1931
See also : Sanyu Christianity Cats Cars II Cars 1930s US cars Duesenberg Italian cars French cars British cars II
1931 Madonna Laboris by Nikolai Roerich
2013 SOLD 7.9 M£ including premium by Bonhams
1931 The Trusting Leopard
2017 SOLD for HK$ 80M including premium
Born in a family of wealthy silk industrialists, Sanyu had early skills for black ink and calligraphy. He developed his personal art in Paris by drawing the nude bodies of the women with a minimalist undulating line that accentuated the erotic invitation.
Supported by Henri-Pierre Roché from 1929 to 1932, Sanyu perfected his oil painting, experienced the drypoint engraving and found other themes.
On September 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 1018Léopard, an oil on canvas 93 x 116 cm painted in 1931 which had originally belonged to Roché. The near life size leopard is sketched by the white lines delineating the body and by the circles of the spots in a figure that hardly stands out from a black background interspersed with irregular white stripes.
The four legs and the tail upwards, the wild animal offers its belly in the attitude of a trusting cat requesting a caress. At that time of crisis when financial difficulties arise for Sanyu, this artwork transposes his desire for a cosy well-being.
Accumulating the originality of the camouflaged line, the large size, the attitude of joy, the joint inspiration from classical China and modern Art Déco and the minimalism of black and white, this nice feline has few equivalents in the art of Sanyu. The auction house does not reveal the estimate.
Please watch the short video shared by Sotheby's.
Supported by Henri-Pierre Roché from 1929 to 1932, Sanyu perfected his oil painting, experienced the drypoint engraving and found other themes.
On September 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 1018Léopard, an oil on canvas 93 x 116 cm painted in 1931 which had originally belonged to Roché. The near life size leopard is sketched by the white lines delineating the body and by the circles of the spots in a figure that hardly stands out from a black background interspersed with irregular white stripes.
The four legs and the tail upwards, the wild animal offers its belly in the attitude of a trusting cat requesting a caress. At that time of crisis when financial difficulties arise for Sanyu, this artwork transposes his desire for a cosy well-being.
Accumulating the originality of the camouflaged line, the large size, the attitude of joy, the joint inspiration from classical China and modern Art Déco and the minimalism of black and white, this nice feline has few equivalents in the art of Sanyu. The auction house does not reveal the estimate.
Please watch the short video shared by Sotheby's.
1931 The Long Wheelbase Duesenberg
2011 SOLD 10.3 M$ including premium
Captain Whittell was an exuberant American who had preserved his immense fortune by selling his shares just a few days before the financial crash of 1929. Such a character would have some Duesenbergs: he owned no less than six model J's.
At that time, customers bought the chassis and selected the body shop. The choice was great, which gives an infinite variety to Duesenberg vehicles.
The high end was the lengthened Model J chassis (long wheelbase). This huge machine 3.90 m long exceeded by 30 cm the standard (short wheelbase) Model J.
Whittell bought a long wheelbase in 1931 and made it equipped as a coupe by the stylist Franklin Hershey. The result is a surprising example of American Art Deco, including a folding roof that makes this car look like a convertible. The general shape is aerodynamic, anticipating the trend of the automotive design of the later 1930s.
It comes in the sale held in Pebble Beach on 20 and 21 August by Gooding. Totaling less than 20,000 km, it is in perfect working order.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold $ 10.3 million including premium, this car has certainly exceeded the most optimistic hopes. The press release issued before sale had been particularly enthusiastic.
At that time, customers bought the chassis and selected the body shop. The choice was great, which gives an infinite variety to Duesenberg vehicles.
The high end was the lengthened Model J chassis (long wheelbase). This huge machine 3.90 m long exceeded by 30 cm the standard (short wheelbase) Model J.
Whittell bought a long wheelbase in 1931 and made it equipped as a coupe by the stylist Franklin Hershey. The result is a surprising example of American Art Deco, including a folding roof that makes this car look like a convertible. The general shape is aerodynamic, anticipating the trend of the automotive design of the later 1930s.
It comes in the sale held in Pebble Beach on 20 and 21 August by Gooding. Totaling less than 20,000 km, it is in perfect working order.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold $ 10.3 million including premium, this car has certainly exceeded the most optimistic hopes. The press release issued before sale had been particularly enthusiastic.
1931 Bugatti 41 La Royale coachworked by Kellner
1987 SOLD 5.5 M£ by Christie's
Shared by Carophile.
1931 Bouquets in Montparnasse
2017 SOLD for HK$ 51M including premium
During his studies at La Grande Chaumière, Sanyu tirelessly took sketches from the naked bodies of women. Despite his very good understanding of both Asian and Western arts, his approach was highly original : the emotion can come from the balance between the surfaces delimited by the lines. Figurative details, proportions and perspectives are subsidiary. Cézanne was right : art cannot copy nature.
The meeting with the flamboyant collector Henri-Pierre Roché in 1929 is decisive for Sanyu. A friend of Leo and Gertrude Stein, Roché plays a role of discoverer of talents in the avant-garde communities of Montparnasse. He promises Sanyu to buy him all his future works.
Liberated from material constraints, the young Chinese gives free impulse to his creativity. He adds colors according to Roché's recommendation to practice the oil painting. With this technique then new for him, Sanyu explores other artistic possibilities in a three centuries old theme : the bouquet of flowers in a vase.
Once again Sanyu goes against all the artistic conventions. His colors are very little contrasting either in pastel or dark hues. His favorite color is pink in a similarity between still life and nude that could have led him to the abstract expressionism. The vase is reduced to its outline without color and texture.
On November 22, 2014 in Hong Kong, Christie's sold for HK $ 47M including premium a Bouquet de roses dans un vase blanc, oil on canvas 81 x 50 cm dated April 10, 1931. The vase draws attention only by a slight angular tilting. A better visibility on the leaves than on the flowers is in opposition with all the academics.
On November 25 in the same auction house, a Bouquet de marguerites dated January 1931 is estimated HK $ 50M, lot 21.
This oil on canvas 81 x 45 cm appears as a bold study of asymmetry. The white edges at bottom and right simulate a window that decenters the vase in an optical trick. The flowers are in two groups separated by bare stems. The upper group leaning to the left is counterbalanced by the distribution of the flowers below it. In this composition without perspective the stylized vase is either posed or floating.
The meeting with the flamboyant collector Henri-Pierre Roché in 1929 is decisive for Sanyu. A friend of Leo and Gertrude Stein, Roché plays a role of discoverer of talents in the avant-garde communities of Montparnasse. He promises Sanyu to buy him all his future works.
Liberated from material constraints, the young Chinese gives free impulse to his creativity. He adds colors according to Roché's recommendation to practice the oil painting. With this technique then new for him, Sanyu explores other artistic possibilities in a three centuries old theme : the bouquet of flowers in a vase.
Once again Sanyu goes against all the artistic conventions. His colors are very little contrasting either in pastel or dark hues. His favorite color is pink in a similarity between still life and nude that could have led him to the abstract expressionism. The vase is reduced to its outline without color and texture.
On November 22, 2014 in Hong Kong, Christie's sold for HK $ 47M including premium a Bouquet de roses dans un vase blanc, oil on canvas 81 x 50 cm dated April 10, 1931. The vase draws attention only by a slight angular tilting. A better visibility on the leaves than on the flowers is in opposition with all the academics.
On November 25 in the same auction house, a Bouquet de marguerites dated January 1931 is estimated HK $ 50M, lot 21.
This oil on canvas 81 x 45 cm appears as a bold study of asymmetry. The white edges at bottom and right simulate a window that decenters the vase in an optical trick. The flowers are in two groups separated by bare stems. The upper group leaning to the left is counterbalanced by the distribution of the flowers below it. In this composition without perspective the stylized vase is either posed or floating.
1931 Bentley was too fast
2013 SOLD 4.6 M$ including premium
A new era began in 1926 for Bentley Motors when Barnato acquired the financial control of that British brand of luxury cars created in 1919.
For sport and specially to win at Le Mans, two concepts were clashing. The founder W.O. Bentley is in favor of huge engines like his 6 1/2 liter model to get more power by an extension of the mechanical movements.
Pushed by the flamboyant team of the Bentley Boys, Barnato prefers overloading the engine of the 4 1/2 liter model. So starts the Blower Bentley in 1929. Unfortunately the new car, capable of outstanding speed performance, is not yet reliable enough to win endurance races.
A Blower Bentley manufactured in 1931 is estimated $ 4M, for sale by Bonhams at Quail Lodge (Carmel) on August 16. Here is the link to the catalog.
Its outstanding feature is its original Le Mans-type chassis, consistent with the rules of the time for this endurance race. Its original bodywork had been made by Vanden Plas also in a Le Mans configuration. It was replaced in 1938, probably due to wear, with a nice Brooklands-type racing body with which it is still equipped today.
Bentley was too fast. The Blower had not won at Le Mans against the other models of the brand. The Blower Bentley for sale was one of the last to carry the hopes of this model that the crisis was to wipe out: in 1931, Bentley was bought by Rolls-Royce.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is consistent with the expectation for this interesting Bentley: $ 4.6M including premium.
For sport and specially to win at Le Mans, two concepts were clashing. The founder W.O. Bentley is in favor of huge engines like his 6 1/2 liter model to get more power by an extension of the mechanical movements.
Pushed by the flamboyant team of the Bentley Boys, Barnato prefers overloading the engine of the 4 1/2 liter model. So starts the Blower Bentley in 1929. Unfortunately the new car, capable of outstanding speed performance, is not yet reliable enough to win endurance races.
A Blower Bentley manufactured in 1931 is estimated $ 4M, for sale by Bonhams at Quail Lodge (Carmel) on August 16. Here is the link to the catalog.
Its outstanding feature is its original Le Mans-type chassis, consistent with the rules of the time for this endurance race. Its original bodywork had been made by Vanden Plas also in a Le Mans configuration. It was replaced in 1938, probably due to wear, with a nice Brooklands-type racing body with which it is still equipped today.
Bentley was too fast. The Blower had not won at Le Mans against the other models of the brand. The Blower Bentley for sale was one of the last to carry the hopes of this model that the crisis was to wipe out: in 1931, Bentley was bought by Rolls-Royce.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is consistent with the expectation for this interesting Bentley: $ 4.6M including premium.
1931 The Ideal Bentley according to Barnato
2007 SOLD 4.5 M$ including premium by Gooding
2012 UNSOLD
PRE 2012 SALE DISCUSSION
Barnato was the chairman of Bentley and the sponsor of the Bentley Boys. His high-end model was the Bentley 4.5 liter Blower.
Within eight decades, most cars have been repaired and transformed. One of them however, bodied in boat-tail shape in 1931 by Gurney Nutting, has been preserved in its original state and is considered as the closest copy of what Barnato was wishing. It has even kept its original fabric covering, probably somehow worn.
This car is known by the friendly nickname Green Hornet which was given to it by one of its former owners. It was sold $ 4.5 million including premium by Gooding on August 19, 2007.
It comes back at auction on August 19 in Monterey, also by Gooding. Here is the link to the catalog.
Its estimate, $ 8M, may seem ambitious. However, it is in the same range as the excellent result obtained by Bonhams on June 29 on a single-seater racing car built on the same chassis model: £ 5M including premium.
Some observers used to say that racing cars are more appreciated than other units. In today's market of vintage cars, I am tempted to doubt this assertion. The sale of the Green Hornet is a good opportunity to check the trend.
POST 2012 SALE COMMENT
Unsold. I am not surprised: the expected gain above the 2007 result was exaggerated.
The day before by the same auction house, a very rare 1928 Bentley in Bobtail shape was sold $ 6M including premium.
Barnato was the chairman of Bentley and the sponsor of the Bentley Boys. His high-end model was the Bentley 4.5 liter Blower.
Within eight decades, most cars have been repaired and transformed. One of them however, bodied in boat-tail shape in 1931 by Gurney Nutting, has been preserved in its original state and is considered as the closest copy of what Barnato was wishing. It has even kept its original fabric covering, probably somehow worn.
This car is known by the friendly nickname Green Hornet which was given to it by one of its former owners. It was sold $ 4.5 million including premium by Gooding on August 19, 2007.
It comes back at auction on August 19 in Monterey, also by Gooding. Here is the link to the catalog.
Its estimate, $ 8M, may seem ambitious. However, it is in the same range as the excellent result obtained by Bonhams on June 29 on a single-seater racing car built on the same chassis model: £ 5M including premium.
Some observers used to say that racing cars are more appreciated than other units. In today's market of vintage cars, I am tempted to doubt this assertion. The sale of the Green Hornet is a good opportunity to check the trend.
POST 2012 SALE COMMENT
Unsold. I am not surprised: the expected gain above the 2007 result was exaggerated.
The day before by the same auction house, a very rare 1928 Bentley in Bobtail shape was sold $ 6M including premium.
1931 Early Expectations for the Bugatti Type 51
2016 SOLD for $ 4M including premium
Introduced in 1924, the Bugatti Type 35 had been the king of the circuits. By cumulating works cars and private teams, it recorded no less than 2,000 wins within a few years.
At all times, an automobile supremacy is necessarily short lived. The technical progress of Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz is forcing Bugatti to look for new solutions. It is too late. Despite some early successes, the new models Types 51, 53 and 54 introduced in 1931 and 1932 will not match the ambitions of the French brand.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Miller 91 achieves great results in competition with its small supercharged engine reduced in volume to adapt to new rules, even at that time ! Bugatti indirectly obtains the Miller 91 patterns and creates its own Type 51 by plagiarizing the camshaft from its American competitor. The external features of the new car are almost unchanged from Type 35.
One of the first Bugatti Type 51 was sold in 1931 to Lord Howe, an outstanding personality of British motor racing who won in the same year the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a driving partnership with Henry Birkin on an Alfa Romeo 8C-2300.
Lord Howe intensely used his Bugatti Type 51, entering it four times at the Monaco Grand Prix. Tazio Nuvolari was once seen driving this car in the same time range, but only for practices. Lord Howe sold it in 1935. The later story is less glorious : the Bugatti overturned to kill its second owner in 1937.
Despite its rebuilding performed around its original chassis after the accident, Lord Howe's Bugatti remains one of the most desirable Type 51 in existence. It is for sale on August 19 by Bonhams at Quail Lodge, Carmel CA, lot 36.
Please watch the video shared by Bonhams.
At all times, an automobile supremacy is necessarily short lived. The technical progress of Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz is forcing Bugatti to look for new solutions. It is too late. Despite some early successes, the new models Types 51, 53 and 54 introduced in 1931 and 1932 will not match the ambitions of the French brand.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Miller 91 achieves great results in competition with its small supercharged engine reduced in volume to adapt to new rules, even at that time ! Bugatti indirectly obtains the Miller 91 patterns and creates its own Type 51 by plagiarizing the camshaft from its American competitor. The external features of the new car are almost unchanged from Type 35.
One of the first Bugatti Type 51 was sold in 1931 to Lord Howe, an outstanding personality of British motor racing who won in the same year the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a driving partnership with Henry Birkin on an Alfa Romeo 8C-2300.
Lord Howe intensely used his Bugatti Type 51, entering it four times at the Monaco Grand Prix. Tazio Nuvolari was once seen driving this car in the same time range, but only for practices. Lord Howe sold it in 1935. The later story is less glorious : the Bugatti overturned to kill its second owner in 1937.
Despite its rebuilding performed around its original chassis after the accident, Lord Howe's Bugatti remains one of the most desirable Type 51 in existence. It is for sale on August 19 by Bonhams at Quail Lodge, Carmel CA, lot 36.
Please watch the video shared by Bonhams.
1931 The Inaccessible Desire
2018 SOLD for £ 2.7M including premium
In 1929 Dali just joined surrealism. Paul and Gala Eluard visit him in Figueres. Gala who is also Max Ernst's mistress is known for her sexual freedom. Dali claims his impotence linked to a physical phobia of the female genitals. They leave together and will never part from one another.
Gala is for Dali the personification of the inaccessible desire. He nicknames her Gradiva from a Pompeian statue passionately loved by an archaeologist in a novel by Jensen. Meanwhile Dali's family is upset. The father takes under the name Guillaume Tell the role of the castrator in Dali's exacerbated complex of Oedipus. Sigmund Freud will be delighted by this case of obsessive psychiatry. Gala's sudden and lasting infatuation with Dali would also deserve a psychoanalytic explanation.
In 1930 Dali and Gala settle in Paris. He paints Guillaume Tell, oil and collage on canvas 113 x 87 cm acquired in 2002 by the Centre Pompidou. The castrator has a knee placed on a stele decorated with the Dalinian Gradiva next to a phallus as high as her.
In 1931 two oils on copper build the story of Gradiva illustrated by Dali as a resurgence of Andromeda chained to the rock. Gradiva is Gala, the sole object of Dali's worship, with no remaining reference to Jensen.
That first opus titled Gradiva, 21 x 16 cm, is estimated £ 1.2M for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 28, lot 33. The body of the woman is twisted in the sufferings of a St. Sebastian which have here an orgasmic dimension. The shredded tunic reveals the breasts and especially the sex centered by the appealing lips of a mouth. A drop of blood flows on the thigh.
The same sale includes also as lot 34 a study for Gradiva of similar size and same provenance which is probably the final preparatory drawing for the painting above. It is estimated £ 60K.
The final image 30 x 24 cm in the same rocky surrounding is titled Guillaume Tell et Gradiva. It was acquired in 1996 by the Dali Museum in Figueres. The woman remains in a similar position but is now completely naked. Beside her an ithyphallic humanoid once again prevents the lover from accessing his desire.
Please watch the video of Gradiva shared by Sotheby's.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
Painting : £ 2.7M
Preparatory drawing : £ 100K
Gala is for Dali the personification of the inaccessible desire. He nicknames her Gradiva from a Pompeian statue passionately loved by an archaeologist in a novel by Jensen. Meanwhile Dali's family is upset. The father takes under the name Guillaume Tell the role of the castrator in Dali's exacerbated complex of Oedipus. Sigmund Freud will be delighted by this case of obsessive psychiatry. Gala's sudden and lasting infatuation with Dali would also deserve a psychoanalytic explanation.
In 1930 Dali and Gala settle in Paris. He paints Guillaume Tell, oil and collage on canvas 113 x 87 cm acquired in 2002 by the Centre Pompidou. The castrator has a knee placed on a stele decorated with the Dalinian Gradiva next to a phallus as high as her.
In 1931 two oils on copper build the story of Gradiva illustrated by Dali as a resurgence of Andromeda chained to the rock. Gradiva is Gala, the sole object of Dali's worship, with no remaining reference to Jensen.
That first opus titled Gradiva, 21 x 16 cm, is estimated £ 1.2M for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 28, lot 33. The body of the woman is twisted in the sufferings of a St. Sebastian which have here an orgasmic dimension. The shredded tunic reveals the breasts and especially the sex centered by the appealing lips of a mouth. A drop of blood flows on the thigh.
The same sale includes also as lot 34 a study for Gradiva of similar size and same provenance which is probably the final preparatory drawing for the painting above. It is estimated £ 60K.
The final image 30 x 24 cm in the same rocky surrounding is titled Guillaume Tell et Gradiva. It was acquired in 1996 by the Dali Museum in Figueres. The woman remains in a similar position but is now completely naked. Beside her an ithyphallic humanoid once again prevents the lover from accessing his desire.
Please watch the video of Gradiva shared by Sotheby's.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
Painting : £ 2.7M
Preparatory drawing : £ 100K
1931 The Six Cylinders of Alfa Romeo
2014 SOLD 3.1 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Alfa Romeo finds the path to success in 1926 with its new model with 6 cylinders, the 6C, which will get a continuous increase of the engine until the Second World War. The volume in cubic centimeters is directly displayed in the designation of the model.
The type 6C 1750 produced from 1929 to 1932 is equipped in different configurations in accordance with the practice of that time. The coachwork of high-end models is assigned to Zagato.
1931 was a great year for Alfa Romeo with its 8C 2300 whose variant 8C 2300 Monza is unrivaled with a top speed of 210 km/h. A 1933 car of this type coachworked by Brianza was sold for $ 6.7 million including premium by Gooding on August 15, 2010.
The 6C 1750 bodied by Zagato in Gran Sport Spider is one of the best variants designed for both daily use and competition. A rare supercharged car made in 1931 was found in 2007 sleeping in a barn for a quarter of a century.
Its successive owners so admired this little wonder that none of them dared to restore it and it remains in its original configuration. It was still untouched when it was sold for $ 950K including premium by Gooding in August 2007.
It has since undergone a thorough cleaning which makes it one of the most desirable examples of high end Alfa Romeo cars from the early 1930s. It is estimated $ 2.4 million, for sale by Bonhams in Scottsdale on January 16.Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This great example of a car from the transition period between the 1920s and the 1930s was sold for $ 3.1M including premium.
Alfa Romeo finds the path to success in 1926 with its new model with 6 cylinders, the 6C, which will get a continuous increase of the engine until the Second World War. The volume in cubic centimeters is directly displayed in the designation of the model.
The type 6C 1750 produced from 1929 to 1932 is equipped in different configurations in accordance with the practice of that time. The coachwork of high-end models is assigned to Zagato.
1931 was a great year for Alfa Romeo with its 8C 2300 whose variant 8C 2300 Monza is unrivaled with a top speed of 210 km/h. A 1933 car of this type coachworked by Brianza was sold for $ 6.7 million including premium by Gooding on August 15, 2010.
The 6C 1750 bodied by Zagato in Gran Sport Spider is one of the best variants designed for both daily use and competition. A rare supercharged car made in 1931 was found in 2007 sleeping in a barn for a quarter of a century.
Its successive owners so admired this little wonder that none of them dared to restore it and it remains in its original configuration. It was still untouched when it was sold for $ 950K including premium by Gooding in August 2007.
It has since undergone a thorough cleaning which makes it one of the most desirable examples of high end Alfa Romeo cars from the early 1930s. It is estimated $ 2.4 million, for sale by Bonhams in Scottsdale on January 16.Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This great example of a car from the transition period between the 1920s and the 1930s was sold for $ 3.1M including premium.
1931 The Profile of Amrita Sher-Gil
2015 SOLD for £ 1.76M including premium
Amrita Sher-Gil had a precocious skill for graphic arts. Her family helped her to study at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Arrived in Paris at the age of 16 in 1929, the teenager with a lonely temperament learns in parallel oil painting and Bohemian lifestyle. She won first prizes in the categories of portrait and still life.
On June 10 in London, Christie's sells a self-portrait painted in 1931, oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm, lot 11 offered in an open range of estimates between £ 1 and 1.8M. Despite all the attention given to Amrita since she was declared a National Treasure artist in India in 1972, this artwork that remained in France was not known. It is her only self-portrait that was realized in profile.
At 18, she is now a coquettish young woman promised in marriage to a young man by her family and loved by another. The profile has the meaning of her new attitude, now proud of herself and enjoying to be coveted. The empty bowl on the table before her is the past that she no longer watches.
The teaching is excellent and the student is gifted. References to European art abound in this work. The profile recalls the aristocratic portraits of the Renaissance and the wide beret on the side of the head is a modern version from a portrait by Rembrandt. The use of color to strengthen psychology is following the model of the Polynesian women by Gauguin, certainly with the friendly encouragement of Valadon.
On June 10 in London, Christie's sells a self-portrait painted in 1931, oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm, lot 11 offered in an open range of estimates between £ 1 and 1.8M. Despite all the attention given to Amrita since she was declared a National Treasure artist in India in 1972, this artwork that remained in France was not known. It is her only self-portrait that was realized in profile.
At 18, she is now a coquettish young woman promised in marriage to a young man by her family and loved by another. The profile has the meaning of her new attitude, now proud of herself and enjoying to be coveted. The empty bowl on the table before her is the past that she no longer watches.
The teaching is excellent and the student is gifted. References to European art abound in this work. The profile recalls the aristocratic portraits of the Renaissance and the wide beret on the side of the head is a modern version from a portrait by Rembrandt. The use of color to strengthen psychology is following the model of the Polynesian women by Gauguin, certainly with the friendly encouragement of Valadon.
The short life and extraordinary talent of Amrita Sher-Gil: http://t.co/pQoCmlzcOr pic.twitter.com/vKt0S5IfTN
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) May 27, 2015
1931 The 22 Faces of Amrita Sher-Gil
2015 SOLD for £ 1.75M including premium
The art of Amrita Sher-Gil is international at the beginning, when she studies in Paris from 1929 to 1934. Her talent is extremely early, without a similar example in the history of modern art. Her early training in drawing and her dual Hindu and Hungarian origins are already inciting her to look for unprecedented styles and themes.
She painted intensely during those Parisian years, mostly self-portraits and portraits of friends.
22 self-portraits are known. Amrita observes her own transition from teenager to adulthood, which is also a passage from shyness to energy and from family life to the free life of Parisian students and artists. She analyzes her feelings with a high psychological curiosity, whilst complacently stating that her supreme model is Van Gogh.
On October 6 in London, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 55 x 46 cm, lot 18 estimated £ 1.5M. This self-portrait was painted in 1931 for her classmate and flirt Boris Taslitzky and stayed up to now in his collection. She was 18 years old and her personality was becoming radiant. She reddened her thick lips and displayed her somehow plenty teenage appearance.
Figures by Amrita often include a symbolic subtlety. Here the loose necklace gives an impression of spontaneity that contrasts nicely with her static attitude. A self-portrait painted from profile in the same year, sold for £ 1.76M including premium by Christie's on June 10, 2015, showed her confidence in the future through the emptied bowl which she looked over.
Amrita and Boris did not stay long together. Boris chose the political involvement while the young woman was leaving to discover her cultural roots in India, with the prodigious success that has been assigned to her in that country, unfortunately posthumously.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's :
She painted intensely during those Parisian years, mostly self-portraits and portraits of friends.
22 self-portraits are known. Amrita observes her own transition from teenager to adulthood, which is also a passage from shyness to energy and from family life to the free life of Parisian students and artists. She analyzes her feelings with a high psychological curiosity, whilst complacently stating that her supreme model is Van Gogh.
On October 6 in London, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 55 x 46 cm, lot 18 estimated £ 1.5M. This self-portrait was painted in 1931 for her classmate and flirt Boris Taslitzky and stayed up to now in his collection. She was 18 years old and her personality was becoming radiant. She reddened her thick lips and displayed her somehow plenty teenage appearance.
Figures by Amrita often include a symbolic subtlety. Here the loose necklace gives an impression of spontaneity that contrasts nicely with her static attitude. A self-portrait painted from profile in the same year, sold for £ 1.76M including premium by Christie's on June 10, 2015, showed her confidence in the future through the emptied bowl which she looked over.
Amrita and Boris did not stay long together. Boris chose the political involvement while the young woman was leaving to discover her cultural roots in India, with the prodigious success that has been assigned to her in that country, unfortunately posthumously.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's :
1931 Phaeton against Speedster
2012 SOLD 1.3 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Money is flowing in Hollywood. This new community of wealthy personalities is eager to entertainment and socializing. Owning a luxury car is essential to sustain a social position.
A race between two cars is organized in 1932 at Lake Muroc near Los Angeles, in the presence of an outstanding crowd. For a wager of $ 25,000, a considerable amount at that time, it opposes two friends for the unofficial prestige of owning the most powerful car in Hollywood. Both cars are entrusted to professional drivers.
The Mercedes-Benz Speedster S model of the Marx Brothers, Zeppo and Chico, is really a racing car. Designed in 1927, it is impressive by its massive look that has not yet benefited from the effort of elegance of the 1930s.
It lost the race but gained a sweet revenge at auction when it was sold $ 3.74 million including premium by Gooding in August 2010.
The victorious Duesenberg belonged to Phil Berg, an agent of several stars and producers. For having some chance to win, the heavy 1931 model J Phaeton had been relieved of unnecessary equipment.
This elegant car coachworked by LeBaron is estimated $ 1.2 million, for sale by RM Auctions in Hershey on October 12. It is shown in the release shared by Sports Car Digest.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 1.3 million including premium, is consistent with the estimate. As anticipated, the Duesenberg remains far below the Mercedes-Benz competitor of its epic 1932 happening.
Money is flowing in Hollywood. This new community of wealthy personalities is eager to entertainment and socializing. Owning a luxury car is essential to sustain a social position.
A race between two cars is organized in 1932 at Lake Muroc near Los Angeles, in the presence of an outstanding crowd. For a wager of $ 25,000, a considerable amount at that time, it opposes two friends for the unofficial prestige of owning the most powerful car in Hollywood. Both cars are entrusted to professional drivers.
The Mercedes-Benz Speedster S model of the Marx Brothers, Zeppo and Chico, is really a racing car. Designed in 1927, it is impressive by its massive look that has not yet benefited from the effort of elegance of the 1930s.
It lost the race but gained a sweet revenge at auction when it was sold $ 3.74 million including premium by Gooding in August 2010.
The victorious Duesenberg belonged to Phil Berg, an agent of several stars and producers. For having some chance to win, the heavy 1931 model J Phaeton had been relieved of unnecessary equipment.
This elegant car coachworked by LeBaron is estimated $ 1.2 million, for sale by RM Auctions in Hershey on October 12. It is shown in the release shared by Sports Car Digest.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 1.3 million including premium, is consistent with the estimate. As anticipated, the Duesenberg remains far below the Mercedes-Benz competitor of its epic 1932 happening.
