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/the-former-maharajah-of-bharatpurs-1931-horch-cabriolet-which-he-swapped-for-a-horse-heads-bonhams-collectors-car-auction-in-australia/

An historic Horch, part of the Peter Briggs Collector's Car Collection, will be sold by Bonhams & Goodman in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday 3rd May for price in the region of £200,000.



This fascinating car was presented to Robert Gove of Victoria from the Maharajah of Bharatpur in the 1930s in exchange for horses.  The Gove family had supplied the Maharajahs with fine horses of all kinds - polo mounts, racehorses and many thousands of horses for the Indian Army.  The Australian...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-launch-period-design-sales-with-the-support-of-leading-british-designers/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-launch-period-design-sales-with-the-support-of-leading-british-designers/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:50:45 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-launch-period-design-sales-with-the-support-of-leading-british-designers/


Next month Bonhams Furniture Department will launch a new
monthly sale titled `Period Design' which aims to inspire both home
decorators and professional designers to be creative. The sale will
focus on the best of design with each sale catalogue featuring an
interview by a top interior designer talking about current trends and
fashions. They will also hand select a number of items from the sale
that have caught their eye to discuss, explaining why it interests
them. It might be...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/interior-designer-catherine-connolly-from-northwick-design-talks-about-her-love-of-auctions-and-current-trends/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/interior-designer-catherine-connolly-from-northwick-design-talks-about-her-love-of-auctions-and-current-trends/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:50:29 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/interior-designer-catherine-connolly-from-northwick-design-talks-about-her-love-of-auctions-and-current-trends/


My favourite way of shopping for clients is using the salerooms. There are always some wonderful finds to be had. Ideally it is better to show the client the catalogue and then go alone to preview as quite often they will get over excited and want to buy additional things and then of course we then have to find places to put it all.



At the moment we have four important projects all requiring totally different styles so we could end up spending a great deal of time sourcing at...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/rare-work-by-polish-painter-fetches-over-1-million-at-bonhams-ny/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/rare-work-by-polish-painter-fetches-over-1-million-at-bonhams-ny/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:50:13 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/rare-work-by-polish-painter-fetches-over-1-million-at-bonhams-ny/


International collector attention was focused on the April 21st sale of European Paintings presented at the New York galleries of international auctioneers Bonhams. Offering over 200 lots, the well rounded sale - which included Old Masters and 19th Century works by artists from the French, German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Italian and British Schools - lured an international pool of bidders and several first-time registrants.



Clearly causing the most excitement of the day was a rare...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-sells-spitfire-for-%A31-7m-to-british-businessman-and-adventurer/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-sells-spitfire-for-%A31-7m-to-british-businessman-and-adventurer/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:49:49 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-sells-spitfire-for-%A31-7m-to-british-businessman-and-adventurer/

Bonhams sold an airworthy two-seater Vickers-Supermarine MkIX Spitfire aircraft for £1,739,500 today, 20th April, at the RAF Museum, Hendon, London. The buyer was Steven Brooks, a British financier and polar adventurer.



The Spitfire was sold during a Bonhams Collectors Motor Car sale which made a total of £3.8m with 97 per cent of all cars and motoring memorabilia sold by value.



Steve Brooks a keen adventurer became the first person to drive across the Bering...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bold-gold-pieces-draw-bidders-to-fine-jewelry-sale-at-bonhams-new-york/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bold-gold-pieces-draw-bidders-to-fine-jewelry-sale-at-bonhams-new-york/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:49:14 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bold-gold-pieces-draw-bidders-to-fine-jewelry-sale-at-bonhams-new-york/


Collectors were once again presented with an excellent selection of lots on which to bid during the April 20th fine jewelry sale which took place at the New York galleries of international auctioneers, Bonhams.



Amongst the top lots, and proving the enduring desire for good diamonds regardless of the market, were a fancy colored diamond ring and a colored diamond necklace. The ring, weighing 8.29 carats with triangular-cut diamond shoulders and a plain mount, fetched $87, 840....]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-sale-of-american-indian-art-to-be-held-may-20/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-sale-of-american-indian-art-to-be-held-may-20/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:35:39 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-sale-of-american-indian-art-to-be-held-may-20/

A Tsimshian Polychromed Wood Crest Headdress (est. $175/225,000). Photo: Sotheby's.

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s annual sale of American Indian Art, including Property from the Collection of Frieda and Milton Rosenthal in New York will take place on May 20, 2009. The sale will feature several distinguished private collections, among them: The Estate of Herbert Wellington; Property from the Collection of Morton and Estelle Sosland, sold to benefit the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation; Property from the Evan Maurer-Naomi Margolis Collection; the Estate of Milton and Frieda Rosenthal; and Property from the Collection of Mrs. Novella and the Late Edwin C. Lineberry. Works from the sale will be on exhibition at Sotheby’s New York beginning May 16.

The Herbert G. Wellington Collection of American Indian Art is one of the most distinguished of its kind. Originating from the 1960s, the Collection grew over the span of three decades to include works of art from every major North American tribal tradition, many of which are considered true masterpieces. The Wellington Collection comprised the landmark 1982 book Pleasing the Spirits; A Catalogue of a Collection of American Indian Art, and it was the first private collection of American Indian art ever shown at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1983. The Wellington Collection has had a profound impact on the collecting and academic worlds of American Indian art.

A highlight of the Wellington Collection is an extraordinary Washoe Polychrome Basket woven by the renowned weaver Dat so la lee (est. $175/225,000). Dat so la lee, also known by the English name Louisa Keyser, was the first Washoe artisan to create baskets solely for retail sale. This was possible with the support of her patron, Abe Cohn, who hired her to produce baskets to be sold in his emporium. Without the burden of domestic responsibilities and the struggles of daily life, Dat so la lee was able to devote herself entirely to her craft for thirty years, from 1895 to 1925. Her weaving skill is unmatched – no other basket weaver so superbly integrated weave, shape and symbolization – and this sale represents the first appearance of her work at auction in almost twenty years.

Another featured lot from the Wellington Collection is an Early and Rare Eastern Woodlands Wood Pipe, possibly Iroquois, which was included in the 1982 exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled “Symbol and Substance in American Indian Art” (est. $150/250,000). This rare, sculptural piece has become a symbol of the Wellington Collection since its exhibition in 1982. The pipe, shaped like a war club, would have been used for tobacco-smoking ritual, and may have been used by a war chief in preparation for battle. A Pair of Haida Wood Figures, also exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum, will also be included from the Wellington Collection (est. $40/60,000).

Also from the Wellington Collection, Sotheby’s will offer a brilliant copy of the History of the American Indian Tribes of North America by Thomas Mckenney and James Hall this June as part of its June 9, 2009, Books and Manuscripts sale. This copy, estimated $80/120,000, post-dates The Smithsonian fire of 1865 where unfortunately most of the original paintings were destroyed. Thomas Mckenney, the first director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and James Hall, an Illinois lawyer and journalist, saw their work as a means of preserving an accurate record of a rapidly disappearing culture.

The spring auction will also include important Northwest Coast works from the Collection of Morton and Estelle Sosland of Kansas City, sold to benefit the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, which Morton Sosland helped to create in 1978. In just 30 years, the Community Foundation has partnered with an estimated 20,000 individuals to grant more than $1 billion to the community; has more than $1 billion in assets; and is recognized as a national leader in making sure every philanthropic investment returns the greatest emotional, civic and financial benefit possible.

Among the works to be offered from the Sosland Collection is a Tsimshian Polychromed Wood Crest Headdress (est. $175/225,000). While some clan hats are made of woven materials and display only certain features of an animal, the Sosland Headdress is carved from wood in the form of a whole bear poised on top of the wearer’s head. Based on specific carving and paint features such as a lack of two-dimensional design work and the blue pigment used, this work can be attributed to the Tsimshian people of the Pacific Northwest Coast and dated to the middle of the 19th Century.

A Large Kwakiutl Polychromed Wood Sun Mask will also be included (est. $150/250,000). The mask is carved in the form of a sun surrounding a face with a curved, birdlike beak. It is in the style of Charlie James, an esteemed turn-of-the-century carver who is perhaps best known today for his totem poles and houseposts. Two 1914 houseposts by James are installed in Vancouver’s Stanley Park and have, though repeated use and exposure through tourism marketing and advertising, become the quintessential image of Northwest Coast totem poles.

Frieda and Milton Rosenthal were accomplished collectors in many categories including African and Oceanic Art – which brought record prices at Sotheby’s in the fall of 2008 –and Japanese and Chinese Works of Art. Their collection of American Indian Art is broad and highlights include rare examples of artwork from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia and the Southwest United States, including a Tlingit Polychromed Wood Comb (est. $60/80,000). The masterful carving lavished on this piece reflects the care and imagination invested by Native artisans in all things, even the most ordinary of items, and their belief that beauty knew no bounds. Shaman's wore combs during curing ceremonies, as well as when they were not practicing, and decorated them with both spirit helpers and crest emblems. In this superb example, the comb prominently features a beaver. A Large Western Apache Coiled Polychrome Pictorial Olla will also be included from the same collection (est. $50/70,000). Apache women stopped production of large coiled ollas shortly after the turn of the century as smaller baskets became more popular and saleable.

Property from the Evan Maurer, the former director of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago, and Naomi Margolis Collection contains superb parfleche containers and is distinguished by a Pair of Cheyenne Painted Hide Parfleche Envelopes (est. $100/150,000), which was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1941. Cheyenne artistry is among the finest, where artistic expression is closely tied to religion, and there is no greater example of Cheyenne artistic ability than their exquisitely drawn parfleche containers.

Property from the Collection of Mrs. Novella and the late Edwin C. Lineberry includes important indigenous art from New Mexico collected by the Taos, New Mexico’s eminent patrons Edwin Lineberry and Duane Van Vechten throughout their forty year marriage. Two years after Duane’s death in 1977, Edwin married his second wife Novella who shared her husband’s passion for art; together Edwin and Novella opened the Van Vechten-Lineberry Museum in Taos in 1994, in honor of Lineberry’s first wife, Duane]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/picasso-portraits-and-rare-works-by-ernst-giacometti-and-jawlensky-highlight-christies-sale/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/picasso-portraits-and-rare-works-by-ernst-giacometti-and-jawlensky-highlight-christies-sale/ Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:14:12 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/picasso-portraits-and-rare-works-by-ernst-giacometti-and-jawlensky-highlight-christies-sale/

Max Ernst (1891-1976), Malédiction à vous les mamans, oil on canvas, 51¼ x 63¾ in. (139 x 162 cm.) Painted in 1928 estimate: $7-9 million). Photo: Christie's Images Ltd. 2009.

NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s announced details of its Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on May 6, 2009. Comprised of 50 works from the great masters of the era, the sale presents a unique opportunity to collect rare and important works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, Max Ernst, Tamara de Lempicka, Henry Moore, Alexej von Jawlensky, and Egon Schiele, among others. The sale is expected to realize in excess of $94 million.

At well over a meter in height and length, Max Ernst’s monumental Malédiction à vous les mamans from 1928 (estimate: $7-9 million) is a striking cerulean blue canvas from a European collection. Acquired by the present owner circa 1974, it has never before appeared at auction.

Malédiction à vous les mamans evolved from a series of paintings devoted to Ernst’s Dadaist subversion of traditional Madonna-and-child depictions. “Being a man of ‘ordinary constitution’ (to use Rimbaud’s term), I have done everything to make my soul monstrous”, Ernst wrote in his 1937 text Beyond Painting. Here, the loving image of a mother and son is replaced by strange half-bird, halfhuman figures locked in a contentious embrace. A younger man looks on and flexes his limbs in a menacing pose, as if ready to join the fray. To heighten the drama of the scene, Ernst removed nearly all indications of a pictorial setting so that his group of figures appears to float untethered against a sea of vivid blue. This entirely modern pictorial device is remarkable for its similarity to the signature style adopted by the Irish-born painter Francis Bacon half a century later. In February 2008, Christie’s London set the world auction record for an Ernst painting with the sale of La conversion du feu from 1937 for $2.38 million.

Late Picasso Portraits
Among the top works at this season’s Evening Sale are a pair of important late Picasso portraits, one male and one female, and both bearing more than a passing resemblance to the artist himself. Mousquetaire à la pipe from October 1968 (estimate: $12-18 million) is a vivid, full-length image of the artist in one of his favorite guises: the brave and adventurous musketeer with long, wavy hair, clad in doublets and ruffled collars. Equally vivid in palette is Femme au chapeau from August 1971 (estimate: $8-12 million), an iconic portrait hand-selected by Picasso for inclusion in his second solo exhibition at the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France. Since 1989, Femme au chapeau has been a centerpiece of the private collection of the artist and Oscar-nominated film director Julian Schnabel. As Schnabel noted of the portrait, “The painting can be read as a self-portrait as well as a portrait of a woman. Picasso painted his own image into the head.”

Jazz Age Icons
The distinctive style of Tamara de Lempicka fuses elements of French Cubism, Purism, Neo-Classicism, and Italian Mannerist techniques into a cool and urbane vision of physical beauty that has become synonymous with the Jazz Age. This season, Christie’s offers two exceptional portraits, La Chemise Rose I from circa 1927 (estimate: $1.3-1.8 million) and the seductive Portrait de Madame M. from 1932 (estimate: $6-8 million). As one of the last of the large portraits Lempicka completed on a commission basis, Portrait de Madame M. is an exquisite swan song. Lempicka executes with relish the folds in her subject’s dress and the decorative floral clusters of drapery in the background, achieving a baroque effect that recalls Bernini’s great masterpieces. Christie’s achieved the current world auction record of $4.59 million for a Lempicka work in May 2004 with the sale of Portrait de Mrs. Bush from 1929.

Distinguished Private Collections
A trio of exceptional works by Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, and Joan Miró are drawn from the private collection of the late Caral Gimbel Lebworth, a prominent New York philanthropist and arts patron. Giacometti’s Buste de Diego (Stele III), a rare full-size bronze bust balanced on a tall, narrow plinth (estimate: $4.5-6.5 million) is fresh to the market, having been acquired by the Gimbel family in 1959, the year after it was cast. Two more pivotal works from the collection are Matisse’s Nu à la serviette blanche (estimate: $2-3 million), an early figure painting that hints at Fauvist innovations to come; and Joan Miró’s Maquette pour Personnage, 1971 (estimate: $300,000-400,000), a unique study for a monumental 11-foot wide sculpture completed the following year.

An exceedingly rare full-length nude entitled Odalyske by the Russian-born painter Alexej von Jawlensky (estimate: $4-6.5 million) is a highlight from the collection of Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall. Only a handful of nudes by Jawlensky are extant, and none are of a comparable scale and accomplishment as Odalyske. The painting has been in private hands since 1958, when it was acquired by the late collector. Other highlights from the family collection include Camille Pissaro’s La cueilette des pommes from 1881 (estimate: $1.4-1.8 million); Picasso’s Arlequin (estimate: $600,000-800,000), a watercolor study from circa 1915 for the large oil painting of the same name; and Henri Edmond Cross’ Paysage avec le cap negre (estimate: $700,000-900,000), a pointillist landscape from 1906. From the estate of Joan S. Ben-Avi comes Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Madame Misia Natanson from 1897 (estimate: $2-3 million), an idyllic portrait rendered in loose exuberant brushwork that has been in the family collection since 1954.

From the Serge and Vally Sabarsky Collection, the Evening Sale presents three works on paper by Egon Schiele that were most recently exhibited at New York’s Neue Galerie. Seher from 1913 is a double self-portrait in gouache, watercolor and pencil with the added visage of the artist’s girlfriend Walli Neuzil (estimate: $800,000-1,200,000); Wieblicher torso in unterwäsche und schwarzen strümpfen from 1917 is one in a series of studies of a young red-headed model (estimate: $500,000-700,000); and Liegende from 1918 is a reclining figure drawn with great economy of line in black crayon on paper (estimate: $200,000-300,000).

Sculpture Highlights
Like Giacometti's Buste de Diego (Stele III), Henry Moore's five-foot long bronze Falling Warrior (estimate: $2.5-3.5 million) boasts a pristine provenance, having been acquired direct from the artist soon after casting was completed in 1957 and maintained in an important European collection. Other casts of Falling Warrior are in institutional collections, including the Tate, London and the Art Institute of Chicago. Among the additional sculptural highlights is a charming bronze portrayal of two deer with a fawn by Rembrandt Bugatti (estimate: $350,000-450,000), one of only three recorded copies cast between 1911 and 1937. Two bronzes by Jacques Lipchitz, both cast in the artist's lifetime, assimilate cubist principles learned directly from Picasso and Juan Gris into three-dimensional form. Arlequin à l’accordéon (estimate: $700,000-900,000) is the inaugural sculpture of one of Lipchitz’s most masterful series of cubist figures; an earlier work, Baigneuse assise (estimate: $500,000-700,000) marked a new phase of free-standing cubist sculptures that would occupy Lipchitz from 1916 to the early 1920’s.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/fine-european-furniture-and-decorative-arts-realize-strong-prices-at-bonhams-butterfields/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/fine-european-furniture-and-decorative-arts-realize-strong-prices-at-bonhams-butterfields/ Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:28:24 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/fine-european-furniture-and-decorative-arts-realize-strong-prices-at-bonhams-butterfields/

The first sale of Fine European Furniture and Decorative Arts of the spring 2009 auction season took place at Bonhams & Butterfields on Monday, March 30th. More than 500 lots from around the globe, featuring rare furnishings and ornamental pieces from the Estate of Caroline Singleton, wife of Henry E. Singleton, the pioneering co-founder of Teledyne, Inc.; the Collection of Dr. Scott Schubach; Property from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Countess Veronika Henckel von...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/a-constable-a-broom-closet-find-and-a-missing-heir-at-bonhams-19th-century-picture-sale/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/a-constable-a-broom-closet-find-and-a-missing-heir-at-bonhams-19th-century-picture-sale/ Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:27:57 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/a-constable-a-broom-closet-find-and-a-missing-heir-at-bonhams-19th-century-picture-sale/

Bonhams next sale of 19th Century Paintings on April 22nd has a number of intriguing paintings that come with stories of their own. They include a
painting discovered in a Sussex Working Men’s Club broom cupboard which is set to make £7,000; a watercolour that is clear evidence of John Constable’s admiration of female beauty, something which became less obvious in his art once he was firmly established as a landscape painter; and an image of a young British aristocrat whose unknown...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/kjaerholm-works-and-a-rare-bruno-zach-sculpture-highlight-june-20th-century-sale-at-bonhams-new-york/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/kjaerholm-works-and-a-rare-bruno-zach-sculpture-highlight-june-20th-century-sale-at-bonhams-new-york/ Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:27:12 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/kjaerholm-works-and-a-rare-bruno-zach-sculpture-highlight-june-20th-century-sale-at-bonhams-new-york/

Word of several collections to be offered is drawing serious attention to the June 11th sale of 20th Century Furniture and Decorative Arts slated to take place at the New York galleries of international auctioneers, Bonhams.
Representing all of the major movements of the 20th Century, the many collections going to block- in addition to several lots from various owners- translate to a comprehensive and dynamic collecting opportunity. Combined with Bonhams’ impeccable reputation in this area,...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/dutch-old-masters-to-be-auctioned-at-sothebys-amsterdam/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/dutch-old-masters-to-be-auctioned-at-sothebys-amsterdam/ Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:38:04 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/dutch-old-masters-to-be-auctioned-at-sothebys-amsterdam/

Willem Willemsz van der Vliet, A pair of portraits of Willem de Langue and Maria Pijnaeker. Both oil on panel, each approx. 113.2 x 86.3 cm. Estimate €80,000 - 120,000. © Sotheby’s Amsterdam.

AMSTERDAM.- The sale of Old Master Paintings at Sotheby’s Amsterdam on 5 May offers great landscapes, still-lifes, portraits, biblical and genre scenes by Dutch old masters from the 15th to 18th century with a special focus on the Dutch Golden Age.

One of the highlights is a stunning family portrait by Jan van Noordt which is remarkable for its quality, elegance, coloring and size. Jan van Noordt (circa 1623/4-1676) depicts three aristocratic young children in lavish clothing in front of their family country estate .The boy is holding a falcon on his hand and a dog on a leash. His two sisters, wearing pearl jewellery, are dressed in white satin gowns with blue shawls; the standing girl is holding a lute. The identity of the three children is unknown, but they are no doubt related to one of the great patrician families of Amsterdam from whom Van Noordt drew many of his patrons. It will be the first time that this wonderful family portrait can be seen on the open market in over two centuries. The painting, made in the 1670s when Van Noordt was at the height of his powers, can be considered as one of the finest known surviving portraits known by this artist who was a member of Rembrandt’s circle in Amsterdam in the mid 17th century. The excellent state of preservation allows us to appreciate Van Noordt’s characteristically swift brushwork and his gift as a colorist. Jan van Noordt created some of the most flamboyant and expressive paintings of the Dutch Golden Age. Not much is known about his life and many misattributions of his works have long hidden his significance. Van Noordt was born in a prominent family of musicians and was a student of the Amsterdam painter Jacob Adriaensz Backer whose work was recently on exhibition in the Rembrandthuis Amsterdam (estimate €100.000-150.000).

Willem Willemsz van der Vliet (Delft 1584 - 1642) painted an interesting pair of portraits of Willem Reyersz. de Langue and his wife Maria Pijnaeker. Willem de Langue (1599-1656) was a notary in Delft who was active for several artists including Johannes Vermeer. He married Maria Pijnaeker in 1625, the portraits were painted a year after their marriage. Willem de Langue is wearing a black suit with a black hat is holding notary papers in his left hand. His wife Maria Pijnaecker (1599-1678) is wearing a black dress with white cuffs, collar and headdress, standing next to a table with a bible, holding gloves. Both paintings are signed and dated 1626 and are charged with the coat-of-arms of the sitters, the former upper right, the latter upper left (estimate €80.000 - 120.000).

A fine Trompe l'oeil Hunting still life by Johannes Leemans (The Hague 1633 - 1688) includes a gun, a bird in a cage, a hunting horn, gunpowder horns, a hunting whistle and other hunting equipment. Signed and dated J. Leemans/ 1652, the oil on canvas is estimated €50.000 - 70.000.

A pair of portraits by the Belgian master Jacob van Oost shows us Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Jacob I van Oost was born in Bruges in 1601 and died there in 1671. He worked in Italy from circa 1619 to 1628. Returning to Bruges he accepted an important position in the Guild and received important commissions from convents and churches (estimate €40.000 - 60.000).

Melchior d' Hondecoeter (Utrecht 1636 -1695 Amsterdam) was well known as painter of animals. His grandfather, Gillis d'Hondecoeter (d. 1638) and his father, Gysbert d'Hondecoeter (1604-1653) were landscape and animal painters.

Melchior painted the Menagerie of Stadtholder William III of the Netherlands (King William III of England) at the Dutch Palace Het Loo. Later he settled in Amsterdam. He painted all forms of animal life, but is best known for his depiction of birds and fowl, in which he has few equals.

Very attractive is the present painting of a monkey with four birds in flight. The oil on canvas, signed M.D'Hondecouter, is estimated €40,000 - 60,000.

Juriaan van Streek (1632-1687 Amsterdam) painted a wonderful still-life with peaches and an orange in a Wan-Li kraak porcelain bowl, a Chinese ovoid shaped porcelain jar, a silver-gilt nautilus cup, two glasses, a bread roll and a knife, all on a stone table partly draped with a black velvet cloth. The painting, indistinctly signed: J.v. Stre.k, is estimated €20.000 - 30.000]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/art-and-antiques-event-and-sale-benefits-cantor-arts-centers-art-acquisitions-fund/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/art-and-antiques-event-and-sale-benefits-cantor-arts-centers-art-acquisitions-fund/ Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:30:25 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/art-and-antiques-event-and-sale-benefits-cantor-arts-centers-art-acquisitions-fund/

Matisse Jazz Book.

STANFORD, CA.- The Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University announces Treasure Market, March 26–29, 2009, with the theme “The Art of Collecting.” This biennial sale of art, antiques, and collectibles, now includes two evening events preceding the popular Saturday and Sunday sale. Bonhams appraiser Alan Fausel, frequently featured on "Antiques Roadshow," is the guest speaker at the Champagne Preview, which kicks off Treasure Market on Thursday, March 26.

“The first sale, in 1958, was organized by the museum’s newly formed membership group. Since then, volunteers have raised more than $3.5 million, and all proceeds benefit the museum’s acquisition fund, adding 1660 works to the collection over the years,” said Joan Hong, Treasure Market co-chair and member of the Cantor Arts Center’s Membership Board. “Devoted museum members work year-round, soliciting, accepting, and storing donations of antiques, china, collectible books, crystal, silver, linens, furs, jewelry, furniture, and fine art from around the world. Four hundred volunteers work more than 6000 hours to produce this much-anticipated event.”

The Thursday, March 26 Champagne Preview is a view-only (no sales) affair, 6–8:30 pm, with hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, and a panel of experts to give guidance to those interested in collecting art and spotting the unusual. Alan Fausel, who regularly appears on “Antiques Roadshow” produced by PBS, will serve on the panel in addition to his role as guest speaker. Fausel has nearly 30 years of art-world experience as a scholar, curator, and appraiser. A Stanford alumnus, he began his curatorial career at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. He currently oversees Bonhams Fine Arts department in New York. As an appraiser, he specializes in paintings and drawings from Old Master to Modern. Tickets to the preview, $150 for Cantor Arts Center members and $200 for non-members, include admission to Friday’s opening night party and the Saturday sale as well.

A silent auction at the Thursday and Friday evening events includes The Mannequin Project. “We presented eight local artists with female display mannequins to transform,” said Jane Lanza, who is Treasure Market co-chair and also a member of the Cantor Arts Center’s Membership Board. “The results of their exploration and innovation provide the opportunity to take home a unique work by a contemporary artist. Other silent auction items include vintage wine and a lithograph by French artist Joan Miró.”

Sale of all objects begins at the opening night party, Friday, March 27, 6:30–9:30 pm. Tickets are $75 for Cantor Arts Center members, $100 for non-members, and include admission to the Saturday sale. Admission on Saturday, 10 am–4 pm, is $5. Admission is free on Sunday, 10 am–2 pm.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-arts-of-the-islamic-world-sale-to-be-highlighted-by-rare-mamluk-glass-bucket/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-arts-of-the-islamic-world-sale-to-be-highlighted-by-rare-mamluk-glass-bucket/ Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:05:31 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-arts-of-the-islamic-world-sale-to-be-highlighted-by-rare-mamluk-glass-bucket/

The Rothschild Bucket, estimate £600,000 – 800,000. Photo: Sotheby's. LONDON.- On April 1st 2009 Sotheby’s London is to sell one of the most remarkable Mamluk enamelled glass buckets left in private hands, in its biannual Arts of the Islamic World sale. The Rothschild Bucket is exceptionally rare and was made at the high point of Mamluk glass production. The auction also features a range of paintings, manuscripts, textiles, pottery, weapons and scientific instruments that span one thousand years of Islamic history and originate from cultures as diverse as those from India, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Islamic-Spain. Many of the works in the sale are of museum quality and have rarely been seen at auction. The Rothschild Bucket, estimate £600,000 – 800,000 The Rothschild Bucket The highlight of the sale is A Highly Important Mamluk Gilded and Enamelled Glass Bucket or Finger-Bowl, one of the last Mamluk Glass Buckets remaining in private hands (Lot 96, Est. £600,000 – 800,000). This superb piece of glassware dates from the mid-14th century and was made in either Syria or Egypt. The bucket is immediately striking for the vivid colouring that covers the surface which is enamelled with blue lettering, a winding white scroll, red leaves and various animal heads depicted in green, yellow and black on the top half, while the lower section features bright blue lions and double headed eagles outlined in red. The bucket was in the Rothschild Collection for over 100 years having been purchased by Baron Alphonse de Rothschild at a Paris auction in 1893. It is evocative of princely culture at a time when Muslim armies were evicting crusaders from across the Middle East. The Mamluk period dates marked the high point in glass production with the main centres of glass manufacture – Damascus and Aleppo – being sacked by Tamerlane shortly after the current piece was made. The bucket would have been passed around at the beginning or end of a meal for guests to rinse their fingers - the inscription appearing around the vessel reads “I am a toy for the fingers shaped as (in the form of) a vessel. I contain cool water.” Four other buckets of this type are known to exist and three of them are in major museum collections in Cairo, Lisbon and Kassel in Germany. The whereabouts of the final bucket is unknown. Another Mamluk piece in the sale is a fine steel sword made in the 13th – 15th century. It is typical of early swords from the Islamic period that were straight and double sided, very few of which have survived (lot 153, est £60,000 – 70,000). The early Muslim armies would have used straight swords such as this alongside slightly curved sabres that were more suitable for mounted warfare. It is thought that these straighter weapons were often reserved for use in investiture and enthronement ceremonies. Persian Works A highlight of the Persian works in the sale is an Illustrated and illuminated Persian Manuscript with 25 Miniatures, Copied by Jamal al-din Husain Al-Shiraz dating from 1579 (lot 26, est. £80,000 – 100,000). The manuscript is beautifully illustrated with 25 particularly fine miniatures. With the exception of two miniatures these illustrations are contemporary with the manuscript and serve as good examples of Shiraz painting at the end of the reign of Shah Tahmasp and the beginning of that of his son Shar Isma’il. The manuscript contains the five poems of Nizami and tells the story of the Haft Paykar in which Bahram Gur, the Sasanian King falls in love with seven Princesses whose portraits he has recently discovered in his palace. When he becomes King of Persia he builds seven palaces with seven symbolically coloured domes for each of the princesses. The paintings show the King visiting each princess in turn on successive nights in a bedazzling exploration of the pleasure of romantic love. Portrait of ‘Ali, Hassan and Husayn Another Persian highlight in the sale is a portrait by the Qajar artist Isma’il Jalayir from 1870 of ‘Ali, Hassan and Husayn attended by Angels, Animals and Holy Men (lot 36, est. £100,000 – 150,000). Works by this artist are extremely rare as he destroyed any paintings that did not meet his high standards. Only five major works by Isma’il Jalayir have ever appeared at auction and only a handful of museums have examples of this artist’s works in their collections - the majority of these are in the Middle East. The current work is painted entirely in black grey and white, producing an emotionless and almost dreamlike affect. In the centre of the painting sits Imam ‘Ali emitting a bright light from a halo; he is surrounded by attendants, angels and animals that combine, with the monochrome technique to create an other-worldly, almost hallucinatory atmosphere. Safavid works Coinciding with the major British Museum Exhibition Sha Abbas The Remaking of Iran, the sale features a number of Safavid works in metal ceramic and silk. These include A Rare and Important Safavid Tomb Cover from 17th-century Persia that serves as an example of the beautiful silk textiles that were made as tributes for the shrines of Shi’a saints or honoured men (Lot 115, Est. £120,000 – 160,000). The current example includes text in both blue and gold lettering and is an outstanding example of Persian craftsmanship from the height of the Safavid period Other Safavid highlights include a pierced steel plaque with gilt mount from the second half of the 17th century, (Lot 111, est. £50,000 – 70,000) and a colourful Kubachi dish decorated in blue and ochre with a central flowerhead from the 17th century (lot 107, est. £8,000 – 12,000).]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-auction-represents-final-opportunity-to-buy-fine-english-furniture-from-prestigious-dealer/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-auction-represents-final-opportunity-to-buy-fine-english-furniture-from-prestigious-dealer/ Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:55:48 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-auction-represents-final-opportunity-to-buy-fine-english-furniture-from-prestigious-dealer/

A George III suite of three tables, circa 1790, attributed to Seddon Son & Shackleton, is another notable lot from this era and is estimated at £30,000–50,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

LONDON.- Sotheby's London auction on Tuesday 21st April 2009 will offer collectors the final chance to acquire fine English antique furniture from Norman Adams Ltd. following the company’s closure. The sale, expected to raise in excess of £1.3 million, features 235 lots, many bearing the reassuring black and-white Norman Adams label (pictured above) which has come to represent an important seal of approval in the field. Quality, proportion, colour and patina are the leading principles that have distinguished the firm Norman Adams Ltd. for more than eighty-five years. The firm’s dedication to these all-important aspects of English furniture made a visit to their premises a prerequisite for so many private collectors over the years. The legendary Norman Adams label affixed to each piece is a testament to their belief and pride in the furniture sold.

Discussing the sale, Henry House, Head of Sotheby’s English Furniture Department said: “It is, of course, sad to see the closure of one of the great English furniture dealers. This one-off sale represents a final opportunity to acquire items from this iconic trade institution, and there are many pieces on offer displaying the superb colour and patina for which Norman Adams is renowned.”

The history of Norman Adams
The company was founded in 1923 by Norman Adams, the son of a Bristol schoolmaster and antique dealer, with his first premises in Charles Street, Boston, supplying fine furniture to the trade. His success was immediate and the business soon became recognised throughout the United States owing to the quality of his stock. He soon opened a retail outlet in New York where his reputation preceded him, and in 1928 trading began from the now renowned premises at 10 Hans Road, Knightsbridge. The company’s success in these early years stood the firm in good stead to weather the Great Depression. America’s insatiable appetite for English furniture was catered for with shipments of furniture every other month to both Boston and New York until the outbreak of the Second World War. In the post war climate the company focused its attentions on London and the expanded shop at 8-10 Hans Road. Again the business thrived by focusing on quality and its reputation for supplying solely private collectors with some of the finest 18th century English furniture. Norman Adams died in 1979, but not before having instilled his knowledge and philosophy in his successor Stewart Whittington, who has continued along the path so clearly laid by his mentor. Compiled by Christopher Claxton Stevens, in 1983 the firm published the acclaimed catalogue of furniture that the business has handled - 18th Century English Furniture, The Norman Adams Collection - which has gone on to be reprinted six times and is widely considered one of the foremost reference books in the field.

It is with great sadness that Stewart Whittington and Christopher Claxton Stevens have decided to call time on this remarkable legacy. In doing so, they are affording collectors from around the world a final chance to acquire furniture bearing that reassuring little black-and-white label. One can take comfort in the fact that the pieces that will be offered in this sale have been carefully selected, strictly adhering to the guiding principles that have been followed with such success for over eighty-five years.

Sale Highlights
Eighteenth Century
The highlight of the sale is a George III satinwood, gonçalo alves mahogany and marquetry bureau bookcase, estimated at £60,000–90,000. This superb piece was probably made by William Moore of Dublin around 1780. The bookcase is made in neo-classical style, with an elegant and striking pierced swan-neck pediment above an inlaid frieze and a pair of glazed doors enclosing adjustable shelves. The fold-down writing flap is inlaid with an urn flanked by paterae, and garlands of husks add another decorative feature to this superb bureau. Inside this flap are a series of nine drawers, two secret drawers and pigeonholes all sitting on top of four further drawers that are gently graduated.

A further piece from the reign of George III to be included in the sale is a tulipwood and marquetry tambour writing table, circa 1775, estimated at £40,000–60,000. The table is attributed to London furniture makers Ince & Mayhew and is covered by a tambour top that slides away to reveal a luxurious interior fitted with triple-leather inset panels concealing a pair of velvet-lined compartments centred by a hinged, ratchet supported flap. This ornate writing table includes subtle delicate features such as an ivory inlaid marquetry figure leaning on an anchor and floral marquetry at the ends of each panel. The frieze is inlaid with `blind-fluting' on all four sides.

A George III suite of three tables, circa 1790, attributed to Seddon Son & Shackleton, is another notable lot from this era and is estimated at £30,000–50,000. The group consists of a satinwood Pembroke table and a pair of card tables, all of which have been painted with a border of bird’s feathers interspersed with roses and crossbanded in tulipwood. The Pembroke table has a drawer as well as a fake dummy drawer on the other side. The card tables with both have demi-lune tops, all with flower painted friezes, on square tapering legs.

Seventeenth Century
A wall hanging mirror from circa 1680, estimated at £20,000–30,000, is a highlight of the sale’s Charles II pieces. The carved frame contains a number of putti – naked boys with wings - that are interspersed with leaves, berries and birds to create an intriguing and elaborate frame that is topped with coronet cresting beneath which a shield being held aloft by two putti. For many years the piece was in the collection of Henry Stanford Mountain and had hung at Groombridge Place, a 17th century manor house in Kent.

Nineteenth Century
An English mahogany desk from circa 1860 with secret compartments, estimated at £20,000–30,000, is a highlight of the items dating to the nineteenth century. The piece is in George II style after a design by Thomas Chippendale – one of Britain’s leading cabinet makers of the eighteenth century. The desk has two drawers above a cupboard door enclosing folio divisions to one side and three drawers to the other. On one side of the desk the designer has added secret drawers and compartments that are revealed when the folio divisions are slid back.

At the same time as the Norman Adams viewing and auction, Norman Adams Ltd will be presenting at Sotheby’s a selling exhibition of contemporary furniture by Britain’s finest designer makers. They will be offering a range of pieces by both major names and newer talent, many made especially for the show. The Edward Barnsley Workshop and John Makepeace are among the 27 designer makers who will be exhibiting.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/scrimshawed-whales-tooth-from-charles-darwins-historic-voyage-for-sale-at-bonhams/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/scrimshawed-whales-tooth-from-charles-darwins-historic-voyage-for-sale-at-bonhams/ Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:30:14 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/scrimshawed-whales-tooth-from-charles-darwins-historic-voyage-for-sale-at-bonhams/

This extraordinary item was decorated by James Bute (b.1799).

LONDON.- An incredibly rare carved whale's tooth from H M Sloop "Beagle" depicting Charles Darwin’s 1834 voyage will come on sale at Bonhams on 16 September in one of the highlights of the Travel and Exploration thematic sales planned for this year.

This extraordinary item was decorated by James Bute (b.1799) who joined the Royal Navy as a Marine Private circa 1819 and was documented as one of the marines on board the Beagle's voyage to the Galapagos. The detailed engraving depicts H M Beagle in rough seas off a mountainous shoreline on one side and on the reverse a scene of the Beagle laid on shore to repair her Forefoot, each signed J A Bute. There are only four other known examples of Bute's scrimshaw work.

The whale’s tooth is 7in (18cm) in length and is expected to fetch £30,000-50,000 at auction at Bonhams New Bond Street.

Jon Baddeley, Head of Collectors at Bonhams world-wide comments on the sale: “This is without doubt the most important British scrimshaw to come on to the market in my 30-year career especially as 2009 is the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth and 150 years since the publication The Origin of the Species. Having sold an American scrimshaw for a world-record price of $182,250 three years ago in Boston, it would fantastic to also beat the record for a British scrimshaw this year when we celebrate Darwin’s historic voyage to the Galapagos”

The sale will encompass travel books and manuscripts, atlases and globes, photographs, artefacts and paintings relating to travel and historical voyages and expeditions of famous navigators and explorers from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

In addition to paintings relating to early travel, the auction will include topographical pictures by itinerant artists in the Americas, Africa, Australasia, Pacific and the Far East together with East India Company Trade paintings.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/hockneys-beverly-hills-housewife-highlights-christies-post-war-contemporary-art-sale/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/hockneys-beverly-hills-housewife-highlights-christies-post-war-contemporary-art-sale/ Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:54:23 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/hockneys-beverly-hills-housewife-highlights-christies-post-war-contemporary-art-sale/

Andy Warhol’s Portrait of Man Ray, 1976. Estimate: $2-4 million. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2009.

NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s will offer a selection of works from the Collection of Betty Freeman in the May 13 Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale. Leading the selection is one of the most important works to come to the auction market by David Hockney, Beverly Hills Housewife, (estimate: $7-10 million), 1966-1967. The Evening Sale selection of works from the collection comprises 19 lots and is estimated at $26-40 million.

Laura Paulson, Deputy Chairman and International Director of Post-War and Contemporary Art stated: “Betty Freeman’s deep commitment to the arts was demonstrated by a lifetime of indefatigable dedication and passionate support. David Hockney’s epic Beverly Hills Housewife is one of the artist’s most fascinating and iconic works and remains a perfect, timeless tribute to Freeman, a modern-day Medici, who will be remembered as an influential patron of our contemporary culture.”

Marc Porter, President of Christie’s Americas said: "This was a highly competitive consignment won by Christie's through creative marketing commitments, the expertise of its specialists and our long-term relationships with the consignor rather than through any revenue sharing arrangements."

A diptych measuring twelve feet long and six feet high, David Hockney’s Beverly Hills Housewife depicts a 1960’s California housewife standing on the patio of her well-appointed home. The painting’s modernist setting is testament to the refined and minimalist sensibilities of the subject, who is none other than Freeman herself. Having recently arrived in Los Angeles, the British artist asked Freeman if he could come to her house and paint the swimming pool in her backyard for a series that would become famously representative of his oeuvre, the ‘California Dreaming’ series. Upon arriving, Hockney decided to focus the work on Freeman, immediately finding that she, like many Los Angeles residents he had met, was very much a function of the space that she existed in, and the space that she existed in was very much a function of her.

Infused with pervasive and powerful silence, Beverly Hills Housewife not only captures the artist’s detached fascination with the California landscape, it also demonstrates his predilection for scenes bathed in crisp light and hyper-real colors, a distinct departure from the work being created by Hockney’s Post-War British counterparts at the time. Painted between 1966-1967, the work depicts a tanned, sculptural Freeman in bright pink dress standing on her covered patio. Hockney added the antelope trophy head on the wall to create a deliberately humorous face-off between the Freeman and fictional character.

Beverly Hills Housewife would become the centerpiece of Betty Freeman’s collection. She was to remain in the same house, memorialized on canvas, for the remainder of her life. The painting not only conveys the essence of the California good life, it also stands as a testament to the remarkable life-long friendship between the subject and the artist.

A much-admired, generous supporter of avant-garde contemporary music, Betty Freeman was also drawn to the work of the contemporary artists of her day who challenged the boundaries of painting and sculpture. She began collecting art in the 1950’s and gathered works by Abstract Expressionist artists. As with the composers she supported, Freeman forged friendships with artists David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Dan Flavin, Clyfford Still, and Sam Francis, and followed the development of their careers throughout her lifetime. Freeman was also an accomplished photographer, who published and exhibited portraits of musicians and composers.

In addition to Beverly Hills Housewife, the New York Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale will also feature works from the Collection of Betty Freeman by Roy Lichtenstein, Dan Flavin, Alexander Calder, Sam Francis, Andy Warhol, and Claes Oldenburg.

Roy Lichtenstein’s Frolic, 1977, (estimate: $4-7 million), was inspired by his own 1962 painting, Girl with Ball, by ads and comic books, and by one of the greatest painters in art history – Pablo Picasso. In Frolic, Picasso is seen through the filter of Pop, as his celebrated 1932 painting Baigneuse au ballon de plage in the collection of New York’s MoMA is interpreted with an unusual and irreverent twist.

Andy Warhol’s Portrait of Man Ray, 1976 (estimate: $2-4 million), will also be featured as part of the collection. One of Warhol’s most definitive portraits, his execution of Man Ray is a testament of his adoration of the celebrated artist. Man Ray’s work had a very significant impact on Warhol’s career, but with this portrait it becomes evident that Man Ray’s being had just as much of an influence. This portrait reinforces the larger theme within Warhol’s oeuvre regarding the concept of the artist as celebrity, putting Man Ray among the ranks of the glittering cultural icons by which Warhol defined his life and work, including Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Mick Jagger and Mohammed Ali.

Typewriter Eraser (estimate: $1.4-1.8 million), epitomizes Claes Oldenburg's revolutionary approach to sculpture as an objectification of mundane objects. Produced in 1976, this work marks a period of technical expansion for the sculptor, in which he experimented with new materials and an everincreasing scale.

A rare, early painting by Sam Francis from 1954 entitled Grey (estimate: $2.5-3.5 million) will also be offered. First exhibited in Dorothy Miller’s seminal Twelve Americans show at the MoMa, the work was acquired directly from Francis’ private collection by Betty Freeman, who enjoyed a long and close relationship with the artist.

A selection of works from the Collection of Betty Freeman will also be included in the Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale on May 14. Separate]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-to-sell-recent-discovery-of-gem-set-gold-gem-from-the-fabled-throne-of-tipu-sultan-1/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-to-sell-recent-discovery-of-gem-set-gold-gem-from-the-fabled-throne-of-tipu-sultan-1/ Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:37:50 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-to-sell-recent-discovery-of-gem-set-gold-gem-from-the-fabled-throne-of-tipu-sultan-1/

The remarkable gem-set object on sale at Bonhams is one of three surviving tiger head finials that adorned Tipu’s elaborate throne.

LONDON.- A gem-encrusted gold finial from the octagonal golden throne of Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, will be sold at Bonhams New Bond Street on 2nd April. This is one of the most important Tipu items ever to appear for sale. It had lain in an English castle, for at least 100 years and then in a bank vault, unknown to Tipu enthusiasts and scholars. It was discovered by Bonhams’ Islamic Department on a routine valuation.

Tipu Sultan was the East India Company’s most tenacious enemy. A fanatical and relentless warrior, he vowed not to mount his elaborate throne until he had vanquished the British. Tipu is considered to be one of the most accomplished and daring rulers of pre-colonial India, devising campaigns which inflicted humiliating defeats on the British and reversing Western weapons and techniques against their inventors. It is believed that he introduced the military rocket to attack enemy infantry, a tactic that helped him win a number of victories over British armies, undercutting the view that they were invincible.

In Tipu’s own words, he said: “I would rather live one day as a tiger than a lifetime as a sheep”. He customised objects of art and instruments of warfare with tiger-stripe motifs, from his throne to canons and blunderbusses. When travelling away from his kingdom, he even wore a coat with the motif.

Bonhams magazine contributor, William Dalrymple, recounts the moment of the emperor’s final defeat at the hands of the British: “When the British finally captured Tipu’s capital city of Seringapatam in 1799, the conquerors were astonished at the magnificence of the jewels and art objects that Tipu had collected. According to Major Price, who was responsible for collecting and dividing the booty:” The wealth of the palace, which was sufficiently dazzling to the eyes of many who were much more habituated to the sight of horded treasure than we were, seemed, at that moment, in specie, jewels and bullion, and bales of costly stuff, to surpass all estimates.”

The remarkable gem-set object on sale at Bonhams is one of three surviving tiger head finials that adorned Tipu’s elaborate throne. It had lain at Featherstone Castle, Northumberland, where it was listed in an 1843 inventory of the late Baron Wallace of Knarsdale (1768-1844), who oversaw the East India Company, and afterwards was hidden away in a bank. Although some of the most important items were reserved for the British Royal Family, the famous golden throne was broken up so that the elements could be shared, much to the disapproval of the Governor-General, Lord Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington).

The throne was broken up so quickly following the fall of Seringapatam that little is known about the fate of the remaining throne relics; however, a large gold tiger head from the front of the throne platform now resides at Windsor Castle along with a jewelled bird which was presented to Queen Charlotte the wife of George III. Another surviving finial can be found at Powis Castle, acquired by the second Lady Clive in India.

Claire Penhallurick of Bonhams Indian and Islamic Department comments: “It is an extraordinary privilege to be selling this wonderful finial from Tipu Sultan’s throne. It is, without a doubt, of the greatest historical significance as it belongs to the most important symbolic object in Tipu Sultan’s kingdom, his throne, which he refused to mount until he had defeated the British. It holds huge fascination for both India and Britain as it is part of our shared history, and as Tipu Sultan was such an extraordinary man and certainly one of the most creative, innovative and capable rulers of the pre-colonial period, it is an important discovery for this field.”

The gem-set gold finial will form part of the Islamic and Indian Art Sale at Bonhams New Bond Street on Thursday 2nd April at 10:30am.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-hong-kong-to-offer-an-extraordinary-tang-dynasty-tortoiseshell-and-mother-of-pearl-box/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-hong-kong-to-offer-an-extraordinary-tang-dynasty-tortoiseshell-and-mother-of-pearl-box/ Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:20:05 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-hong-kong-to-offer-an-extraordinary-tang-dynasty-tortoiseshell-and-mother-of-pearl-box/

The Magnificent Large Tortoiseshell Octagonal Box and Cover Inlaid with Mother-of-pearl. Photo: Sotheby's.

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong will offer an extraordinary single lot - The Magnificent Large Tortoiseshell Octagonal Box and Cover Inlaid with Mother-of-pearl in the Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sales series on 8th April 2009 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It is expected to fetch in excess of HK$40 million.

Mr. Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, commented “This magnificent box represents one of the most precious and certainly rarest Tang dynasty artefacts that have ever come on the market. There is no other institution in the world that holds Tang dynasty heirloom pieces apart from the Shōsōin in Nara and the present box deserves a place in one of the world’s greatest museums or private collections.”

The tortoiseshell box is an object of the utmost luxury, of outstanding craftsmanship and elegance which embodies the mature style of the ‘High Tang’ period of the mid-8th century. It is a testimony to the exquisite taste and a reflection of the pleasures of imperial life at one of the most glorious moments in Chinese history, when the Tang (AD 618-907) was at the height of their power and in the centre of the international spotlight.

This is one of the only three almost identical tortoise-shell boxes inlaid with mother-of-pearl and amber, all probably originally preserved in the Shōsōin. Of the other two, one still remains in the Shōsōin, the other is preserved in the Museum Yamato Bunkakan, also in Nara. No other extremely large tortoiseshell item appears otherwise to be extant from the Tang dynasty. The box remaining in the Tōdaiji repository is one of Shōsōin’s most celebrated treasures and has frequently been published and exhibited.

The materials used in the manufacture of this box were among the most precious of the day. Tortoiseshell, from the hawksbill turtle, was an extremely rare substance, rarely fashioned into larger receptacles. The striking, complex mother-of-pearl inlay work is known only from a few other equally extraordinary and rare art objects preserved in the Shōsōin.

There exists only one site in the world today where objects of organic materials, of this age and quality, have been preserved: the Shōsōin (repository compound) of the Tōdaiji (Great Eastern Temple) in Nara. The Shōsōin is a unique mid-8th century time capsule, which preserves some of the finest and most fragile Tang dynasty luxury goods that have not survived anywhere else. The Shōsōin of Tōdaiji was not only the grandest repository, but it is the only one that still exists today. Founded by Emperor Shōmu (AD 724-749), Tōdaiji was the government temple and Buddhist head temple, and as such represented the most influential temple complex of the period, and remains one of the most important Buddhist sites in Japan today. Its accompanying repository (Shōsō), built in AD 756, received massive donations at the time and still contains around 10,000 items today. Most important among them are the most cherished personal belongings of Emperor Shōmu, which the Empress Dowager Kōmyō donated to the Temple upon her husband’s death as a sign of her devotion. The wooden construction of this 8th century treasure house in the form of a log cabin on stilts, with a raised floor, is celebrated for its highly efficient system of climate control, which has ensured the preservation of even highly fragile materials, which have not survived otherwise. The personal belongings of the Emperor naturally included the most exquisite goods available at the time from many parts of the world, but mainly imported from Tang China. Among them were many items made of organic materials, such as textiles, lacquerware and wooden items, as well as articles in much rarer media such as the present box. The Shōsōin repository thus offers a unique glimpse into a cornucopia of luxury goods then made in China and available in imperial households.

Provenance of the Magnificent Large Tortoiseshell Octagonal Box and Cover Inlaid with Mother-of-pearl
The box was reputedly in the collection of Sanji Muto (武藤山治:1867-1934）, a businessman and statesman born in Ehime. After graduating from the Keio Gijuku in 1884, he went to the United States in the following year. Returning to Japan in 1887, he then founded Japan's first newspaper advertisement agency in Ginza. After experiencing a number of different occupations, including journalism, Muto joined the Mitsui Bank at the invitation of Hikojiro Nakamigawa to help in the Mitsui Financial Reform of 1893. The following year, he moved to the Kanegafuchi Spinning Company and became its president in 1921. Muto was also active as a Diet member from 1924 and resigned as president of Kanebo in 1930. After leaving the political world in 1932, he became the president of Jiji Shinpo Sha, a newspaper company. While denouncing the corruption of the government and financial circles that were disclosed in the Teijin Incident, he was shot to death.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/the-converging-west-20th-century-furniture-decorative-arts-at-bonhams-butterfields/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/the-converging-west-20th-century-furniture-decorative-arts-at-bonhams-butterfields/ Sat, 21 Mar 2009 08:36:14 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/the-converging-west-20th-century-furniture-decorative-arts-at-bonhams-butterfields/

A Stow & Davis walnut and stainless steel desk, designed by M.F. Harty, 1970s
with smoked glass inset writing surface, bears Stow & Davis metal plaque inside drawer. height 28in (71.1cm); length 7ft 10½in (240cm); depth 37in (94cm).
Est. $4,000 - 6,000. © Bonhams & Butterfields.

LOS ANGELES.- Bonhams & Butterfields will hold its spring auction of 20th Century Decorative Arts on April 6, 2009. The 225 lot sale offers a diverse group of high quality and reasonably priced works spanning a century of design by well-known designers of the 20th Century. The auction will feature strong examples of Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Mid-Century Modern, works by Contemporary Studio artists and early California and Western design items.

Leading the Western offerings are works by Dirk Van Erp, Luckhaus Studio, Lloyd Wright and Tony Duquette. Among the highlights is a hammered copper and mica lamp, circa 1910 by Dirk van Erp (est. $15,000-20,000); a selection of early California architectural pottery and photographs, circa 1930 by Luckhaus Studio featuring architectural commissions by Richard Neutra and R.M. Schindler (estimates vary); an important collection of furniture designed for the 'Bird of Paradise' house, Palos Verdes, California by Lloyd Wright (estimates vary) and a painted canvas, wood and mixed media model of a galleon, circa 1950, by Tony Duquette (est. $1,000-1,500). Used by Mr. William P. Roth and his wife during lavish parties at the Filoli House, Woodside, California, the sailing ship model was filled with carnations and suspended from the ceiling.

According to Frank Maraschiello, Director, 20th Century Decorative Arts "The April sale explores the development of the design movement in the western United States and captures the pioneering spirit of the region at the beginning of the 20th century through the groundbreaking movements of the 1930s to studio works from the present day."

Auction highlights will also include exquisite pieces by modern and contemporary designers. Among the works offered is a bronze side table by Walter Lamb (est. $1,200-1,800); an executive walnut desk designed for Disney Studios, Burbank, California by K.E.M. Weber (est. $2,000-4,000); a stainless steel desk, circa 1970 by Stow & Davis (est. $3,000-5,000) and Third Voyage, a Swarovski and Asfour crystal sculpture by award winning designer Yves Béhar (est. $10,000-15,000).

The sale will also feature a group of studio, glass and ceramic works of art by renowned craftsmen Antonio Prieto, Glen Lukens, William Morris, Dale Chihuly, Stephen Rolf Powell and Danny Perkins. Notable highlights include Stone Vessel, 1985 by William Morris (est. $10,000-15,000); Low Bowl by Glen Lukens (est. $2,000-3,000) and Cobalt Blue and Copper Ruby four-piece Seaform with turquoise lip wraps, 1985 by Dale Chihuly (est. $15,000-20,000). Auction: April 6, 2009 at 12:00pm. Preview: April 3-5, 2009, Los Angeles.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/christies-new-york-spring-asian-art-week-achieves-36-4-million/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/christies-new-york-spring-asian-art-week-achieves-36-4-million/ Sat, 21 Mar 2009 08:21:34 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/christies-new-york-spring-asian-art-week-achieves-36-4-million/

A large and important bronze group of Shiva and Uma as Somaskanda, South India, Tamilnadu, Chola Period, 13th century. Estimate: $600,000-800,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd. 2009.

NEW YORK.- Christie's led the global market in Asian Art with $36 million achieved over four days of sales, March 17 through 20. Theow H. Tow, Deputy Chairman, Christie’s Americas and Asia, said: “We are pleased with the continued strength of Christie’s Asian Art Week which presented exceptional works of art to an international audience. The market for Asian Art has been deepening and expanding over the past several years and Christie’s is thrilled to be leading the way. Our dedicated and talented specialists put together well-edited sales with important works that achieved strong results. In particular, the sale of Fine Chinese Art from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections was a triumphant success. The results achieved honor Dr. Arthur M. Sackler’s connoisseurship and his visionary aesthetic. Spirited bidders in the room competed against determined buyers on the telephone, and on Christie’s LIVE™. We were also pleased to see numerous works of art at the mid-level range performed within or exceeded their estimates across the board. Our spring Asian Art Week achieved nearly $36.4 million, solidifying Christie's position as the world’s market leader in Asian Art sales.”]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-to-sell-recent-discovery-of-gem-set-gold-gem-from-the-fabled-throne-of-tipu-sultan-the-tiger-of-mysore/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-to-sell-recent-discovery-of-gem-set-gold-gem-from-the-fabled-throne-of-tipu-sultan-the-tiger-of-mysore/ Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:54:18 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-to-sell-recent-discovery-of-gem-set-gold-gem-from-the-fabled-throne-of-tipu-sultan-the-tiger-of-mysore/


A gem-encrusted gold finial from the octagonal golden throne of Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, will be sold at Bonhams New Bond Street on 2nd April. This is one of the most important Tipu items ever to appear for sale. It had lain in an English castle, for at least 100 years and then in a bank vault, unknown to Tipu enthusiasts and scholars. It was discovered by Bonhams’ Islamic Department on a routine valuation.



Tipu Sultan was the East India Company’s most tenacious...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/mcguire-furniture-is-back-at-bonhams-butterfields/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/mcguire-furniture-is-back-at-bonhams-butterfields/ Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:12:37 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/mcguire-furniture-is-back-at-bonhams-butterfields/

SoMa Estates Auction set for March 15th



Bonhams & Butterfields’ monthly SoMa Estate Auctions will feature highly desirable furnishings from the noted San Francisco-based furniture makers McGuire Furniture Company in its March 15, 2009 offering. In 2007, Bonhams & Butterfields sold more than 300 lots of McGuire furniture and ever since, savvy clients have been asking for more. On Sunday, March 15, more than 200 lots will be offered to the highest bidders, including items from...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/groundbreaking-african-artists-in-spotlight-at-first-british-auction-of-contemporary-african-art-at-bonhams/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/groundbreaking-african-artists-in-spotlight-at-first-british-auction-of-contemporary-african-art-at-bonhams/ Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:40:38 CDT ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/groundbreaking-african-artists-in-spotlight-at-first-british-auction-of-contemporary-african-art-at-bonhams/

NEW AFRICAN WORK SHOWS LINK BETWEEN RITUAL & MODERN ART



Such is the growing interest in modern and contemporary African painting that Bonhams has organised a first ever sale on 8th April of Contemporary African Art featuring artists from at least six African countries.



A key work in this sale sums up the reason why Bonhams has taken this dramatic decision. Giles Peppiatt, Head of African Art at Bonhams says: “This particular work by the young female Nigerian artist...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-hong-kong-to-hold-20th-century-chinese-art-spring-sale-2009-on-april-6/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-hong-kong-to-hold-20th-century-chinese-art-spring-sale-2009-on-april-6/ Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:21:06 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-hong-kong-to-hold-20th-century-chinese-art-spring-sale-2009-on-april-6/

The Last Supper (est. HK$2.5-3.5 million) by Zhu Yuanzhi (Yun Gee; 1906-1963), a museum-quality painting completed in the early 1930s. Recently rediscovered, The Last Supper is an important work from the artist’s celebrated Diamondism series. Photo: Sotheby's.

HONG KONG.- On April 6, Sotheby’s Hong Kong 20th Century ChineseArt Spring Sale 2009 will bring together a meticulous selection of works by renowned 20th century Chinese artists. A total of 55 lots will be offered, estimated at approximately HK$40 million / US$5 million. Highlighting the sale are 8 seminal pieces from various private European and American collections, by such prominent artists as Lin Fengmian, Zhu Yuanzhi (Yun Gee), Chang Yu (San Yu) and Zhao Wuji (Zao Wou-Ki). The sale marks their first public appearance in nearly half a century.

Lily Lee, Head of 20th Century Chinese Art Department, Sotheby’s China and Southeast Asia, said: “This well-curated auction provides an unparalleled opportunity for collectors to acquire 20th Century Chinese art masterpieces. In particular, we are very privileged to offer five superb works by Lin Fengmian from the 1950s to 1960s, alongside exceptional pieces by prominent second-generation overseas Chinese artists such as Ding Xiongquan (Walasse Ting), Zhang Yi (Cheung Yee), Zhuang Zhe (Chuang Che) and Lin Shouyu (Richard Lin). Featuring works which are fresh to the market, reasonably estimated and with excellent provenance, this sale will surely garner much interest from collectors near and far.”

The Private Collection of Monsieur and Madame Helle
Taking centre-stage is a group of significant works by Lin Fengmian (1900-1991) from The Private Collection of Monsieur and Madame Helle. During his tenure as Consul General at the Norwegian Consulate in Shanghai in the early 1960s, Monrad Helle and his wife – who are now over ninety years old – became acquainted with and patrons of Lin. By discreetly visiting his home amidst a period of political unrest, the couple acquired 15 paintings directly from Lin. This exquisite collection has been with their family for nearly half a century and is now offered to the market for the first time.

One of the prime examples, Chinese Opera Figures: Heroines of the Yangs - Mu Guiying Taking Command (est. HK$1.5-2 million), is an extraordinary work from the celebrated Chinese Opera series by Lin. It is also the only work in the Chinese Opera series that features three figures and is therefore very rare. Elegant in its composition and stunning in its use of brilliant colours, the painting is a testament to Lin’s masterful integration of Chinese and Western elements and media. Influenced by the early 20th Century avant-garde movement, Lin blended Cubism with artful imagery of Chinese folk arts such as shadow puppetry and paper cutting.

Chinese opera inspired Lin to explore novel composition, arrangement and transformation. Lin’s works display the dynamics of Chinese opera by juxtaposing a series of flat images that represent the progression of various scenes of an opera piece, depicting various time frames on a single canvas.

Also on offer are three other works by Lin from the same collection, namely Stealing the Royal Horse, Heroines of the Yangs and Autumn River, each estimated at HK$1-1.5 million.

The Private Collection of Ambassador Lorens Petersen
The Collection of Ambassador Lorenz Petersen also features another remarkable creation by Lin Fengmian - Fishing Harvest (est. HK$3-3.5 million).

Mr. Lorenz Petersen was former Danish ambassador in China who became acquainted with Lin. He left Beijing for Denmark in the 1960s before the start of the Cultural Revolution, carrying with him Lin’s prized paintings including the present work. It has remained with his family for nearly half a century and is now making its debut appearance in the market.

Capturing a festive scene in a fishing village, Fishing Harvest depicts ten figures in the midst of a fruitful fishing harvest. It was painted around the late 1950s to early 1960s, a time when the artist was encouraged by the government of the newly established People’s Republic of China to experience life as a farmer. This paved the way for a comprehensive series of works inspired by his accounts of the daily life in rural villages.

The Private American Collection
Equally noteworthy is The Last Supper (est. HK$2.5-3.5 million) by Zhu Yuanzhi (Yun Gee; 1906-1963), a museum-quality painting completed in the early 1930s. Recently rediscovered, The Last Supper is an important work from the artist’s celebrated Diamondism series.

The Last Supper was originally commissioned by St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in The Bronx, New York. For over half a century it disappeared, and was believed lost; however, it was eventually rediscovered as part of an American private collection.

A fascinating detail of this work is the Chinese landscape painting in the background, positioned behind Jesus and his disciples, which features bamboos rendered in a Chinese manner. The inclusion of this landscape in a modern composition is a straightforward statement by the artist himself – he is a Modernist, a Christian and a Chinese immersed in the art of many traditions. It also demonstrates Zhu’s desire to explore the essence of different culture, as well as his daring attempt to portray a modern version of a traditional subject.

The Private Collection of Monsieur and Madame Oettinger
Painted on masonite, Potted Peonies (est. HK$3.3-3.8 million) by Chang Yu (Sanyu, 1901-1966) is an elegant and adorable work from The Collection of Monsieur and Madame Oettinger. It has been kept in private hands since its creation and is new to the market.

In Potted Peonies, Chang demonstrates a sense of spontaneity while preserving the essence of Chinese ink painting. It is the strong appeal of such elements that has brought Chang’s works great popularity in both the East and the West.

Monsieur Jacques Oettinger and Madame Denyse Oettinger, parents of the present owner, met the artist in Switzerland in 1945, thereafter maintaining a very close friendship. After one of their visits to Chang’s studio in Paris in the 1960s, the artist gave the couple the present work, then hanging on the wall of his studio, as a gift. It has remained with their family until today.

Wood Sculptures by Zhu Ming(Ju Ming)
2009 is the Chinese zodiac year of the Ox in Chinese culture. Sotheby’s Hong Kong this year specially features some exquisite works by master sculptor Zhu Ming (Ju Ming, b. 1938) which takes the theme of the ox: Good Harvest (est. HK$600,000–700,000) and Going Home (est. HK$400,000–500,000) which are both from the artist’s acclaimed Nativism series.

The 1970s was the prime time of Nativism in Taiwan, and also marked the emergence of Zhu’s art. During this early period of his artistic career, Zhu became well versed in the creative vocabularies of modern arts, seeking breakthroughs from his own artistic language.

In his progression from the Nativism series to the Taichi series, Zhu evolved from carving forms to forsaking forms. He began cutting materials by steel saws before using his hands to break the wood apart; alternatively he cut along the material’s natural grain with an axe. As such, the material is not only a medium for carving, but has also become part of the subject matter. Also on offer in the sale is Zhu Ming’s Taichi Series completed in 1990 (est. HK$1.5–2 million).]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/christies-to-offer-exquisite-photographic-masterworks-from-private-collections-this-march/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/christies-to-offer-exquisite-photographic-masterworks-from-private-collections-this-march/ Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:07:12 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/christies-to-offer-exquisite-photographic-masterworks-from-private-collections-this-march/

Richard Avedon, Dovima with Elephants. Estimate: $70,000-90,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd. 2009.

NEW YORK, NY.- On March 31, Christie’s New York will showcase a broad range of photographs from the early 20th century through to the present day. As the market for the medium flourishes, Christie’s is committed to offering a carefully choreographed group of desirable images. Highlights include important photographs, all from private collections worldwide, by artists such as Helmut Newton, Irving Penn, Robert Mapplethorpe, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, Baron Adolph de Meyer, Ansel Adams, Bernd and Hilla Becher, William Eggleston and Shirin Neshat. Overall, the sale comprises 116 lots with a projected sale total of $3 million.

Helmut Newton: Photographs from the Collection of Leon Constantiner: Third and Final Part
The final selection from the extraordinary Constantiner collection underscores Helmut Newton’s ascension to the position of one of the most sought-after photographers in the current market. In December 2008, Christie’s New York held Part I of this Newtonled collection, which totaled over $7.7 million and established the world auction record for a work by the artist. The March 31st sale will open with twenty classic works by Newton. His diverse, often mischievous fashion nude and landscape studies are all represented in the selection, a highlight of which is the Big Nude I: Lisa, Paris, (estimate: $25,000-35,000). Estimates for the group range from $4,000-$60,000.

Various Owners
The meticulous work of Robert Mapplethorpe is well-represented in the sale, including two versions of his beautiful, highly decorative, Calla Lily, 1988 (estimates: $100,000-150,000 and $40,000-60,000 respectively), and an important, complete set of four images of Ajitto, 1981 (estimate: $120,000-180,000), a favorite model of the artist. These four images were a gift from the artist to their original owner. As a homogenous group, not collected piecemeal, they are extremely rare. A complete set of Ajitto has not been offered at auction in almost 20 years.

Christie’s is renowned for its sale of highly desirable fashion photography and, accordingly, will offer a number of significant works from various New York private collections. Important examples include the Harlequin Dress, 1950 (estimate: $150,000-250,000), Irving Penn’s graphic homage to his wife and muse Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn and his sublimely understated Handkerchief Glove (Dior), Paris also from 1950 (estimate: $25,000-35,000). The sale also includes two very different prints of Richard Avedon’s timeless Dovima with Elephants, and Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, 1955 (estimate: $70,000-90,000 and $30,000-50,000 respectively), as well as Herbs Ritts’ complex nude grouping of 1980s supermodels, Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood, 1989 (estimate: $20,000-30,000). Baron Adolph de Meyer’s extraordinary Portrait of the Marchesa Luisa Casati, 1912 (estimate: $25,000-35,000), fittingly is from the personal collection of Richard Avedon. Casati, a celebrated stylemaker and femme fatale, was one of the most eccentric women of the 20th century, wearing live snakes as jewelry and walking her pet cheetahs through the streets of Venice. Lavish parties, held in her palazzo, were attended by an avant-garde elite such as Jean Cocteau, Man Ray, Giovanni Boldini and Ezra Pound. De Meyer’s remarkable portrait distills the intense charisma of Casati’s personality. The image is extremely rare as the photographer destroyed much of his own work before the war.

The cover lot of the sale is a typically lyrical landscape by Elger Esser, Amboise Frankreich, 2006 (estimate: $25,000-35,000). The photograph is part of a California collection, which also includes several noteworthy prints by Diane Arbus such as Nudist lady with swan sunglasses, Pa., 1965 (estimate: $12,000-18,000), Albino sword swallower at a carnival, Md, 1970 (estimate: $15,000-25,000) and Man and his girlfriend with hot dogs in the park, NYC, 1971 (estimate: $8,000-12,000).

Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Judith Martinez Ortega, Mexico, 1934 is an exceptional and probably unique print, belied by its very modest estimate ($9,000-12,000). It formed part of a 1946 scrapbook encapsulating Cartier-Bresson’s best work to date. In 1934, Cartier-Bresson spent several months in Mexico City where he met a number of important artists and patrons, one of whom was writer Judith Martinez Ortega. Cartier-Bresson’s portrayal is a wonderful stylistic blend of surrealism and reportage.

The sale offers a strong selection of work across a broad range of themes and periods. For collectors of more traditional landscapes, there are a number of important photographs by Ansel Adams from several private collections, including Portfolio Two, Portfolio IV (both estimated at $70,000-90,000) as well as emblematic single images such as Clearing Winter Storm, 1944 (estimate: $40,000-60,000), Frozen Lake and Cliffs, Sierra Nevada, 1932 and Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, c. 1941 (estimate: $25,000-35,000).

Among the many contemporary artists included in the sale are four stunning, typically stark images by Bernd and Hilla Becher from their Stone Breaker series, 1987-1989 (each print extremely modestly estimated at $9,000-12,000). Equally arresting and typically unsettling is Shirin Neshat’s, Faezeh + Amir Kahn, 2009 (estimate: $50,000-70,000). The life-size image of a solemn young couple with Neshat’s characteristic inclusion of extensive handwritten text – in this case, passages from Shahrnush Parsipour’s novel, Women Without Men – imparts a strong narrative quality to the work.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-to-sell-rare-and-important-painting-by-albin-egger-lienz-in-june/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-to-sell-rare-and-important-painting-by-albin-egger-lienz-in-june/ Sun, 08 Mar 2009 06:32:52 CDT LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-to-sell-rare-and-important-painting-by-albin-egger-lienz-in-june/

Albin Egger-Lienz, Die Lebensalter, oil on canvas, signed, estimate: £300,000-400,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

LONDON.-Sotheby’s announced that its annual sale of German, Austrian and Central European Art in London on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 will be headlined by a rare and important re-discovered painting by the Austrian artist Albin Egger-Lienz (1868-1926). Executed between 1909 and 1910, the painting - entitled Die Lebensalter (The Ages of Life) - ranks among the most significant works by Egger-Lienz ever to appear at auction and it comes to the market with exemplary provenance, having recently been discovered in Brazil after descending through the same family collection since 1934. The work is estimated to bring £300,000-400,000 and it will be on public exhibition in Vienna in early May.

The painting is the second of three allegorical compositions that Egger-Lienz produced between 1909 and 1911 which depict the cycle of life – youth, adulthood and old age. The third and final version of the series is a larger (approximately twice the size of Die Lebensalter) and compositional more schematic work, which today hangs in the Österreichische Galerie in Vienna. The whereabouts of the earliest version remains unknown.

Egger-Lienz started work on Die Lebensalter in 1909 and it remained for a period of time in a preliminary, unsigned state. The artist then revisited the painting; he re-worked the left central figure, moved the position of the figure in the upper left corner and signed the work.

Talking about the painting, Claude Piening, Senior Director in 19th Century European Paintings at Sotheby’s, said: “The re-appearance of Egger-Lienz’s Die Lebensalter is an exciting re-discovery and it is sure to excite great interest when it comes up for sale. It is a major allegorical work which is completely fresh to the market and we are thrilled to present it as the cornerstone of our dedicated sale of German, Austrian and Central European Art in June.”

The illegitimate son of the Austrian church artist and photographer Georg Egger (1835-1907) and a peasant girl, the young Albin adopted the name of his father. He studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich between 1884 and 1893. His early works, which were painted in a naturalistic style and influenced by the German artist Franz von Defregger, were inspired by his background and captured scenes of peasant life as well as the Tyrolean freedom battles of 1809 against the French troops of Napoleon. On moving to Vienna in 1899 his style developed and his paintings became characterised by a focus on large, clearly outlined forms and a linear rhythm in the picture surface. His works from this period depict bulky figures which combine to form voluminous masses and appear as silhouettes against the background. They were principally executed in monochrome, earth-coloured tones of brown.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-hong-kong-modern-and-contemporary-southeast-asian-paintings-sale-to-be-held-in-april/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-hong-kong-modern-and-contemporary-southeast-asian-paintings-sale-to-be-held-in-april/ Sat, 07 Mar 2009 10:33:02 CST LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-hong-kong-modern-and-contemporary-southeast-asian-paintings-sale-to-be-held-in-april/

Sabun Mandi (Soap) by Handiwirman Saputra (b. 1975) (est. HK$80,000-150,000). Photo: Sotheby's.

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong will hold Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings Spring Sale 2009 on 5th April at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Over 135 magnificent works by renowned artists from the Southeast Asian region, including Indonesia , The Philippines , Vietnam , etc. will be on offer. The sale is expected to bring over HK$18 million / US$2.3 million .

Mok Kim Chuan, Sotheby’s Head of Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings, said, “By featuring the outstanding works by artists across boundaries, we capture a kaleidoscopic image of the vibrant modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art landscape. Our refined selection of works celebrates the diverse aesthetic concepts in the region. Of note, the excellent works by contemporary artists such as Handiwirman Saputra, I Nyoman Masriadi and Ronald Ventura manifest expressive artistic languages that will marvel worldwide collectors.”

The star lot is Femme au Perroquet (Lady with Parrot) by Vietnamese artist Le Pho (1907-2001) (est. HK$950,000-1,250,000, image attached). The work’s medium - ink and gouache on silk – was employed by Le Pho only during the first few decades of his artistic career, making the present work exceptionally rare and unusual.

In the contemporary session, Sabun Mandi (Soap), an amazing work by Indonesian artist Handiwirman Saputra (b. 1975) (est. HK$80,000-150,000, image attached) portrays a bar of soap and re-examines our perception of every material in everyday life.
]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-to-sell-what-may-be-one-of-the-earliest-photographic-views-of-new-york-city/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-to-sell-what-may-be-one-of-the-earliest-photographic-views-of-new-york-city/ Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:32:52 CST LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-to-sell-what-may-be-one-of-the-earliest-photographic-views-of-new-york-city/

A half-plate daguerreotype of A Country Home Along 'A Continuation of Broadway' (est. $50/70,000), made in October 1848 or earlier. Photo: Sotheby's.

NEW YORK, NY.- On March 30th Sotheby's will offer a fine selection of photographs ranging from one of the earliest images of New York City, to a modernist work by László Moholy-Nagy, to iconic images by photographic provocateur Robert Mapplethorpe. Also included will be images by many of the 20th century's top photographers including Robert Frank, William Eggleston, Irving Penn, and many others.

One of Robert Mapplethorpe's most famous flower studies, Calla Lily (est. $60/80,000), is indelibly associated with the photographer's 1988 retrospective exhibition, The Perfect Moment, one of the era’s most controversial museum shows. Calla Lily was featured on the cover of the catalogue for the exhibition, which became a lightning rod for artistic freedom in the United States when images in the show were deemed obscene by conservative lawmakers led by Senator Jesse Helms. The controversy surrounding this traveling exhibition increased at each new venue and hit a peak when the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C., abruptly canceled its plans to show it. The Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati was raided by police when the exhibition opened there, and the Center and its director were charged with obscenity. The signature photograph of The Perfect Moment exhibition, Calla Lily has retained its position as a key image in the photographer's oeuvre. It has been included in numerous museum exhibitions of Mapplethorpe's work worldwide and is reproduced in all the major monographs on the photographer. It is believed that a print of this image has not come up for auction since 1993.

Another Mapplethorpe icon, The Coral Sea (est. $100/150,000), is one of the first of the photographer's images to be rendered in platinum, and is one of only three prints of the image made in the process. In 1985, in an effort to get beyond the look and feel of conventional gelatin silver prints, Mapplethorpe began experimenting with alternative processes. By using the more tactile platinum process, Mapplethorpe hoped to transcend the medium – to make the image, as he said, ‘no longer a photograph first, [but] firstly a statement that happens to be a photograph.' The Coral Sea, with its expansive gray sky, was the ideal image to be realized in the platinum medium, which is prized for its extremely wide range of gray tones. The Coral Sea served as the central motif for Patti Smith's book-length prose poem of the same title, published in 1996, which was a dream-like elegy on the photographer's life.

A half-plate daguerreotype of A Country Home Along 'A Continuation of Broadway' (est. $50/70,000), made in October 1848 or earlier, may be one of the earliest photographic views of New York City extant. This surprisingly detailed image of what is now Manhattan's Upper West Side shows a stately home atop a hill with its vast lawn spread before it, newly planted with evergreens and surrounded by a crisply-rendered white picket fence. In the foreground, the daguerreotype shows what is almost certainly the old Bloomingdale Road, referred to as 'a continuation of Broadway' in the New York City directories of the day. The date and location of this image have been taken from a manuscript note which was folded and placed behind the daguerreotype plate in its original leather case. Early daguerreotypes
showing parts of New York City are exceedingly rare. Of the handful that can be dated to the 1840s and 1850s, all but the image offered here show buildings in Lower Manhattan, and only one is believed to precede the present daguerreotype in date. This image provides a unique glimpse into a hitherto unknown Manhattan: the country estates beyond the grid of downtown streets, the busy traffic of Broadway just beginning.

Hungarian-born László Moholy-Nagy was one of Modernism's most ardent proponents and a tireless experimenter, and the study of his wife, Lucia Moholy (est. $200/300,000), is perhaps his most famous portrait study. The photograph incorporates the best aspects of Moholy-Nagy's innovative work with a camera; its spontaneity, underscored by the sitter's tousled hair and candid expression; its complex interplay of lights and darks; its careful cropping. As a head-andshoulders portrait, it deviates beautifully from the norm. This image was illustrated in the definitive early anthology of Moholy's photographs, 60 Fotos (Berlin, 1930), and was very likely included in the seminal Film und Foto exhibition in Stuttgart in 1929. It was one of approximately 50 Moholy images shown in the photographer's important solo exhibition at Delphic Studios in New York City in 1939. The print offered by Sotheby's comes originally from the collection of pioneering Russian film-maker Esfir Shub, who acquired it from the photographer in the late 1920s. The print's large size suggests that it was intended for exhibition.

Sotheby's will offer a suite of five Modernist nude studies by Edward Weston of his lover Sonya Noskowiak (est. $50/70,000). These photographs were given originally by Weston to Noskowiak, and they remained in her collection until her death. Weston began this series of experimental nudes in 1933 using his new Speed Graphic camera, which was smaller and more mobile than his customary 8-by-10-inch camera. Noskowiak, a talented photographer in her own right, was a powerful muse for Weston who was clearly intrigued by the aesthetic possibilities presented by her lithe and angular body. Weston varied his point of view from exposure to exposure, focusing on specific parts of Noskowiak's body, especially sensitive to the angles created by her limbs in relation to the edges of the frame. The resulting images are direct, resolutely unromantic, and austere in their depiction of their subject; they are among the most purely Modernist nudes Weston had produced up to that time.

William Eggleston and Robert Frank are each currently the subjects of retrospective exhibitions, at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the National Museum of Art respectively. Both photographers are represented by key images in Sotheby's sale. Robert Frank's New Orleans (Trolley) (est. $80/120,000) is among the most famous images from Frank's epochal and highly influential book The Americans, for which this image was the cover illustration. Other images from The Americans are U. S. 30 Between Ogallala and North Platte, Nebraska (est. $25/35,000), and Detroit (Rodeo) (est. $15/25,000). A rare early print of Frank's London (est. $25/35,000) shows a bowler-hatted banker striding through a foggy park, while another early London image (est. $20/30,000) depicts a chauffer amidst a sea of black limousines. London (Hearse) (est. $80/120,000) is one of Frank's most famous pre-Americans photographs and is present in this auction in a rare large format print. Eggleston's sun-drenched dye-transfer print of Untitled (Peaches! Near Greenville, Mississippi) (est. $50/70,000) is one of the photographer's most celebrated images of the American South. Three other Eggleston dye-transfers are Memphis (Woman and Children in Car) (est. $20/30,000), Como, Mississippi (est. $15/25,000) and Memphis (Woman Standing by Brick Wall) (est. $10/15,000).

The auction also includes work by Ansel Adams whose Portfolio Three: Yosemite Valley (est. $50/70,000) and Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras (est. $60/90,000) demonstrate the photographer's affinity for the drama of the American landscape, as does his print of Grand Tetons and the Snake River (est. $50/70,000). An early and little seen view of a Ford Trimotor Plane (est. $20/30,000) by Brett Weston, and his father Edward Weston's Boats, San Francisco (est. $20/30,000), are other West Coast offerings. Alfred Stieglitz's precisely-composed Apples and Gable, Lake George (est. $30/50,000) is a fine example of the photographer's work at his family's home in Lake George, and was originally in the collection of photographer Dorothy Norman.

Three bravura platinum prints by Irving Penn are Woman in a Moroccan Palace (est. $200/300,000), New York Still Life (est. $50/70,000), and Picasso (B), Cannes (est. $60/90,000). The subject of the first of these photographs is the photographer's wife, the incomparably elegant Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, regarded by many as the first supermodel. The photograph was originally taken on assignment for Vogue and appeared in the January 1952 issue as part of a travel pieced entitled 'Moroccan Handbook.' In the 1970s, Penn became fascinated by the platinum printing process and worked to perfect the notoriously difficult technique. The Penn platinum prints offered here show the photographer's complete mastery of the medium.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-inaugural-dedicated-sale-of-contemporary-turkish-art-achieves-1838597/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-inaugural-dedicated-sale-of-contemporary-turkish-art-achieves-1838597/ Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:48:47 CST LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-inaugural-dedicated-sale-of-contemporary-turkish-art-achieves-1838597/

Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901-1991), The Minotaur. Estimate: 50,000—70,000 GBP. Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 85,250 GBP. Photo: Sotheby´s.

LONDON.- Today, Sotheby’s first-ever sale of Turkish Contemporary Art realised the strong total of £1,307,400 ($1,838,597) against a pre-sale estimate of £1.1-1.5 million and saw several works more than double their pre-sale high estimates. Over 60 clients registered to bid in the auction, which was 78.5% sold by value and 70.8% sold by lot, with buyers from Turkey, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. A notable 66% of buyers in the sale were new to Sotheby’s.

Discussing the results of the auction Ali Can Ertug, Sotheby’s Senior Vice President, Strategic Business Development, Middle East, comments: "The result achieved for this inaugural London sale of Turkish Contemporary Art is true testament to the rich cultural history of Turkey, which has cultivated such talented contemporary artists. We are thrilled that this first test of the market with Turkish Contemporary Art as a separate category on the international auction scene was so well received and attracted such enthusiastic bidding."

Dalya Islam, Senior Specialist and Head of Sale, continued: "Today's auction met our pre-sale expectations and we are delighted to see such strong prices achieved, across both the Contemporary and Modern sections, particularly for artists such as Mübin Orhon - whose oil on canvas Untitled brought the top price in the auction - Fahrelnissa Zeid, Taner Ceylan and Erol Akyavas."

Auction Highlights
The top-selling lot in today’s sale was Mübin Orhon’s Untitled, 1961, oil on canvas which achieved £193,250, more than doubling its high estimate of £80,000. Two further works by this modern master achieved prices well within their pre-sale estimate - his 1957 Untitled achieved £61,250 against a pre-sale estimate of £50,000-70,000 and his 1962 Untitled canvas brought £37,250, within the pre-sale estimate of £30,000-50,000.

The second-highest-selling lot was Fahrelnissa Zeid’s stunning oil on canvas Le Minautore which achieved £85,250, above its high estimate of £70,000. The painting is from a very specific period in the late 1950s when the artist’s focus moved away from practicing in her traditional geometric style to a more expressionist mode of depiction.

Another highlight of the sale was the cover lot Spiritual by hyperrealist artist Taner Ceylan, which achieved £70,850 ($99,636) above its high estimate of £40,000. This outstanding work by one of the foremost artists on the Istanbul contemporary art circuit is a technical masterpiece of patience and precision.

Further sale highlights include Erol Ekyavas’ The Kiss, which achieved the strong price of £70,850, doubling the pre-sale high estimate of £35,000, and Mehmet Güleryüz’s sculpture Crated Money, which sold for £46,850, within its pre-sale estimate of £40,000-60,000.

Sale Statistics
• Total: £1,307,400 ($1,838,597) (Estimate: £1,116,000-1,556,000)
• Sold by lot: 70.8%
• Sold by Value: 78.5%
• Of the sold lots, 45.1% achieved prices, including premium, in excess of their pre-sale high estimates
• 66% of buyers were new to Sotheby’s
• Sale attracted buyers from Turkey, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-to-sell-music-score-for-hitchcocks-psycho-the-music-of-a-million-nightmares/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-to-sell-music-score-for-hitchcocks-psycho-the-music-of-a-million-nightmares/ Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:06:02 CST ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/bonhams-to-sell-music-score-for-hitchcocks-psycho-the-music-of-a-million-nightmares/

Bonhams Printed Books and Manuscripts sale on 24th March includes the score
for the film Psycho which upset the sleep of generations of film goers


This sale provides a unique opportunity to acquire an iconic cinematic score
appearing on the market for the first time. Bernard Herrmann is widely
celebrated as the most distinguished musical contributor to the world of
film, especially through his work with Alfred Hitchcock. A collection of
Herrmann’s scores, manuscripts and books has...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/world-record-of-400000-contemporary-glass-at-bonhams-triggers-first-modern-amp-contemporary-glass-sale-in-britain/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/world-record-of-400000-contemporary-glass-at-bonhams-triggers-first-modern-amp-contemporary-glass-sale-in-britain/ Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:05:39 CST ZacharieTherrien Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/world-record-of-400000-contemporary-glass-at-bonhams-triggers-first-modern-amp-contemporary-glass-sale-in-britain/

On Tuesday 19th May Bonhams, in association with Dan Klein Associates, will be holding its inaugural sale of Modern and Contemporary Glass, the first of its kind in the UK. The decision follows the sale in 2007 of a piece of contemporary glass by Bonhams in New York, a cast glass sculpture by Czech artist Stanislav Libensky, which achieved the world record price of $400,000.



The preview at Bonhams in New Bond Street will coincide with the major contemporary decorative arts...]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-launches-inaugural-sale-of-arts-of-the-islamic-world-in-doha/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-launches-inaugural-sale-of-arts-of-the-islamic-world-in-doha/ Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:04:53 CST LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-launches-inaugural-sale-of-arts-of-the-islamic-world-in-doha/

A Safavid Voided Silk Velvet, Metal Thread and Bouclé Figural Panel Estimated $250,000 – 350,000. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

LONDON.- Sotheby’s first ever Arts of the Islamic World auction in the Middle East, which takes place on March 19th 2009 will feature a number of exceptional and rare works spanning nearly 1,000 years from cultures as diverse as those from North Africa, the Middle East and Iran. Among the highlights of the sale are the Pearl Carpet of Baroda, a masterpiece of pearls and jewels from 19th-Century India and a rare Safavid voided silk velvet panel from 17th-Century Iran (Lot 301, Est. $250,000-350,000).

Discussing the sale, Edward Gibbs, Head of Sotheby’s Middle East Department, said: “Sotheby’s has worked closely with collectors and museums from the region for many years so we are delighted to be able to offer so many superb objects in our inaugural sale in Doha.”

Remarkable Discovery
A remarkable discovery, featured as lot 301 in the sale, is a 17th-century silk velvet figural panel from Safavid Iran which is exhibited in public for the first time having recently resurfaced in a European private collection where it had been since the early 20th century. The outstandingly high quality of craftsmanship, combined with the rarity and beauty, as well as the miraculous state of preservation, make this textile one of the most sophisticated weavings ever produced by the workshops of the Safavid court. The panel uses voided silk velvet enriched with metal thread and bouclé and shows two female falconers equipped with general fittings for the hunt – one has a lure tied round at their waist and a the other has a small Saluki or hunting dog straining on a leash. Falconry was a popular pastime among the wealthy and sophisticated Persian elite of the day. Comparable pieces can be found in major museum collections, most notably the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar.

Fragile Beauty
The medieval Islamic period is represented by an exceptional carved glass bowl dating to the 10th century. Decorated in the so-called “beveled” technique, this fragile bowl is deeply carved so the designs stand out in dramatic relief. Only a handful of such pieces survive from antiquity and this example is among the finest in existence (Lot 304, Est. $650,000–850,000). The five other known comparable examples are all in major international museum collections: the National Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, the Kuwait National Museum, the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, and the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Masterpiece of Calligraphy
A Qur’an leaf dating to the 9th or 10th century is written using the bold and simple Kufic script known for its strong horizontal stretching of letters and ligatures (Lot 303, Est.$130,000–180,000). This leaf is a particularly elegant example and includes a beautiful sura or chapter heading richly decorated in gold with a thumbpiece resembling a peacock’s tail or a flowering tree hinting at the idea of heaven as a flourishing garden.

Gold and Silver
Another highlight is a gold and silver inlaid bowl from the Mamluk period. This exquisite piece is decorated with Arabic calligraphy and bears the names and titles of the Mamluk Sultan al-Malik al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qala’un who ruled in Egypt and Syria in the late 13th/14th Century (A.D. 1294-1340) and is estimated at $400,000-500,000 (Lot 306). Muslim craftsmen excelled in the art of inlaying gold and silver into precious vessels and this bowl is an exceptional example of this technique. The bowl bears close relation to Mamluk pieces in museum collections: a virtual companion bowl is in the Galleria e Museo Estense Modena in Italy and a very similar work is in the collection of the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia in Palermo.

Royal Quality
A further highlight of the sale is a rare curtain from North Africa dateable to the 18th century, estimated at $250,000-300,000 (Lot 302). This curtain or cover is embroidered in gold-wrapped thread with pious inscriptions incorporating verses from seven different surahs (chapters) in the Qur’an. The references to the Prophet Ibrahim and Idris suggest that it was made in Morocco and may have been intended as a gift for one of the holy shrines. This piece along with the Qur’an leaf dating to the 9-10th centuries illustrates the richness and sophistication of Islamic calligraphy spanning 1,000 years.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/conversation-with-conversation-with-katelijne-de-backer/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/conversation-with-conversation-with-katelijne-de-backer/ Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:22:42 CST ChristinFruehauf Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/conversation-with-conversation-with-katelijne-de-backer/ When I had just started working at the fair, as assistant director in 2000, I had to make a production plan for setting up the event. I used a script that I had used for a TV show. I’m very practical. On opening day, the lights go on, and everything has to be ready. Same with TV: We’re rolling, camera, we’re recording.
Two years ago Merchandise Mart Properties bought the fair. How significant a step was that?
It’s like having a big machine behind you. Instead of my calling the company that does the walls or the lights, somebody in the Chicago office will call, and miraculously the problem is solved.
But you still have complete freedom in terms of directing the fair?
Yes. And Merchandise Mart handles all the things I don’t want to deal with, like the invoicing. It wasn’t much fun writing invoices to all these galleries.
This year you’ve added a modern section to the fair. Were the regular participating dealers skeptical of the idea?
Yes. We told the selection committee first. It’s so funny, but in general people are scared of change. We’ll see if it is a success or not.
Merchandise Mart also owns Volta New York. It’s unusual for a company to own both the main fair and a satellite.
Volta New York is all one-artist shows. The directorial team selects the artists, and the galleries run with the selection, so to speak. It’s completely different from what the Armory Show does.
How will the recession impact the Armory Show?
We all have to work harder and be more creative and come up with things that make this fair special, like panel discussions and collection visits.
Why should galleries continue to do fairs?
I would not want to be a gallery in a big building tucked in a corner with no windows and nobody coming by. We attracted 52,000 people last year.
And it was during the art world downturn, in 1994, that a group of dealers started the Armory Show, then the Gramercy Hotel Fair, as a way to join forces.
Exactly. They were all sitting in their galleries thinking, "Nobody is coming by. Let’s do something together."
How are you accommodating dealers who are having a tough time right now?
We’ve allowed quite a few to take smaller booths, and we are working with them on payment plans.
How do you see the role of art fairs evolving?
Galleries will use fairs more as a platform to make a statement about who they are.
What other fair-related programs would you like to develop?
Visits to artists — not necessarily to their studios but to where they live. Collectors would love to see that.
Some major New York galleries, like Marian Goodman and Barbara Gladstone, stopped doing the fair a few years ago. Was it painful to lose them?
Yes, but I can understand their decision. Also, I want to give those spots in the fair to galleries that should be the new leaders.
So the Armory Show is about making discoveries, as you did at MTV?
It is! And you should look at the galleries as a gallery looks at its artists. Artists move on. Things evolve. You can look at a band and say, "Oh they are so indie and so cool," and then it grows up and becomes U2.
What is the most challenging artist project the Armory has done?
Alex Bag’s Untitled (the Van), a real van with videos projected inside. It was with American Fine Arts, in 2001, our first year at the piers. They had to bring it in at three in the morning. The people at the piers were like, "What is this? A van? It’s art! Is it?" They had never had an art fair like ours.
What’s the most enjoyable part of your job?
The variety. There’s the social part of it. But I’m not as social as [former Art Basel director] Sam Keller was. He was out there all the time. I couldn’t do that.]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-to-offer-a-newly-discovered-painting-by-johann-zoffany-in-its-gianni-versace-sale/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-to-offer-a-newly-discovered-painting-by-johann-zoffany-in-its-gianni-versace-sale/ Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:14:24 CST LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/sothebys-to-offer-a-newly-discovered-painting-by-johann-zoffany-in-its-gianni-versace-sale/

Johann Zoffany, Portrait of Major George Maule, Acting Chief Engineer of Madras (1751-1793) (est. £40,000-60,000). Photo: Sotheby's. LONDON.- Sotheby’s London announced the recent discovery of a rare and important oil painting by Johann Zoffany among the exquisite collection of furniture and Works of Art from Gianni Versace’s Lake Como Villa, which is to be offered for sale on Wednesday 18th March 2009. Portrait of Major George Maule, Acting Chief Engineer of Madras (1751-1793) (est. £40,000-60,000), dating from a period that represents the peak of the artist’s output, was previously untraced and uncatalogued despite being part of Versace’s collection for 15 years. Recently attributed to Zoffany by a panel of experts, the work is the only known portrait from a group of four paintings executed during the artist’s brief stay in Madras in 1783, while en route to Calcutta. It therefore represents the earliest known work from his time in India. Emmeline Hallmark, Sotheby’s Head of Early British Paintings, comments: “What makes the discovery of this important work so exciting is both the period in the artist’s career from which it dates and the stunningly good condition in which it has been brought to light: it was created during the first few weeks of Zoffany’s arrival on the Indian subcontinent, and was only known of through a reference in a surviving letter. Furthermore, works from the artist’s time in India are scarce and rarely survive in such fine condition.” Johann Zoffany (1733-1810) Primarily patronised by the British royal family, Johann Zoffany’s works are now housed in a number of the great collections of the world, including the Louvre and the Royal Collection. The artist was born in Germany but moved to England in 1760 where it was his remarkable ability to paint lively figures in vivid interaction, to catch a fleeting expression and to portray a likeness that laid the foundation of his future reputation. Zoffany’s work was favoured by King George III and his commissions included ‘conversation pieces’ and informal portraits of the royal family as well as single portraits or groups of two sitters. His works were exhibited at the Society of Artists and later the Royal Academy where his The Academicians of the Royal Academy (1771-2) caused a sensation, but despite his success at court and his prominence as an academician, at the height of his success he became restless and set off on his travels, first to Italy and later to India where he was able to capitalise on the patronage of members of the East India Company. The only evidence of the painting’s existence until now En route to Calcutta in 1783, Zoffany spent five weeks in Madras where he was quick to take advantage this brief opportunity by accepting four commissions. Prior to now, none of the Madras portraits had been traced, and the only evidence of their existence was a reference in a letter of introduction from Governor Macartney to Wiliam Dunkin, an Irish lawyer and friend of Macartney’s who was then practicing in Calcutta. The letter reads as follows: “My dear Sir, I beg leave to introduce to you by this letter my friend Baron Zoffani, who is I believe without dispute the greatest Painter that ever visited India, unless Alexander bought Appelles with him in order to draw the Porus family, of which I hear from good authority that the Ranah of Gohud is a lineal descendant. You know how little means this settlement affords for encouragement of the fine arts. Except Mr Stowey the Vitruvius of the Carnatick, and his fair partner, your Durbar acquaintance Major Maule and the doubtful Governor of Madras, I don’t believe Mr Zoffani has flourished his pencil for any others. The glorious field of Bengal remains open for him and there he may display to great advantage his fort for character…” Sotheby’s sale of property from Gianni Versace’s Lake Como Villa Johann Zoffany’s painting will be offered for sale as part of the auction of Gianni Versace’s impressive collection of continental furniture, sculpture and silver works and 18th and 19th century paintings from his home on the shores of Lake Como on Wednesday 18th March 2009. One of fashion’s most internationally celebrated designers, Versace’s style and creative flair was exemplified in the stunning neo-classical interior design of his villa. He set out to create his own personal Arcadia at Villa Fontanelle and the result was the recreation of a magnificent interior of the neo-classical and empire style, with careful attention paid to every detail, from the furniture to the spectacular mosaic floors and panelling. The 550 lots are expected to fetch in excess of £2 million. Prior to the sale Sotheby’s will recreate highlights of certain rooms of the villa in its New Bond Street galleries - capturing Versace’s eye for beauty and careful arrangement, from his choice of furniture down to the sumptuous bedding and soft furnishings - to evoke the spectacular setting from which the works to be offered for sale originate. Sotheby’s European Deputy Chairman responsible for Single-Owner Collections, Mario Tavella, comments: “It is a great pleasure to orchestrate this remarkable sale of such a maverick of style whose taste and influence is epitomised in the Villa Fontanelle collection. This is the last opportunity to enter into Versace’s world and buy something from a collection that is representative of his legacy.”]]> http://artyouknow.com/story/title/chinese-bidder-at-christies-ysl-auction-refuses-to-pay-for-controversial-works-of-art/ http://artyouknow.com/story/title/chinese-bidder-at-christies-ysl-auction-refuses-to-pay-for-controversial-works-of-art/ Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:10:58 CST LongHsiung Art Auctions http://artyouknow.com/story/title/chinese-bidder-at-christies-ysl-auction-refuses-to-pay-for-controversial-works-of-art/

"I must stress that I do not have the money to pay for this," said Cai Mingchao. Photo: EFE/Wang Ying. BEIJING.- A Chinese art expert revealed today that he offered the highest bid for the bronze heads at the Yves Saint Laurent auction last week and said that he will not pay for them and that he bid on them “in the name of the Chinese people”. Cai Mingchao, manager of a private gallery named Xinhe in Xiamen (province of Fujian, in southeast China), attended a press conference to confess that it was he who last week offered the highest bid at the auction in Paris ($35 million). "I must stress that I do not have the money to pay for this," he then said, highlighting that he bid on the work of art "representing all Chinese people" and said that he was conscious that any citizen of that Asian country , "in my place, would have done the same thing". This action, with revenge overtones, leaves the ball in Christie´s court, even though the auction house, when consulted by EFE, said from its office in Hong Kong that for now they are discussing the reaction to the unpaid bid. The auction company also said that their habitual policy is not to deliver the auctioned items without first receiving payment. The unexpected play –in the past, Chinese collectors, private and public, had bought looted works of art, but they paid afterward – but this one is private and it had received support from the National Treasures Fund, an NGO with ties to the Chinese Ministry of Culture. Furthermore, it was applauded by a representative from the government, Zhao Qizheng, who said at the press conference that Cai´s bid “was a lesson for the rest of the world, including the French”. Zhao, president of the Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), sais that during the weeks prior to the auction in Paris the Chinese people asked themselves if “French culture had gone ill” by allowing stolen goods to be sold. “We honor French culture,”, said Zhao, who remembered that in the 19th Century famous authors like Victor Hugo spoke against the cultural plundering that had been going on in China at that time.]]>