Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

Sotheby’s Announces 2nd Annual Prize of $250,000 for Museum Exhibition

by

Sotheby’s released its selection of the winner of their 2018 prize in support of curatorial endeavors. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is the winner for a show on Black Cinema that opens almost a year from now. One value of the prize is the way in which it flags upcoming museum shows like the one in Cincinatti for the career or Robert Colescott or the Wallace Collection’s upcoming Henry Moore show:

Sotheby’s today announces the winner of the 2018 Sotheby’s Prize, which, in its second year, continues to celebrate curatorial excellence and champion the work of innovative institutions who strive to break new ground and challenge our understanding of art today. Presented to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (opening in Los Angeles in late 2019), the $250,000 award will support their exhibition, Regeneration: Black Cinema 1900-1970 which opens in Fall 2020. The first exhibition of its kind, Regeneration will reveal the important and under-recognised history of African American filmmakers in the development of American cinema. It will explore African American representation in motion pictures from
its advent to just beyond the Civil Rights era.

Launched in May 2017, the Sotheby’s Prize offers an annual sum of up to $250,000 to recognize curatorial excellence and help facilitate exhibitions that explore overlooked or under-represented areas of art history. In addition to the main prize, a sum of $10,000 is also awarded to a number of institutions whose exhibitions and initiatives are judged by the jury panel to be inspiring and transformative. Between them, the commended list embraces both established and underrepresented artists, as well as the relatively unexplored aspects of sexuality and race in art, while at the same time supporting inspired new plans for community-based mobile exhibitions.

  • ZUMU – A Museum on the Move: Next stop: Hura, Israel (Summer 2019)
  • Henry Moore: The Helmet Heads at the Wallace Collection in London, England (March-July 2019)
  • For Today I Am a Boy: Contemporary Queer Abstraction at Des Moines Art Centre in Des Moines, Iowa,
    USA (June-September 2019)
  • Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott at Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinatti, Ohio,
    USA (September 2019-February 2020)
  • Jackson Hlungwani: Alt and Omega at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa (February-July
    2020)

Adam Chinn Leaves Sotheby’s

by

Sotheby’s just announced that Adam Chinn is leaving the company at the end of the year to be replaced by John Cahill as Chief Commercial Officer and Ken Citron running operations:

Sotheby’s is pleased to announce the appointment of John Cahill to the role of Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer, and Ken Citron to the role of Executive Vice President, Operations & Chief Transformation Officer. The two new positions assume the previous role of Sotheby’s Chief Operating Officer held by Adam Chinn, who will be leaving the company at the end of the year. Cahill and Citron will join Sotheby’s in January, working closely with the Company’s leadership around the globe and reporting directly to Tad Smith, Sotheby’s CEO.

Sotheby’s Targets Fiduciaries with New Client Group

by

Sotheby’s is rebooting its Trusts and Estates department under the leadership of Valentino Carlotti to address the needs of fiduciaries, a broader group of professionals who help manage the assets of art collectors. Recognizing that art collections are managed by a range of financial and legal advisors in banks, family offices and law firms, the new department will be led by Mari-Claudia Jimenez. Jiménez has been promoted to Chairman of Sotheby’s Fiduciary Client Group & Valuations in the Americas. Here’s how Sotheby’s describes the new group:

The Fiduciary Client Group focuses on working with lawyers, bankers, family offices, and fiduciaries as they plan for the life cycle of their clients’ collection by:
  • assisting with valuations for charitable giving and estate planning purposes
  • crafting and spearheading sale and disposition strategies, and
  • preparing for significant collections that may be coming to market in the future.
The majority of the Fiduciary Client Group team are attorneys – the only such team in the field – so they understand the issues fiduciaries face. They are well positioned to creatively and pragmatically work with fiduciaries to maximize the value of the art and collectibles they are working with, taking into consideration the unique needs of fiduciaries before and after a collection is sold.
The team in the Americas is led Claire Robertiello, and includes Rebecca Lockwood, Alexandra Shorall Kelly, Samantha Anderson and Min Seo, and was also recently joined by Kara Popowich and Alexandra Duch.  Cassie Spencer is the Midwest Fiduciary Client Group representative and Hugh Hildesley continues his long tenure at Sotheby’s as Vice-Chairman, Senior Business Development.
In addition to the Fiduciary Client Group team in the Americas, Sotheby’s has launched a mirror department in Europe led by Maureen Hooft Graafland, whose background includes more than a decade as a Corporate Finance banker at JP Morgan in New York and London, as well as Laura McCarthy.  In Europe, the Fiduciary Client Group builds upon Sotheby’s successful Tax & Heritage practice, led by Wendy Philips.

Christie’s Has Collection of Rarely Seen Impressionist-Modern Works for Feb Sale

by

Claude Monet, Saule pleureur et basin de nymphéas, 1916-1919

Christie’s announces a collection of art works to be sold in London in February of 2019. Among the works is a painting once owned by Claude Monet’s son, Michel which has never been shown publicly before. Saule pleureur et basin de nymphéas, 1916-1919

The collection includes works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Pierre Bonnard, Maurice de Vlaminck and Henri Matisse. As Cyanne Chutkow, Deputy Chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie’s, explains, ‘The works map the impact that each generation of artists had on the other’.

Leading the sale is a rare picture by Claude Monet (1840-1926), painted during his Grande Decoration cycle (popularly known the world over as the Water Lilies series).

Monet’s contemporary, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), is also represented with a work that has not been seen by the public in a long time — in this instance, more than 30 years. Sentier dans le bois was painted in 1874. The picture depicts the Forest of Fontainebleau.

The influence of these artists loomed large in the early 20th century, but perhaps none of them quite as much as that of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), who is represented in the collection by a painting hidden from view since 1945.

Portrait de femme: buste, profil gauche, 1885, depicts a young café singer whom the ill-fated artist met in Antwerp. The picture marks a transitional moment in the Dutch artist’s career — a few months later he was in Paris, where, in a burst of ecstatic creativity, he introduced a new way of painting to the world.

Van Gogh gave the portrait to his friend, the artist Émile Bernard, a second-generation Impressionist who was bracketed together with Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958) as the ‘Impressionists of the petit boulevard’ for their depictions of the new Parisian middle classes. This became a pertinent subject for many artists of the Belle Epoque — including Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947).

Offered as part of this collection is a profoundly tender painting by Bonnard that remains something of a mystery. The female subject of Femme au tub (1924) is unknown, but it is suspected to be of the artist’s young lover, Lucienne Dupuy, whom he met in 1916.

These artworks, together with the alluring Danseuse allongée, fond rouge, painted by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) in 1942, inspired many later painters.

Christie’s to Sell Shickman Collection Led by Spanish Still Lives

by

Juan van der Hamen y León, Still life with flowers and fruit ($8-10m)

Christie’s announces this morning a single-owner Old Master sale for May of 2019 featuring the estate of Lila & Herman Shickman, an important dealer in Old Master paintings. The collection is led by two important still lives with a combined low estimate of $10m.

Christie’s announces Masterworks from the Estate of Lila & Herman Shickman, an important single owner sale of Old Master and 19th century European paintings from the private collection of one of the leading American dealers in the 20th century. Comprised of more than a dozen works, the auction will take place on May 2, 2019, after completing a global tour to Madrid, London, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

Highlighting the collection is one of the most important Spanish still lifes remaining in private hands, Still life with flowers and fruit by Juan van der Hamen y León, which was last at auction in 1969 and is poised to establish a new world auction record for the artist and for any Spanish 17th century still life (estimate: $8,000,000-12,000,000). Another highlight featured in the Collection is Luis Meléndez’s Still life with artichokes and tomatoes in a landscape (estimate: $2,000,000-4,000,000).

Ben Hall, Chairman, Old Masters, comments, “The Lila and Herman Shickman Collection is a veritable treasure trove offering unparalleled quality. As a dealer and trusted advisor to top collectors and museums, Herman Shickman’s connoisseurship provided him the foresight to collect masterworks ahead of market trends such as Van der Hamen’s still life, which is regarded as one of the finest examples of his influential oeuvre left in private hands.”

Van der Hamen’s Still life with flowers and fruit exhibits the brilliant clarity of execution, purity of design and refined description of surface detail that are the hallmarks of his style. The artist’s pioneering paintings helped to establish an enduring tradition of still life paintings in Spain that would extend through the following centuries, finding its culmination in the 20th century with the revolutionary works of Pablo Picasso. Celebrated in his day as one of the greatest painters of his generation, Juan van der Hamen y León (1598-1631) was descended from a historic Flemish noble family. He was a member of the official guardians of the monarch, a position which enabled him access to the Spanish Royal Court through which he earned his most important commissions.

Still life with flowers and fruit presents an assortment of luxurious objects arranged in three planes. From left to right, the artist has portrayed a bouquet of tulips, blue and yellow irises, roses, and other flowers in a Venetian crystal vase, a metal plate of figs, and a basket of peaches, pears and plums. On the lower ledge van der Hamen has painted two terracotta vases, a metal plate of cherries and plums, a black glass bottle and scattered stone fruit, and on the uppermost shelf is a basket of green pea pods and cherries. The work has a distinguished exhibition history and was a highlight of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s European Painting galleries.

Francis Outred Leaves Christies

by

 

Francis Outred by Gautier Deblonde 2018

Francis Outred is leaving Christie’s after nine years as head of Contemporary art in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and India. Outred was responsible for the epoch-making consignment of Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud which made $142.4 million at Christie’s New York in November 2013 and sparked a new era of mega sales. Here’s Christie’s release:

After nearly twenty years in the auction world and a decade with Christie’s, Francis Outred, Chairman, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, EMERI, has decided to leave the company.

“It has been an incredible journey and I am proud of all that the teams have achieved over the last decade. We have built a strong, sustainable and profitable business, leading the market with an innovative vision and five of the six highest grossing auctions ever to take place in our field,” said Francis Outred, “but with the team having achieved three of these in the past thirteen months including the record auction in March this year, the time is right for a pause, a refresh and a new beginning. I want to take a break with my family and I am excited to start a new chapter in my career.”

“On behalf of everyone at Christie’s, I would like to thank Francis for his outstanding commitment and contribution. His work has been characterised by creativity, relevance and audacity,” said Guillaume Cerutti, Chief Executive Officer, Christie’s. “He leaves Christie’s as leaders in the post war and contemporary field in Europe with a strong and diverse group in place to continue to serve clients building on recent success and innovations.”

Francis joined Christie’s in January 2009 to oversee the management, strategy and vision of the Post-War and Contemporary Art team in Europe. In July 2014, he was promoted to Chairman and Head of the department in EMERI, following a period of unprecedented development, growth and success. During his career, Francis has overseen five of the six highest grossing auctions ever to take place in his field in Europe.

Known for his innovative approach to catalogues and exhibitions, under his guidance the team have significantly expanded the remit of the department, extending their activities in private sales, digital engagement and other innovative projects. These have included special one-off exhibitions such as House of Cards at Waddesdon Manor and the first exhibition of Peter Doig in China, at Faurschou Foundation, Beijing alongside the launch of the gallery, Christies Mayfair, and landmark cross category exhibitions there such as Reflections on the Self and About the Line.

Francis was also responsible for the consignment of the most expensive work of art ever sold in his field, Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud which achieved $142.4 million at Christie’s New York in November 2013. He has also twice been instrumental in achieving the record for any photographic work of art at auction, both times by Andreas Gursky as well as other records for contemporary artists including Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein and Peter Doig.

Murray Frum’s African Sculptures Lead Sotheby’s Paris Sale

by

The New York Times reveals today that the Met Museum in New York is about embark upon a thorough renovation of its African, Oceanic and Americas galleries where tribal and primitive art are displayed. The 40,000 square foot wing will focus more distinctly on each region rather than allowing the presentations to run into each other. At the same time, Sotheby’s Paris has revealed that the estate of one of the great collectors of African and Oceanic art, Murray Frum, has consigned two African works to lead their December 12 auction.

The two works come from recognized masters. The first is a Luba Shankadi, the Master of the Cascading Hairstyle; the second, a reliquary figure Kota Obamba by the Master of the Sebe (above). Here’s Sotheby’s description of the works:

In 2014, Sotheby’s sold Murray Frum’s outstanding collection, built over half a century, distinguished by Polynesian works of great rarity, remarkable quality and historical provenances.

The Master of the Cascading Hairstyle

It is exceptional to be able to attribute an African work of art to an identified artist. The hand of a sculptor Luba Shankadi, nicknamed the ‘Master of Cascade Hairstyle’, was identified around 1960 by the great specialist William Fagg. The first neck support of this hand was collected in 1901 by Brissoni and is now part of the collections of the Museo di Antropologia ed Etnologia in Florence. Only eighteen works of this kind are known to date, most of them in the collections of the most prestigious institutions – from the Metropolitan Museum in New York to the British Museum in London.

This masterpiece from the Frum collection is arguably the most emblematic and sophisticated sculpture of the Master of Cascade Hairstyle because of its deep patina that testifies to a continuous and privileged use, the rarity of its iconography, and especially the visual dynamism of his form and his character. For the third time since 2006, Sotheby’s will have the privilege of selling in Paris one of the rare works of this master sculptor.

Figure of Reliquary, Kota Obamba, by the Master of the Sébé Gabon 

With less than a dozen works now known, the corpus created by the Master of the Sebé is one of the rarest of African art but also one of the most archaic.

While respecting Expressionist norms specific to Kota sculpture, this Master has gone beyond classical canons by creating a unique set of works. Preserved for almost a quarter of a century in the Frum collection, this reliquary figure brilliantly illustrates both the exceptional technical know-how of the Master of the Sebe Valley and his individual artistic genius.

This artist, active between 1750 and 1800, fed on the artistic currents of the region that he knew how to transcend in order to contain in a motionless form the imperious presence of the ancestor. Then there is the virtuoso composition juxtaposing the extremely thin plates of metal with very narrow slats in a subtle play of chromatic nuances accentuating the visual power of the work.

Tyeb Mehta Leads Sotheby’s First Boundless India Sale

by

Tyeb Mehta’s Durga Mahisasura Mardini, 1993 ($2.7-4.1m)

Sotheby’s will hold its first Boundless India sale on Thursday 29 November at The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel with 60 lots spanning Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, photography and design estimated to make INR 43.1- 62.9 crores / US$ 6-8.7 million. The lead lot is Tyeb Mehta’s Durga Mahisasura Mardini, 1993 ($2.7-4.1m) which was commissioned directly from Mehta in 1993 and has remained in the same family since then. Along with that significant painting is Amrita Sher-Gil’s The Little Girl in Blue from 1934 ($ 1.2-1.7m) painted when the artist was 21 years old. This work would be the seventh work of Sher-Gil’s ever brought to auction. It has remained in the same collection for 80 years, since it was chosen by the artist for her first solo show in 1937.

Arpita Singh’s Men Sitting, Men Standing, 2004 ($164-245k) and  Francis Newton Souza’s Untitled (St. Paul’s Cathedral), 1961 ($123-150k) painted when Souza had moved to London are also featured works in the sale.

The sale is also distinguished by nine lots belonging to Balkrishna. V. Doshi, one of the world’s greatest architects and the only Indian to be awarded the highly prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. The sale includes paintings, drawings and furniture created by B.V. Doshi himself, alongside a selection of works from his prized collection.

Gaurav Bhatia, Managing Director of Sotheby’s India, said: “Balkrishna V. Doshi built his collection with the same delight, passion and inquisitiveness that marks out all great collectors. Like his buildings, the collection presented here is supremely refined, stylishly theatrical, and forward-looking. One might draw a parallel between the huge influence of Amrita Sher-Gi and B.V. Doshi on the Indian aesthetic – both brought fresh thought and style to the Indian artistic landscape. With this auction, Mumbai will become Sotheby’s tenth sale location in the world. As the global footprint of Indian artists, curators and collectors continues to expand, we are affirming our commitment to the future of the art market in South Asia. Boundless offers the best of art created in, and inspired by, India, providing a snapshot of a century of artistic production. Suitably, the sale will be led by one of the most valuable works of South Asian art ever to come to auction. Tyeb Mehta’s
landmark depiction of Durga truly evokes India’s spirit, even down to the symbolism of its saffron, white and jeweled green colours. ”

Yamini Mehta, International Head of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art at Sotheby’s: “With Boundless: India we celebrate the storied past and bountiful future of Indian art through the 20 th centuries. We look at the onset of independence in 1947 and how it brought about a
veritable renaissance in the art scene, as well as acknowledging exceptional works by leading Contemporary artists practicing today. This pantheon includes Amrita Sher-Gil, a rebellious libertine well ahead of her time, and portentously trying to make the most of her short time on earth” The carefully chosen works to appear in this auction have many interwoven connections between the influences of Europe and between the worlds of design, architecture and photography. The works by leading international photographers are prime examples of the dynamism and inspiration that artists from across the world received from India. Boundless is ultimately about opening the eyes to the
beauty of Indian art and the culture inspired by the Subcontinent in all of its manifestations.”

 

 

David Bomberg, William Roberts and Henry Moore Lead Sotheby’s Mod Brit Sale

by

This is David Bomberg’s At the Window (1919) from the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum is being sold to benefit the museum, its research and philanthropic enterprises. It is among the range of lots by Barbara Hepworth, Lynn Chadwick and Winston Churchill on offer in the November 20th Modern British art sale that includes:

  • A maquette of Henry Moore’s seminal Family Group – representing the zenith of the sculptor’s lifelong obsession with the universal motif of parenthood – making its auction debut, having formerly been in the collection of MoMA until 1980.
  • A vivid picture of the heady Bohemian London nightlife by William Roberts, appearing at auction for the first time since it was acquired by the grandfather of the present owner from the artist’s very first solo exhibition. 
  • Unseen in public for well over half a century, Peter Blake’s Strong Man, 1, an early work exploring his fascination with the popular English pastime of the circus, in all its faded glory.
  • A rare painting of Germany by Sir Winston Churchill, painted by Britain’s most famous prime minister when he visited the Rhine in 1932, a mere six months before Hitler took power. 
  • Paintings by David Bomberg from the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, sold to fund acquisitions, the Ben Uri Research Unit and the expansion of the Ben Uri Arts and Dementia Institute, including David Bomberg, At the Window, oil on canvas, 1919 (est. £500,000- 800,000) David Bomberg, English Woman, 1920, oil on canvas laid on board (est. £300,000-500,000) David Bomberg, The Broken Aqueduct, Wadi Kelt near Jericho, 1926, oil on canvas (est. £120,000-180,000) Bomberg arrived in Palestine in 1923 and remained for four years.
  • The miniature prototype for Barbara Hepworth’s Winged Figure, which adorns John Lewis’ flagship store.
  • A rare watercolour by L.S. Lowry gifted by the artist to his tutor Percy Warburton, after Lowry borrowed a box of watercolours from his daughter to try them out.
  • A monumental canvas by Gillian Ayres, one of Britain’s most significant abstract painters, who stands alongside American contemporaries Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler.

Christie’s Modern British Features Lowry, Spencer, Moore and Hepworth

by

Barbara Hepworth, Menhirs (£800-1.2m)

Barbara Hepworth’s Menhirs is among the top lots being offered in Christie’s series of Modern British, Scottish and Irish art sales taking place early next week. Stanley Spencer and Henry Moore will also be represented alongside a work by L. S. Lowry. Here’s Christie’s press release with the details:

Christie’s Modern British Art Evening Sale will be held on 19 November 2018. The sale comprises major works by British painters and the Scottish Colourists, as well as equestrian and figurative sculptures. Icons of British painting of the century will be led by Stanley Spencer’s Caulking (1940, estimate: £1,500,000-2,500,000), being offered for the first time, together with L. S. Lowry’s A Northern Race Meeting (1956, estimate: £1,500,000-2,500,000), which has remained in the same family for over half a century, having been purchased the year the work was completed.

“We have outstanding examples of great work by Stanley Spencer, L. S. Lowry and Samuel John Peploe, all of which we bring to auction for the first time, something that we expect will spark a strong response from our international clients. Alongside these are major examples from the 1950s and 60s by the leading artists of the day, including Allen Jones, Peter Lanyon, Patrick Heron and Leon Kossoff. The finest examples of equestrian sculpture from Elisabeth Frink and William Turnbull will also be showcased alongside figurative sculptures by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Lynn Chadwick, Eric Gill and others.” commented Nick Orchard, Head of Department, Modern British.

The Modern British Art Day Sale will follow on 20 November. Highlights of the sale include Howard Hodgkin’s IMAX Cinema (1999, estimate: £40,000-60,000) and Samuel John Peploe’s Apples and Pewter Pot (mid 1920s, estimate: £150,000-250,000), never before seen at auction.  An online Modern/British & Irish Art sale will accompany the two live sales from 16 to 23 November. Estimates in the Modern British Art season range from £800 to £2,500,000.

Sculpture
Leading the group of important British sculpture, Reclining Figure: Open Pose by Henry Moore (1982, estimate: £1,200,000-1,800,000) is one of the final reclining figures the artist created, with a cast of the work owned by the Henry Moore Foundation selected to be displayed in No. 10 Downing Street in the late 1980s. Figure (1932, estimate: £600,000-800,000) is the culmination of a period of re-education and reflection Moore independently underwent in the 1920s and 1930s after moving to London. It was during this time Moore made his first visit to
London’s British Museum where he encountered African and Central American art. Two Piece Sculpture No. 7: Pipe (1966, estimate: £600,000-800,000) with its polished surface, is a compelling example of the artist’s decision to divide the reclining form into two parts to create an infinite variety of viewpoints. Menhirs by Barbara Hepworth (1964, estimate: £800,000-1,200,000) evokes the grandeur and power of the standing human figure, a fundamental constituent in Hepworth’s oeuvre. The title refers to the numerous prehistoric stone monoliths,
which Hepworth encountered whilst living in St. Ives.

Scottish Colourists
Samuel John Peploe is regarded as the master of the Scottish Colourists, highly celebrated for his mastery of tone. The Bénédictine Bottle (circa 1914-18, estimate: £500,000-800,000) illustrates the impact living in Paris had on Peploe’s aesthetic, together with the highly experimental turn his art took during the period immediately following his return to Edinburgh. Red and White Tulips (early 1920s, estimate: £200,000-300,000) is a vivid statement of modernity, in which he combines forms, saturated colours and balance. Painted in 1929 The Pink
Box; a Portrait of Margaret Morris by John Duncan Fergusson (1929, estimate: £400,000-600,000) is one of Fergusson’s most important and erotically charged paintings and is emblematic of his artistic interests at the time. Invigorated by the lively artistic atmosphere, the picture was one of the largest and most complete works painted at Fergusson’s new studio in the Montparnasse district of Paris at Parc Montsouris.

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Advertise on Art Market Monitor