Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale - New York, 2 November 2010
The sale will present a superb offering of works across the period. From an early painting by Eugène Boudin from 1868 to a Pablo Picasso canvas from the 1970s, the sale features classic Impressionist paintings, key Modern works, tremendous sculpture and powerful German Expressionist canvases. Highlights will include important works by Modigliani, Matisse, Monet, Rodin and Picasso, among many others.
In addition to the spectacular Amedeo Modigliani nude, Nu assis sur un divan (La Belle Romaine), the sale will include two masterworks being offered to support YoungArts, the core program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA): Le Bassin aux Nymphéas, a spectacular canvas from Claude Monet's iconic water lilies series (est. $20/30 million), and Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau), one of the first portraits Modigliani painted of his great love (est. $9/12 million).
The Evening Sale boasts a group of works by Henri Matisse that attest to his genius in different media. Deux Négresses is one of the most striking sculptures of Matisse’s oeuvre, and a beautiful example of the artist’s vision of the human figure in three dimensions (est. $8/10 million). Four paintings by Matisse are led by Danseuse dans le fauteuil, sol en damier. This visually arresting canvas marked the beginning of a revolutionary campaign in Matisse's art in the fall of 1942, when he turned his focus more exclusively towards the essential components of form and color (est. $12/18 million).
Highlights are currently on view in London, and the works will return to New York for exhibition beginning 29 October prior to the 2 November auction.
