798 District Blog

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong will hold its Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings Autumn Sale 2010 on 4 October at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, offering over 150 exceptional works with a total estimate in excess of HK$30 million / US$3.9 million.

MOK Kim Chuan, Sotheby’s Head of Southeast Asian Paintings said, “The success of our Spring Sale is a testament to the growing global interest in rare and quality Southeast Asian paintings. This season, Sotheby’s will continue to present a careful selection of works by established modern masters, highlighted by S. Sudjojono’s A New Dawn. The Contemporary section will feature record-breaking artists led by I Nyoman Masriadi, as well as a group of exhilarating works of young, up-and-coming artists who have demonstrated outstanding creativity and potential in their creations. There will also be innovative 3-D installation works that, along with the other bold selections in this Autumn Sale season, are sure to stimulate the collecting interests of new and established art collectors alike, and to present another opportunity for them to acquire interesting works.”

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LONDON.- Sotheby’s autumn sale of Modern and Contemporary Prints will take place on Thursday, 16 September, 2010 and will offer collectors a broad selection of works spanning the twentieth century. Prior to the auction, the sale will be on public exhibition at Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries beginning 12 September. The 176 lots are expected to realise in the region of £5.3 million.

Taking centre stage is the group of prints by Pablo Picasso from a Private European Collection, comprising 58 lots (23-81) and estimated to realise in excess of £2.5 million. Three of Picasso’s greatest prints will spearhead this section and these are Le repas frugal (lot 23; est. £120,000-180,000), La Minotauromachie (lot 27, est. £400,000-600,000) and La femme qui pleure (lot 28, est. £500,000-700,000). Each of these works is singularly important in the development of Picasso’s graphic oeuvre, reflecting key themes and demonstrating a mastery of technique that is unsurpassed. Throughout his life, Picasso restlessly explored the medium of the print, employing many techniques, including lithography, linocut, etching and drypoint. The rarity of these prints in a single sale alongside further examples of virtually every technique and style of Picasso’s printmaking represents an unparalled event in the international auction market.

From the same Private European Collection comes a superb lithograph by Henri Matisse, dating to 1925 and entitled Grand Odalisque à la culotte bayadère (lot 13). Estimated at £150,000-200,000, it is the most important and monumental lithograph in which the artist depicts his favourite model Henriette Darricarrère. Matisse had chosen lithography in the 1920s to produce a series of sensual odalisques in exotic settings and the present work shows Henriette seated with one leg raised and tucked under, a pose which fascinated the artist. The play of light and shade and the contrast between the rich textures – the bold stripes of the culotte, the floral pattern of the drapery that covers the chair and the model’s silken skin – all combine to dramatic effect, offset by Henriette’s calm and authorative gaze.

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NEW YORK – The auction market is booming and, when it comes to contemporary art, it is charging on at an accelerated pace, as it did before the financial turmoil broke out in the autumn of 2008.

This week, those attending Christie’s and Sotheby’s evening sessions traditionally reserved for the most important works might have briefly thought that there never was a recession. No awareness of it appeared to linger in the bidders’ minds as they ran up paintings, drawings and sundry three-dimensional works to three times the estimate, or more.

It all culminated with the staggering $43.76 million paid at Sotheby’s on Wednesday for Andy Warhol’s “200 One Dollar Bills,” a silkscreen and pencil work dating from 1962.

This extraordinary outburst of bullishness was the upshot of a two-part play in which Christie’s session on Tuesday served as a launching pad to Sotheby’s superior sale.

Red More at http://www.nytimes.com