By Carter B. Horsley This quite strong evening sale of Impressionist & Modern Art at Christie's is highlighted by a beautiful waterlily painting by Claude Monet (1840-1926), two excellent works by Fernand Léger (1881-1955), three very good portraits by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), superb works by Paul Klee (1879-1940), Julio González (1876-1942), Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894), and Georges Braque (1882-1963) and some nice works by Paul Cézanne (1939-1906), Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), Alexej von Jawlensky (1864-1941) Marc Chagall (1887-1985), Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Joan Miró (1893-1983). The Monet, Lot 19, "Le bassin aux nymphéas," is an oil on canvas that measures 51 1/8 by 78 3/4 inches and was executed 1917-9. It has an estimate of $10,000,000 to $15,000,000. This large and impressive work, shown above, has a softer and more subtle palette than other examples in this famous series of waterlily paintings. This work was auctioned in November, 1979 at Christie's for $715,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $8,500,000. Although its failure to sell was a major disappointment, this was a reasonably successful auction with 40 of the 54 offered lots selling, or 74 percent, considerably better than the 56 percent showing the night before at Sotheby's, and the 43.8 percent showing at Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg Monday night. The sale totaled $67,513,000 and had had a pre-sale low estimate of $87.3 million and a pre-sale high estimate of $122 million. The surprisingly weak Phillips auction set shock waves throughout the art market that it the boom times might be over. The Sotheby's sale, however, indicated that the market had not collapsed but with many lots selling below their low estimates there was no doubt that the market had softened.
This auction, however, was much healthier. While many lots did not reach their low estimates, some did very well and four records were set. While some observers argued that some estimates were too high, the market now has a fair bit of uncertainty as evidenced by the fact that extremely beautiful waterlily paintings by Monet at both Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg and Christie's failed to sell and really did not have outragegous estimates. Sotheby's also had a beautiful waterlily Monet that did sell, but for several million dollars less than it had been auctioned a few years ago. No one is suggesting that Monet has fallen out of favor, but perhaps the puzzling results reflect the fact that there were three gorgeous waterlily paintings to choose from.
Lot 41, "Les Deux Acrobates," shown above, is a very fine work by Léger that was painted in 1918. The oil on canvas, which is illustrated on the auction catalogue's cover, measures 35 1/4 by 23 inches and comes from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Granz. It has an estimate of $6,000,000 to $8,000,000. It failed to sell when it was offered at Sotheby's in 1995. It sold for $5,509,500 including the buyer's premium as do all the results mentioned in this article. The catalogue provides the following commentary on this lot: "Léger's interest in the figure, even if expressed in partly mechanical forms and barely distinguishable from the architecture of its surroundings, remained central to his vision of modern life. Moreover, while Picasso was growing increasingly preoccupied with the extensive upper class milieu that dominated the theatrical world in which he now spent much of his time, Léger continued to cultivate an egalitarian and inclusive social outlook. He enjoyed a ringing affirmation of the life-force that was the ultimate antedote to the destruction and negativity of the war years. In a series of seven paintings done in 1918, including the present work, Léger featured the circus as a symbol of modern spectacle and urban leisure. The artist intended the series to celebrate the end of the war and to mark a return to the enjoyment of ordinary peacetime entertainments. In taking the circus as his theme, Léger was referring to a popular Parisian tradition[and] in choosing as his setting the Cirque Médrano, Léger was following the example of a line of great modern painters, including Degas, Renoir, Seurat, and Lautrec, and more recently, Picasso and von Dongen, in whose work the site had become a local shrine for the avant-garde. The Cirque Médrano opened in 1873 as a traveling circus. At that time it was known as the Cirque Fernando, named after its proprietor Ferdinand Beert (a bareback rider), who built a permanent structure for the troupe in 1875 at the corner of the boulevard Rochechuoart and the avenue des Martyrs in Montmartre. Several years later it was refurbished to attract a better clientele, and within a decade Beert was charging the same price for the house's best seats as the huge upscale Hippodrome near the Champs-Elysées. It was taken over and renamed in 1897 by the clown Médrano, whose family ran it until 1943. Therefore known as the Cirque de Montmartre, it finally closed in 1963.The most famous work set in the building is Seurat's final masterpiece, Le cirque [Musée d'Orsay, Paris], 1890-91.The paintings in Léger's series are heavily indebted to Seurat's, Le cirque; they share with it an interest in integrating the figure within a grid-like architectural setting, and they similarly contrast the movement of curvilinear forms against the static geometry of emphatic vertical and horizontal lines. Both artists juxtapose a random, unpredictable human element - the spontaneous activity of the acrobats and riders - with the timeless rigidity of their settings, and impose upon the figure a mechanical aspect which places it in a larger, timeless, more ordered and rationalistic universe. The primary impetus for Léger's circus paintings, however, were contemporary developments in the avant-garde and were in fact literary in origin. Léger was interested in the concept of simultaneity, the presentation of multiple and often disparate layers of information, in which time and place were rendered discontinuous, in order to represent the experience of modern urban life."
Another fine work by Léger is Lot 46, "Les femmes à la toilette," an oil on canvas that measures 36 1/4 by 28 3/4 inches and was painted in 1920. It has an estimate of $3,500,000 to $4,500,000. It sold for $3,419,500.
The catalogue notes that "In 1920, under mounting pressure from Ozenfant, Le Corbusier, and other members of the Parisian avant-garde to classicize his art, Léger began to create calmer and more rigorously ordered compositions, depicting monumental figures within a stable architecture of flat planes."
Amedeo Modigliani is represented in this auction by three good works, Lots 38, 35 and 13. Lot 38, entitled "La Robe Noire," is an oil on canvas that measures 36 3/8 by 23 1/2 inches and was executed in 1918. The catalogue states that "this elegant and sophisticated portrait of an anonymous sitter is a masterpiece of Modigliani's mature period." "It powerfully synthesizes all the characteristic traits of the distinctive figurative type that the artist developed after 1916: the elongated face, the graceful swan-like neck, the sensuous pursed lips, and the impenetrable almond eyes.The present painting serves as a compendium of the key sources that Modigliani fused to create this unique and imitable style. Foremost among these is the art of the Italian Mannerists, notably Parmigianino and Pontormo, whose figures are distinguished by the same sinuous neck, elongated hands, and fluid contours as the present portrait. Modigliani was also influenced by the art of modern masters, particularly Cézanne. Another important source for Modigiliani's distinctive figural style was the sculpture of Constantin Brancusi.Finally, the present portrait reflects the inspiration of African sculpture. Paul Guillaume, Modigliani's dealer until June 1916, was also the most important dealer of tribal art in Paris." This lot has a somewhat ambitious estimate of $9,000,000 to $12,000,000. While it certainly is very representative of his style and has an interested if limited palette, the woman's face is a bit too pretty and her hand and dress are not particularly well handled and the overall effect is rather sketchy. It failed to sell and was passed at $7,500,000.
Another Modigliani that is a bit more satisfying because of the alluring expression of the sitter's face is Lot 35, "Beatrice Hastings devant une porte." An oil on canvas, it measures 32 by 18 1/4 inches and was painted in 1915. It has a modest estimate of $3,000,000 to $4,000,000. It sold or $4,189,500. The sitter, an English writer, was the artist's mistress. According to the catalogue, she had "gained notoriety for attending a Quat'z' Arts ball wearing a trompe l'oeil dress that Modigliani had painted on her naked body, and was rumored to make notches in her headboard to keep tally of her numerous lovers."
Another strong and compelling Modigliani is Lot 13, "Le typographe (Pedro), a 21 5/8-by-18 1/4-inch oil on canvas that was painted circa 1909. This is one of several works in this auction that was formerly in the collection of Dr. and Mrs. Freddy Homburger. The sitter in this portrait is painted with considerably more detail than in the artist's later works and the artist's palette here is much more saturated, resulting in a very intense work that has quite a modest estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It sold for 471,500.
Paul Klee's whimsicality is one of the delights of 20th Century art and Lot 47, "Hauptszene aus dem Ballet "Der falsche Schwur,'" is a superb example that amply demonstrates his delicate line and luscious palette and his abiding love of music. A watercolor and pencil on paper laid down by the artist on board, it measures 18 7/8 by 12 3/8 inches, and was painted in 1922. It has a modest estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It sold for $449,500.
20th Century sculpture has been soaring in value in recent years at auctions, which may explain the somewhat ambitious estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 for Lot 39, "Homme gothique," by Julio Gonzalez. That estimate, however, is not unjustified for this is a very strong work that also happens to be unique unlike the many popular multiple casts of other popular sculptors like Matisse and Rodin. It sold for $3,419,500, breaking the artist's former auction record of $3,203,051 set at Christie's in London June 30, 1999. "Today, sixty years after his death, Julio González is justly acclaimed as the father of modern metal sculpture," the catalogue noted. "The term 'Gothic' was coined by Renaissance Italian humanists as a derogatory reference to the medieval buildings in France and northern Europe who, in their view, seemed possessed by an insane and barbaric taste for soaring heights and sharp, arching forms, so unlike the more rounded and temperately proportioned structures of the classically-derived Mediterannean style. Shorn of its negative connotations, the term once again came into use among historians of the 18th Century Enlightenment, who recognized the age of cathedrals as one of the great flowerings of the human spirit," the catalogue's entry stated, also describing the artist's collaboration with Picasso.
Works by Gustave Caillebotte have also soared in recent years at auction and Lot 26, "Le pont de l'Europe," is a highly finished study for his most famous work that the artist executed in two different versions,, one of which is in the collection of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth and the other in the Petit Palais in Geneva. The catalogue notes that there are at least five other oil sketches for the composition but the present picture is the only known study for the painting in the Kimbell. The Kimbell version is tightly cropped and has a predominantly blue and gray palette while the Geneva painting has a different perspective and golden palette. An oil on canvas, this lot measures 25 1/2 by 31 7/8 inches and was executed in 1876. It has an estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,500,000. It sold for $4,409,500. "What the two paintings share," the catalogue noted, "is an unabashed focus on the Pont de l'Europe's modernity. Wheras Manet and Monet had chosen to temper the industrial severity of the bridge's iron trellises by cloaking them in vapor, Caillebotte instead depicts the structure in sharp focus, exploiting its ruthless geometry to organize his composition.The top-hatted figure at the center of the Pont de l'Europe is traditionally said to represent Caillebotte himself, and his placement alongside a member of the working class may be intended to evoke the artist's own dual social identification."
Lot 53, "Balustre et crâne," is a very fine still life with a skull by Georges Braque. The 17 3/4-by-21 5/8-inch oil on canvas, shown above, was executed in 1938 and has a modest estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It sold for $449,500.
There are four works by Paul Cézanne in the auction, the best of which is Lot 16, shown above, "L'Estaque vu à travers les arbres," an oil on canvas that measures 17 5/8 by 21 inches and was executed in 1878-9. Once in the collection of Paul Cassirer of Amsterdam, this landscape study has a strong composition and is a good example of the artist's blue and green palette and brushwork. It has a relatively modest estimate of $4,000,000 to $6,000,000. It sold for $4,409,500.
Lot 6, "La faience italienne," is a still life by Cézanne that was executed in 1872-3 and has a nicely painted vase on a table with some fruit. An oil on canvas that measures 16 3/8 by 21 3/4 inches, it was once in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Englehard of New Jersey and has a modest estimate of $600,000 to $800,000 reflecting the fact that it is an early work that embodies little of the artist's later famed brushwork. It sold for $889,500. Lot 1, "Baigneur, vu de dos," is another Cézanne. A view from the back of a naked man in a country setting, it is an oil on canvas that measures 9 1/2 by 7 5/8 inches and was painted 1877-8. This small study has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $427,500. A far more lively Cézanne is Lot 15, "Portrait d'Archille Emperaire," a 16 7/8-by-16 1/8-inch oil on canvas that was executed 1867-8. The sitter was a fellow painter from Aix and one of the artist's close companions. It has a modest estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $317,500.
Lot 9, "Cabane sous les arbres," is a very good Tahitian landscape by Paul Gauguin. An oil on canvas that measures 28 3/8 by 17 1/8 inches, it was executed in 1892 and has an estimate of $3,500,000 to $5,500,000. The painting is highlighted by several blue trees similar to those in the very fine landscape in the Odrupgaard Collection in Copenhagen (see The City Review article). It sold for $4,629,500.
One of the auction's highlights is Lot 29, "Junges Madchen mit den grünen Augen," by Alexej von Jawlensky, an oil on board, 21 1/8 by 19 1/2 inches, circa 1910. This very strong work differs from the artist's many portraits of women that are more stylized and formulaic. This one has a particularly vibrant palette. The catalogue notes that "with its jewel-like colors and powerful stylizations, the present painting is redolent with Jawlensky's memory of traditional Russian icons." It has an estimate of $1,200,000 to $1,600,000. It sold for $3,309,500, breaking the artist's former auction record of $2,426,650 set at Sotheby's in London Oct. 8, 2002.
Marc Chagall's prolific dream-like works often seem a bit too repetitive but a small portion of his oeuvre includes some interesting cityscapes and interiors and Lot 36, "La grand roue," shown above is quite striking. An oil on canvas that measures 23 3/4 by 35 inches, it was executed in 1911-2 and depicts a large ferris wheel against a yellow sky with the Eiffel Tower in the background. It has an estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,500,000 and was once in the collection of Charles Clore of London. It sold for $2,539,500. The catalogue provides the following commentary on this lot: "Like Delaunay's paintings of the Parisian landscape, La grande roue depicts the capital as pulsating and dynamic. The tension between the sweeping curve of the Ferris wheel and the sharp peak of the Eiffel Tower lends the composition an unusual vitality, which is accentuated by the arresting palette of acid lemon and green. Moreover, the box-cars of the Ferris wheeel are depicted in fractured planes that express their rotation through space.The liberated and emotive palette of the picture is indebted both to Van Gogh and the Fauves, while the prismatic diffraction of space represents the influence of the Cubists."
Another lot from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Granz is Lot 42, "La Guenon et son petit," a 21 1/4-inch high bronze sculpture of a monkey cradling her baby. This work was once in the collection of G. David Thompson of Pittsburgh and has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000. It failed to sell when it was offered at Sotheby's in 1995. It sold for $6,719,500, breaking the previous auction record for a sculpture by the artist of $4,956,000 set at Christie's Nov. 6, 2001. The catalogue provides a long quotation from Francoise Gilot about the sculpture in which she wrote that for their son, Claude, "toys were not somethig to play with, but something to break," and that Claude was not happy when Picasso decided to use two small automobile models that dealer Kahnweiler had brought for Claude in an assemblage. The catalogue describes the artist's original assemblage that eventually was executed in bronze: "A model of a Panhard auto became the top of the ape's head with the windshield framing its eyes. The hood of the car became the baboon's nose, and the grillwork formed the upper part of the animal's mouth. Picasso placed the second model car, a Renault, upside down, and in reverse, so that its trunk and rear fender became the baboon's lower jaw. The torso of the ape was composed from a large pottery jar, which he incised with a knife to outline the breast and nipple. The animal's ears were made from the handles of pitchers Picasso found in a scrap heap near his studio. The shoulders were fashioned from handles detached from a large bowl.The legs were fabricated from pieces of wood, and the ape's tail was made from a discarded automobile spring." Lot 31, "Le repos (Marie-Thérèse Walter), is a very pleasant oil on canvas, 10 3/4 by 18 1/8 inches that Picasso painted in 1932. It has an estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,500,000. It sold for $3,089,500.
Lot 43, "Palmette," is a simple but very graceful work by Henri Matisse that was executed about 1947. The gouache, graphite and paper collage laid down on paperboard measures 25 1/4 by 17 3/4 inches and has an estimate of $1,200,000 to $1,800,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $700,000.
A fine companion for the Matisse is Lot 54, "Oiseaux dans l'espace," by Joan Miró. The 45 3/8-by-35-inch oil on canvas was executed in 1960 and has a modest estimate of $450,000 to $650,000. It is also simple but very strong and pleasing. It sold for $537,500. Lot 28, "Le Port d'Anvers," is an excellent riverscape by Emile-Othon Friez (1879-1949). An oil on canvas that measures 31 7/8 by 39 3/8 inches, it was painted in 1906 and has an estimate of $900,000 to $1,200,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $650,000. Lot 30, "Blue Dancer," is a 41 5/8-inch high bronze statue by Alexander Archipenko (1887-1964) that was conceived in 1913 and cast during the artist's lifetime. It has an ambitious estimate of $700,000 to $1,000,000. It sold for $999,500, breaking the auction record for the artist of $974,491 that was set at Sotheby's in London June 30, 1998.