1906
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Klimt Bassin aux nymphéas Signac Rodin Landscape Flowers Wild West
See also : Klimt Bassin aux nymphéas Signac Rodin Landscape Flowers Wild West
masterpiece
1906 Les Grandes Baigneuses by Cézanne
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Paul Cézanne is ill and anxious : perhaps he will never succeed in attaining the objective of perfection which he has set for himself. Facing the Montagne Sainte-Victoire he tries to extract from the landscape the fundamental geometries accentuated by the varied colors of his palette.
In parallel with this tireless activity as a landscape artist, Cézanne reworks his traditional theme of the outdoor Baigneuses in oils on canvases that now reach large formats. Refusing that his colors intermingle, he disregards the realistic figuration and anticipates cubism. At his death in October 1906 three paintings are unfinished. One of them 210 x 250 cm is preserved at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The bathers are divided into groups in a surrounding of trees. The center opens onto the landscape. Bodies, leaves and mountain are drawn in undifferentiated lines, leaving to the harmony of colors all the emotional power in this artwork. Having started from Impressionism and now reaching Expressionism, Cézanne is one of the deepest innovators in the history of art.
Grok thoughts :
Quote
Lisichka @VixenBasQuias Jul 9, 2021
The Bathers (French: Les Grandes Baigneuses) is an oil painting by French artist Paul Cézanne first exhibited in 1906. The painting, which is exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is the largest of a series of Bather paintings by Cézanne
In parallel with this tireless activity as a landscape artist, Cézanne reworks his traditional theme of the outdoor Baigneuses in oils on canvases that now reach large formats. Refusing that his colors intermingle, he disregards the realistic figuration and anticipates cubism. At his death in October 1906 three paintings are unfinished. One of them 210 x 250 cm is preserved at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The bathers are divided into groups in a surrounding of trees. The center opens onto the landscape. Bodies, leaves and mountain are drawn in undifferentiated lines, leaving to the harmony of colors all the emotional power in this artwork. Having started from Impressionism and now reaching Expressionism, Cézanne is one of the deepest innovators in the history of art.
Grok thoughts :
Quote
Lisichka @VixenBasQuias Jul 9, 2021
The Bathers (French: Les Grandes Baigneuses) is an oil painting by French artist Paul Cézanne first exhibited in 1906. The painting, which is exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is the largest of a series of Bather paintings by Cézanne
- This post by art enthusiast @VixenBasQuias introduces Paul Cézanne's "The Large Bathers" (1900–1906), the monumental final work in his series of over 200 bather studies, emphasizing geometric forms that bridged Impressionism and Cubism.
- Housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art since 1937, the painting reinterprets Renaissance nudes in landscape, with its 13 figures evoking timeless harmony amid Provence's terrain, as confirmed by museum records.
- Cézanne's posthumous 1906 Salon d'Automne exhibition, featuring this piece, profoundly impacted early modernists; Picasso called him "the father of us all," underscoring its role in shifting art toward abstraction.
1906 Blumenwiese by Klimt
2025 SOLD for $ 86M by Sotheby's
Blumenwiese, oil on canvas 110 x 110 cm painted by Klimt, was sold for $ 86M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2025, lot 11. The literature and exhibition history in Sotheby's catalogue invariably dates it no later than 1906. It may be considered that it anticipates the Bauerngarten whose terminus ante quem according to its Sotheby's catalogue is an exhibition in Vienna in 1908.
Asking Grok to compare these two paintings.
Overview
Gustav Klimt's Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow) and Bauerngarten (Blumengarten, or Flower Garden) are two exemplary floral landscapes from the artist's mature period, when he spent summers painting en plein air around Lake Attersee in Austria. Both works showcase Klimt's synthesis of natural observation with decorative, almost symbolic abstraction, influenced by Impressionism, Pointillism, and his own evolving style toward vibrant color fields and geometric harmony. They share striking similarities in format and theme but differ in composition, execution, and market context. Blumenwiese, from the Leonard A. Lauder collection, is set for auction at Sotheby's on November 18, 2025, as lot 11 in the Leonard A. Lauder, Collector Evening Auction. Bauerngarten was sold at Sotheby's on March 1, 2017, also as lot 11 in the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, fetching £48 million ($59 million including fees).Key Similarities
In summary, these paintings epitomize Klimt's innovative approach to landscapes, blending realism with abstraction. Bauerngarten offers a more formalized beauty, while Blumenwiese emphasizes untamed vitality—potentially appealing to different collectors. The upcoming sale of Blumenwiese could surpass Bauerngarten's record, given the art market's growth since 2017 and the Lauder provenance's prestige.
Evolution of Standing Portraits of Very Young Women by Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt's portraits of young women evolved significantly between his pre-Golden Phase and late period.
This progression shows Klimt moving from subtle, atmospheric lyricism to ornate, dynamic patterning while maintaining a focus on youthful femininity.
Evolution of Vegetal Studies in Landscapes
Klimt's landscapes similarly evolved from detailed, pointillist-like renderings of wild meadows to more abstracted, foliage-dominated compositions. Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow, c. 1906–1908) captures a vibrant wildflower field in a mosaic of colorful dots and strokes, viewed from ground level for an immersive, jewel-like effect.
In Apfelbaum I (Apple Tree I, 1912), the focus shifts to a single exploding tree bursting with lush, chaotic foliage and apples, filling the canvas with bold, energetic brushwork. The ground vegetation recedes, emphasizing verticality and ornamental abundance over flat meadow expanses.
This reflects Klimt's maturation toward expressive, pattern-rich natural forms, paralleling his portrait developments.
Asking Grok to compare these two paintings.
Overview
Gustav Klimt's Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow) and Bauerngarten (Blumengarten, or Flower Garden) are two exemplary floral landscapes from the artist's mature period, when he spent summers painting en plein air around Lake Attersee in Austria. Both works showcase Klimt's synthesis of natural observation with decorative, almost symbolic abstraction, influenced by Impressionism, Pointillism, and his own evolving style toward vibrant color fields and geometric harmony. They share striking similarities in format and theme but differ in composition, execution, and market context. Blumenwiese, from the Leonard A. Lauder collection, is set for auction at Sotheby's on November 18, 2025, as lot 11 in the Leonard A. Lauder, Collector Evening Auction. Bauerngarten was sold at Sotheby's on March 1, 2017, also as lot 11 in the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, fetching £48 million ($59 million including fees).Key Similarities
- Artistic Period and Style: Both paintings date from Klimt's "golden years" of landscape work (circa 1905–1910), where he shifted from detailed naturalism to more expressive, mood-driven compositions. They employ a square canvas to create a contemplative, tapestry-like effect, with high horizon lines that immerse the viewer in the floral expanse. Klimt's brushwork blends loose Impressionist touches with Pointillist dots of color, transforming everyday nature into shimmering, almost erotic arrays of blooms—echoing themes in his figurative masterpieces like The Kiss.
- Subject Matter: Each captures the exuberance of summer flora in vibrant hues, drawing from rustic gardens or meadows near Litzlberg on the Attersee. They represent Klimt's fascination with nature's profusion, where flowers symbolize life, beauty, and subtle anthropomorphic qualities.
- Physical Attributes: Identical in size (110 x 110 cm) and medium (oil on canvas), both are signed by the artist in the lower right or left, emphasizing their status as finished, exhibition-ready works.
- Exhibition and Provenance History: Both have rich pedigrees, including early 20th-century exhibitions in Vienna and Prague, and loans to major institutions like the Österreichische Galerie and National Gallery of Canada. They transitioned from European public or private collections to high-profile auctions.
- Auction Coincidences: Remarkably, both appeared as lot 11 at Sotheby's, highlighting their parallel paths in the art market.
- Composition and Depiction: Blumenwiese portrays a wild, untamed meadow with a diffuse spread of blooms, evoking a sense of natural disorder and open space—titles in catalogues vary (e.g., Garden Landscape or Flowering Meadow), reflecting its interpretive flexibility. In contrast, Bauerngarten features a more structured cottage garden with identifiable flowers (poppies, daisies, zinnias, roses) arranged in a triangular "floral pyramid," balancing geometry with organic chaos for a harmonious, symbolic depth.
- Dating Variations: Bauerngarten is firmly dated to 1907, aligning with Klimt's peak landscape output. Blumenwiese has inconsistent attributions across sources (circa 1904–1908), with the auction catalogue settling on circa 1908, potentially affecting perceptions of its place in Klimt's oeuvre.
- Market Context and Value: Bauerngarten achieved £48 million ($59 million) in 2017, marking it as one of the highest-priced Klimt landscapes at the time and signaling a rebound in the art market post-recession. Blumenwiese, as part of the prestigious Lauder collection (valued overall at $400 million), carries an estimate exceeding $80 million—reflecting market inflation, the work's rarity (never before at auction), and the buzz around the Lauder sale, which includes other Klimt masterpieces. The higher estimate may also stem from Blumenwiese's association with Lauder, a renowned collector, versus Bauerngarten's museum provenance from the Národní Galerie in Prague.
In summary, these paintings epitomize Klimt's innovative approach to landscapes, blending realism with abstraction. Bauerngarten offers a more formalized beauty, while Blumenwiese emphasizes untamed vitality—potentially appealing to different collectors. The upcoming sale of Blumenwiese could surpass Bauerngarten's record, given the art market's growth since 2017 and the Lauder provenance's prestige.
Evolution of Standing Portraits of Very Young Women by Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt's portraits of young women evolved significantly between his pre-Golden Phase and late period.
This progression shows Klimt moving from subtle, atmospheric lyricism to ornate, dynamic patterning while maintaining a focus on youthful femininity.
Evolution of Vegetal Studies in Landscapes
Klimt's landscapes similarly evolved from detailed, pointillist-like renderings of wild meadows to more abstracted, foliage-dominated compositions. Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow, c. 1906–1908) captures a vibrant wildflower field in a mosaic of colorful dots and strokes, viewed from ground level for an immersive, jewel-like effect.
In Apfelbaum I (Apple Tree I, 1912), the focus shifts to a single exploding tree bursting with lush, chaotic foliage and apples, filling the canvas with bold, energetic brushwork. The ground vegetation recedes, emphasizing verticality and ornamental abundance over flat meadow expanses.
This reflects Klimt's maturation toward expressive, pattern-rich natural forms, paralleling his portrait developments.
1906 Nymphéas by MONET
Intro
1
W1684
2014 SOLD for £ 32M by Sotheby's
Claude Monet is the painter of the elusive. His studies of light variations have transformed the Western art. He should not be regarded as a leader, but rather as a great creator.
The Durand-Ruel gallery was a great instigator of talent. In 1905, Monet is 65 years old, already. He departed from the excitement of the life in Paris to enjoy his garden at Giverny. An exhibition project for Durand-Ruel made his passion. The exhibition took place in 1909, and Monet found there the theme that monopolized his art until the end of his life: the water lilies in his garden.
This series of "Nymphéas" mark the total success of an impossible challenge: to show in painting the transparency of water. The flowers are seen obliquely, with perspective, lighting and reflections being different each time. They are widely spaced, and between them is coming the incredible illusion: the observer sees the surface of the water. They are not abstract, far away, but the lack of horizon has certainly influenced the non-figurative art.
An oil on canvas 90 x 100 cm was sold for $ 21M by Christie's on May 8, 2000, lot 21, and for £ 32M by Sotheby's on June 23, 2014, lot 17. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Made in 1906, it was one of the highlights of the exhibition of 1909. The light is established by very subtle pastel shades, and the reflections are superb.
Grokipedia input :
In June 2014, one of the Water Lilies, Nymphéas, sold for US$54 million at a Sotheby's auction in London. This piece was auctioned to an anonymous buyer, but the piece went on to be part of the exhibition "Painting the Modern Garden: From Monet to Matisse" at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, starting in 2015. The co-chairman of Sotheby's modern and impressionist art department, Helena Newman, claims that the result is at the top of the original estimated selling price. This price was between 34 and 51 million USD.
Groke thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Jun 24, 2014
Last night’s sale was led by Monet’s Water Lilies, which commanded the second highest price for the artist at auction
The Durand-Ruel gallery was a great instigator of talent. In 1905, Monet is 65 years old, already. He departed from the excitement of the life in Paris to enjoy his garden at Giverny. An exhibition project for Durand-Ruel made his passion. The exhibition took place in 1909, and Monet found there the theme that monopolized his art until the end of his life: the water lilies in his garden.
This series of "Nymphéas" mark the total success of an impossible challenge: to show in painting the transparency of water. The flowers are seen obliquely, with perspective, lighting and reflections being different each time. They are widely spaced, and between them is coming the incredible illusion: the observer sees the surface of the water. They are not abstract, far away, but the lack of horizon has certainly influenced the non-figurative art.
An oil on canvas 90 x 100 cm was sold for $ 21M by Christie's on May 8, 2000, lot 21, and for £ 32M by Sotheby's on June 23, 2014, lot 17. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Made in 1906, it was one of the highlights of the exhibition of 1909. The light is established by very subtle pastel shades, and the reflections are superb.
Grokipedia input :
In June 2014, one of the Water Lilies, Nymphéas, sold for US$54 million at a Sotheby's auction in London. This piece was auctioned to an anonymous buyer, but the piece went on to be part of the exhibition "Painting the Modern Garden: From Monet to Matisse" at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, starting in 2015. The co-chairman of Sotheby's modern and impressionist art department, Helena Newman, claims that the result is at the top of the original estimated selling price. This price was between 34 and 51 million USD.
Groke thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Jun 24, 2014
Last night’s sale was led by Monet’s Water Lilies, which commanded the second highest price for the artist at auction
- Sotheby's June 23, 2014, Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in London featured Claude Monet's 1906 "Nymphéas" water lilies painting, which sold for £31.7 million ($54 million), marking the second-highest auction price for Monet at the time and leading a total haul of $208 million across 46 lots.
- The painting depicts Monet's iconic Giverny garden pond, part of a series he obsessively painted from 1896 to 1926, capturing light and color in over 250 works that influenced abstract art and now anchor major museum collections like the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris.
- This sale highlighted the enduring market strength of Impressionism, with "Nymphéas" outpacing other lots like a Mondrian for $38 million, underscoring how Monet's late-career focus on nature's ephemerality continues to command premium prices among collectors.
2
W1686
1999 SOLD for $ 22.6M by Christie's
From the same series of Nymphéas by Monet, an oil on canvas 90 x 93 cm was sold for $ 22.6M by Christie's on November 8, 1999, lot 127. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
3
W1685
2002 SOLD for £ 13.5M by Sotheby's
From the same series of Nymphéas by Monet, an oil on canvas 81 x 93 cm was sold for £ 13.5M by Sotheby's on June 24, 2002, lot 6. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1906 Le Penseur by Rodin
2013 SOLD for $ 15.3M by Sotheby's
The central figure of the Porte de l'Enfer commissioned to Rodin in 1880, Le Penseur is the representation of introspection embedded in a colossal male human body at rest in the nude.
The 71 cm high prototype is made in clay in 1882. The highly popular monumental version 1.85 m high is revealed in 1904. Small versions are also prepared.
The bronzes from the original size are identified as 'taille de la Porte' or 'Moyen modèle'. They were cast from 1884 to 1969 by the foundries Griffoul, François Rudier, Alexis Rudier and Georges Rudier. The Alexis Rudier foundry created about 30 examples of Le Penseur in that size, on request from customers or dealers.
Bronzes are edited from the figures of the Porte de l'Enfer, by François Rudier and, from 1902, by the Fonderie Alexis Rudier then headed by Eugène Rudier, a son of the late creator of this company.
The most prestigious Rodin bronzes are those made under the direct supervision of the artist by the Fonderie Alexis Rudier in the original size planned for the gates, identified as 'moyen modèle'.
A Penseur has all these great features. This cast was made in 1906 as a single copy on commission by the American Ralph Pulitzer, son of the media owner. It was sold for $ 15.3M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2013. Please watch the video shared by the auction house introducing three Rodin bronzes of that sale.
The 71 cm high prototype is made in clay in 1882. The highly popular monumental version 1.85 m high is revealed in 1904. Small versions are also prepared.
The bronzes from the original size are identified as 'taille de la Porte' or 'Moyen modèle'. They were cast from 1884 to 1969 by the foundries Griffoul, François Rudier, Alexis Rudier and Georges Rudier. The Alexis Rudier foundry created about 30 examples of Le Penseur in that size, on request from customers or dealers.
Bronzes are edited from the figures of the Porte de l'Enfer, by François Rudier and, from 1902, by the Fonderie Alexis Rudier then headed by Eugène Rudier, a son of the late creator of this company.
The most prestigious Rodin bronzes are those made under the direct supervision of the artist by the Fonderie Alexis Rudier in the original size planned for the gates, identified as 'moyen modèle'.
A Penseur has all these great features. This cast was made in 1906 as a single copy on commission by the American Ralph Pulitzer, son of the media owner. It was sold for $ 15.3M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2013. Please watch the video shared by the auction house introducing three Rodin bronzes of that sale.
1906 VLAMINCK
1
Paysage au Bois Mort
2018 SOLD for $ 16.7M by Sotheby's
In 1906 the Fauvistes were looking for an extreme chromatism made of bold saturated colors through speedy brush strokes.
While Derain was missioned by Vollard to London and Braque and Friesz were making their hand in the French Riviera, Maurice de Vlaminck explored the banks of the Seine in the vicinity of his home town in Chatou.
Vlaminck's style is more than ever inspired by the van Gogh of Saint-Rémy and Arles, for the mingling of colors but also for the tiny figures of countryside workers bent in their occupation.
Paysage au Bois Mort, better titled Ramasseur de Bois Mort, oil on canvas 65 x 80 cm painted in 1906, was sold for $ 16.7M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Sotheby's on November 12, 2018, lot 7.
Painted in the same year with the Pont de Chatou in the background, Pêcheur ) Chatou, oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 7.6M on November 12, 2018, lot 10 in the same sale as the example narrated above, and for $ 3.7M on May 15, 2024, lot 37.
While Derain was missioned by Vollard to London and Braque and Friesz were making their hand in the French Riviera, Maurice de Vlaminck explored the banks of the Seine in the vicinity of his home town in Chatou.
Vlaminck's style is more than ever inspired by the van Gogh of Saint-Rémy and Arles, for the mingling of colors but also for the tiny figures of countryside workers bent in their occupation.
Paysage au Bois Mort, better titled Ramasseur de Bois Mort, oil on canvas 65 x 80 cm painted in 1906, was sold for $ 16.7M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Sotheby's on November 12, 2018, lot 7.
Painted in the same year with the Pont de Chatou in the background, Pêcheur ) Chatou, oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 7.6M on November 12, 2018, lot 10 in the same sale as the example narrated above, and for $ 3.7M on May 15, 2024, lot 37.
2
La Seine à Chatou
2002 SOLD for £ 7.2M by Christie's
Painted in 1906 by Vlaminck, la Seine à Chatou is a violent burst of red, blue and yellow.
This oil on canvas 74 x 92 cm was sold for £ 7.2M from a lower estimate of £ 3M by Christie's on February 4, 2002, lot 29.
Le Verger, oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm painted by Vlaminck in 1906, was sold for $ 7.6M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2016, lot 26.
This oil on canvas 74 x 92 cm was sold for £ 7.2M from a lower estimate of £ 3M by Christie's on February 4, 2002, lot 29.
Le Verger, oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm painted by Vlaminck in 1906, was sold for $ 7.6M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2016, lot 26.
1906-1907 Londres by Derain
2015 SOLD for £ 7M by Sotheby's
Monet remains a realistic painter but the post-impressionnisme already offers another path. Around Matisse, the Fauves blow up the colors. Art critics are surprised but the public appreciates this pictorial revolution that takes painting forever away from the influence of photography.
André Derain wants his colors to explode. Under the shining sun of Collioure with Matisse during the summer of 1905, he achieves such a purpose while maintaining the realism. The paintings of the two friends launch the Fauvisme at the Salon d'Automne of the same year.
Vollard, always eager to exploit the avant-gardes, then makes a surprising judgment error, believing that Derain would be able to provide a counterbalance to the huge popular success of the exhibition of the views of London by Monet at Durand-Ruel in 1904.
In 1906 and 1907 Derain spends several months in London in three stays interspersed with returns to Paris.
The 26 year-old artist is alone to execute this new mission, without the emulation from Matisse. He had been excited by the exhibition at Durand-Ruel and must find a style opposite to Monet. To transpose onto London the success of the colors of Collioure, he deliberately ignores the fog.
His cloisonné figuration is now closer to Gauguin. He is gradually abandoning pointillism, rightly : the experience of Signac and Van Rysselberghe demonstrated that this difficult technique did only reach its best effects for extreme lights.
The thirty views of London painted by Derain are good examples of the expression of exacerbated colors and are part of this continuous progress of artistic movements that leads to Blaue Reiter and abstraction. They do not stand out anyway from contemporary experiences by other Fauvistes including Vlaminck, Braque and Van Dongen.
Londres : le Quai Victoria (Victoria Embankment), oil on canvas 66 x 99 cm, was sold for £ 7M by Sotheby's on June 24, 2015, lot 30.
Les Voiles Rouges, oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm, displays a few sail boats against the light on a river, one of them in the foreground. It does not include any architectural detail but the shape of the sails meets the typical Thames barges. Their blazing red interspersed with blue responds with the usual Fauviste exaggeration to the reddish brown color of the models.
The pointilliste processing of water is reminiscent of the influence of the style of Signac that Derain had discussed with Matisse at the beginning of their cooperation in Collioure and anticipates the canals in Venice by Monet. The geometric segmentation of the sky between clouds, mist, sun and a patch of blue is a thoroughly modern vision.
Les Voiles Rouges was sold for $ 6.9M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 59A.
Vollard recovered the paintings of London from Derain but did not display them. Derain indeed could not compete with Monet. Monet is no more a mere impressionist. He expresses the deep meaning of nature by extreme lights under heavy skies.
Derain's stay in London had an unforeseen influence on modern art. Inspired by the ethnographic collections of the British Museum, he understands that tribal art will allow the paintings to part away from the photographic realism, thus unintentionally opening the way to Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon.
André Derain wants his colors to explode. Under the shining sun of Collioure with Matisse during the summer of 1905, he achieves such a purpose while maintaining the realism. The paintings of the two friends launch the Fauvisme at the Salon d'Automne of the same year.
Vollard, always eager to exploit the avant-gardes, then makes a surprising judgment error, believing that Derain would be able to provide a counterbalance to the huge popular success of the exhibition of the views of London by Monet at Durand-Ruel in 1904.
In 1906 and 1907 Derain spends several months in London in three stays interspersed with returns to Paris.
The 26 year-old artist is alone to execute this new mission, without the emulation from Matisse. He had been excited by the exhibition at Durand-Ruel and must find a style opposite to Monet. To transpose onto London the success of the colors of Collioure, he deliberately ignores the fog.
His cloisonné figuration is now closer to Gauguin. He is gradually abandoning pointillism, rightly : the experience of Signac and Van Rysselberghe demonstrated that this difficult technique did only reach its best effects for extreme lights.
The thirty views of London painted by Derain are good examples of the expression of exacerbated colors and are part of this continuous progress of artistic movements that leads to Blaue Reiter and abstraction. They do not stand out anyway from contemporary experiences by other Fauvistes including Vlaminck, Braque and Van Dongen.
Londres : le Quai Victoria (Victoria Embankment), oil on canvas 66 x 99 cm, was sold for £ 7M by Sotheby's on June 24, 2015, lot 30.
Les Voiles Rouges, oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm, displays a few sail boats against the light on a river, one of them in the foreground. It does not include any architectural detail but the shape of the sails meets the typical Thames barges. Their blazing red interspersed with blue responds with the usual Fauviste exaggeration to the reddish brown color of the models.
The pointilliste processing of water is reminiscent of the influence of the style of Signac that Derain had discussed with Matisse at the beginning of their cooperation in Collioure and anticipates the canals in Venice by Monet. The geometric segmentation of the sky between clouds, mist, sun and a patch of blue is a thoroughly modern vision.
Les Voiles Rouges was sold for $ 6.9M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 59A.
Vollard recovered the paintings of London from Derain but did not display them. Derain indeed could not compete with Monet. Monet is no more a mere impressionist. He expresses the deep meaning of nature by extreme lights under heavy skies.
Derain's stay in London had an unforeseen influence on modern art. Inspired by the ethnographic collections of the British Museum, he understands that tribal art will allow the paintings to part away from the photographic realism, thus unintentionally opening the way to Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon.
1905-1906 Coming through the Rye by Remington
2017 SOLD for $ 11.2M by Christie's
Nothing stops Frederic Remington. In 1902 he conceives a group of four linked through five legs, departing from Muybridge. The founder succeeds in convincing him of the impossibility of the realization and a compromise with six bearing hoofs is accepted. Titled Coming through the Rye, it is once again a scene expressing a great fastness. The four galloping horses are ridden by cowboys in full euphoria who exhibit their pistols at the end of their arms stretched upwards.
Some orders are received in 1903 but the realization is a feat. This complex piece 78 cm high is too cumbersome and the price tag at 2,000 dollars is too expensive. Very few copies will be made.
Dated 1905 and delivered in 1906 to Tiffany and Co, the serial number 3 was sold for $ 11.2M from a lower estimate of $ 7M by Christie's on May 23, 2017, lot 7.
Considering this commercial failure Remington destroyed his models in wax and plaster in 1908. In the same year, disgusted by the new trend of fantasy illustrations, he prepared a bonfire in his yard and destroyed hundreds of his original paintings. This artist out of standards in every sense of that wording dies in 1909 at the age of 48 from complications related to his extreme obesity.
Frederic Remington's Coming Through the Rye (also known as Off the Range or Over the Range in some collections) holds a pivotal place in his career as an artist who transitioned from illustration and painting to sculpture, ultimately becoming one of the foremost interpreters of the American West. Created in 1902, it was his fourth major bronze sculpture, following his debut in the medium with The Broncho Buster in 1895. This work marked a significant evolution in Remington's sculptural practice, as it was his first multi-figure composition involving more than two horses—depicting four cowboys on galloping mounts, firing pistols in exuberant, drunken revelry after a long cattle drive. It pushed the technical boundaries of bronze casting using the lost-wax method at Roman Bronze Works, where Remington collaborated closely with founder Riccardo Bertelli to achieve a dynamic, gravity-defying form: only six of the sixteen horse hooves touch the ground, with one horse fully airborne, testing the structural limits of the medium and anticipating cinematic depictions of Western action.
The sculpture's composition drew from Remington's earlier illustrations, such as The Dissolute Cow-Punchers (1888, for an article by Theodore Roosevelt) and Cowboys Coming to Town for Christmas (1889), but elevated them into three dimensions, capturing the "mad gallop" and "shrieks and yells" of frontier life with immersive, head-on perspective that immersed viewers in the scene. Unlike many of his harrowing Western narratives (e.g., A Dash for the Timber, 1889), this piece conveyed joyful exuberance, mythologizing the cowboy as a national folk hero and contributing to popular perceptions of the vanishing Old West. Its complexity—bulky, heavy, and priced at $2,000 initially—limited commercial success, with fewer than 10 casts produced during Remington's lifetime (he died in 1909), but it solidified his reputation as a virtuoso sculptor. The work's acquisition by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1905 (now part of the National Gallery of Art) made it one of the first Remington bronzes in a museum collection, underscoring its institutional significance. Overall, Coming Through the Rye represented a high point in Remington's career, blending his illustrative roots with innovative sculpture to create an enduring icon of American frontier mythology.
Some orders are received in 1903 but the realization is a feat. This complex piece 78 cm high is too cumbersome and the price tag at 2,000 dollars is too expensive. Very few copies will be made.
Dated 1905 and delivered in 1906 to Tiffany and Co, the serial number 3 was sold for $ 11.2M from a lower estimate of $ 7M by Christie's on May 23, 2017, lot 7.
Considering this commercial failure Remington destroyed his models in wax and plaster in 1908. In the same year, disgusted by the new trend of fantasy illustrations, he prepared a bonfire in his yard and destroyed hundreds of his original paintings. This artist out of standards in every sense of that wording dies in 1909 at the age of 48 from complications related to his extreme obesity.
Frederic Remington's Coming Through the Rye (also known as Off the Range or Over the Range in some collections) holds a pivotal place in his career as an artist who transitioned from illustration and painting to sculpture, ultimately becoming one of the foremost interpreters of the American West. Created in 1902, it was his fourth major bronze sculpture, following his debut in the medium with The Broncho Buster in 1895. This work marked a significant evolution in Remington's sculptural practice, as it was his first multi-figure composition involving more than two horses—depicting four cowboys on galloping mounts, firing pistols in exuberant, drunken revelry after a long cattle drive. It pushed the technical boundaries of bronze casting using the lost-wax method at Roman Bronze Works, where Remington collaborated closely with founder Riccardo Bertelli to achieve a dynamic, gravity-defying form: only six of the sixteen horse hooves touch the ground, with one horse fully airborne, testing the structural limits of the medium and anticipating cinematic depictions of Western action.
The sculpture's composition drew from Remington's earlier illustrations, such as The Dissolute Cow-Punchers (1888, for an article by Theodore Roosevelt) and Cowboys Coming to Town for Christmas (1889), but elevated them into three dimensions, capturing the "mad gallop" and "shrieks and yells" of frontier life with immersive, head-on perspective that immersed viewers in the scene. Unlike many of his harrowing Western narratives (e.g., A Dash for the Timber, 1889), this piece conveyed joyful exuberance, mythologizing the cowboy as a national folk hero and contributing to popular perceptions of the vanishing Old West. Its complexity—bulky, heavy, and priced at $2,000 initially—limited commercial success, with fewer than 10 casts produced during Remington's lifetime (he died in 1909), but it solidified his reputation as a virtuoso sculptor. The work's acquisition by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1905 (now part of the National Gallery of Art) made it one of the first Remington bronzes in a museum collection, underscoring its institutional significance. Overall, Coming Through the Rye represented a high point in Remington's career, blending his illustrative roots with innovative sculpture to create an enduring icon of American frontier mythology.
Announcing Frederick Remington's Coming Through the Rye selling this May in our American Art sale https://t.co/ZsojWhvXUb pic.twitter.com/LXdvOHZ55A
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) May 8, 2017
1906 Le Rayon Vert by Signac
2024 SOLD for £ 7.7M by Sotheby's
In art, Paul Signac was an influencer. He had supported van Gogh in his outdoor painting sessions along the Seine river. He had decided Seurat to use bright colors in his newly developed pointilliste techniques and was a mentor for van Rysselberghe.
Matisse visited him in Saint-Tropez in 1904. At that time Signac's pointillisme had shifted from tiny to broad mosaic-like brushstrokes with a bright priming left visible around the colors. Matisse then painted in the pure palette of the rainbow his breakthrough Luxe, calme et volupté which was the cornerstone of the development of Fauvisme in the 1905 Salon d'Automne.
Signac continued to interpret the real colors of nature in his own style, in parallel to Monet. He now included the meteorological effects such as a rainbow in Venice in 1905, three years before Monet's visit in that city.
A painting executed by Signac in 1906 manages to interpret in his beloved bay of Saint-Tropez the ephemeral green ray effect which appears in specific conditions when the sun is just below the horizon at sunrise or sunset. The theme had been the subject of a pseudo-scientific novel by Jules Verne in 1882.
Le Rayon vert, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm, was sold for £ 7.7M from a lower estimate of £ 5M by Sotheby's on March 6, 2024, lot 25.
Matisse visited him in Saint-Tropez in 1904. At that time Signac's pointillisme had shifted from tiny to broad mosaic-like brushstrokes with a bright priming left visible around the colors. Matisse then painted in the pure palette of the rainbow his breakthrough Luxe, calme et volupté which was the cornerstone of the development of Fauvisme in the 1905 Salon d'Automne.
Signac continued to interpret the real colors of nature in his own style, in parallel to Monet. He now included the meteorological effects such as a rainbow in Venice in 1905, three years before Monet's visit in that city.
A painting executed by Signac in 1906 manages to interpret in his beloved bay of Saint-Tropez the ephemeral green ray effect which appears in specific conditions when the sun is just below the horizon at sunrise or sunset. The theme had been the subject of a pseudo-scientific novel by Jules Verne in 1882.
Le Rayon vert, oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm, was sold for £ 7.7M from a lower estimate of £ 5M by Sotheby's on March 6, 2024, lot 25.
#AuctionUpdate Dated 1906, the mesmerizing 'Saint-Tropez. Le rayon vert' by master of Pointillism Paul Signac reaches £7.75 million. pic.twitter.com/RersnXTkU5
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) March 6, 2024
