Picasso, Magritte feature in Christie's February auctions
A Picasso portrait of his lover and eventual wife Jacqueline Roque
and a canvas by Belgian surrealist painter Rene Magritte are among the
star attractions of February auctions that Christie's said on Monday
could net almost $380 million. Christie's estimated that those works and
others to be sold in four auctions on February 4-5 and a fifth on
February 7 in London could raise between 156.7 million and 228.3 million
pounds ($260 million-$376 million).
The Picasso, entitled "Femme au costume turc dans un fauteuil" (Woman
in a Turkish costume seated in a chair), 1955, is valued at 15-20
million pounds and is on sale for the first time in 55 years, Christie's
said in a press release.
The painting is one of a small group of portraits by Pablo Picasso
showing Roque in the costume of an "odalisque", a woman of the harem. It
is "a colourful, sexually charged celebration of Jacqueline, whom
Picasso would marry six years later and who would become one of the most
important muses of the artist's life", the release said.
Magritte's Les chasseurs au bord de la nuit (The hunters at the edge
of night), 1928, was part of an exhibition of the painter's works at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York and has an estimated value of 6-9
million pounds, Christie's said. The Picasso is the centrepiece of an
Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Auction on February 4 while the
Magritte is in The Art of The Surreal Auction on the same day.
"This stellar sale presents international collectors and institutions
with rare opportunities to acquire exceptional works with illustrious
provenance by key impressionist and modern masters," Jay Vincze,
Christie's International Director and head of its Impressionist and
Modern Art Department, said in the release.
"The global market for this category continues to expand and deepen
year on year, underpinned by passion for the beauty of the period and an
increasingly far-reaching appreciation and understanding of the
importance of late 19th century and early 20th century art movements."
The surrealist auction comprises 54 lots. In addition to the Magritte
it features Joan Miro's "Femmes et oiseaux" (Women and Birds), 1968,
estimated to be worth 4-7 million pounds, and Carlo Carra's "Solitudine"
(Solitude), with an estimated value of 2.5-3.5 million pounds.Also up
for grabs is Magritte's "Le regard interieur" (The inner gaze), from the
collection of the late Valerie Eliot, widow of poet T.S. Eliot, with an
estimated value of 500,000-700,000 pounds. "Twenty-five years on from
holding the inaugural standalone Dada and Surrealism sale and 14 years
since Christie's established its annual auction in the field, the global
demand for this pioneering movement continues to go from strength to
strength," Olivier Camu, Christie's deputy chairman for Impressionist
and Modern Art, said in the release.
The impressionist auction features works from collections including
Modern Masters: Works from an Important Private Swiss Collection. It
includes Juan Gris's Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux (Still life with
checquered tablecloth), 1915, valued at 12-18 million pounds, and Piet
Mondrian's "Composition No. 2 with Blue and Yellow", 1930, estimated at
8-12 million pounds.
Other works in the sale include Alberto Giacometti's Trois hommes qui
marchent" (Three men walking I), 1948-1950, valued at 6.2-8 million
pounds; Les cylindres colores (The coloured cylinders), 1918, by Fernand
Léger, formerly in the collection of Louis Carre, the dealer who was
closely associated with the artist, estimated at 5-7 million pounds; and
Claude Monet's L'Eglise de Varengeville; soleil couchant (The Church of
Varengeville; at sunset) 1882, estimated at 4-7 million.
- hindustantimes
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