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Sotheby’s Has Two Caspar David Friedrich Works in December

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Sotheby’s has two landscapes by Caspar David Friedrich — Landschaft mit Gebirgssee am Morgen (Landscape with Mountain Lake, Morning) (£2-3m) and Sonnenblick im Riesengebirge (Sunburst in the Giant Mountains)(£500-700k) — with distinguished provenance in its December 12th sale. The first comes from the collection of the late Dr Erika Pohl-Ströher and, the second, by descent through the family of the preeminent German-Swiss art dealer Dr Fritz Nathan. It’s rare to see Friedrich paintings come up at auction. These two are the first to appear at Sotheby’s in a dozen years.

Here’s Sotheby’s press release:

Today more perhaps than at any time since Caspar David Friedrich’s death almost 180 years ago, his sublime and timeless landscapes are being appreciated by artists and public alike. The artistic embodiment of landscape painting of the Romantic era, Friedrich strove to express mood and meaning through nature, his aesthetic informed by his Protestant upbringing and the idea of divine creation manifesting itself in the natural world.

Claude Piening, Head of Sotheby’s 19th Century European Paintings in London, said: “It is enormously exciting and virtually unprecedented to see not one, but two, oil paintings by Friedrich, from completely separate sources, appear on the market at once.  Friedrich was the father of German Romanticism and of modern German art, not to mention one of the defining European artists of the nineteenth-century. His legacy was so powerful, and his immediately recognisable, timeless style even today captures the imaginations of artists  and the public alike. The rarity, museum quality, and exceptional provenance of both of these paintings is sure to generate great excitement among private and institutional buyers alike.”

While Friedrich was an exacting student of the landscape, and though his paintings give the impression of the greatest appearance of actuality, his landscapes were, in fact, contructs of his own design. Landschaft mit Gebirgssee am Morgen depicts a lone wanderer in a frock coat, dwarfed by the expanse of lake and mountains beyond, pausing for a moment to take in the vista. Painted circa 1823-25, the work can be seen as the culmination of the artist’s developing thoughts on, and ambitions for, an Alpine landscape. While it has been suggested that the subject could be the Königssee in the Bavarian Alps, or the Eiger and Mönch peaks in the Bernese Alps, the exact reproduction of a Swiss Apline view was never Friedrich’s objective. He rarely delivered a topographically realistic view of a subject, preferring instead to give free reign to his imagination, an extraordinary feat considering Friedrich himself never visited the Alps.

Friedrich approached landscape painting with quiet introspection, building meaning out of the spatial structure itself. In Landschaft mit Gebirgssee am Morgen, a dramatic sense of depth is achieved by three distinct planes: the meadow with trees, figure and animals in the foreground, in which every blade of grass and field flower is observed in minute detail; the mirror-like surface of the lake below, and the majestic framing mountains, receding into a purple mist in the background. Each band is distinguished through differences in atmospheric rendering, to intimate its symbolic meaning: the grass, flowers, firs, cattle, and the wandering figure symbolising the transience of life; the lake death; the mountains salvation and the life eternal.

Though the exact dating of the work remains open to debate, the painting abounds with references to Friedrich’s life’s work, and it is tempting to see the lone figure, in frock coat and top hat, as the artist himself – and certainly a version in microcosm of the frock-coated Rückenfigur in Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer(Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog) of 1818 (Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle). The figure of a wanderer leading the viewer into the mood of the painting is certainly one of the artist’s trademarks. Friedrich believed he could achieve a truly spiritual, religious communication by transcribing his inner vision using landscape imagery and a vocabulary of symbols.

Sonnenblick im Riesengebirge belongs to the seven hitherto unrecorded oils discovered by lawyer and art historian Carl von Lorck between 1941 and 1943 during his cultural survey of East Prussian noble houses. For over a century lost in obscurity in the von Hahn family seat of Schloss Basedow until at least 1949, the painting’s next owner was Fritz Nathan, in whose possession it remained until his death.

Both in date of execution and compositionally, particularly in its symbolic vocabulary, it comes close to Friedrich’s Landschaft mit Gebirgssee am Morgen. The rocky tumbling foreground symbolises the transience of earthly life (the dead tree a memento mori), the upright firs the faithful who will inherit eternal life, denoted by the sun-illuminated uplands in the beyond.

Friedrich’s art fell into obscurity for much of the nineteenth century before being rediscovered by the avant-garde in the 1890s and by many living artists today, including Gerhard Richter.

The Hockney Pool Picture to Watch Tonight

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All eyes will be on lot number 9 tonight at Christie’s to see if one of the many potential buyers will meet consignor Joe Lewis’s $100m price ambition. With the no reserve announced, the real question is where the bidding opens. Will there be bids in the book? At what level? Could the painting possibly start at $1?

There’s no denying the artist’s work had a strong night at Sotheby’s last night with two later works—the domestic Montcalm Interior with 2 Dogs and the landscape Moving Wisp—performing near or above the high estimates to make $12.7m and $8.5m respectively. Sotheby’s has been leading the way in the Hockney market lately with strong sales for the later works. In May, the firm pulled off a major sale with the Piscine de Medianoche (Paper Pool 30) making nearly $12m over a $5-7m estimate range.

No matter what happens with Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)—and AMMpro subscribers can read our data analysis on the Hockney market here—Christie’s has a paper pool from the same year, 1978, with an estimate almost as low, $6-8m, and a massive provenance. Hunk and Moo Anderson built a legendary collection of 20th Century art. The masterpieces went to found a museum at Stanford University but Moo and her daughter are selling their equally impressive collection of works on paper at Christie’s.

Add to this the sunnier composition on Sprungbrett mit Schatten (Paper Pool 14) and the work’s position in Christie’s sale five lots after Lewis’s lot. Whether bidders take the bait and drive the big lot to $80 or $100m or someone gets it at a steal of $40 or $50m, the paper pool is positioned to benefit.

In other words, no matter what happens to Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), the Hockney market remains strong and the paper pool offers one of the artist’s best images at a price most collectors can swallow.

Artcurial Gives Buyers Another Shot at Banksy

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On November 19, Artcurial gives collectors of urban art 64 lots including works by Dondi White, Richard Hambleton with a Shadow Head from 1982-85 (€45,000 – 55,000) or Keith Haring, contemporaries Kaws, Shepard Fairey with Bob Marley slave driver, 2015, (€25,000 – 35,000), JonOne, DRAN and Invader.

Leading the sale is a unique work by Banksy, Kill Mom ?, a stencil and aerosol on cardboard made in 2003, and estimated between €250,000 and €350,000).

Here’s a link to the catalogue available online.

Phillips to Launch Selling Exhibition of Banksy in Hong Kong

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Phillips’ is bringing Banksy to Hong Kong in December with Banksy: Who’s Laughing Now?  The exhibition to be held in the St. George’s Building opens November 17th to coincide with Phillips’ Hong Kong sales later in the month. It presents 27 works by the anonymous street artist, including significant and previously unseen artworks like the six-meter long Laughing Now (above) and Girl with  Balloon, AP Gold, the now notorious image that introduced Banksy to an even wider audience around the world.

According to Phillips, the show will offer two portraits of Abraham Lincoln, executed after the series of New Orleans murals that Banksy created in 2008 as commentaries on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Miety Heiden, Deputy Chairman and Head of Private Sales: “The works highlighted in this exhibition illustrate the artistic achievements of Banksy over the last two decades. A visionary and trailblazer at the forefront of street art since the 1990s, Banksy has dedicated his career to challenging society’s perception of fine art versus street art. Banksy has been propelled to the forefront of today’s art market and we look forward to sharing these works with both new and longstanding admirers of his work.”

KAWS Toy Collection at Heritage Could Reshape the Market

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Amid the expectations for KAWS’s art work at the major auction houses where the artist is now an Evening sale staple, Heritage Auctions in Dallas is holding the sale of a major collection of KAWS’s toys the basis of much of his fame and appeal. Ronnie Pirovino has most of the vinyl toys KAWS produced and many of the wood and other toys from the artist’s oeuvre.

Already considered a watershed sale by the KAWS collecting community, The Toy Collection of Ronnie K. Pirovino will make history with Heritage Auctions Nov. 7 when the master collector opens his cabinet for the world’s first stand-alone sale of works by the artist.

After becoming a critical figure in defining the “Art ‘Toy’” category, the auction includes most vinyl KAWS toy created from 1999 to present, and many toys made in wood and other mediums. The sale fulfills Pirovino’s wish to give fellow collectors access to the hobby’s most sought after works.

“Upon first glance, I was viscerally hit by the KAWS Companion’s homage to Mickey Mouse, one of my favorite icons as a child,” said Pirovino of his first encounter with the artist’s work. “The sculpture was both menacing and comical; both anchored in long-established pop culture, yet whimsical.”

Pirovino’s said the moment in 2003 launched what would become the largest and most important collection of KAWS toys in private hands. The internationally recognized 1999 Companion (est. $1,000-$1,500), one of Pirovino’s favorite pieces, highlights the artist’s most iconic works. A 2012 Astroboy ($1,500-$2,500), 2002 Accomplice (est. $6,000-$8,000) – his daughter’s favorite  – and the 2005 Karimoku BE@RBRICK (est. $3,000-$5,000).

The breadth and depth features many sculptures that are unique in their own way: A set of Accomplice, 2002 (est. $6,000-$8,000), retains the original boxes with unique, original drawings personally added by KAWS to the front.

“We expect the sale to break multiple world records,” said Taylor Curry, consignment director in New York for Heritage Auctions. “Many of these items are coming up for the first, and possibly the last time, at auction.”

In addition to the Accomplices, many others works have special features or signatures (on the box or on the toy), including the 2002 Chum (Black) (est. $1,000-$1,500), 2006 Skull Kun (Glow in the Dark) (est. $600-$800) and the nearly impossible to own 2005 Companion (Bronze) (est. $3,000-$5,000). Another highlight is Permanent Thirty-Three Heads, 2008, (est. $4,000-$8,000), which were never released commercially.

In a surprising move, Pirovino is selling what KAWS collectors consider a seminal piece – the 2011 Companion Karimoku Version (est. $10,000-$15,000).

Additional highlights include:

Reaching out to the community, the entire auction will be on preview during at ComplexCon, Nov. 3-4 in Long Beach, California. To commemorate the landmark sale, Heritage Auctions is releasing a limited edition, hardcover auction catalog at ComplexCon as well.

Bidding is now open for the Nov 7 online auction of The Toy Collection of Ronnie K. Pirovino; the sale begins at Noon EST. High-resolution, close-up photographs of all lots are available online, as is a digital downloadable catalog.

Massive Sam Gilliam Work Seeks Record at Christie’s

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Sam Gilliam, Lady Day II ($1.5-2m)

Christie’s catalogue for the Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale is now online with some interesting revelations like Sam Gilliam’s Lady Day II from 1971 that carries a $1.5m low estimate. The massive 8-ft by 13-ft beveled work was once part of the Phillips collection, as was Forth which sold for £910k ($1.16m) in London at Sotheby’s in June, the current record price for the artist.

Gilliam’s market has been rising aggressively for the past several years helped along by an agenda setting show at Mnuchin Gallery one year ago and an influential show at Basel’s Kunstmuseum during Art Basel in June. Before that, buyers were snapping up better examples of Giliam’s work in regional auctions. Lady Day II was acquired by the current consignor in just the same way when it was sold at a local Washington, DC auction in 2003.

Christie’s is touting the canvas as a masterwork:

Painted in 1971, the same year Gilliam’s work was prominently featured in as solo exhibition, Projects: Sam Gilliam at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Lady Day II belongs to a series of works produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s that are among the artist’s most important paintings. Known as his Slice paintings, they have subsequently become some of his most admired and respected works; many similar examples are in major museum collections including, April 4, 1969(Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.); Whirlirama, 1970 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); Wide Narrow, 1972 (Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University); Blue Twirl, 1971 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.); and Scatter, 1972 (Indianapolis Museum of Art). Recently honored with a major retrospective exhibition at Kunstmuseum Basel (his first in Europe), Sam Gilliam is now regarded as one of the most respected painters of his generation.

This particular example is striking in its colors but also in the process that produced them:

“Passages of deep ruby red dissolve into areas of warm pink, before softening into more neutral organic tones; this is then repeated across the canvas in various combinations of other glistening tones of red, blue and yellow. This rich and variegated surface is the result of the artist repeatedly folding the canvas while the paint is still wet, allowing the colors and geometries to dissolve into each other. Gilliam would begin the process by soaking the lightest colors of the composition, like the yellows and pinks in the present work, into the raw, unprimed canvas before applying the darker greens, reds and blues. He would then fold the canvas repeatedly back and forth on itself before leaving it to dry overnight. As they were unfolded, the evocative abstract forms were revealed for the first time, appearing like mysterious Rorschach like forms embedded directly into the canvas.”

Heffel Gears Up for $15m Fall Sale in Toronto with Riopelle and Harris

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Jean-Paul Riopelle, Jouet (C$1.2-1.6m)

Heffel has released its roster of 135 works for their November 21st sales in Toronto. The pre-sale estimate is C$15-20m which puts the sale in line with recent years strong results. Much of the rise in Heffel’s sales volume has come from the rising value of Canadian artists on the international market. Painters like Jean-Paul Riopelle, Lawren Harris and Jack Hamilton Bush have become sought after in many different geographical markets. Heffel also has some international artists like Botero and Karel Appel in these sales.

Here are Heffel’s publicity points for the sale:

  • Jean Paul Riopelle leads the auction with Jouet, a 1953 drip canvas that has traveled the world throughout its lifetime (est. $1,200,000 – 1,600,000). Riopelle is shining bright in the art world with the show Mitchell/Riopelle: Nothing in Moderation, at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Art Gallery of Ontario, soon to make its third stop at Fonds Hélène et Édouard Leclerc pour la culture in France.
  • E.J. Hughes’s Fishboats, Rivers Inlet was first sold by Heffel in 2004 and the artist himself was patched in to the saleroom to share in the record-breaking moment. The 1949 post-war masterwork was painted upon Hughes’s honourable discharge as an official war artist (est. $900,000 – 1,200,000).
  • Two magnificent examples by Jean Paul Lemieux highlight the fall offering, including Jeune fille en uniforme, the 1957 single figure canvas consigned by the Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia (est. $300,000 – 500,000) and the large-scale masterpieceLes citadens (est. $900,000 – 1,200,000).
  • Works by members of the Group of Seven feature prominently, led by Arthur Lismer’s extraordinary Tugs and Troop Carrier, Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia (est. $700,000 – 900,000). Other major artworks include The Village Mill, by A.J. Casson (est. $300,000 – 500,000) and November, Georgian Bay, by A.Y. Jackson (est. $400,000 – 600,000).
  • A Canadian historic treasure, Sir Frederick Banting’s The Lab is the only known painting to depict the very room where he and Charles Best made their life-saving discovery of insulin (est. $20,000 – 30,000). The Buyer’s Premium for this work will be donated to the Banting & Best Diabetes Centre at the University of Toronto.
  • Globally renowned Colombian painter Fernando Botero stands out in the auction with three major canvases: Femme debout (est. $500,000 – 700,000), Toro (est. $450,000 – 650,000) and Seated Man (est. $400,000 – 600,000).
  • Six noteworthy paintings by Lawren Harris span his most sought-after subject matters. Leading the pack by estimate is the glowing work from the Group of Seven period Mountain Sketch XC (est. $700,000 – 900,000).
  • Jack Bush, whose work shattered the artist record at Heffel’s May auction, is sure to attract international interest this fall with four impressive canvases. Not to be missed are the vibrant and colourful Down and Across (est. $250,000 – 350,000) and So (est. $150,000 – 250,000).
  • Internationally collected Alex Colville shines with two exciting works, both of which have been exhibited in important museums. Two Boys Playing, a classic 1950s Colville, will undoubtedly draw interest from collectors, institutions and aficionados worldwide (est. $600,000 – 800,000).
  • Particularly poignant are two charming paintings by the talented Mary Pratt, who passed away earlier this year. Preserving Summer—Black Currant Jam (est. $30,000 – 40,000) and Buttered Roaster (est. $25,000 – 35,000) each showcase Pratt’s perpetual command of light.
  • A remarkable find, Sybil Andrews’s Boats at Dock was picked up by its current owner at a BC thrift store. The rare canvas was purchased for a mere $69.95 less a 30% seniors’ discount (est. $20,000 – 30,000).
  • Major canvases by Emily Carr are exceedingly rare to the market. Spring Wave (est. $300,000 – 500,000), a mature-period Carr landscape once owned by the artist’s publisher, and By the Canal, Crécy-en-Brie (est. $80,000 – 120,000), from a trip to France early in Carr’s career, each present exciting market opportunities.
  • Two outstanding examples by CoBrA artists build out the international offering this season. A vibrant untitled painting by Karel Appel (est. $250,000 – 350,000) and Asger Jorn’s abstract canvas Rifki florblomster (est. $125,000 – 175,000) are sure to excite enthusiasts of the European avant-garde movement.

Heffel Fall 2018 Live Auction Schedule
To give interested buyers from across Canada an opportunity to view these works, the collection will be previewed in four cities leading up to the live auction:

  • Calgary: Friday, October 19 to Saturday, October 20, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., 888 4th Avenue SW, Unit 609
  • Vancouver: Saturday, October 27 to Tuesday, October 30, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Heffel Gallery, 2247 Granville Street
  • Montreal: Thursday, November 8 to Saturday, November 10, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Galerie Heffel, 1840 rue Sherbrooke Ouest
  • Toronto: Saturday, November 17 to Tuesday, November 20, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Wednesday, November 21, 10 a.m. – noon, Design Exchange, Exhibition Hall, 234 Bay Street

The two-session live auction will take place on Wednesday, November 21 at Design Exchange (The Historic Trading Floor, 234 Bay Street, Toronto):

  • 4:00 p.m. EST — Post-War & Contemporary Art
  • 7:00 p.m. EST — Canadian, Impressionist & Modern Art

Sotheby’s Selling Arp as First Show in US for 30yrs Opens

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The Arp Foundation points out that the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas’s new show of Jean Arp’s work is the first major museum exhibition for the artist in the US in thirty years. Meanwhile, Sotheby’s has this work on offer in the Impressionist and Modern Evening sale with an estimate of $2-3m.

Here’s the Nasher’s description of their show:

Bringing together more than 80 objects, including sculptures, reliefs, collages, drawings, textiles, and books, The Nature of Arp will include works drawn from prominent U.S. and European museums, foundations, and private collections. Organized by the Nasher Sculpture Center, the exhibition will be accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue including essays by several authors, including Catherine Craft, Nasher Curator and curator of the exhibition.

Christie’s $18m Diebenkorn Ocean Park Looks for a Record

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Christie’s announced this morning a major Richard Diebenkorn work Ocean Park #137 on offer during the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale. The work is estimated at $18-22m. That pricing is the result of Christie’s own impressive work last May selling a large collection of Diebenkorn’s work. During that sale Ocean Park #126 was sold for $23.9m, setting a record for the artist. The last time we saw anything like that quantity or material by the artist come to market was during the 2014 Bunny Mellon sale at Sotheby’s where eight works were sold, four of them were from the Ocean Park series. The top lot made almost $10m with others from the series selling for $6m and $8m. None of those works were at the scale of Ocean Park #137, which is 100 inches tall.

On November 15, Christie’s will offer A Masterpiece from the Collection of Mary Tyler Moore and Dr. S. Robert Levine: Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park #137, 1985. At over eight feet tall, Ocean Park #137 was executed on the largest canvas that Diebenkorn could possibly fit through his studio doors. This monumental painting is one of the final works from Diebenkorn’s celebrated Ocean Park series and stands as a majestic example of the entirely new language of painting inspired as much by art historical traditions as by the light and landscape of California.

An iconic figure in the history of American entertainment, Mary Tyler Moore was the very embodiment of her beloved public persona. Charming, intelligent, and imbued with an indomitable spirit, she touched the lives of all who knew her and the millions who watched her on screen. Moore forged a legendary career with television hits The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and in films such as Thoroughly Modern Millie and Ordinary People. Celebrated for her unforgettable onscreen charisma and trailblazing female characters, the actress is also remembered as a leading advocate for finding a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications, a model of creative innovation and personal perseverance, and a loving wife and partner.

In 1970, Moore forever changed the course of television history, as she starred in the groundbreaking CBS sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The idea of a single career woman as the protagonist of a major network sitcom was a radical concept; only an actress as talented as Moore could have pulled off the feat. Yet it was not merely Moore’s acting chops that made her eponymous sitcom such a success. Rather, it was the actress’s insistence on surrounding herself with the very best in writing, production, and acting—a singular combination that paved the way for every women-focused show since.

In the same way that Moore the actress personified steadfast self-assurance and warmth, so did she dedicate herself to these principles in the public sphere. For more than four decades, Moore battled type 1 diabetes (T1D), and became the world’s leading voice for the fears and hopes of people and families affected by T1D and its complications and its most recognized champion for funding of research for a cure through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). A noted lover of animals Moore was the co-founder, with Bernadette Peters, of Broadway Barks, an initiative which, with the help of Broadway stars and Broadway Cares, Equity Fights AIDS, raises awareness of the importance of shelter adoption and spay and neuter. Ms. Moore and her husband, Dr. S. Robert Levine, committed themselves to using her persona and success, and his medical background and other skills, for good purposes. As such, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Ocean Park #137 will benefit the Mary Tyler Moore and S. Robert Levine, MD Charitable Foundation to continue the couple’s longtime philanthropic mission.

November 15th will mark the first time that Ocean Park #137 has changed hands since Ms. Moore and Dr. Levine acquired the painting in 1988. They bought the painting together, 5 years into the loving marriage that lasted until Moore’s death in January of last year, at the age of 80. Ocean Park #137 arrived in New York shortly after it was completed to be included in the artist’s solo exhibition at the Knoedler gallery. In his review of the show, New York Times art critic John Russell, described the Ocean Park paintings on view as “the single longest continuous exploration of a given motif in the work of any substantial living American painting…The Ocean Park chapter will never be closed.”

Diebenkorn began the Ocean Park series in 1967, soon after he moved down from San Francisco to Southern California to accept a teaching position at UCLA. His friend and fellow painter Sam Francis invited him to take over his studio in Ocean Park in the southwest corner of Santa Monica, which came with big windows that looked out over the roofs and buildings to bright strips of beach and sea and sky beyond. Diebenkorn was hardly alone in his new neighborhood. Ocean Park’s inexpensive rent attracted a wide range of artists including James Turrell, William Wegman, Robert Irwin, and John Baldessari. Diebenkorn was happy there and almost immediately began painting the large-format geometric abstractions that would seal his place in history.

At the time he moved in, Diebenkorn was best known for his sudden radical shift in style that occurred in the mid- fifties. Having first achieved fame after the war as an abstract painter, a West Coast answer to Robert Motherwell and Willem de Kooning, Diebenkorn abruptly abandoned the popular manner and rose to prominence again as the leading member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement that included David Park, Elmer Bischoff, and Wayne Theibaud. In both incarnations, his supple line and pitch-perfect sense of color set him apart, gifts of ease and fluidity that stood in contrast to his own reflective temperament, a natural inclination that made him prize revision as a working method.

Christie’s Has a $25m Picasso Marie-Thérèse for November

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Christie’s unveiled today a $25m Picasso Marie-Thérèse painting for its marquee November sales. This will be the first re-test of the market for Marie-Thérèse works that had been so intense last year before waning earlier this year.

Christie’s will offer Pablo Picasso’s La Lampe, 1931 ($25-35 million) as a central highlight of its Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on 11 November in New York. The golden light from the lamp’s scarlet flame bares a closely guarded secret, known in early 1931 to only a few of Pablo Picasso’s closest friends and his trusted chauffeur. Disenchanted with his wife Olga, indeed, having fallen far out of love from her and the haute bourgeois life-style that she relished, Picasso had been clandestinely seeing, for more than four and a half years, a lovely blonde mistress 28 years his junior. La Lampe shines on the image of Marie-Thérèse Walter, whom Picasso showcased here—in a large, elaborately orchestrated painting, as today one may instantly recognize her—for the first time.

Max Carter, Head of Department, Impressionist and Modern Art, Christie’s New York, remarked: “During the early 1930s, Picasso’s towering achievements as both painter and sculptor arguably reached their greatest height and in La Lampe we have one of their most vital and outstanding expressions.”

Tan Bo, Director, Impressionist and Modern Art, Christie’s Beijing, continued: “With La Lampe touring to Hong Kong from October 22nd -25th, this masterpiece will once again be on view to the public in Asia after 37 years, where it has not been seen since its first appearance at the Picasso Intime exhibition in Hong Kong and Seibu in 1981.”

Picasso painted in La Lampe the pinnacle of Marie-Thérèse, transforming her sweet, compliant nature and striking physicality into the image of a goddess, his idolized muse, in the form of a head modeled in lily-white plaster, appropriately textured in thickly impastoed oil paint, with the lamp’s yellow light doubling as her distinctive blonde hair. This head and bust rest upon a cloth-covered wooden table, which mimics the appearance of a dark dress with a leaf-form collar showing a tasteful hint of décolletage. The artist depicted Marie-Thérèse’s profile, dominated by her Grecian nose, firmly contoured chin, and modish carré plongeant hair style, from a half-dozen such volumetric heads and reliefs, which he began modeling in the spring of 1931.

La Lampe was shown in Picasso’s celebrated retrospective at the Grande Salle of the Galeries Georges Petit, together with fourteen of the 1932 paintings that featured Marie-Thérèse, including Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, Le Rêve, and Jeune fille devant un miroir. One may presume that by this time Olga was aware her husband had taken a lover; after viewing the 1932 show, she might more clearly but distressfully imagine the young woman’s appearance, and even recognize her, if perchance they crossed paths.

With the addition of two hundred watercolors, drawings, and prints, the Galeries Georges Petit exhibition moved largely intact in September to the Kunsthaus Zürich, thus allowing this venue the honor of having mounted Picasso’s first museum retrospective. Wilhelm Hartmann, the Kunsthaus director, installed the works in a chronological presentation, making it a model for all future comprehensive Picasso shows. La Lampe and Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, together with other recent Marie-Thérèse paintings seen in Paris, also traveled to Zürich. The exhibition was a success, and had to be extended another two weeks to accommodate the record attendance.

Nearly fifty years later, La Lampe again featured as one of the highlights of Picasso’s landmark retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1980.

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