1907
See also : Pond by Monet Matisse Flowers Bouquet Orientalism Klimt Picasso 1907-1931 Far West Birth of automobile French cars Photo Photos 1900-1940
1907 Flowers for the Woman
2017 SOLD for £ 48M including premium
The greatest artists express their vision of the world. Klimt goes further : he wants to change the life.
The Klimt and Flöge families are closely linked. Gustav Klimt becomes the brother-in-law of Helene Flöge in 1891 and her tutor in the following year. Helene and her sister Emilie open a business of couture and fashion in Vienna in 1904. Emilie was Gustav's companion from 1891 until the artist's death in 1918.
The Schwestern Flöge workshop is experimenting with new garments for the Viennese avant-garde, including loose dresses hung from the shoulders without using a corset. The very famous blouses of Gustav Klimt, which give him such a neglected attitude according to the conceptions of today's fashion, proceed from the same trend.
The shape of the garment is not enough : women also deserve a shimmering decoration. Gustav observes trees and flowers as patterns of texture. Their bright colors were created by nature. Gustav does not cancel the shapes of the flowers. If he had, he would have been the first abstract artist.
Gustav reveals the woman's head as the only realistic element in his portraits. The body is hidden by an ample garment whose limits loosely overlap the background of the image and whose details are luxurious and colorful. Adele Bloch-Bauer I, oil on canvas 138 x 138 cm painted in 1907, was sold for $ 135M on June 18, 2006 in a private sale by Christie's to Ronald Lauder.
On March 1 in London, Sotheby's sells as lot 11 Bauerngarten, oil on canvas 110 x 110 cm painted in 1907 during the holidays of Gustav at the Attersee. Poppies, daisies and zinnias spread their colors in an endless meadow with no horizon. These flowers are dominated by a triangle of roses that confirms the artist's intention for the design of a dress.
Please watch the very short video shared by Sotheby's.
The Klimt and Flöge families are closely linked. Gustav Klimt becomes the brother-in-law of Helene Flöge in 1891 and her tutor in the following year. Helene and her sister Emilie open a business of couture and fashion in Vienna in 1904. Emilie was Gustav's companion from 1891 until the artist's death in 1918.
The Schwestern Flöge workshop is experimenting with new garments for the Viennese avant-garde, including loose dresses hung from the shoulders without using a corset. The very famous blouses of Gustav Klimt, which give him such a neglected attitude according to the conceptions of today's fashion, proceed from the same trend.
The shape of the garment is not enough : women also deserve a shimmering decoration. Gustav observes trees and flowers as patterns of texture. Their bright colors were created by nature. Gustav does not cancel the shapes of the flowers. If he had, he would have been the first abstract artist.
Gustav reveals the woman's head as the only realistic element in his portraits. The body is hidden by an ample garment whose limits loosely overlap the background of the image and whose details are luxurious and colorful. Adele Bloch-Bauer I, oil on canvas 138 x 138 cm painted in 1907, was sold for $ 135M on June 18, 2006 in a private sale by Christie's to Ronald Lauder.
On March 1 in London, Sotheby's sells as lot 11 Bauerngarten, oil on canvas 110 x 110 cm painted in 1907 during the holidays of Gustav at the Attersee. Poppies, daisies and zinnias spread their colors in an endless meadow with no horizon. These flowers are dominated by a triangle of roses that confirms the artist's intention for the design of a dress.
Please watch the very short video shared by Sotheby's.
The New York Times Thinks Sotheby’s Is Getting Frisky with Its Klimt https://t.co/3mgODvO8HY pic.twitter.com/etX2peYay3
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) February 24, 2017
1907 The Lengthy Evolution of Monet's Pond
2014 SOLD 27 M$ including premium
In 1893, when Claude Monet obtains the administrative authorization to create a pond in his garden at Giverny, he already knows that it will be a laboratory for his artistic creation. He was then interested in the reflections in the water of the tall trees and of the Japanese bridge.
Monet is an amateur but careful and skilled horticulturist. Without having his original preference, the water lilies impose themselves as his most prolific theme, up to obsession. Unlike the ivy on the wall, they will not cover the entire available surface. Spreading their leaves flush with water, they materialize in perspective the real surface of the pond.
From 1904 to 1908, Monet produced his first series of Nymphéas. With more than 60 paintings which he wants all different from one another, the artist expresses the most subtle variations of color and light, changing the distance and population of the flowers, the importance of the reflections from the trees and the expressive power of color.
The horizon disappears, the details become abstract but the botanical accuracy remains. One of the first trials in this new figurative style, dated 1904, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for £ 18.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on 19 June 2007.
A beautiful fleet of well colored water lilies dated 1905, 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 44 million including premium at Christie's on November 7, 2012.
A particularly poetic oil version in pastel tones dated 1906, 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 20.9 million including premium at Christie's on May 8, 2000 but failed to meet in 2010 its new estimate of £ 30M.
An oil on canvas 100 x 80 cm painted in 1907 for sale by Christie's in New York on May 6 comes in the following of that trend with soft shades more highlighting the reflections than the botany. It includes an innovation of Monet from that year : he realized that he was no longer a painter of landscapes and experienced the vertical format.
This painting is estimated $ 25M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This good example of the Nymphéas series came from the Clark collection and was fresh on the market. It was sold for $ 27M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
Monet is an amateur but careful and skilled horticulturist. Without having his original preference, the water lilies impose themselves as his most prolific theme, up to obsession. Unlike the ivy on the wall, they will not cover the entire available surface. Spreading their leaves flush with water, they materialize in perspective the real surface of the pond.
From 1904 to 1908, Monet produced his first series of Nymphéas. With more than 60 paintings which he wants all different from one another, the artist expresses the most subtle variations of color and light, changing the distance and population of the flowers, the importance of the reflections from the trees and the expressive power of color.
The horizon disappears, the details become abstract but the botanical accuracy remains. One of the first trials in this new figurative style, dated 1904, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for £ 18.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on 19 June 2007.
A beautiful fleet of well colored water lilies dated 1905, 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 44 million including premium at Christie's on November 7, 2012.
A particularly poetic oil version in pastel tones dated 1906, 90 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 20.9 million including premium at Christie's on May 8, 2000 but failed to meet in 2010 its new estimate of £ 30M.
An oil on canvas 100 x 80 cm painted in 1907 for sale by Christie's in New York on May 6 comes in the following of that trend with soft shades more highlighting the reflections than the botany. It includes an innovation of Monet from that year : he realized that he was no longer a painter of landscapes and experienced the vertical format.
This painting is estimated $ 25M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This good example of the Nymphéas series came from the Clark collection and was fresh on the market. It was sold for $ 27M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's :
1907 Peonies in Collioure
2012 SOLD 19 M$ including premium
In 1905, two young painters dazzled by the light of Collioure open a new path in art. They are named Henri Matisse and André Derain. Since then, color supersedes drawing as the dominant element in the composition of a painting.
These new colorists immediately seek to vary the subjects, and flowers are ideal for their research. The vases, tablecloths and wallpapers complement unprecedented color balances.
On May 1 in New York, Christie's sells an oil on canvas, 65 x 55 cm, painted by Matisse in Collioure in 1907, estimated $ 8M. This work showing a vase with peonies was admired by Félix Féneon who was the effective promoter of Fauvism.
The bouquets painted by Matisse at that time are highly appreciated on the art market. One of them, 81 x 66 cm, dated 1911, showing coucou flowers in an elegant vase on a table mat with blue and pink patterns close to abstraction, was sold € 36M including premium in February 2009 by Christie's and Pierre Bergé. This bid is memorable: it was the highest price in the famous Saint-Laurent - Bergé auction sales.
I invite you to see these peonies on the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was too conservative for this nice painting, made in the period of one of the deepest changes in the history of art. It was sold $ 19M including premium.
These new colorists immediately seek to vary the subjects, and flowers are ideal for their research. The vases, tablecloths and wallpapers complement unprecedented color balances.
On May 1 in New York, Christie's sells an oil on canvas, 65 x 55 cm, painted by Matisse in Collioure in 1907, estimated $ 8M. This work showing a vase with peonies was admired by Félix Féneon who was the effective promoter of Fauvism.
The bouquets painted by Matisse at that time are highly appreciated on the art market. One of them, 81 x 66 cm, dated 1911, showing coucou flowers in an elegant vase on a table mat with blue and pink patterns close to abstraction, was sold € 36M including premium in February 2009 by Christie's and Pierre Bergé. This bid is memorable: it was the highest price in the famous Saint-Laurent - Bergé auction sales.
I invite you to see these peonies on the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was too conservative for this nice painting, made in the period of one of the deepest changes in the history of art. It was sold $ 19M including premium.
1907 The Light of the Golden Horn
2019 SOLD for $ 16.2M including premium
Passionate about sailing, Paul Signac immerses himself in the atmosphere of the ports. In the spring of 1907, for visiting Constantinople, he made an exception to his practice by traveling by train. He probably feared for the safety of a private boat in this military port.
Signac had seen Venice in 1905. Yet it is in Constantinople that he integrates the extreme conjunctions of light and mist of Turner's Mediterranean masterpieces. He concentrates his sketches on the Golden Horn and its minarets that go up to the sky.
Back in France, Signac wants to express this dazzle. He takes a canvas in standard '50', 89 x 116 cm, which is the largest size compatible with the painstaking of his pointillist technique. After a month of effort, surprised by the unusual difficulty of this work, he scraps a first painting and starts again from scratch.
The second version is satisfactory. Signac retrieved the pleasure of expressing a great sun, as in Saint-Tropez fifteen years earlier, but this time he replaces the blinding yellow by a subtle palette of pinks and purples. Even better : he renounces for this view to a strict division between the color dots, accepting a blending inspired by Turner's art.
This painting is by far the most achieved of the nine or ten oils on canvas of Constantinople painted by Signac in 1907. In 1937, two years after his death, it was bought at auction by his daughter and her husband. It was sold for £ 8.8M including premium by Christie's on February 7, 2012. It is estimated $ 14M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 12, lot 21.
Signac had seen Venice in 1905. Yet it is in Constantinople that he integrates the extreme conjunctions of light and mist of Turner's Mediterranean masterpieces. He concentrates his sketches on the Golden Horn and its minarets that go up to the sky.
Back in France, Signac wants to express this dazzle. He takes a canvas in standard '50', 89 x 116 cm, which is the largest size compatible with the painstaking of his pointillist technique. After a month of effort, surprised by the unusual difficulty of this work, he scraps a first painting and starts again from scratch.
The second version is satisfactory. Signac retrieved the pleasure of expressing a great sun, as in Saint-Tropez fifteen years earlier, but this time he replaces the blinding yellow by a subtle palette of pinks and purples. Even better : he renounces for this view to a strict division between the color dots, accepting a blending inspired by Turner's art.
This painting is by far the most achieved of the nine or ten oils on canvas of Constantinople painted by Signac in 1907. In 1937, two years after his death, it was bought at auction by his daughter and her husband. It was sold for £ 8.8M including premium by Christie's on February 7, 2012. It is estimated $ 14M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 12, lot 21.
1907 The Fauvist Enthusiasm of Georges Braque
2013 SOLD 16 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The Fauvist revolution of 1905 is due to the enthusiastic response of very young artists. Besides Matisse, most of them are less than thirty years old. Their invention of the primacy of color over all other elements of the painting opens up a new language.
Georges Braque was excited by the Salle des Fauves. Like many others, he sought inspiration in the shining light of the hills of Provence. More than the others, he painted his feeling in front of the landscape rather than the landscape itself.
The twisted trunks of olive trees are an excuse to get rid of verticality. An oil on canvas painted in 1907, 38 x 46 cm, perhaps inspired by the art of Van Gogh, was sold for £ 5.1 million including premium by Sotheby's on 8 February 2012.
On May 7 in New York, Sotheby's sells a view of the countryside near La Ciotat, also painted in 1907. This oil on canvas, 51 x 62 cm, is estimated $ 10M. Here is the link to the catalog.
The artwork is located, but the landscape is barely recognizable. Provence is more strongly evoked by the colors in thelight than by the mountainous horizon and the indefinable trees.
This synthesis of Cézanne's texture and Derain's light relies on well balanced shapes, close to a child's drawing. Later, cubism will reveal the appeal of geometry to Braque. He could have been one of the great inventors of modern art but his Fauvist pulse was too short. The place was still left open for the theories of Kandinsky in Murnau in 1909.
POST SALE COMMENT
The Fauvist landscapes by Braque are very rare, and the composition of this one is of high originality. It deserved $ 16 million including premium.
The Fauvist revolution of 1905 is due to the enthusiastic response of very young artists. Besides Matisse, most of them are less than thirty years old. Their invention of the primacy of color over all other elements of the painting opens up a new language.
Georges Braque was excited by the Salle des Fauves. Like many others, he sought inspiration in the shining light of the hills of Provence. More than the others, he painted his feeling in front of the landscape rather than the landscape itself.
The twisted trunks of olive trees are an excuse to get rid of verticality. An oil on canvas painted in 1907, 38 x 46 cm, perhaps inspired by the art of Van Gogh, was sold for £ 5.1 million including premium by Sotheby's on 8 February 2012.
On May 7 in New York, Sotheby's sells a view of the countryside near La Ciotat, also painted in 1907. This oil on canvas, 51 x 62 cm, is estimated $ 10M. Here is the link to the catalog.
The artwork is located, but the landscape is barely recognizable. Provence is more strongly evoked by the colors in thelight than by the mountainous horizon and the indefinable trees.
This synthesis of Cézanne's texture and Derain's light relies on well balanced shapes, close to a child's drawing. Later, cubism will reveal the appeal of geometry to Braque. He could have been one of the great inventors of modern art but his Fauvist pulse was too short. The place was still left open for the theories of Kandinsky in Murnau in 1909.
POST SALE COMMENT
The Fauvist landscapes by Braque are very rare, and the composition of this one is of high originality. It deserved $ 16 million including premium.
1907 Nu Jaune, art on paper by Picasso
2005 SOLD for $ 13.7M including premium by Sotheby's
Link to catalogue.
1907 The Fauvist Horn
2020 SOLD for £ 7.6M including premium
Paul Signac had been beside Seurat one of the inventors of pointillism, or divisionism, a new way of painting based on the revelation of a hue by the juxtaposition of its complementary colors. He is also much involved in the circles of artists. Co-founder in 1884 of the Société des Artistes Indépendants, he will be its president from 1909 to 1934.
Henri Matisse was a member of this Société since 1901. In July 1904, the Matisse family is visiting Signac in his Saint-Tropez home. Matisse is not interested in the physiological theories of colors, and the two artists quarrel. After that stay, their mutual influence will become fertile.
With Luxe, Calme et Volupté painted in the fall of 1904 and acquired by Signac, Matisse tries the pure colors of the rainbow with a divisionist touch. The views of the Golden Horn painted by Signac in 1907 after his stay in Constantinople display similar Fauvist principles while adding in several works his signature search for an extreme brightness.
The masterpiece of Signac's series of the Golden Horn is an oil on canvas 89 x 116 cm which was acquired again by his family after his death and was sold for $ 16.2M including premium by Sotheby's on November 12, 2019.
On February 4 in London, Sotheby's sells a view of the Golden Horn by Signac, recently returned by the French government to the heirs of a collector despoiled in 1940. A model example by its confrontation of the pink and purple morning mist with the bright colors of boats and lodges, this oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm had been selected by the artist in 1908 to be exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants. It is estimated £ 5M, lot 12.
Here are two results including premium on other oils on canvas from the same series : £ 6.2M by Christie's on June 20, 2012 (73 x 93 cm), $ 4.7M by Sotheby's on November 7, 2007 (81 x 66 cm with a different composition, centered on a tall ship), A 73 x 92 cm view painted in 1909 was sold for £ 4.8M including premium by Christie's on June 18, 2007.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Henri Matisse was a member of this Société since 1901. In July 1904, the Matisse family is visiting Signac in his Saint-Tropez home. Matisse is not interested in the physiological theories of colors, and the two artists quarrel. After that stay, their mutual influence will become fertile.
With Luxe, Calme et Volupté painted in the fall of 1904 and acquired by Signac, Matisse tries the pure colors of the rainbow with a divisionist touch. The views of the Golden Horn painted by Signac in 1907 after his stay in Constantinople display similar Fauvist principles while adding in several works his signature search for an extreme brightness.
The masterpiece of Signac's series of the Golden Horn is an oil on canvas 89 x 116 cm which was acquired again by his family after his death and was sold for $ 16.2M including premium by Sotheby's on November 12, 2019.
On February 4 in London, Sotheby's sells a view of the Golden Horn by Signac, recently returned by the French government to the heirs of a collector despoiled in 1940. A model example by its confrontation of the pink and purple morning mist with the bright colors of boats and lodges, this oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm had been selected by the artist in 1908 to be exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants. It is estimated £ 5M, lot 12.
Here are two results including premium on other oils on canvas from the same series : £ 6.2M by Christie's on June 20, 2012 (73 x 93 cm), $ 4.7M by Sotheby's on November 7, 2007 (81 x 66 cm with a different composition, centered on a tall ship), A 73 x 92 cm view painted in 1909 was sold for £ 4.8M including premium by Christie's on June 18, 2007.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
#AuctionUpdate⛵This large and wonderfully vivid work from Paul Signac’s series of views of Istanbul sails to £7,601,500. #SothebysImpMod pic.twitter.com/GLbNW39jgY
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) February 4, 2020
1907 Signac in Constantinople
2012 SOLD 6.2 M£ including premium
Around 1900, Paul Signac reuses pointillist techniques, but his style has changed, becoming more emotional. Socially engaged, he is naturally influenced by all modern trends but his art is profoundly original.
Landscape painter attracted by the sea, he was interested in maritime cities, including Venice in 1905. His colors became warmer. The post-Impressionist dots of Signac are precursors of the flat colors of Fauvism.
In spring 1907, he spent six weeks to soak up in the atmosphere of the Golden Horn in Constantinople at different times of the day. Back in France, he expressed his delight in a series of oil paintings. In the foreground, sea and boats symbolize the activity of the city.
The largest of these paintings, 89 x 116 cm, shows Constantinople in the extreme light of sunrise or sunset. It was sold £ 8.8 million including premium by Christie's on February 7, 2012.
A smaller painting, 73 x 93 cm, is estimated £ 4M, for sale by Christie's in London on June 20. The atmosphere is quieter. On the horizon, mosques and minarets mark their distance by lighter colors that enhance the mystical feeling of the scene.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good price for this Signac, smaller than the painting of the same series that I took as reference. It was sold £ 6.2 million including premium.
Landscape painter attracted by the sea, he was interested in maritime cities, including Venice in 1905. His colors became warmer. The post-Impressionist dots of Signac are precursors of the flat colors of Fauvism.
In spring 1907, he spent six weeks to soak up in the atmosphere of the Golden Horn in Constantinople at different times of the day. Back in France, he expressed his delight in a series of oil paintings. In the foreground, sea and boats symbolize the activity of the city.
The largest of these paintings, 89 x 116 cm, shows Constantinople in the extreme light of sunrise or sunset. It was sold £ 8.8 million including premium by Christie's on February 7, 2012.
A smaller painting, 73 x 93 cm, is estimated £ 4M, for sale by Christie's in London on June 20. The atmosphere is quieter. On the horizon, mosques and minarets mark their distance by lighter colors that enhance the mystical feeling of the scene.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good price for this Signac, smaller than the painting of the same series that I took as reference. It was sold £ 6.2 million including premium.
1907 The Pink Stone of Wyoming
2016 SOLD for $ 3.6M before fees by The Russell
2019 UNSOLD
PRE 2019 SALE DISCUSSION
In 1871 Thomas Moran joined the Hayden Expedition exploring Yellowstone. Influenced by the colors in Turner's art, he is seduced by Castle Rock, a spectacular peak that dominates the Green River valley in Wyoming.
For four decades, the artist wanders through Wyoming, Montana and Arizona in search of extreme landscapes. His paintings with subtle pink, yellow, orange, lavender and vermilion hues of the cliffs in the beautiful morning light make him famous while appealing tourists to Yellowstone National Park, created in 1872.
Throughout this period he also idealizes with many variations his Castle Rock, bringing an additional majesty to the mountain by reducing its width. Painted in 1878, an intensely colored 64 x 122 cm oil on canvas was sold for $ 17.7 million including premium by Christie's on May 21, 2008.
Another variant is less arid, with some trees on both banks. In this peaceful and slightly hazy atmosphere, Moran added an animation, a rare feature in his work : a caravan of Native Americans on horseback is crossing the river on a ford.
This oil on canvas 51 x 76 cm painted in 1907 was sold for $ 3.6M excluding fees in March 2016 in the annual sale organized by The Russell in Great Falls for the benefit of the C.M. Russell Museum. It is estimated $ 3.5M for sale in Scottsdale AZ on April 6 by Scottsdale Art Auction, lot 229 here linked on iCollector bidding platform.
In 1871 Thomas Moran joined the Hayden Expedition exploring Yellowstone. Influenced by the colors in Turner's art, he is seduced by Castle Rock, a spectacular peak that dominates the Green River valley in Wyoming.
For four decades, the artist wanders through Wyoming, Montana and Arizona in search of extreme landscapes. His paintings with subtle pink, yellow, orange, lavender and vermilion hues of the cliffs in the beautiful morning light make him famous while appealing tourists to Yellowstone National Park, created in 1872.
Throughout this period he also idealizes with many variations his Castle Rock, bringing an additional majesty to the mountain by reducing its width. Painted in 1878, an intensely colored 64 x 122 cm oil on canvas was sold for $ 17.7 million including premium by Christie's on May 21, 2008.
Another variant is less arid, with some trees on both banks. In this peaceful and slightly hazy atmosphere, Moran added an animation, a rare feature in his work : a caravan of Native Americans on horseback is crossing the river on a ford.
This oil on canvas 51 x 76 cm painted in 1907 was sold for $ 3.6M excluding fees in March 2016 in the annual sale organized by The Russell in Great Falls for the benefit of the C.M. Russell Museum. It is estimated $ 3.5M for sale in Scottsdale AZ on April 6 by Scottsdale Art Auction, lot 229 here linked on iCollector bidding platform.
1907 Renault with Vanderbilt
2020 SOLD for $ 3.3M including premium
Willie K. Vanderbilt is the heir of one of the richest men in America. He can devote his life to his leisure. He likes car speed and yachting.
Vanderbilt often travels to Europe. His first motor vehicle, in 1898, is a De Dion-Bouton tricycle. In 1904 in Daytona, he approaches 150 km/h with a Mercedes. In the same year, he creates the Vanderbilt Cup, the first American automobile trophy capable of counterbalancing the Gordon Bennett Cup.
The trend in competitions is the use of huge engines. A Renault AE 60 hp with a displacement of 13 liters participated in 1904 in the first Vanderbilt Cup. In 1906 at Le Mans, the very first Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France was won by a Renault AK 90 hp of the same displacement, far ahead of all other competitors. In 1907 Fiat builds the 130 hp Corsa with an engine exceeding 16 liters.
These monsters cannot be offered for private use. They are thus indirectly at the origin of a new category, the sports car. Developed in 1907, the American Underslung 50 hp is a roadster with an engine of only 7.8 liters.
In the same year, Renault Frères introduce the AI (c) Sport 35/45 hp 7.5 liters. On an AI chassis, the two-seater bodywork also manufactured by Renault is a reduced version of the AK. AI's are the first models fitted with shock absorbers.
Renault delivers about 10 AI Sport to America on a group order by Vanderbilt. Despite its racing body, it was not designed to compete with bigger cars, and its history in the most prestigious American events is limited to a win in 1909 at the 24 Hours of Brighton Beach at Coney Island. None participated in the Vanderbilt Cup.
These cars identified as the Renault Vanderbilt racers. Four survive. One of them was sold for $ 1.1M including premium by Gooding on October 21, 2006. Another one will be sold on March 5 in Amelia Island by Bonhams, lot 159. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
Vanderbilt often travels to Europe. His first motor vehicle, in 1898, is a De Dion-Bouton tricycle. In 1904 in Daytona, he approaches 150 km/h with a Mercedes. In the same year, he creates the Vanderbilt Cup, the first American automobile trophy capable of counterbalancing the Gordon Bennett Cup.
The trend in competitions is the use of huge engines. A Renault AE 60 hp with a displacement of 13 liters participated in 1904 in the first Vanderbilt Cup. In 1906 at Le Mans, the very first Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France was won by a Renault AK 90 hp of the same displacement, far ahead of all other competitors. In 1907 Fiat builds the 130 hp Corsa with an engine exceeding 16 liters.
These monsters cannot be offered for private use. They are thus indirectly at the origin of a new category, the sports car. Developed in 1907, the American Underslung 50 hp is a roadster with an engine of only 7.8 liters.
In the same year, Renault Frères introduce the AI (c) Sport 35/45 hp 7.5 liters. On an AI chassis, the two-seater bodywork also manufactured by Renault is a reduced version of the AK. AI's are the first models fitted with shock absorbers.
Renault delivers about 10 AI Sport to America on a group order by Vanderbilt. Despite its racing body, it was not designed to compete with bigger cars, and its history in the most prestigious American events is limited to a win in 1909 at the 24 Hours of Brighton Beach at Coney Island. None participated in the Vanderbilt Cup.
These cars identified as the Renault Vanderbilt racers. Four survive. One of them was sold for $ 1.1M including premium by Gooding on October 21, 2006. Another one will be sold on March 5 in Amelia Island by Bonhams, lot 159. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
1907-1930 The Cultural Heritage of the American Indians
2012 SOLD 2.9 M$ including premium
The work of Edward S. Curtis, The North American Indian, should be part of the cultural heritage of humanity. Without him, two worlds would never have met: the authentic traditions of American Indians, and photography.
When Curtis began to visit the western America, the tribal populations had declined dramatically, and many of them were snapped up by other forms of civilization. This is the end of an era.
When Curtis began recording thousands of photographs, this technique was already fully mastered. The photographer is no more a chemist or an experimenter, he can concentrate on his subject. This is the beginning of another era.
Compare dates: the first issue of Camera Work is published by Stieglitz in 1903. The first delivery of The North American Indian by Curtis, sold by subscription, in 1907.
Tirelessly, Curtis visited the 80 most authentic tribes. His friendship with some chiefs was facilitated by his application to use their own language, opening to him the path for the other communities.
When the publishing venture of The North American Indian ends in 1930 because of financial difficulties, Curtis had managed the most extraordinary and unsurpassed photographic documentary of all time: 2200 selected photographs distributed among twenty volumes of text and twenty portfolios.
The copy for sale by Christie's in New York on April 10 is complete. Kept in excellent condition, it is certainly the finest surviving example of this unusual work.
This lot is estimated $ 1M. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Its exceptional freshness enabled this highly important book to reach $ 2.9 million including premium.
When Curtis began to visit the western America, the tribal populations had declined dramatically, and many of them were snapped up by other forms of civilization. This is the end of an era.
When Curtis began recording thousands of photographs, this technique was already fully mastered. The photographer is no more a chemist or an experimenter, he can concentrate on his subject. This is the beginning of another era.
Compare dates: the first issue of Camera Work is published by Stieglitz in 1903. The first delivery of The North American Indian by Curtis, sold by subscription, in 1907.
Tirelessly, Curtis visited the 80 most authentic tribes. His friendship with some chiefs was facilitated by his application to use their own language, opening to him the path for the other communities.
When the publishing venture of The North American Indian ends in 1930 because of financial difficulties, Curtis had managed the most extraordinary and unsurpassed photographic documentary of all time: 2200 selected photographs distributed among twenty volumes of text and twenty portfolios.
The copy for sale by Christie's in New York on April 10 is complete. Kept in excellent condition, it is certainly the finest surviving example of this unusual work.
This lot is estimated $ 1M. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Its exceptional freshness enabled this highly important book to reach $ 2.9 million including premium.
