By Carter B. Horsley
This morning sale of Impressionist & Modern Art at Christie's November 9, 2006 is highlighted by a wonderful painting by Lyonel Feininger, several excellent works by Pierre Bonnard, a very charming painting by Berthe Morisot, a very nice painting by Edouard Vuillard, two superb landscapes by Camille Pissarro, and a strong work by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
The cover illustration of the catalogue is Lot 414, "Silbersternbild," is a great painting by Lyonel Feininger 1871-1956). An oil on canvas, it measures 20 5/8 by 15 7/8 inches and was painted in 1924. It is property of the Andreas Feininger Trust under the will of Julie Feininger and has a modest estimate of $600,000 to $800,000. It sold for $2,368,000 including the buyer's premium, the highest lot in the auction, in which 84 percent of the 200 offered lots sold for a total of $45,121,600.
The catalogue provides the following commentary by Achim Moeller on this lot:
"In 1924, Lyonel Feininger joined with Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Alexej von Jawlensky to form the Blaue Vier or Blue Four grup. But it was a prior affiliation that more greatly influenced the painting Silbersternbild. In 1919 Walter Gropius had named Feininger Formmeister at the Bauhaus in Weimar. The artist's years as a commercial cartoonist and his preoccupation with architectural forms in his paintings proved relevant to the school's program of eliminating the distinction between fine and applied arts. The Feininger woodcut which appeared on the cover of the 1919 Bauhaus manifesto represented 'the spirt of devoted craftsmanship in th modern world' that was so central to the school....This combination of 'medieval mysticism' with 'modern political thought,' epitomized by the idea of a Cathedral of Socialism, anticipates the present painting's simultaneous spirituality and concreteness.....With this post came the extrmemly benefit of new workspace, for 'the studio the Bauhaus gave [Feininger] offered excellent working conditions, which immediately reflected in his output''.....This space allowed Feininger, who had been painting for just twelve years, to further develop his own pictorial language, in which he created a synthesis of cubist form, Expressionist feeling and Orphist light. As early as 1907, he articulated to his second wife Julie Berg the notion that, 'what one sees must be transformed in the mind and crystallized....Feininger's introduction to Cubism while in Paris in 1911 confirmed that he was on the right path. But it was not until the 1920s that Feininger imbued these cubist structures with the incandescent glow that characterizes the present painting. Hans Hess sees this command of light as a turning point for the artist from the illumined plane Feininger advances to the luminous plane.....No longer reflecting light from other sources, the forms radiate from within, to the extent that 'the light in the pictures seem to originate inside the painting itself'.....The stars and crescent moon, which virtually scintillate from the layered application of silver paint, accentuate the overall sense of effulgence. The transparency of the forms from which the edifices are built contrasts with their monumentality, inducing a tension that further activates the pictures...."
Lot 326, "Au 'Star,' Le Havre (Miss Dolly, chanteuse anglaise," is a magnificent tempera on panel by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). The work on panel measures 10 1/8 by 8 1/2 inches and was executed in 1899. It was once in the collection of Florence J. Gould. It has a modest estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $168,000.
There are several superb works by Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) in the auction. Lot 307, "Dans la rue, deux figures," is an oil on cradled panel that measures 15 by 18 inches and was painted circa 1906. It was once in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Peter O'Toole. It has a modest estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $352,000.
Another excellent Bonnard is Lot 340, "La femme au chapeau bleu," an oil on canvas that measures 17 by 21 1/4 inches. It was executed circa 1910 and is one of many fine works consigned to this auction formerly in the collection of Janice Levin to benefit the Philip and Janice Levin Foundatin. It has a modest estimate of $350,000 to $450,000. It sold for $710,400.
Lot 342 is another fine Bonnard from the Levin collection. Entitled "La Seine à Vernon," it is an oil on canvas that measures 19 3/4 by 26 7/8 inches. This work was formerly in the collections of Sam Salz and Mr. and Mrs. Nate B. and Frances Spingold. Executed in 1927, it has a modest estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It sold for $777,600. In 1912, Bonnard bought a villa across the Seine from Giverny and he would frequently visit Claude Monet there and, the catalogue entry for this lot notes, "the influence of the older master's late impressionist style made a significant impact on Baonnard's own treatment of color and form, as evidenced in the present work." The painting is quite remarkable in its strong blues and its very impressionistic treatment of the foreground foliage.
Another work from the Levin collection is Lot 341, "Le déshabillé de dos," by Edouard Vuillard, an oil on canvas that measures 9 1/8 by 10 5/8 inches. It was painted circa 1902-3 and has a modest estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $261,400. Nudes are relatively rare in Vuillard's oeuvre and this small painting could well be mistaken for a masterpiece by Pierre Bonnard.
Lot 339 is an extremely pleasant and good impressionist painting of a young girl studying by a window by Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). An oil on canvas, it measures 24 by 19 5/8 inches and was executed in 1893. It is from the Levin collection and has a modest estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $1,864,000.
Lot 356 is a very impressive and monumental Impressionist composition by Camille Pissarro (1830-1903). Painted in 1877, it is an oil on canvas that measures 28 3/4 by 23 3/8 inches. Entitled "Les Mathurins, Pontoise," It has a modest estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000. It sold for $800,000.
If "Les Mathurins, Pontoise" is a fine Impressionist work with wonderful brushwork, Lot 314, "La Sente des Pouilleux, Pontoise, effet de neige," also by Pissarro, is almost incredible as its brushwork is extremely loose, bold and almost wild and a precursor of Abstract Expressionism. An oil on canvas, it measures 19 7/8 by 24 1/4 inches and was painted in 1874. It was once in the collections of Sam Salz and Sol Hurok. It has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It failed to sell.
Henri Le Sidaner (1862-1932) is a Pointilist with warm tones and serene paintings of houses with lush landscaping, well represented by Lot 324, "La maison de l'automne," an oil on canvas that measures 29 by 36 1/2 inches. Painted in 1924, it has a modest estimate of $350,000 to $450,000. It sold for $598,400.
Lot 453 is an excellent work by Victor Brauner (1903-1966), entitled "Tete dépliante." It is an encausic on canvas laid down on masonite and measures 32 by 25 5/8 inches. Executed in 1955, it has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $180,000.