By Carter B. Horsley

With just over a hundred lots, this is a rather small day auction, but, as always, there are numerous works that many collectors should not overlook.

Among the highlights are small but fine works by Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Kurt Schwitters

(1887-1948), Joseph Cornell(1903-1972) and Edouard Vulllard (1868-1940), Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Pablo Picasso (I 881-1973), René Magritte (1898-1967), and Odile Redon (1840-1916) as well as good examples by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Romare Bearden (1912-1988).

The Mondrian, Lot 352, "The Lily," shown above, is an exquisite floral watercolor, signed, 11 3/8 by 8 7/8 inches, that was painted circa 1920-5. It has an estimate of $70,000 to $90,000. It sold for $259,000 including the buyer's premium as do all sales results in this article.

The Schwitters, Lot 354, entitled "Femspr. MZ 26.53," is a 8 1/2-by-6 5/8-inch collage on board mounted on paper that is signed and dated 1926. It is very colorful example of this important artist's stunning collages and has an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000. It sold for $138,000.

The Cornell, Lot 392, entitled "Robert Schumann/German Romanticism (recto and verso), shown above, a paper collage and blue pencil on board, 12 by 9 1/4 inches, that was executed in 1965-7 and is very delightful, depicting a large head of a black cat, an angel playing a violin and a steam locomotive crossing a bridge in the mountains. It has a modest estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. It sold for $49,350.

There are two nice Redons, Lots 311 and 312, both from the estate of Marina Salz. The former, entitled "L'Ange et l'homme," is a pencil on paper drawing that is very romantic and exquisite. The 9 1/2-by-I 2 7/8-inch, signed work has an estimate of $14,000 to $1 8,000. It sold for $37,600. The latter, entitled "La Cape rose," is a watercolor on paper, 9 3/4 by 6 3/4 inches that is very colorful and quite unusually in its mix of a shrouded woman against a dark green landscape beneath strongly delineated green leaves and a blue flower. It has an estimate of $28,000 to $35,000. It sold for $58,750.

From the same consignor come two delightful works, circa 1891-2, by Edouard Vuillard, Lots 308 and 309. The former is an I 1-by-8-inch oil on board of "L'actrice (Marthe Mellot), and which has an estimate of $50,00 to $70,000. It sold for $138,000. The latter is a watercolor, pen and India ink on paper, 9 by 5 3/4 inches, entitled "Chanteuse," which measures 9 by 5 3/4 inches and has an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000. It sold for $84,600.

The Pissarro, Lot 307, is entitled "La gardeuse d'oies" and is a gouache over pencil on paper laid down by the artist on board, 7 7/8 by 5 1/8 inches. The 1890, signed work has an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000 and was formerly in the Sam and Marina Salz Collection. It is a very fine Pissarro that combines the pastoral feel of Millet with the light touch of Impressionism. It sold for $96,200. Another fine Pissarro, Lot 314, "Paysanne assise et tricotant," a gouache over black chalk on paper, 18 7/8 by 12 1/2 inches, had a high estimate of $100,000 and sold for $303,000.

The most delightful work in the auction is Lot 361, shown above, "Têtes," a 10 1/2-by-8 1/4-inch pen, brush and India ink on paper, that was executed in 1963 by Pablo Picasso. The drawing shows 10 heads, all of which would be beloved by Renaissance artists absorbed with character. The work has an estimate of $28,000 to $35,000. It sold for $35,250.

The Magritte, Lot 364, entitled "Le Modele rouge," is a 7-by-5 3/4-inch gouache over pencil on paper, signed and dated 1952. It has an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000 and has been consigned by the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. It sold for $366,000. The catalogue notes that Magritte explained the picture's imagery in a 1938 lecture: "The problem of the shoes demonstrates how far the most barbaric things can, through force of habit, come to be considered quite respectable," adding that thanks to the picture, "people can feel that the union of a human foot with a leather shoe is, in fact, a monstrous custom." The present work, the catalogue noted, is probably the second of three variations in gouache. The earliest version in oil dates from 1935 and it and two later versions in oil are in museum collections.

The Matisse, Lot 360, entitled "Femme au jabots et collière de perles," is a 22 1/4 by 17 3/4 inch pen and India ink on paper mounted at the edges of stretched Japan paper mounted at the edges on panel. Drawn in 1937, the signed work is one of his more exquisite line drawings. The catalogue quotes John Elderfield from a 1984 exhibition catalogue of the Museum of Modern Art as remarking that these drawings "are among the greatest achievements of his draughtmanship," adding that "Some of the individual sheets are breathtaking in their assurance and audacity." The present drawing is most likely a study for his portrait of Lydia Delectorskya known as the "Woman in Blue" in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The lot has an estimate of $220,000 to $280,000. It sold for $490,000.

The Bearden, Lot 393, "Illusionist at 4 PM," is a paper collage on board, 30 by 40 inches, that was executed in 1967 and has an estimate of $35,000 to $45,000 and is a very strong work. It sold for $44,650.

A very handsome watercolor, pen and India ink over pencil on paper by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Lot 306, entitled "Paysage du Midi," almost 12 inches square, sold for $127,000, more than double its high estimate. It was an extremely colorful work but executed in a style that was not typical of the artist.

While a couple of minor Chagalls were passed, a pleasant gouache over pencil on paper, 19 8/8 by 26 1/8 inches, by Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), Lot 336, "Course à Goodwood," more than doubled its high estimate and sold for $259,000.

The sale was quite successful with 91 of the 104 lots selling, 87 percent, many at prices over the high estimates, an indication that while the very high-end of the market is a bit unpredictable and very quality-conscious, the more reasonable priced sector of the market is quite strong even with current uncertainties and slides in the stock markets. In comments after the evening sale of Twentieth Century Art at Christie's May 9, 2000, Christopher Burge, the auctioneer, remarked that the consensus appeared to be that collectors were not phased by the current Federal anti-trust investigation into fee-fixing policies at Sotheby's and Christie's and were focused on the lots being offered.