1934
1934 Secret Letters
2017 SOLD for £ 35M including premium
Picasso is married to Olga and madly in love with Marie-Thérèse. The two lovers do not live together but maintain their passion in daily letters with inflamed phrases. Marie-Thérèse will continue to write to Pablo for many years, even when the artist had left with new muses.
On June 27 in London, Christie's sells Femme écrivant, oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm painted on March 26, 1934 at their nest of love in Boisgeloup, lot 8 estimated £ 25M.
Painted with joyful colors, Femme écrivant is one of the most emotional portraits of Marie-Thérèse. Beyond the beauty of her face and body that triggered the eroticism of the 1932 paintings, beyond also the contemplation of a sweet and sleepy woman who made herself gently admired, this painting expresses the authenticity of their relationship.
Turning her back to the window, Marie-Thérèse is focusing on her writing. Pablo knows that at this moment she thinks only of him. Her unstructured head becomes transparent before the blue of the sky. The eyes have the romantic shape of moon crescents.
Pablo is in full creativity. From the next day 27 of March he begins La Lecture which will be a series of six paintings demonstrating the variety of his styles. Breaking the secret intimacy of the Femme écrivant, Marie-Thérèse is accompanied by another woman.
Picasso knew that Femme écrivant was one of his masterpieces among the many portraits of Marie-Thérèse : he kept it until 1961. Please watch the video shared by Christie's in which the artwork is discussed with sensitivity by Diana Widmaier-Picasso, the granddaughter of Pablo and Marie-Thèrèse, as blond haired as her grandmother.
On June 27 in London, Christie's sells Femme écrivant, oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm painted on March 26, 1934 at their nest of love in Boisgeloup, lot 8 estimated £ 25M.
Painted with joyful colors, Femme écrivant is one of the most emotional portraits of Marie-Thérèse. Beyond the beauty of her face and body that triggered the eroticism of the 1932 paintings, beyond also the contemplation of a sweet and sleepy woman who made herself gently admired, this painting expresses the authenticity of their relationship.
Turning her back to the window, Marie-Thérèse is focusing on her writing. Pablo knows that at this moment she thinks only of him. Her unstructured head becomes transparent before the blue of the sky. The eyes have the romantic shape of moon crescents.
Pablo is in full creativity. From the next day 27 of March he begins La Lecture which will be a series of six paintings demonstrating the variety of his styles. Breaking the secret intimacy of the Femme écrivant, Marie-Thérèse is accompanied by another woman.
Picasso knew that Femme écrivant was one of his masterpieces among the many portraits of Marie-Thérèse : he kept it until 1961. Please watch the video shared by Christie's in which the artwork is discussed with sensitivity by Diana Widmaier-Picasso, the granddaughter of Pablo and Marie-Thèrèse, as blond haired as her grandmother.
1934 Suburbs for Sale
2013 SOLD 40.5 M$ including premium
The house is for Hopper the theme that ensures the continuity of civilization. It symbolizes the past by surviving after the move or death of its residents. The 1929 crisis could only exacerbate his reluctant vision of the modern world.
Hopper is the most famous car user in the history of art. He tirelessly revisits the same places to perform sketches which he then reworks in his workshop in the form of large oil paintings.
Painted in 1934, East Wind over Weehawken, 86 x 128 cm, shows houses viewed from a small crossing of streets in suburban New Jersey. This place should support life but the streets are empty. These houses are promoted to the rank of major characters in the drama and wait for who knows what.
In the foreground, a tall unsightly city lamp divides the picture as if it were the keeper of nothingness. Seeking other marks, we see a sign at the limit of readability announcing For Sale. The moment before or after can reveal life. Two very small spots on far left edge are characters. Or not. Mankind does not matter.
This painting is estimated $ 22M, for sale by Christie 's in New York on December 5.
POST SALE COMMENT
The pessimistic view of civilization expressed by Hopper in the 1930s is still relevant. This outstanding example of his art has been sold for $ 40.5 million including premium.
The image is shared by Wikimedia :
Hopper is the most famous car user in the history of art. He tirelessly revisits the same places to perform sketches which he then reworks in his workshop in the form of large oil paintings.
Painted in 1934, East Wind over Weehawken, 86 x 128 cm, shows houses viewed from a small crossing of streets in suburban New Jersey. This place should support life but the streets are empty. These houses are promoted to the rank of major characters in the drama and wait for who knows what.
In the foreground, a tall unsightly city lamp divides the picture as if it were the keeper of nothingness. Seeking other marks, we see a sign at the limit of readability announcing For Sale. The moment before or after can reveal life. Two very small spots on far left edge are characters. Or not. Mankind does not matter.
This painting is estimated $ 22M, for sale by Christie 's in New York on December 5.
POST SALE COMMENT
The pessimistic view of civilization expressed by Hopper in the 1930s is still relevant. This outstanding example of his art has been sold for $ 40.5 million including premium.
The image is shared by Wikimedia :
1934 The Serial Reader
2015 SOLD for £ 16.4M including premium
Pablo Picasso liked to follow a theme with variations in style. From 27 March to 10 April 1934, six oil paintings show the Reading. The blonde on the left is Marie-Thérèse. A caring and attentive woman is standing behind her.
The style is a continuation of the art of Picasso in an increasing complexity. The first painting, on 27 March 1934, is close to a child's drawing but with flat areas of color that compete with Léger and Matisse. It was sold for $ 21.3M including premium by Sotheby's on May 3, 2011.
On June 24 in London, Sotheby's sells the fourth opus painted on March 30, 81 x 65 cm, lot 22 estimated £ 13M. The juvenile portrait of the reader does not require Cubism to express her studious involvement. The other woman, shared between the desires to help and to let go, is Cubist. The strong parts of the image are enhanced by a working of color with the knife.
The sixth painting, on April 10, offers the latest style of the artist with a priority to the attitude. All realism was replaced by a bizarre symbolism. This painting was sold for $ 18M including premium by Christie's on November 6, 2008.
Picasso's exegetes ask two questions.
Does the book have the same meaning as in the erotic Lecture of 1932 where it covered the sex of the naked dozing woman? In my opinion: no. In the second painting from the series of 1934, made on 28 March, the reader is a child. These tranquil scenes simply express the confidence of the artist in the intellectual learning of his muse.
Who is the woman? The subtitle of the sixth painting, Marie-Thérèse et sa soeur lisant, provides a key that does not close the issue because Marie-Thérèse had two sisters!
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
The style is a continuation of the art of Picasso in an increasing complexity. The first painting, on 27 March 1934, is close to a child's drawing but with flat areas of color that compete with Léger and Matisse. It was sold for $ 21.3M including premium by Sotheby's on May 3, 2011.
On June 24 in London, Sotheby's sells the fourth opus painted on March 30, 81 x 65 cm, lot 22 estimated £ 13M. The juvenile portrait of the reader does not require Cubism to express her studious involvement. The other woman, shared between the desires to help and to let go, is Cubist. The strong parts of the image are enhanced by a working of color with the knife.
The sixth painting, on April 10, offers the latest style of the artist with a priority to the attitude. All realism was replaced by a bizarre symbolism. This painting was sold for $ 18M including premium by Christie's on November 6, 2008.
Picasso's exegetes ask two questions.
Does the book have the same meaning as in the erotic Lecture of 1932 where it covered the sex of the naked dozing woman? In my opinion: no. In the second painting from the series of 1934, made on 28 March, the reader is a child. These tranquil scenes simply express the confidence of the artist in the intellectual learning of his muse.
Who is the woman? The subtitle of the sixth painting, Marie-Thérèse et sa soeur lisant, provides a key that does not close the issue because Marie-Thérèse had two sisters!
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1934 Before Maya
2011 SOLD 21.3 M$ including premium
The paintings inspired to Picasso in 1932 by Marie-Thérèse Walter are hot. They are masterpieces of sensuous art. But two years later, what happened to these extra-marital affairs of the master?
An oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm, made on March 27, 1934, provides some answers. It is illustrated in the article shared by Bloomberg.
It shows two women looking at a book or a letter in an atmosphere of mutual trust. One, with a blue sky skin, is Marie-Thérèse. Or so we are told: the unstructured face is not really recognizable. The other, unidentified, may be her sister.
What then does the artist wish to tell with this intimacy that does not relate to him, if not expressing his desire to create a new family? The following year, Pablo left his wife Olga and Marie-Thérèse gave him Maya. In the same period, he began to identify himself with the Minotaur. Times change, and also the artistic themes.
This work could have been confused with a child's drawing, if there had not been this sureness of line and this variety of solid colors. Is it worth the $ 25M expected by Sotheby's? It is the star of the sale of impressionist and modern art, on May 3 in New York.
POST SALE COMMENT
I had not considered this painting as a major work of Picasso. Maybe I was right. Sold $ 21.3 million including premium, it remains below its low estimate.
An oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm, made on March 27, 1934, provides some answers. It is illustrated in the article shared by Bloomberg.
It shows two women looking at a book or a letter in an atmosphere of mutual trust. One, with a blue sky skin, is Marie-Thérèse. Or so we are told: the unstructured face is not really recognizable. The other, unidentified, may be her sister.
What then does the artist wish to tell with this intimacy that does not relate to him, if not expressing his desire to create a new family? The following year, Pablo left his wife Olga and Marie-Thérèse gave him Maya. In the same period, he began to identify himself with the Minotaur. Times change, and also the artistic themes.
This work could have been confused with a child's drawing, if there had not been this sureness of line and this variety of solid colors. Is it worth the $ 25M expected by Sotheby's? It is the star of the sale of impressionist and modern art, on May 3 in New York.
POST SALE COMMENT
I had not considered this painting as a major work of Picasso. Maybe I was right. Sold $ 21.3 million including premium, it remains below its low estimate.
1930s A Simple Pink Nude
2016 SOLD for HK$ 59M including premium
Arriving in Paris in the early 1920s, Sanyu explored Montmartre and Montparnasse. The young artist is passionate about the Parisian life and its cabarets and about the freedom left to the artists to show the female nude. He realizes countless drawings combining the effectiveness of the line of traditional Chinese style with this sensual theme taboo at that time in his country.
Sanyu is a great innovator, probably influenced by Modigliani's nudes. He fully materializes the idea of the dominance of a sharp line. To draw the body, he favors the undulating lines and removes the unnecessary details. He lengthens torso and legs, and deliberately shrinks the head which is not interesting him.
Sanyu was a fiercely independent temperament, like Soutine. There is no doubt that he preferred his art to the fame but he also needed money and his demands went to weary his dealer Henri-Pierre Roché who broke their relationship in 1932.
Largely from Roché, Sanyu had understood the expressive qualities of oil painting. On October 3 in Hong Kong, Poly sells as lot 133 a pink nude painted by Sanyu in the 1930s. This oil on board 47 x 82 cm had been sold for HK $ 14M including premium by Sotheby's on 4 October 2010.
The woman is lying on her back on a white blanket with floral pattern. She is quietly sleeping with arms around her head and with tight legs. This nearly monochromatic composition is overwhelmed by the vivid pink flesh of this Parisian woman with a blonde hair.
Sanyu is a great innovator, probably influenced by Modigliani's nudes. He fully materializes the idea of the dominance of a sharp line. To draw the body, he favors the undulating lines and removes the unnecessary details. He lengthens torso and legs, and deliberately shrinks the head which is not interesting him.
Sanyu was a fiercely independent temperament, like Soutine. There is no doubt that he preferred his art to the fame but he also needed money and his demands went to weary his dealer Henri-Pierre Roché who broke their relationship in 1932.
Largely from Roché, Sanyu had understood the expressive qualities of oil painting. On October 3 in Hong Kong, Poly sells as lot 133 a pink nude painted by Sanyu in the 1930s. This oil on board 47 x 82 cm had been sold for HK $ 14M including premium by Sotheby's on 4 October 2010.
The woman is lying on her back on a white blanket with floral pattern. She is quietly sleeping with arms around her head and with tight legs. This nearly monochromatic composition is overwhelmed by the vivid pink flesh of this Parisian woman with a blonde hair.
1934 Feininger's Violin charmed the City
2010 SOLD 7.3 M$ including premium
Lyonel Feininger, engaged in the major artistic movements of his time, spent many years in Germany. In this country he painted Der Rote Geiger (The Red Fiddler) that Sotheby's sells in New York on May 5.
He had been a caricaturist before being an artist. His giant violinist, whose realistic profile fits the cubist buildings of the city to dominate them, might seem like a trick of illustrator, but there is one annoying detail: the smile of the musician is too ecstatic.
Here's why. This work was painted in 1934, the year when political power is persecuting the "degenerate" artists related to the Bauhaus, where Feininger was a professor. The artist, also a violinist, tries to persuade himself that music can still help the threatened peace. This cheerful art is hiding a nightmare.
This oil on canvas, 100 x 81 cm, is estimated $ 5 million.
POST SALE COMMENT
This work important but a little too late got a very good price: $ 7.3 million including premium. This was not a foregone conclusion.
He had been a caricaturist before being an artist. His giant violinist, whose realistic profile fits the cubist buildings of the city to dominate them, might seem like a trick of illustrator, but there is one annoying detail: the smile of the musician is too ecstatic.
Here's why. This work was painted in 1934, the year when political power is persecuting the "degenerate" artists related to the Bauhaus, where Feininger was a professor. The artist, also a violinist, tries to persuade himself that music can still help the threatened peace. This cheerful art is hiding a nightmare.
This oil on canvas, 100 x 81 cm, is estimated $ 5 million.
POST SALE COMMENT
This work important but a little too late got a very good price: $ 7.3 million including premium. This was not a foregone conclusion.
1934 Single Seaters by Alfa Romeo
2017 SOLD for € 3.9M including premium
The prestige of car competitions increased considerably in the mid-1920s. The Grand Prix racing was dominated by the Alfa Romeo P2 and the Bugatti Type 35. For safety reasons it was however not until the very early 1930s that the driver remained single on board, without an assistant.
Alfa Romeo designs a monoposto based on the characteristics of the P2. Constructed in 4 units in 1931, the Tipo A is an immediate failure. It is immediately superseded by the Tipo B P3 which dominates during the season 1932 with its 5 cars built. In 1934 the modifications of the rules of the Grand Prix invite to heavier cars, changing the limit from 700 to 750 Kg. The second series of 7 units of Tipo B P3 is characterized by an increased width and a 2.9 liter engine.
It is also the time of the Great Depression. Alfa Romeo was put under receivership in 1933 by the Italian government which is reluctant to spend money for competitions. The Scuderia Ferrari company then becomes an essential partner of Alfa Romeo, of which it will remain a subsidiary until 1940.
It is not possible to find today a Grand Prix Alfa Romeo in full original condition. The traceability of the gradual installation of more efficient equipment on these cars is poorly documented. The identification of the chassis was not recorded by the administrations of the Grand Prix and in spite of the very limited number of Grand Prix cars it is impossible to identify which specific chassis had participated in which competition.
The car for sale by RM Sotheby's in Paris on February 8 is the penultimate Tipo B P3 of the 1934 group. It was registered as number 46 by the Scuderia Ferrari during the seasons 1934 and 1935.
The bodywork, narrowed in 1932 style by one of its owners, was rebuilt in its correct 1934 configuration by another one a few years later. The engine was changed but the lot for sale includes beside the car a ancient 3.2-liter engine that had previously been fitted to this chassis. The authenticity of this car can hardly be surpassed by another example of its category. It is estimated € 3.8M, lot 161.
Alfa Romeo designs a monoposto based on the characteristics of the P2. Constructed in 4 units in 1931, the Tipo A is an immediate failure. It is immediately superseded by the Tipo B P3 which dominates during the season 1932 with its 5 cars built. In 1934 the modifications of the rules of the Grand Prix invite to heavier cars, changing the limit from 700 to 750 Kg. The second series of 7 units of Tipo B P3 is characterized by an increased width and a 2.9 liter engine.
It is also the time of the Great Depression. Alfa Romeo was put under receivership in 1933 by the Italian government which is reluctant to spend money for competitions. The Scuderia Ferrari company then becomes an essential partner of Alfa Romeo, of which it will remain a subsidiary until 1940.
It is not possible to find today a Grand Prix Alfa Romeo in full original condition. The traceability of the gradual installation of more efficient equipment on these cars is poorly documented. The identification of the chassis was not recorded by the administrations of the Grand Prix and in spite of the very limited number of Grand Prix cars it is impossible to identify which specific chassis had participated in which competition.
The car for sale by RM Sotheby's in Paris on February 8 is the penultimate Tipo B P3 of the 1934 group. It was registered as number 46 by the Scuderia Ferrari during the seasons 1934 and 1935.
The bodywork, narrowed in 1932 style by one of its owners, was rebuilt in its correct 1934 configuration by another one a few years later. The engine was changed but the lot for sale includes beside the car a ancient 3.2-liter engine that had previously been fitted to this chassis. The authenticity of this car can hardly be surpassed by another example of its category. It is estimated € 3.8M, lot 161.
1934 A German in Bali
2013 SOLD 31.5 MHK$ including premium
Walter Spies was a musician and a painter, and met Kokoschka and Dix. Attracted by the music of Java, he definitely left Europe in 1923 at the age of 28 and moved to Bali in 1927.
Enamored of freedom, he shows the immense lush of nature in which man is small but manages to shape the landscape with his huts and clearings.
On October 5 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells Blick von der Höhe ('top view'), oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm painted in 1934. It is illustrated in the press release shared by ArtDaily.
The thickness of the vegetation breaks the perspective. A man sits in the foreground, wearing a large native hat. The piercing light illuminates the subject of his peaceful contemplation, rice field and village, in an almost symmetrical composition separated by a tall tree.
Spies's paintings are rare on the market because his life was too short. The Dutch authorities did not like the inner circle of this German citizen and persecuted him from 1938. He died in 1942 when the Dutch ship that transferred him to Ceylon was sunk by a Japanese aircraft.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was not published. The result, HK$ 31.5 million including premium, brings Walter Spies into the list of outstanding artists.
Enamored of freedom, he shows the immense lush of nature in which man is small but manages to shape the landscape with his huts and clearings.
On October 5 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells Blick von der Höhe ('top view'), oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm painted in 1934. It is illustrated in the press release shared by ArtDaily.
The thickness of the vegetation breaks the perspective. A man sits in the foreground, wearing a large native hat. The piercing light illuminates the subject of his peaceful contemplation, rice field and village, in an almost symmetrical composition separated by a tall tree.
Spies's paintings are rare on the market because his life was too short. The Dutch authorities did not like the inner circle of this German citizen and persecuted him from 1938. He died in 1942 when the Dutch ship that transferred him to Ceylon was sunk by a Japanese aircraft.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was not published. The result, HK$ 31.5 million including premium, brings Walter Spies into the list of outstanding artists.
1934 Elegance of a Packard
2018 SOLD for $ 3.75M including premium
Luxury touring cars are a specialty of Packard. During the financial crisis the competition involving Duesenberg, Cadillac, Packard and Pierce-Arrow becomes a matter of life and death for these brands.
In 1932 Packard fitted a 7.3 liters V-12 engine on the DeLuxe Eight chassis usually equipped with an 8-cylinder in-line engine. Originally named Twin Six, the new model becomes the Packard Twelve in 1933. It is a great success despite its fuel consumption over 25 liters per 100 Km : 5,800 Packard Twelve are produced between 1933 and 1939.
A few top luxury cars are bodied by LeBaron or Dietrich. Dietrich realizes small series around a dozen units whose finish is made when he receives the order from the client, allowing to incorporate some ultimate custom variants.
The Victoria convertible is offered by Dietrich from 1932 to 1934. Four examples survived on the 1934 Eleventh Series Packard Twelve chassis. The best are favorites in the Concours d'Elegance. One of these cars passed at RM Auctions on March 10, 2012 after being Best in Class winner at the 2011 Concours d'Elegance of America.
Another car is in great condition, having retained its original chassis, engine and much bodywork despite its ancient use as a taxi cab in Puerto Rico. Carefully restored by RM Auto Restoration with 14,000 hours of craftsmanship, it was crowned in 2013 Best of Show of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in a cloud of confetti. This supreme consecration was confirmed in 2016 by the Best of Show in St. John's and a Best in Class at Amelia Island.
This champion is estimated $ 4.5M for sale by RM Sotheby's in Monterey on August 24, lot 131.
In 1932 Packard fitted a 7.3 liters V-12 engine on the DeLuxe Eight chassis usually equipped with an 8-cylinder in-line engine. Originally named Twin Six, the new model becomes the Packard Twelve in 1933. It is a great success despite its fuel consumption over 25 liters per 100 Km : 5,800 Packard Twelve are produced between 1933 and 1939.
A few top luxury cars are bodied by LeBaron or Dietrich. Dietrich realizes small series around a dozen units whose finish is made when he receives the order from the client, allowing to incorporate some ultimate custom variants.
The Victoria convertible is offered by Dietrich from 1932 to 1934. Four examples survived on the 1934 Eleventh Series Packard Twelve chassis. The best are favorites in the Concours d'Elegance. One of these cars passed at RM Auctions on March 10, 2012 after being Best in Class winner at the 2011 Concours d'Elegance of America.
Another car is in great condition, having retained its original chassis, engine and much bodywork despite its ancient use as a taxi cab in Puerto Rico. Carefully restored by RM Auto Restoration with 14,000 hours of craftsmanship, it was crowned in 2013 Best of Show of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in a cloud of confetti. This supreme consecration was confirmed in 2016 by the Best of Show in St. John's and a Best in Class at Amelia Island.
This champion is estimated $ 4.5M for sale by RM Sotheby's in Monterey on August 24, lot 131.
1934 The Come Back of the Roadster
2014 SOLD 3.1 M€ including premium
In 1933, with their model 380, Mercedes-Benz want to capture the market of the grand touring car. Its 3.8-liter engine is too small and its maximum speed of 120 km/h does not differ sufficiently from its competitors. Adding a compressor with an optimized setting could push the speed up to 145 km/h.
Engineers quickly understood that an increase of the engine and an integrated compression are needed to dominate this market. The Mercedes-Benz 500K with a 5-liter engine was introduced at the Berlin Motor Show of 1934. K means Kompressor. It reaches 160 km/h on the road.
The bodywork becomes gorgeous. The high end is named Roadster, understood as a synonym for Grand Tourer.
Mercedes-Benz optimize their models by promoting a standardization at their assembly plant in Sindelfingen, but remain responsive to the specific needs of their clients. One of the first 500K bodied as a Roadster is embellished by an abundance of chrome.
Its client, a Berlin lawyer, wanted to have the best car. In 1936, when Mercedes-Benz launched the 540K model, the car returns to the factory to accommodate the new engine of 5.4 liters. Its modified chassis and new engine keep the serial numbers of the original equipment.
In the early 1970s, two fans make a tour of Europe in search of valuable old cars. They have the luck to find this 500K/540K Spezial in oblivion in a garage at Poznan, disassembled but complete.
The car is offered without reserve in favor of Swedish medical research charities in the Mercedes-Benz specialized sales made by Bonhams on July 12 in Stuttgart. It is estimated € 3.6 million, lot 16.
Engineers quickly understood that an increase of the engine and an integrated compression are needed to dominate this market. The Mercedes-Benz 500K with a 5-liter engine was introduced at the Berlin Motor Show of 1934. K means Kompressor. It reaches 160 km/h on the road.
The bodywork becomes gorgeous. The high end is named Roadster, understood as a synonym for Grand Tourer.
Mercedes-Benz optimize their models by promoting a standardization at their assembly plant in Sindelfingen, but remain responsive to the specific needs of their clients. One of the first 500K bodied as a Roadster is embellished by an abundance of chrome.
Its client, a Berlin lawyer, wanted to have the best car. In 1936, when Mercedes-Benz launched the 540K model, the car returns to the factory to accommodate the new engine of 5.4 liters. Its modified chassis and new engine keep the serial numbers of the original equipment.
In the early 1970s, two fans make a tour of Europe in search of valuable old cars. They have the luck to find this 500K/540K Spezial in oblivion in a garage at Poznan, disassembled but complete.
The car is offered without reserve in favor of Swedish medical research charities in the Mercedes-Benz specialized sales made by Bonhams on July 12 in Stuttgart. It is estimated € 3.6 million, lot 16.
