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Sotheby’s Unveils Plans for New Galleries at York Ave.

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Sotheby’s released more details on their ambitious plans to remake the building on York Ave. The new galleries set to open in may will have more than 90,000 square feet of gallery space across 4 floors. That will include 40 public galleries and 9 private sales galleries with 3,000 light fixtures and 7,228 linear feet of lighting tracks. The galleries will have an incomparable amount of wall space, 5,435 linear feet with one as large as 1,200 square feet and one as long as 106-feet-long. The space will also include two new ‘flexible’ auction spaces.

Designed in collaboration with Sotheby’s by Shohei Shigematsu, of the internationally-acclaimed architecture firm OMA New York, the redesign features vast new exhibition galleries that will distinguish Sotheby’s as the world’s premier commercial space for viewing and acquiring fine art, precious objects, luxury goods and more.

Opening with Sotheby’s marquee May exhibitions and auctions of Impressionist & Modern and Contemporary Art, the new galleries increase Sotheby’s exhibition space from 67,000 to more than 90,000 square feet – the equivalent of two acres.  Comprising 40 galleries of varying sizes spread across four entirely transformed floors, the new space rivals major museums around the world in scope, scale, quality and flexibility.

Sotheby’s galleries were designed to provide the optimal exhibition space for everything from single objects to expansive collections, and can accommodate works of art of any scale – the tallest gallery measures more than 20 feet in height, while the smallest gallery is 350 square feet.  New public exhibition spaces include:

  • Three two-story spaces that can accommodate the largest-scale works;
  • The Grand Gallery, a 150-foot-long space ideal for exhibiting full collections;
  • The Octagon Gallery, a temple-like space ideal for jewelry, watches and other intimately-scaled objects, as well as for commanding displays of paintings;
  • The Enfilade Galleries, a suite of four cascading spaces whose entryways align to create a stunning perspective;
  • A number of domestically-scaled galleries ideal for furniture, design and collections;
  • A series of L-shaped galleries for small-scale works and works on paper;
  • Nine galleries dedicated to discreet, private sale opportunities;
  • And two new flexible auction spaces.

Upon entering, visitors to Sotheby’s will be greeted by state-of-the-art digital signage designed by 2×4, and a new double-height ground-floor gallery that can hold exhibitions as well as auctions.  A new Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar will open next to a dedicated space for collecting purchased items, joining Sotheby’s retail Wine store to complete the lobby experience.

Freud’s £4.5m Early Portrait at Sotheby’s in March

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On March 5th in London, Sotheby’s will sell this early portrait by Lucian Freud of his then brother-in-law Garech Browne. In the 1950s, Freud was married to Lady Caroline Blackwood who would go on to be married to the poet Robert Lowell and be immortalized by him. Freud and Lady Caroline spent a fair bit of time when they were married visiting, Luggala, her family home in Ireland. Luggala was a bohemian refuge overseen by the Guinness family and, eventually, Browne. Here Browne is captured in a small portrait characteristic of Freud’s approach at the time of filling the frame with sitter’s face.

Head of a Boy is being offered with a £4.5-6.5m estimate. Here is some of what Sotheby’s has to say about the picture followed by a video of Tom Eddison:

Embodying the sensational powers of observation which famously characterise Freud’s work, this tightly composed painting from 1956 is a remarkable example of portraiture executed when Freud was just 34 years of age. Small in scale and yet boasting a remarkable emotional intensity, the 18 by 18cm work is at once testament to the artist’s masterful control over his subject, and a tremendous tribute to the sitter – the late Hon. Garech Browne.

The portrait bespeaks the lifelong friendship between Lucian Freud and Garech Browne – dedicated patron of Irish music, poetry and culture, Guinness heir, and last custodian to the magical Luggala estate.

Freud first visited Luggala in the 1940s with his wife Kitty, before eloping with Garech’s cousin, Lady Caroline Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, in 1952. This painting of a young Garech was created at the Luggala estate during a potentially fractious moment in the course of Freud’s tempestuous second marriage; he and Caroline acrimoniously separated in 1957, barely a year after its execution.

Rarely exhibited and yet well known within Freud’s historical cannon, the painting speaks to both the history of Luggala and the history of Freud’s oeuvre in equally important measure. Tom Eddison, Contemporary Art Specialist at Sotheby’s London, explains:

“The first appearance at auction of a portrait of such extraordinary quality from this early period in Freud’s career is an incredibly rare and exciting moment. Head of a Boy from 1956 boasts the technical brilliance and focused scale that is so prevalent in the masterpieces of this period, and as this jewel of a painting demonstrates, Freud was unique in his ability to deliver such extraordinary impact within such a small arena. There is no question that Freud’s most arresting images are born from his closest relationships, and in this painting of Garech Browne we witness a tantalising story that is truly unparalleled – immortalising one of Ireland’s greatest cultural patrons and a bygone era of flamboyant creativity and unprecedented social synergy at bohemian Luggala”.

Sotheby’s Trawls for £6m with Schiele’s Fishing Boat in London

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Sotheby’s is touring an Egon Schiele painting of a fishing boat through Asia at the moment before they bring it back to sell in London on February 26th in the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. It will be offered with an estimate of £6 – 8 million. The sale follows Schiele’s centenary year and a series of celebratory exhibitions all across Europe. These have coincided with some strong recent prices for Schiele, especially at Sotheby’s which sold his 1913 cityscape for $24.6 million in NY in November – the second highest price for the artist. That interest was echoed in the wider interest in German and Austrian art in the same sale (which saw records for Oskar Kokoschka and Ludwig Meidner, and an exceptional price for an oil by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.)

A square-format depiction of a fishing boat in Trieste painted in the pivotal year of 1912, it has never before been at auction, having remained in a private collection since 1962. Its first owner was the patron Heinrich Böhler, Schiele’s pupil who supplied the artist with paint, canvas and models. Böhler worked side by side with his teacher. He also became a dedicated collector of his work.

The painting is notable for its composition, sitting alongside Schiele’s townscapes with its flattened, closely-cropped perspective and bold colour. The painting holds a unique position in Schiele’s oeuvre. Schiele was imprisoned earlier that year. Outcast and shaken, he returned to Trieste where he could relive memories of earlier visits shared with his sister Gerti in 1907 and 1908. Here’s Sotheby’s release on the art work:Continue Reading

Sotheby’s Announces £20m Monet Venice Ducal Palace for February

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Claude Monet, Le Palais Ducal, oil on canvas, 1908 (est. £20,000,000-30,000,000)

Sotheby’s is announcing a Monet painting from the series of works the artist produced in Venice over a three month stay. Monet’s habit was to paint the same view multiple times with the works displaying the effects of weather and time of day to produce different color and mood schemes. The work on offer is,  Le Palais Ducal from 1908, is one of three paintings of the same view.

This work is estimated at £20-30 million and will appear at auction for the very first time. It has been in the same family since it was acquired by Erich Goeritz in 1925. Goeritz was a Berlin-based textile manufacturer who was one of the most important Jewish collectors of the Weimar Republic.

This version of the Le Palais Ducal was exhibited as part of the Monet and Architecture show at the National Gallery in London earlier this year. It was shown in a room dedicated to the Venice series. That exhibition was first public appearance in almost four decades. It was shown alongside its counterpart from the Brooklyn Museum in New York which is the largest of the three works. The final version was owned by a prominent collecting family whose heirs recently sold. This version was not sold with the rest of the collection.

This version and the one still in private hands are remarkably similar in color, tone and light. Both are close to the hues of the Brooklyn Museum picture, something of a departure for Monet. Sotheby’s holds the auction record for a Venice painting by Monet: Le Grand Canal, which sold in London in February 2015 for £23.7 million. Here is their release for the picture:

Claude Monet arrived in Venice on 1 October 1908 – and, taken aback by the splendour of what he saw, the artist declared the city ‘too beautiful to paint’. Enchanted by the city, Monet painted just under forty canvases during the course of his three month stay, the greater part of which adorn the walls of museums across the globe. This spectacular painting depicts the historic Gothic façade of the Doge’s palace, and it belongs to a celebrated group of three works painted from the vantage of a boat moored along the canal, one of which is held in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum in New York.

Le Palais Ducal has been in the same family collection since 1925, when it was acquired by Erich Goeritz, a Berlin-based textile manufacturer. Goeritz was a significant collector of Impressionist and Modern art, building an extensive collection that was both eclectic and forward-thinking, counting among its number celebrated works such as Édouard Manet’s Un bar aux Folies-Bergère, now in the Courtauld Insitute of Art, London.  Philanthropic in his artistic endeavours, Goeritz gifted a substantial number of works to the newly founded Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 1933 and a few years later made his first donation to the British Museum. Almost a century later, this painting will now appear at auction for the first time, with an estimate of £20,000,000 – 30,000,000, as part of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 26 February 2018.

The painting was exhibited earlier this year – its first public appearance in almost four decades – alongside its counterpart from the Brooklyn Museum, in a room dedicated to the Venice series in the National Gallery in London’s acclaimed Monet and Architecture show, which toured through Monet’s ground-breaking depictions of the modern world in which he lived.

The composition is harmoniously divided between the palace’s brick exterior, and its reflection in the water. Monet animates the lagoon with wonderfully dappled brushstrokes whilst also bringing to life the façade of the building, which is softly diffused by light. The unique lacustrine quality of Venice and its architectural heritage allowed Monet to explore more abstract compositions, accentuating the interplay between the rhythms of the architecture and the expanse of water. In Venice, Monet turned to his artistic forbears JMW Turner and James Abbott McNeill Whistler, for both of whom the city had held a special importance. Turner presented a Venice transfigured by light, and viewing their poetic paintings side by side, Henri Matisse once remarked that ‘it seemed to [him] that Turner must have been the link between the academic tradition and impressionism’. Unapologetically modern in its outlook and in the way that it is painted, the work is not a topographical view so much as it is an evocation of atmosphere. Venice proved the perfect subject for Monet to explore his apotheosis of painting.

Sotheby’s Targets Fiduciaries with New Client Group

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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.

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