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For Immediate ReleasePress Release London
London | +44 (0)20 7293 6000 | Mitzi Mina | [email protected]
Sarah Rustin | [email protected]
Claude Monet, Le Palais Contarini, 1908 (est. 15-20m)
Star Lot of the London Summer Auction Season:A Rare View of Venice by Claude Monet To Spearhead Sothebys London June
Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale
Sothebys Evening Sale Features Exquisite Works from the Private Collections
of Branco Weiss, Stanley J. Seeger and Dr Gustav Rau,
All of Which Appear at Auction for the First Time in Decades
SOTHEBYS forthcoming London
Impressionist & Modern Art Evening
Sale on Wednesday 19th June 2013 willbe led by an exceptionally rare and
important view of Venice by ClaudeMonet, Le Palais Contarini of 1908,estimated a 15-20 million - the top lotof the London summer auction season -
and will feature exquisite works from a
selection of private collections. The salewill open with The Analytical Eye: TheBranco Weiss Collection, comprisingworks that embody the finest
achievements of abstract art by its
greatest proponents, including WassilyKandinsky, Joan Mir and Alexander
Calder. Important works from the
renowned collections of the late Stanley
J. Seeger and the late Dr Gustav Rau will
also feature, alongside Impressionist,
Modern, Surrealist and sculpture highlights, including a pristine example of a quintessential work by PietMondrian. The Evening Sale is estimated to fetch in excess of 75 million.
Helena Newman, Chairman of Sothebys Impressionist & Modern Art Department Europe , said:With the breadth of todays global art market in mind, we have assembled a sale that responds to the tasteand demand that have been driving the success of Sothebys recent sales. Our Impressionist & Modern ArtSale in New York this May saw clients compete for high-calibre estate property, and our June sale in Londonmaintains the continuity, bringing together an extremely strong selection of works, many of which are from
private collections and now come to the market for the first time in decades. We are thrilled that ClaudeMonets view of Venice will lead the sale. With its ravishing palette and modern aesthetic which is whatmany of todays top collectors are looking for this is a work of timeless appeal. Looking at the sale inbroader terms, we are offering works that span the 1870s through to 1982, supreme Impressionist works
through to Modern masterpieces, from Monet to Mondrian.
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Sale Highlights
Leading the sale is Le PalaisContarini(illustrated above, est. 15-20m), a work painted by Claude Monetduring a three-month trip to Venice in 1908 the year of one of the first Venice Biennales. Such works
depicting Venice are highly sought after by collectors as they represent the peak of the artists career. By
excluding the sky and the horizon line, Monet focused on water and reflections of the sky and the
architecture, resulting in an astonishingly modern composition and effect approaching abstraction. Overthe last century Le Palais Contariniwas widely exhibited around the world, including the major Turner,Whistler, Monetexhibition at Tate Britain in 2005.
Piet Mondrians Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue from 1927 is apristine example of the artists unique style (est. 4.5-6.5 million). The
painting is a quintessential work by the artist, comprising his most
favoured combination of red, yellow and blue coupled with non-colours grey and black. It is extremely rare for a work of this quality to come to
the market. Classically Modern and pure in form, it is an exceptional
example of the seminal period in Piet Mondrians career. The paintings
grid pattern and primary block colours represent Mondrians uniquestyle and his pursuit of a purified aesthetic. Composition with Red, Yellow
and Blue was widely exhibited across Europe from the year it wasexecuted and from 1929 until 1990 it was in a private Swiss collection.
Pablo Picassos Le Peintre, 1967 (est. 5-7m) is full of the artistscharacteristic energy, vitality and inventiveness. The image of the
musketeer - a common theme in his later works which are now
particularly sought after by collectors - allowed Picasso to explore
the spirit of a past age, reflecting the influence of Rembrandt,Velzquez and El Greco on his art. Placed in front of an easel, the
figure can be seen as a disguised portrait of Picasso himself.
Exceptional Works From Private Collections
The Analytical Eye: The Branco Weiss Collection
A collector who turned science and business into an art form, Branco Weiss
was a renowned entrepreneur who established several international high-techcompanies that were among the pioneers of the computer industry. Assembled
over the course of 25 years (from 1975 2000) Weisss art collectionexquisitely exemplifies how the pursuit of scientific innovation offers a strikingparallel to the passion felt by collectors of art, with a group of works that were
drawn together with a keen appreciation for the abstract, the intriguing and
the inquisitive. Many of the works from this collection embody the finest
achievements of abstract art by its greatest proponents, including WassilyKandinsky (one oil painting and four works on paper), Joan Mir and
Alexander Calder. The Collection represents the different strands ofModernism practiced by artists right across Europe in the early 20 th century,
whilst also reflecting Branco Weisss own heritage with the inclusion of CentralEuropean masters such as Frantiek Kupka and Naum Gabo. A DEDICATED
RELEASE ON THE BRANCO WEISS COLLECTION IS AVAILABLE UPONREQUEST Wassily Kandinsky, Ineinander(Intermingling), 1928,
est. 600,000-800,000
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Property from the Gustav Rau Collection sold to benefit the Foundation of the German Committee for
UNICEF for the children of the world
Claude Monets Le Pont de bois of 1872 (est. 4-6 million), a veryfine example of the plein air technique, represents through itssubject matter, composition and technique the emerging
Impressionist movement of the 1870s. It lies at a criticaljuncture in the history of art as well as French history, since it
depicts the re-building of the road bridge at Argenteuil, which
was damaged during the Prussian war. The first owner ofLe Pontde bois was the painter Edouard Manet. For Monet to have theapprobation of the distinguished older artist would have been
perceived as an enormous compliment. The leading dealer of
Impressionist art, Galerie Durand-Ruel, purchased the painting
from Edouard Manets widow in 1886. Subsequently it passed through several distinguished collectionsincluding the Canonne family in Paris and Norton Simon in California. It now comes to auction from The
Collection of Dr Gustav Rau, who bequeathed the work to the German Committee for UNICEF . Proceeds
from the sale of the workwill fund long-term assistance programs for children, and especially to furtherassist the Ciriri hospital in eastern Congo. A SEPARATE DEDICATED PRESS RELEASE IS AVAILABLE
UPON REQUEST ON THE WORKS SOTHEBYS WILL OFFER FROM THE RAU COLLECTION TO BENEFITTHE GERMAN COMMITTEE FOR UNICEF
From the Collection of the Late Stanley J. Seeger
Stanley J. Seeger was one of the greatest collectors of his generation,
and if there was one artist who fascinated him above all others it wasPablo Picasso. With the help of his beloved partner Christopher Cone,
Seeger had assembled a collection of works by Picasso of the highestquality admired by Picassos biographer John Richardson as particularly
rich and comprehensive. For Seeger, Richardson said, collecting is avery private pleasure, and, I suspect, an obsessive one: an exercise inscholarship as well as connoisseurship. A highlight of the works to beoffered from the Collection is a work by Picasso that presents a
whirlwind of lust and desire. Etreinte (1.5-2million) is one of the mostvivid compositions of Picassos late years, executed on luminous red paper. Art can only be erotic, Picassofamously remarked and the contortions of the model, whose sharp profile resembles that of Jacqueline,
call to mind some of Picasso's most sensually explicit depictions of the voluptuous Marie-Thrse from the
1930s.
Works to be offered from the Stanley J. Seeger Collection include examples from all the major phases of
Picassos art. The earliest is Femme assise, executed in 1901 (700,000- 1million). It is one of Picassosmost vibrant works from the beginning of his extraordinary career. This pivotal year in Picassos art was
recently the subject of the exhibition Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901 in the Courtauld Galleries, London.
Impressionist Highlights
Claude Monets Lglise de Vernon, temps gris (est. 3-4million) waspainted in the spring of 1894 during the peak of Monet's project ofseries paintings, and he repeatedly addressed the theme of reflection in
paintings of the Seine. Using a small boat he rowed out into the middleof the river and painted seven canvases that focused on capturing the
ephemeral effect of mist and light rather than the architectural details.LEglise de Vernon, temps gris is a masterful evocation of the early
morning atmosphere and celebrates the gothic splendour of the churchand setting.
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Bords du Loing prs de Moret (est. 2-3 million) ranks amongst thefinest achievements of Alfred Sisley's mature uvre. The crystallinebrilliance of the afternoon light falling across the banks of the river is
beautifully rendered by the artist's staccato brushstrokes. In 1880
Alfred Sisley settled with his family in the village of Moret-sur-Loing,
fifty kilometres south of Paris, on the edge of the Forest ofFontainebleau, and it was here that his work achieved its final
flowering; incorporating both his favourite compositional motifs, such
as the receding avenue of trees, to a distinctly post-impressionist
approach to applying paint.
Fauvist Highlights
Wassily Kandinskys Studie fr Herbstlandschaft mit Booten (Study forAutumn Landscape with Boats) (est. 3-5m) was executed in 1908 atthe beginning of the artists journey to abstraction. This crucial period
in Kandinskys career was played out in the picturesque town of
Murnau and the countryside surrounding it, which lay to the south ofMunich. Kandinsky was accompanied by his fellow painters Gabriele
Mnter, Alexej von Jawlensky and Marianne von Werefkin with whomhe had spent the spent summer painting and exchanging ideas. This
small picturesque town to the South of Munich can be seen as thecatalyst that heralded in Kandinskys art of chromatic abstraction.
Sirne espagnole (3-5 million) was painted during a highly fruitful periodin Kees van Dongens career. After the early successes of his Fauvist
paintings and his mounting international reputation the artist embarked
on canvases depicting exotic dancers and nudes. The Spanish courtesan
was a popular subject among avant-garde artists during the early years ofthe 20th Century and Sirne espagnole is van Dongens remarkablereinvigoration of this subject expressed in a boldly assertive manner.
Surrealist Highlights
With an extraordinary simplicity of means and sharpness of execution that
characterised his later work, Ren Magrittes L'Ide (est. 1.8-2.5 million) of1966 is a witty and captivating example of one of the central themes of his art -
that of unexpectedly juxtaposed objects. By combining an inanimate object witha human figure, Magritte subverts the traditional genre of portraiture, thus
challenging the viewers expectations of a work of art and inviting newinterpretations of everyday occurrences. By replacing what otherwise would
have been a human head, the apple serves as a device for Magrittes favourite
theme, that of hiding or obscuring human beings, and rendering them asfaceless figures whose individuality remains a mystery to the viewer. This
simple everyday object, often associated with the traditional genre of still-life, is
transformed into something inexplicable and unknown.
Salvador Dal used the motif of musical instruments, and the piano in
particular, in a series of important paintings beginning in the early 1930s,and La Musique (est. 4.5-6.5 million) can be regarded as a powerfulculmination of this great line of artistic enquiry. La Musique celebrates thecathartic and transcendental power of music as its primary subject-
matter, albeit a music conjured by surrealist forms. The passionate red ofthe backdrop in La Musique reflects both the erotic and the violent
subtexts of Surrealism, yet the mood is one of the celebration and joyabove all else: the vibrancy of life, the eternal nature of creativity and the
enduring passions of the Surrealist master.
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Painted in 1927, La Horde (est. 1.2-1.5 million) belongs to one of themost creative periods in Max Ernsts uvre, marked by a constantstream of technical experimentation and invention. It was during these
years that the artist fully explored his newly developed grattagetechnique in addition to establishing his personal mythology, his visual
universe of themes and images that were to become central to his entirecareer. One of Ernsts key subjects was the forest. In the lower section of
La Horde Ernst evokes the crumbling dampness of a forest-floor withgently decomposing detritus. Above this fertile base stands a struggling,
writhing frieze of life.
Sculpture
Depicting two figures enveloped in a delicate and passionate dance, La Valse,premire version (est. 1.5-2 million) is largely considered to be one ofCamille Claudel's most accomplished sculptures and is a unique lifetime
cast. Claudel was not even twenty years old when the sculptor Paul Dubois
introduced her to Auguste Rodin and within a year she became an
apprentice in his studio. Claudel and Rodin worked together for over a
decade, during which time she flourished both as in indispensable figure in
Rodins studio and a virtuosic sculptor in her own right, producing elegant
and sensual masterpieces such as La Valse. Claudel completed the plastercast of this work, known as the first version of La Valse, in 1892 and thisbronze was cast in the following year.
The subject of the reclining figure is probably the single most
iconic image of Henry Moores uvre, but a reclining figure
featured with a child - as in Working Model for Draped RecliningMother and Baby(est. 1.3-2 million) - is rare within his oeuvre.Alongside the emotional connotations this theme held for Moore,
this combination of two connected forms also provided him with
a range of formal and spatial possibilities to explore in the
medium of sculpture. Moore stated that There are threefundamental poses of the human figure. One is standing, the other isseated, and the third is lying down But of all the three poses, the reclining figure gives me the most freedomcompositionally and spatially. A further cast of Working Model for Draped Reclining Mother and Baby in
Henry Moore's studio, now in the collection of the Henry Moore Foundation.
Works on Paper
Executed shortly before the turn of the century, Danseuses (1.8-2.5m) depicts oneof Edgar Degas favourite subjects ballet dancers preparing for a performance. In
his pastels of the 1890s, Degas' focus moved away from the linear, towards a new
interest in colour, and the present work is a magnificent example of his new
found freedom of expression. Danseuses once formed part of the art, furniture andsilver collection of Georges Lury, a successful banker and investor with
exceptional taste. Lury acquired great paintings by Renoir, Gauguin, Van Gogh and
other major artists, and his collection was sold at a Parke-Bernet auction in 1957.Headlined by Time Magazine as 'The Greatest Auction, the sale was attendedby Rockefellers, Fords, Greek shipping tycoons and Hollywood collectors.
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The Vollard Suite is Pablo Picassos most celebrated set of etchings. This complete set of 100 etchings isfrom the exceptionally rare edition of 50 with wide margins, and each plate is signed by the artist (est.
1.4-1.8 million). The Suite records the development of the artists ideas during one of the most creativeperiods of his career. No other work by Picasso offers such an intense observation of his ideas in such a
powerful sequence of images. Between September 1930 and December 1934, Picasso etched and
engraved 97 images. This was followed by the etched portraits of Vollard in 1937, which when added tothe series, made 100 etchings that subsequently became known as the Vollard Suite. Complete sets arenow rare, and when the British Museum acquired and then exhibited the first set in a British institutionlast year, Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, remarked that it was truly a walk insidePicassos mind.
The dates of these etchings were highly significant in the career of Picasso. The artist had met Marie-Thrse Walter in 1927 and by 1930 she had become a central muse in his works. The etchings played a
critical part in the development of the artists ideas, with the etched compositions appearing in the
paintings and the sculptured portraits of Marie-Thrse shown in the prints. Although she was the muse
for an important theme of the Vollard Suite, the 100 etchings covered other ideas in the artists mindincluding the Artist in his studio, the Minotaur and Bull-Fighting subjects, the Battle of Love, as well as
etchings showing Picassos creative mentors of Rembrandt and Balzac.
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