1921

Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
​See also : Mondrian  Léger  Kandinsky  Soutine  Qi Baishi

​1921 Composition by Mondrian
2026 SOLD for $ 40M by Christie's

Piet Mondrian's Composition with Large Red Plane, Blue, Gray, Black and Yellow (1921, signed PM 21, oil on canvas in the artist's painted frame, approx. 52 x 42.3 cm including frame).
This work belongs to Mondrian's early mature Neo-Plastic period, shortly after he crystallized his signature abstract style in Paris.
Intention of the Artist
Mondrian sought a "purely plastic" art that expressed universal harmony, equilibrium, and spiritual truth beyond natural appearances or representation. He aimed for an idealized pictorial form using only the fundamental elements of painting—straight horizontal/vertical lines, planes, and primary colors plus non-colors (black, white, gray)—to create dynamic balance reflecting cosmic order and a "true vision of reality." This was tied to his Theosophical beliefs and desire for art to contribute to a harmonious modern society after World War I.
Influences
  • Early roots: Dutch landscape painting, Hague School, Impressionism, and Symbolism; Theosophy (via thinkers like M.H.J. Schoenmaekers, who emphasized mathematical/spiritual harmony).
  • Key modern shift: Analytical Cubism (encountered in Paris 1912–1914), which he pushed toward complete abstraction.
  • De Stijl collaboration: Co-founded with Theo van Doesburg in 1917; mutual promotion of abstraction, though Mondrian emphasized strict horizontals/verticals and primaries.
Breakthrough
By 1919–1920 in Paris, Mondrian moved from modular grids and gradated colors to a refined Neo-Plastic vocabulary: rectangles/squares of primary hues in white/gray fields, bounded by black lines. This 1921 painting exemplifies the full realization—large color planes (especially red) balanced asymmetrically against neutrals and smaller accents, creating rhythm and tension without representation. It followed his first genuinely Neo-Plastic works around 1920.
Early Exhibition History
  • Included in Galerie de l'Effort Moderne (Léonce Rosenberg), Paris, Quelques aspects nouveaux de la tradition (Oct–Nov 1921).
  • Later key shows: MoMA's Cubism and Abstract Art (1936) and solo Mondrian (1945); other exhibitions in New York, The Hague, Paris, etc.
It was gifted by the artist to dealer Léonce Rosenberg in 1922, who supported him early on (including publishing Neo-Plasticism in French). It was sold for $ 40M by Christie's on May 18, 2026, lot 5A in the sale of the Newhouse collection.
Reception and Legacy
Initially, Mondrian's radical abstraction contrasted with the post-WWI rappel à l'ordre (return to figuration/classicism), but it gained traction among avant-garde circles. Rosenberg's promotion and exhibitions helped; it influenced De Stijl's spread. Long-term, Mondrian's Neo-Plasticism profoundly shaped 20th-century art (Color Field, Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism), architecture, design, fashion, and graphic arts. His grids symbolize Modernism itself—universal, balanced, harmonious—remaining iconic in pop culture.
Comparison with the 1922 painting Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue (oil on canvas, 54 x 53.3 cm, signed PM '22).
Both are quintessential early-1920s Neo-Plastic works from Paris, featuring a dominant large red plane (Mondrian's favored "vibrant" accent), black grid lines of varying thickness, primary color accents (yellow, blue), and neutral fields (grays/whites). They emphasize asymmetry, relational balance, and dynamic equilibrium within a restricted vocabulary.
Key Similarities in Colors, Fields, and Lines
  • Dominant red plane: Large, off-center red rectangle as focal point, providing energy and visual weight balanced by surrounding elements.
  • Palette: Primaries (red, yellow, blue) + black lines + white/gray neutrals. No mixing; flat, unmodulated planes.
  • Structure: Black horizontal/vertical lines create rectangles; lines have subtle width variation for depth/rhythm (thicker ones feel more solid).
  • Fields: Mostly white/gray backgrounds allowing colors to "float" and interact; sense of infinite extension suggested but contained.
Key Evolution Between the Two (1921 to 1922)
Mondrian painted dozens of these in the early 1920s, refining and testing limits. From 1921 to 1922:
  • Slightly more square format and refined proportions in the 1922 work, with continued experimentation in internal dynamics (placement, saturation, grid arrangement).
  • Line treatment: In the 1922 painting, lines sometimes taper or allow colors to interact more directly with adjacent planes (e.g., small yellow slivers creating subtle layering/3D effect in upper right), vs. potentially more contained/infinite-feeling extensions in 1921 examples.
  • Color nuance: 1922 introduces "bluish gray" and specific tonal variations in neutrals for greater subtlety and dynamism.
  • Overall: Both show intensive studio refinement (Mondrian's rue du Départ space was itself Neo-Plastic), but 1922 demonstrates further mastery of relational opposites, asymmetry, and rhythmic energy within the same strict rules—pushing toward even purer equilibrium. This period solidified his idiom before later evolutions (e.g., thicker lines, more complex grids, or New York boogie-woogie influences in the 1940s).
These works highlight Mondrian's relentless pursuit of universal beauty through reduction and harmony. The 1921 painting entered prominent collections (e.g., via Sweeney and Newhouse); the 1922 one stayed with De Stijl associate Antony Kok initially. Both exemplify the breakthrough that defined his legacy.

1921 Weisses Oval by Kandinsky
2024 SOLD for $ 21.6M by Sotheby's

From 1918 to 1921 Kandinsky collaborated in Russian art education and museum reform. He managed to develop a teaching program based on the psychological effects of the association between forms and colors, resolutely promoting non-objective art and accepting intuition in the process of composition.

Painted in 1920, Rotes Oval is centered with nearly biomorphic forms in full opposition with the Suprematism of Malevich. Weisses Oval follows in 1921 with another balance of colors dominated by yellow and blue which represent an illusion of push and pull of warm and cold on the planar surface.

​Weisses Oval, oil on canvas 106 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 21.6M from a lower estimate of $ 15M for sale by Sotheby's on November 18, 2024, lot 12. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

This pedagogic effort could not leave Gropius indifferent. Invited to attend the Bauhaus of Weimar as a Meister, Kandinsky left Russia for Germany in 1922. In the same year the Soviets prohibited the abstract art considered as incompatible with the socialist ideals.

1921 Le Grand Déjeuner by LEGER

After the war Fernand Léger restarts his avant-garde creativity. Cubism begins to become out of fashion due to the difficulty of interpretation of its images by the public. His mechanistic phase had been a response still imbued with cubism to the craze of the Futurists for the machines.

The human figure returns into his art. His world is now flat : the juxtaposition of mingled figurative forms creates the emotion. In 1920 the series of eight paintings titled La Femme au miroir and Les Femmes à la toilette starts this anti-Cubist style by one of the former Cubist pioneers.

From 1920 Léger prepares a painting that would have to be monumental on the intimate theme of the breakfast of three naked women. The line will have to be new, color will come next. A 73 x 92 cm oil on canvas painted in grisaille in 1920-1921 was sold for $ 4.8M by Christie's on November 1, 2005, lot 36.

La Tasse de Thé, final version
​2009 SOLD for € 11.5M by Christie's

The artist also carries out studies of the individual characters.
​
Painted in 1921, la Tasse de thé (cup of tea), also designated by the artist as the Cup of chocolate, offers a striking contrast between the naked woman, whose flesh is pale, and surrounding objects in bright colors. This fat woman has not been chosen for any aesthetic feature: simply, she is the modern woman as conceived by the artist.

The final 92 x 65 cm version of the Tasse de Thé sub-theme was sold for € 11.5M by Christie's on February 23, 2009, lot 38 in the sale of the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection. Otis annotated by the artist as the final version.

​A smaller oil on canvas 65 x 50 cm of La Tasse de Thé is certainly a draft version  It was sold for $ 8.1M by Christie's on November 3, 2010.

1921 Le Grand Déjeuner
​2018 SOLD for $ 19.4M by Christie's

Everything is ready now for a full version with the three women. Titled Le Grand Déjeuner, an ultimate preparatory oil on canvas painted in bright colors in 1921 in format 65 x 92 cm was sold for $ 19.4M by Christie's on May 15, 2018, lot 11 A.

On the simple theme of the idle or quiet life of the new women, Léger has modified all iconographic conventions, in search of a balance between bright colors and forms stylized in thick lines. The anonymity of the figures reduces the narration, the intimate emotion is prevailing. The final version completed in 1922 measures 184 x 252 cm. It is kept at the MoMA.

The woman on the right side has the same attitude as the character of la Tasse de thé.

Grok thought :

Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 16, 2018
#AuctionUpdate Fernand Léger’s ‘Le grand déjeuner’ auctioned for $19,437,500! https://bit.ly/2IHekMo
​
  • Christie's post from May 2018 announces the $19.4 million sale of Fernand Léger's 1921 oil painting "Le grand déjeuner," a cubist composition featuring three stylized female nudes, a table with breakfast items, and a dog, blending classical forms with mechanical abstraction.
  • Created as one of four related works during Léger's post-WWI "call to order" phase, it exemplifies his pursuit of "organized intensity" through contrasting colors, geometries, and volumes, influenced by Cézanne, Picasso, and urban modernity.
  • Provenance traces from early Paris galleries like Léonce Rosenberg's to U.S. private collections; the sale price fell within its $15-25 million estimate, underscoring enduring market value for Léger's figurative innovations amid 2018's Impressionist auction totals exceeding $300 million.​

1921 MATISSE

Henri Matisse was throughout his career a lover of color. When he settled in Nice after the First World War, he began to consider Orientalist reverie as a pretext for the most colorful arrangements.

Henri sees his future odalisque in 1920. Henriette Darricarrère is 19 years old. Her forms are sculptural : she is tall, and harmoniously muscled by the practice of dance. She is proud of her body and enjoys to dress up. She also accept the very long pose sessions required by the artist. Matisse has no sexual desire for his models and Henriette is warmly greeted by his family. Until 1927 she was his favorite model.

Torse de Jeune Fille is an early figure of Henriette as an odalisque, painted in 1921 or possibly 1922 with a terminus ante quem in February when it was acquired by Bernheim-Jeune.

The young brunette viewed in three quarter length is straight standing in front of a Mauresque hanging. Her muscular torso is nude down to the belt. The raised arms let know that she is not shaved thereunder. This oil on canvas 60 x 50 cm passed at Sotheby's on November 18, 2024, lot 125. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.

Nu sur fond rouge, oil on canvas 56 x 34 cm painted in 1922 was sold for £ 4.4M by Christie's on June 27, 2017, lot 18. Henriette is standing in the nude in full length. The hands resting on the back of the head provide her a fresh and innocent attitude despite the shameless full front nudity. The slightly shiny color of her skin is realistic. The colorful carpets and draperies confirm the artist's quest for orientalism.

​L'Artiste et le Modèle Nu
2014 SOLD £ 6.8M by Christie's

During the war, Henri Matisse abandoned the violent contrasts of Fauvism. His art becomes softer, more curvy, more decorative. The atmosphere of Nice is suitable to this new need for privacy.

In his hotel room, he watches the perfect curves of naked women. For most of his career, Matisse used successively in long durations models who were young enough to be perfect.

On June 24, 2014, Christie's sold for £ 6.8M an oil on canvas 60 x 73 cm titled L'Artiste et le modèle nu, lot 7. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.

Antoinette sits at the center of the image. It is probably one of her last poses for Matisse, when she becomes pregnant in April 1921. She looks pensive but is perhaps only bored.

Far left, Henri gently clothed with his pajamas is at work. His hand runs the brush on the canvas. He looks at the nude woman with attention. The narrow room also offers opportunities for lines, curves and soft colors. The location in Nice is symbolized by the palm tree visible through the window.

The distance between the two characters excludes eroticism but not sensuality. The professional work of the artist is not disturbing Henri's married life. It is quite possible that the choice by Matisse of this theme of bearded artist and nude woman has inspired Picasso, who without hesitation crossed the limits of lust.

​Les Régates de Nice
​2017 SOLD for $ 16.6M by Christie's

Henri Matisse is captivated by the light of Nice. In 1921 he does not yet have a permanent residence in that city. He spends several months at the Hôtel Méditerranée and works in his room where a large French window overlooks the Promenade des Anglais and the Baie des Anges.

On November 13, 2017, Christie's sold for $ 16.6M from a lower estimate of $ 12M Les Régates de Nice, oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm painted in spring 1921, lot 18 A.

According to the taste of the artist, this painting is well balanced both as an interior and exterior scene with the pleasant colors of the Midi, from the vase of flowers on the table to the small white sails of the regatta on the deep blue sea.

Two quiet young women enliven this intimate scene. Standing in the window, the very young Henriette is the new favorite model of the artist, succeeding in this role to Antoinette who is pregnant. She looks at the sea. Her long skirt and her hair cut in the bowl are typical of the fashion of the roaring twenties.

From the beginning of their collaboration the friendship is deep between the nice Henriette and the Matisse family. The other woman on the balcony is Marguerite, Henri's daughter, less visible, curled up in a large armchair because of her fragile health.

1921 For the Album of Guangbin Feng by Qi Baishi
2021 SOLD for RMB 92M by Holly's

In 1921 Qi Baishi, signing Qi Huang, prepared an album of grass and insects for his friend Cao Kun. It is made of 16 paintings in ink and color on silk 25 x 32 cm each. The brushwork is exceptionally fine for this artist who preferred a modern stylization. The title, "For the album of Guangbin Feng", is a reference to a song from the Zhou dynasty.

It was sold for RMB 92M by Holly's on December 11, 2021, lot 53.

1921 L'Homme au Foulard Rouge by Soutine
2007 SOLD for £ 8.8M by Sotheby's

Portraits by Soutine in his Céret period are characterized by expressive poses whether the sitter is or not identified, bourgeois or poor, and by rich colors in the follow of Modigliani.

In a post-Cubist approach the artist tries slight deformations of face and body for strengthening the impression of a physical presence and individuality while restraining the narrative.

L'Homme au Foulard Rouge has a well lit frontal face with broad forehead and pointed chin, and a striking gaze including one fully circled eye.

This oil on canvas 100 x 70 cm was dated 1924 by some sources and ca 1921 by Christie's in 1997. The earlier date coming within the Céret period in the year after Modigliani's death is plausible. 

It was sold for £ 8.8M by Sotheby's on February 5, 2007, lot 40. A comparable example is the portrait of the Swiss painter Emile Lejeune, dated 1922-1923.

​1921 Belle Haleine by Duchamp
2009 SOLD for € 8.9M by Christie's

Obviously, Rrose Selavy actually existed, since she was invented by Marcel Duchamp. Consider the chronology.

In 1913 (I like that year in the history of art), Duchamp invented the ready-made, to recover a usual object and to present it as a work of art signed with an outlandish pseudonym. The first ready-made is a bicycle wheel.

Duchamp was also a fan of coining multiple puns with hidden meaning in French and English. LHOOQ is a ready-made of Mona Lisa, with a moustache and a barbichette, 1919.

The following year, seeking a pseudonym to sign his ready-mades, Duchamp built Rrose Selavy, whose main meaning is "Eros, c'est la vie" (Eros is Life). To give a life to Rrose, the artist is photographed as a woman.

A ready-made for Rrose Selavy, dated 1921, is titled Belle Haleine - Eau de Voilette (literally Beautiful Breath - Veil Water), it is a perfume bottle and its box. Duchamp changed the label, now decorated with a portrait of Rrose Selavy by Man Ray. The wit in art is so rare ... that we can really consider this work as exceptional.

Coming from the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection, it was sold for € 8.9M from a lower estimate of € 1M by Christie's on February 23, 2009.

1921 Tête de Femme by Picasso
2026 SOLD for £ 6.2M by Sotheby's

Picasso’s “Tête de femme” portraits of Olga Khokhlova, created in Fontainebleau in 1921, form part of his neoclassical phase. This series reflects a deliberate return to figuration, volumetric forms, and classical ideals after Cubism, heavily inspired by his 1917 trip to Italy.
Historical and Inspirational Context
In February 1917, Picasso traveled to Italy with Jean Cocteau to design sets and costumes for the Ballets Russes production Parade. He visited Rome, Naples, Pompeii, and Herculaneum, studying ancient sculptures, Roman paintings, mosaics, and Pompeian frescoes. These encounters profoundly influenced his work, shifting him toward monumental, sculptural figures with serene, idealized features, heavy drapery, and a sense of timelessness—echoing Ingres, Greek/Roman antiquity, and the Renaissance.
Picasso married Olga Khokhlova (a Ballets Russes dancer) in 1918. Their early years together, especially after the birth of their son Paulo in February 1921, inspired tender, maternal, and pensive portraits. The family spent the summer of 1921 in a rented villa in Fontainebleau, where Picasso used a garage as his studio. There, he produced major works like the two versions of Three Women at the Spring and Three Musicians, alongside numerous studies and heads of Olga. The Italian trip’s classicism was “reactivated” by this peaceful family setting.
Olga appears frequently as a model: elegant, melancholic, with regular features, waved hair, and a reserved poise. These works contrast with Picasso’s later, more distorted depictions of her amid marital strain.
Techniques and Series Overview
In Fontainebleau (summer–September 1921), Picasso created a series of pastel heads and related drawings/paintings of Olga. These served as studies for larger compositions but also stood as independent, highly finished works.
  • Medium and Style: Pastels on paper (often mounted on board) allowed rich, blended colors, soft modeling, and luminous effects. He achieved sculptural volume through chiaroscuro, smooth contours, and monumental scale despite modest sizes (around 65 x 50 cm). Features are crisply defined: straight nose, serious eyes, parted/waved coiffure, and an air of classical reserve.
  • Key Themes: Pensive or idealized female heads, often linked to Femmes à la fontaine or maternity themes. Photographs from the studio show Olga posed among these pastel heads.
  • The series bridges his synthetic Cubism and full neoclassicism, blending observed portraiture with archetypal forms.
Focus on the Sotheby’s Pastel (June 24, 2026)
The standout work is Pablo Picasso’s Tête de femme (1921), a pastel on paper mounted on board (64.8 x 50.5 cm), signed and dated “Fontainebleau Septembre 1921.” It sold in the Masterpieces from the Lewis Collection auction at Sotheby’s London, lot 11.
  • Description: A monumental, pensive female head embodying the neoclassical ideal—volumetric, serene, with Olga’s features rendered in soft yet sculptural pastel tones.
  • Provenance: André Level (by 1928) → Galerie Petrides → Billy Wilder and Audrey Young → private collection (acquired 1994).
  • Exhibitions: Included in key shows like MoMA’s Picasso in Fontainebleau (2023–24), where it was illustrated in studio recreations and photographs.
  • Literature: Catalogued in Zervos (vol. 4), referenced by Penrose, Palau i Fabre, Cowling, etc.
  • Sale: It exceeded  the £ 2M-3M estimates significantly, selling for £6,190,000 (about $8.2 million), highlighting strong market demand for these intimate yet grand neoclassical works.
This pastel exemplifies the series’ technical mastery and personal resonance.
Legacy on Picasso’s 1920s Art
These Fontainebleau works solidified Picasso’s neoclassical period (roughly 1917–mid-1920s), coexisting with ongoing Cubist experiments. They influenced:
  • Monumental figure compositions (Three Women at the Spring).
  • A broader “return to order” post-WWI trend among artists.
  • His 1920s output: more serene portraits evolving into bolder, sometimes surreal distortions by the late 1920s as personal life changed.
The Olga heads humanize his classicism, grounding antique ideals in intimate observation while demonstrating his stylistic fluidity. They remain highlights in collections and exhibitions, underscoring his engagement with art history’s roots.For visuals of similar works, MoMA exhibition materials provide excellent references.