1943
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Self portrait II Germany II Central and South Americas Chagall Zhang Daqian < 1965 Time pieces Patek Philippe Perpetual calendar
See also : Self portrait II Germany II Central and South Americas Chagall Zhang Daqian < 1965 Time pieces Patek Philippe Perpetual calendar
1943 Self Portrait Yellow Rose by Beckmann
2022 SOLD for € 23M by Grisebach
Throughout his career, Max Beckmann exercised the mid length self portrait, illustrating his mood with no complacency and often with derision. In a gaudy attire, he brandishes some symbol that expresses his reprobation of the world. Photo portraits of himself reveal the same unappealing attitude.
Max Beckmann does not accept that his art is described as degenerate by Hitler. Painted in 1936, his self-portrait with a crystal ball is a poignant message : he would like to react but does not have the solution. He is only 52 but he certainly appreciates that his premature aging and his surly attitude will not help him. The shadow over the eyes does not encourage dialogue. This oil on canvas 110 x 65 cm was sold for $ 16.8M by Sotheby's on May 3, 2005.
In 1937 it is much worse. The Nazis confiscate 500 of his works from museums and include several in the Degenerate Art Exhibition in Munich. Threatened with imprisonment and castration, Beckmann flees Germany and settles in his sister-in-law's home in Amsterdam where he fears that his life becomes devoid of meaning.
His works mark then a desire for revenge, now with a scathing criticism of the Nazi regime. Hölle der Vögel, oil on canvas 120 x 160 cm completed in 1938, was sold for £ 36M by Christie's in 2017.
On May 10, 2001 Sotheby's sold for $ 22.5M a Self-portrait with horn, oil on canvas 110 x 100 cm painted in 1938. The instrument is not played but brandished at the height of the closed mouth like a helpless challenge. The sullen mouth expresses anxiety and once again the eyes are in the shade. The striped jacket resembles the coat of a convict or a Harlequin.
Selbstbildnis gelb-rosa, oil on canvas 95 x 56 cm painted in bright colors in 1943 in Amsterdam, was conceived for presentation to his wife Quappi. It is typical of his selfie style excepted for his unexpected absence of gloom, the hint of a smile and the crossed arms and flat hands of a meditation.
It was sold for € 23M on December 1, 2022 by Grisebach, lot 19. It is shared by the auction house in a pre sale release published by Barnebys.
Max Beckmann does not accept that his art is described as degenerate by Hitler. Painted in 1936, his self-portrait with a crystal ball is a poignant message : he would like to react but does not have the solution. He is only 52 but he certainly appreciates that his premature aging and his surly attitude will not help him. The shadow over the eyes does not encourage dialogue. This oil on canvas 110 x 65 cm was sold for $ 16.8M by Sotheby's on May 3, 2005.
In 1937 it is much worse. The Nazis confiscate 500 of his works from museums and include several in the Degenerate Art Exhibition in Munich. Threatened with imprisonment and castration, Beckmann flees Germany and settles in his sister-in-law's home in Amsterdam where he fears that his life becomes devoid of meaning.
His works mark then a desire for revenge, now with a scathing criticism of the Nazi regime. Hölle der Vögel, oil on canvas 120 x 160 cm completed in 1938, was sold for £ 36M by Christie's in 2017.
On May 10, 2001 Sotheby's sold for $ 22.5M a Self-portrait with horn, oil on canvas 110 x 100 cm painted in 1938. The instrument is not played but brandished at the height of the closed mouth like a helpless challenge. The sullen mouth expresses anxiety and once again the eyes are in the shade. The striped jacket resembles the coat of a convict or a Harlequin.
Selbstbildnis gelb-rosa, oil on canvas 95 x 56 cm painted in bright colors in 1943 in Amsterdam, was conceived for presentation to his wife Quappi. It is typical of his selfie style excepted for his unexpected absence of gloom, the hint of a smile and the crossed arms and flat hands of a meditation.
It was sold for € 23M on December 1, 2022 by Grisebach, lot 19. It is shared by the auction house in a pre sale release published by Barnebys.
1943 La Patience by Balthus
2023 SOLD for $ 14.7M by Sotheby's
Balthus observes the pre-adolescent teenagers, at the transition age when growth and mind are still in development.
They still have a carefree flexibility of the limbs, taking weird position when the mind is elsewhere. The figures of Thérèse, painted from 1936 to 1939 when the girl was 11 to 14 years old, is typical. Thérèse sur une banquette, oil on board 73 x 92 cm painted in 1939, was sold for $ 19M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 8A.
The observation of the mind may be made by staging a solitary fortune-telling card game known as patience or réussite. Jeannette holds with frenzy the last card to win or lose the game. Her arm is bent on the table in the shadow while the other arm maintains a horizontal position of the body. One on the legs is resting on a stool while the other leg is pushing the carpet away. Also the head is in the shadow, turned to some daydream of the outside world.
La Patience, oil on canvas 160 x 164 cm, was painted by Balthus in 1943 in Fribourg. He reworked it in 1946-1948 to improve the half light half shadow balance. It was acquired from him by Pierre Matisse in 1948. It was sold for $ 14.7M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2023, lot 8.
They still have a carefree flexibility of the limbs, taking weird position when the mind is elsewhere. The figures of Thérèse, painted from 1936 to 1939 when the girl was 11 to 14 years old, is typical. Thérèse sur une banquette, oil on board 73 x 92 cm painted in 1939, was sold for $ 19M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 8A.
The observation of the mind may be made by staging a solitary fortune-telling card game known as patience or réussite. Jeannette holds with frenzy the last card to win or lose the game. Her arm is bent on the table in the shadow while the other arm maintains a horizontal position of the body. One on the legs is resting on a stool while the other leg is pushing the carpet away. Also the head is in the shadow, turned to some daydream of the outside world.
La Patience, oil on canvas 160 x 164 cm, was painted by Balthus in 1943 in Fribourg. He reworked it in 1946-1948 to improve the half light half shadow balance. It was acquired from him by Pierre Matisse in 1948. It was sold for $ 14.7M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2023, lot 8.
ZHANG DAQIAN from Dunhuang
1
1943 Water Moon Guanyin
2017 SOLD for RMB 101M by China Guardian
The Gobi desert was a major ordeal in the Silk Road. The city of Dunhuang was developed under the Han to offer the rest for travelers coming from the desert and courage and goods to those who were to enter it.
This particular situation has generated a very strong Buddhist spirituality. For a millennium, from the Wei to the Yuan, pilgrims have dug shrines into the cliff to worship Buddhism. 492 man-made caves have been counted, some of them no larger than a coffin. Away from the civilization centers, quite in the middle of the vast Asia, Dunhuang offers the most extraordinary testimony of ancient Buddhist sculpture and painting.
In modern times, Zhang Daqian permeates his art with the best Yuan, Ming and Qing pictorial traditions. This attitude will be vilified by Western observers after the second world war. Yet it fits perfectly in the spirit of continuity that governs the Chinese art for three millennia.
In 1941, Zhang decides to spend a few months studying the paintings of Dunhuang. Overwhelmed by the quality of the art of the ancients, he stayed two years and seven months. He copied therein on paper or silk 279 frescoes, on the site despite difficult climatic conditions.
In Dunhuang, Tang paintings are wonderful. Zhang admires the variety of the psychological expression attributed to the different personalities of the Buddhist pantheon, necessary to offer to the pious travelers all the subtlety of the message.
During these sessions, Zhang visited also three times Yulin, 170 km away, whose 25 grottoes contain mural Buddhist paintings from Tang period.
The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is a favorite of the faithful in his role of relieving the humans from suffering and of showing the path. He can simultaneously take an unlimited number of appearances to perform the necessary actions for the happiness of the world.
The arrival of Buddhism in China generated important transformations of this bodhisattva who took the name Guanyin. After the Tang dynasty, Guanyin finally lost his mustache, became an androgynous figure and was revered as a female deity.
Under the Song, Buddhism is not dominant. It is contested by the Confucians and competes with Taoism. At this time of strong political power, the Chinese are wary against this foreign religion imported from India.
To fully exercise her vocation, Guanyin must be accessible. The Chinese located her personal paradise where she could be seen in meditation by the lucky ones. This drift no longer meets the Sanskrit canon but generates another one in which 33 main attitudes are described. The statues of the temples simulate the accessibility of Guanyin in her paradise.
The Shuiyue Guanyin in meditation (Guanyin on the reflection of the Moon in Water) is venerated since the transition period between the Tang and Song dynasties. It is indeed a symbol of the basic role of Guanyin of linking earth and sky.
Guanyin is serene and smiling in a posture of royal ease. She sits flexibly on a rock, her body very slightly leaning backwards, one leg bent up and the other resting or hanging.
Zhang Daqian made in or before 1943 a least three paintings copying a Guanyin of the water moon from the Western Xia dynasty, contemporary to the Song, whose original is located in Cave 2 of the Yulin grottoes.
A 1943 example, ink an color on special canvas 160 x 87 cm, was sold for RMB 101M from a lower estimate of RMB 80M by China Guardian on December 18, 2017, lot 428. The image is shared by ChinaDaily. Another one from the same year, hanging scroll in ink and color on paper 153 x 77 cm, passed at Bonhams on November 28, 2022, lot 164.
This particular situation has generated a very strong Buddhist spirituality. For a millennium, from the Wei to the Yuan, pilgrims have dug shrines into the cliff to worship Buddhism. 492 man-made caves have been counted, some of them no larger than a coffin. Away from the civilization centers, quite in the middle of the vast Asia, Dunhuang offers the most extraordinary testimony of ancient Buddhist sculpture and painting.
In modern times, Zhang Daqian permeates his art with the best Yuan, Ming and Qing pictorial traditions. This attitude will be vilified by Western observers after the second world war. Yet it fits perfectly in the spirit of continuity that governs the Chinese art for three millennia.
In 1941, Zhang decides to spend a few months studying the paintings of Dunhuang. Overwhelmed by the quality of the art of the ancients, he stayed two years and seven months. He copied therein on paper or silk 279 frescoes, on the site despite difficult climatic conditions.
In Dunhuang, Tang paintings are wonderful. Zhang admires the variety of the psychological expression attributed to the different personalities of the Buddhist pantheon, necessary to offer to the pious travelers all the subtlety of the message.
During these sessions, Zhang visited also three times Yulin, 170 km away, whose 25 grottoes contain mural Buddhist paintings from Tang period.
The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is a favorite of the faithful in his role of relieving the humans from suffering and of showing the path. He can simultaneously take an unlimited number of appearances to perform the necessary actions for the happiness of the world.
The arrival of Buddhism in China generated important transformations of this bodhisattva who took the name Guanyin. After the Tang dynasty, Guanyin finally lost his mustache, became an androgynous figure and was revered as a female deity.
Under the Song, Buddhism is not dominant. It is contested by the Confucians and competes with Taoism. At this time of strong political power, the Chinese are wary against this foreign religion imported from India.
To fully exercise her vocation, Guanyin must be accessible. The Chinese located her personal paradise where she could be seen in meditation by the lucky ones. This drift no longer meets the Sanskrit canon but generates another one in which 33 main attitudes are described. The statues of the temples simulate the accessibility of Guanyin in her paradise.
The Shuiyue Guanyin in meditation (Guanyin on the reflection of the Moon in Water) is venerated since the transition period between the Tang and Song dynasties. It is indeed a symbol of the basic role of Guanyin of linking earth and sky.
Guanyin is serene and smiling in a posture of royal ease. She sits flexibly on a rock, her body very slightly leaning backwards, one leg bent up and the other resting or hanging.
Zhang Daqian made in or before 1943 a least three paintings copying a Guanyin of the water moon from the Western Xia dynasty, contemporary to the Song, whose original is located in Cave 2 of the Yulin grottoes.
A 1943 example, ink an color on special canvas 160 x 87 cm, was sold for RMB 101M from a lower estimate of RMB 80M by China Guardian on December 18, 2017, lot 428. The image is shared by ChinaDaily. Another one from the same year, hanging scroll in ink and color on paper 153 x 77 cm, passed at Bonhams on November 28, 2022, lot 164.
2
1943 Avalokiteshvara
2024 SOLD for HK $ 78M by Sotheby's
An upright Avalokiteshvara in red robe from Yulin Cave 17 was copied in same size as the example above by Zhang, probably in 1943 during his last stay before leaving the region.
This human size hanging scroll in ink and color on a 188 x 91 cm fabric prepared by a lama monk was treasured by Zhang for four decades. The inscriptions were added by him before departing from it. It was sold for HK $ 78M from a lower estimate of HK $ 22M by Sotheby's on April 9, 2024, lot 121. Its colors remain very fresh.
Dated 1943, a smaller hanging scroll 128 x 66 cm of a Dunhuang Avalokiteshvara passed at Sotheby's on September 18, 2014, lot 967.
This human size hanging scroll in ink and color on a 188 x 91 cm fabric prepared by a lama monk was treasured by Zhang for four decades. The inscriptions were added by him before departing from it. It was sold for HK $ 78M from a lower estimate of HK $ 22M by Sotheby's on April 9, 2024, lot 121. Its colors remain very fresh.
Dated 1943, a smaller hanging scroll 128 x 66 cm of a Dunhuang Avalokiteshvara passed at Sotheby's on September 18, 2014, lot 967.
3
undated Dakini
2016 SOLD for RMB 64M by Poly
Dakini, meaning the one who flies, is a Buddhist female goddess, spirit or demon. A Dakini had been copied by Zhang Daqian in his Dunhuang series. In an abstract surrounding, the red skinned deity tramples with one foot a woman while the other leg is bent. This undated color and gold powder on paper 84 x 53 cm was sold for RMB 64M from a lower estimate of RMB 25M by Poly on June 4, 2016, lot 3341.
The candid Dakini has the third eye of wisdom. She bears five tiny skulls in her hair and a full length scarf adorned in both sides with hideous cut heads. One hand holds a ritual vessel and the other is raised with a Buddhist attribute. The trampled woman in smaller scale may be a courtesan : she is in full nudity excepted a necklace and pairs of bangles on wrists, arms and ankles.
The image is shared post sale by ChinaDaily.
The candid Dakini has the third eye of wisdom. She bears five tiny skulls in her hair and a full length scarf adorned in both sides with hideous cut heads. One hand holds a ritual vessel and the other is raised with a Buddhist attribute. The trampled woman in smaller scale may be a courtesan : she is in full nudity excepted a necklace and pairs of bangles on wrists, arms and ankles.
The image is shared post sale by ChinaDaily.
1943 Patek Philippe Reference 1518 in Stainless Steel
2016 SOLD for CHF 11M by Phillips
During the 1930s Patek Philippe masters all the complications and most of their combinations. The brand's effort to make new prototypes and to add new high-end references to its catalog is not interrupted by the war.
The reference 130, launched commercially in 1934, is a single-push chronograph using the calibre 13. It is equipped with two subsidiary dials, one indicating the seconds up to the minute and the other the minutes up to the half hour. Produced from 1940, the reference 1491 is a watch without chronograph with a more elegant design than the already classic Calatrava.
Released in 1941, the reference 1518 introduces commercially a tantalizing combination of complications. In production from 1941 to 1954, it is the first commercial wristwatch from any brand to offer altogether these two appealing complications which are the chronograph and the perpetual calendar, in addition to the moon phases.
The 1518 is ahead of its time and appeals the elite. 281 watches are built in this reference which is an average of 20 per year. The list of customers includes the kings of Egypt, Jordan and Romania and the boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson, and also the all time top collector Henry Graves Jr.
Most 1518s are in yellow gold, plus an estimated 58 in pink gold. A pink gold example made in 1948 was sold for CHF 1.47M by Phillips on November 13, 2016, lot 196.
Until the second world war and a little beyond, the use of stainless steel is exceptional in the high-end wristwatches made by Patek Philippe. Owners identify luxury with gold or platinum. Steel watches are produced on special request from customers who fear some wearing related to their own heavy use.
The 1518 in stainless steel are extremely rare : only four are known. This is not really surprising : we must indeed recognize some contradiction between the need for a perpetual calendar and the fear of wear.
The first two 1518 in stainless steel were manufactured in 1943 and sold together to a same customer in February of the next year. One of them remaining in an immaculate condition had probably been intended by him as a spare. It was sold for CHF 11M from a lower estimate of CHF 3M by Phillips on November 12, 2016, lot 38.
The reference 130, launched commercially in 1934, is a single-push chronograph using the calibre 13. It is equipped with two subsidiary dials, one indicating the seconds up to the minute and the other the minutes up to the half hour. Produced from 1940, the reference 1491 is a watch without chronograph with a more elegant design than the already classic Calatrava.
Released in 1941, the reference 1518 introduces commercially a tantalizing combination of complications. In production from 1941 to 1954, it is the first commercial wristwatch from any brand to offer altogether these two appealing complications which are the chronograph and the perpetual calendar, in addition to the moon phases.
The 1518 is ahead of its time and appeals the elite. 281 watches are built in this reference which is an average of 20 per year. The list of customers includes the kings of Egypt, Jordan and Romania and the boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson, and also the all time top collector Henry Graves Jr.
Most 1518s are in yellow gold, plus an estimated 58 in pink gold. A pink gold example made in 1948 was sold for CHF 1.47M by Phillips on November 13, 2016, lot 196.
Until the second world war and a little beyond, the use of stainless steel is exceptional in the high-end wristwatches made by Patek Philippe. Owners identify luxury with gold or platinum. Steel watches are produced on special request from customers who fear some wearing related to their own heavy use.
The 1518 in stainless steel are extremely rare : only four are known. This is not really surprising : we must indeed recognize some contradiction between the need for a perpetual calendar and the fear of wear.
The first two 1518 in stainless steel were manufactured in 1943 and sold together to a same customer in February of the next year. One of them remaining in an immaculate condition had probably been intended by him as a spare. It was sold for CHF 11M from a lower estimate of CHF 3M by Phillips on November 12, 2016, lot 38.
1943 Le Jongleur by Chagall
2022 SOLD for £ 8.9M by Christie's
Threatened by the anti-Jewish persecutions, Marc and Bella Chagall moved to New York City in 1941 after 18 years in France. Trying to escape his distress in a foreign country of which he did not speak the language, he lived close to the Jewish immigrant communities and entertained the most joyful of his themes, the circus.
Le Jongleur, painted in 1943, is an aggregation of scenes in various scales in Marc's signature style in bold colors.
The dominant figure is a winged juggler, dancing with a raised leg. He has the raised head of a rooster with a smiling beak and a friendly vivid gaze. The other characters include a ballerina in wedding dress, a woman riding a horse in the arena surrounded by the audience, and an equine head. A fiddler is cartouched on the jacket of the performer. The clock in the juggler's hand is a usual symbol of time which is nevertheless uncommon in Chagall's art.
This oil on canvas 110 x 79 cm was sold for £ 8.9M by Christie's on March 1, 2022, lot 55.
Marc painted in the same year his Yellow Crucifixion, a Jewish staging of Jesus's Passion amidst symbols of the Holocaust. Marc's distress went into despair in 1944 after Bella's untimely death in New York.
Le Jongleur, painted in 1943, is an aggregation of scenes in various scales in Marc's signature style in bold colors.
The dominant figure is a winged juggler, dancing with a raised leg. He has the raised head of a rooster with a smiling beak and a friendly vivid gaze. The other characters include a ballerina in wedding dress, a woman riding a horse in the arena surrounded by the audience, and an equine head. A fiddler is cartouched on the jacket of the performer. The clock in the juggler's hand is a usual symbol of time which is nevertheless uncommon in Chagall's art.
This oil on canvas 110 x 79 cm was sold for £ 8.9M by Christie's on March 1, 2022, lot 55.
Marc painted in the same year his Yellow Crucifixion, a Jewish staging of Jesus's Passion amidst symbols of the Holocaust. Marc's distress went into despair in 1944 after Bella's untimely death in New York.
1943 Marrakech by Churchill
2021 SOLD for £ 8.3M by Christie's
It was impossible for Winston Churchill to remain idle. In 1915, when he leaves the government on the occasion of a reshuffle, he decides to try pictorial creation. He has everything to learn and listens attentively to the advices by John Lavery and Walter Sickert.
The new artist is also eager for tourism and sun. In 1935 his first visit to Marrakech is a delight. He had many political allies to whom he liked to offer his best Neo-Impressionist paintings of Morocco.
In January 1943, in the midst of the war, the Anglo-American conference takes place in Casablanca. Churchill manages to persuade President Roosevelt to make a detour to Marrakech so that they can contemplate together the sunset on the snow-capped peaks of the Atlas. Churchill remains one more day to paint the view of Marrakech with the tower of the Koutoubia mosque, from the exact point of view he had chosen to please Roosevelt.
This oil on canvas 46 x 61 cm was immediately offered by Churchill to Roosevelt. It was sold for £ 8.3M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M by Christie's on March 1, 2021, lot 9. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In the same sale, the lot 3, sold for £ 1.9M, was a river scenery in Marrakech. This 60 x 92 cm oil on canvas was painted circa 1935 and was presented around 1950 to Lord Montgomery of Alamein.
A view of the Atlas at Tinherir (Tinghir), 64 x 76 cm, painted in 1951 and offered to General Marshall in 1953, was sold for £ 610K by Sotheby's on December 11, 2006.
A 51 x 61 cm replica of the view made for Roosevelt was painted by Churchill circa 1948 as a gift for President Truman. It was sold for £ 470K by Sotheby's on December 13, 2007.
The new artist is also eager for tourism and sun. In 1935 his first visit to Marrakech is a delight. He had many political allies to whom he liked to offer his best Neo-Impressionist paintings of Morocco.
In January 1943, in the midst of the war, the Anglo-American conference takes place in Casablanca. Churchill manages to persuade President Roosevelt to make a detour to Marrakech so that they can contemplate together the sunset on the snow-capped peaks of the Atlas. Churchill remains one more day to paint the view of Marrakech with the tower of the Koutoubia mosque, from the exact point of view he had chosen to please Roosevelt.
This oil on canvas 46 x 61 cm was immediately offered by Churchill to Roosevelt. It was sold for £ 8.3M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M by Christie's on March 1, 2021, lot 9. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In the same sale, the lot 3, sold for £ 1.9M, was a river scenery in Marrakech. This 60 x 92 cm oil on canvas was painted circa 1935 and was presented around 1950 to Lord Montgomery of Alamein.
A view of the Atlas at Tinherir (Tinghir), 64 x 76 cm, painted in 1951 and offered to General Marshall in 1953, was sold for £ 610K by Sotheby's on December 11, 2006.
A 51 x 61 cm replica of the view made for Roosevelt was painted by Churchill circa 1948 as a gift for President Truman. It was sold for £ 470K by Sotheby's on December 13, 2007.
1943 Omi Obini by Lam
2020 SOLD for $ 9.6M by Sotheby's
Wifredo Lam lived in Spain from 1923 to 1938. He felt close to Goya's social revolt and participated in the Spanish War. Between the defeat of the Republicans and the defeat of France in June 1940, he was in Paris where he appropriated the intense desire for freedom and poetry of the artistic avant-gardes. Picasso, who indeed did not like having rivals, openly approved the young artist.
Lam then decides to return to his native island, Cuba. He makes a stopover in Fort-de-France where his meeting with Aimé Césaire reinforces his rejection of colonialism and slavery.
The atheist Cuban with Chinese, Congolese and Spanish ancestry will now paint the freedom of the Third World. He stages his personal surrealist world in a dense jungle which he populates with gods of weird morphology. La Jungla, 240 x 230 cm gouache made in 1943, hides four dehumanized beings in a dense pattern of sugar canes.
On June 29, 2020, Sotheby's sold for $ 9.6M Omi Obini, oil on canvas 183 x 125 cm also painted in 1943, lot 1008. The title designates the Yoruba goddess of water entrusted for fertilizing the earth. Readability is not immediate, marking the influence of analytical cubism or futurism.
In the colored jungle, some paler areas appear, constituting an ethereal humanoid form. The head is a crescent moon and it will not be known whether the figure in the foreground is a pet or a chair. Two of the berries have each a pair of eyes that are threats or reflections.
Lam then decides to return to his native island, Cuba. He makes a stopover in Fort-de-France where his meeting with Aimé Césaire reinforces his rejection of colonialism and slavery.
The atheist Cuban with Chinese, Congolese and Spanish ancestry will now paint the freedom of the Third World. He stages his personal surrealist world in a dense jungle which he populates with gods of weird morphology. La Jungla, 240 x 230 cm gouache made in 1943, hides four dehumanized beings in a dense pattern of sugar canes.
On June 29, 2020, Sotheby's sold for $ 9.6M Omi Obini, oil on canvas 183 x 125 cm also painted in 1943, lot 1008. The title designates the Yoruba goddess of water entrusted for fertilizing the earth. Readability is not immediate, marking the influence of analytical cubism or futurism.
In the colored jungle, some paler areas appear, constituting an ethereal humanoid form. The head is a crescent moon and it will not be known whether the figure in the foreground is a pet or a chair. Two of the berries have each a pair of eyes that are threats or reflections.
1943 Nature Morte by Picasso
2021 SOLD for $ 8.3M by Sotheby's
Nature morte au panier de fruits et aux fleurs is a still life in an oblique Cubist composition reminding Juan Gris. The lines are violent and the dark colors are saturated. A dramatic confrontation opposes two characters, an established basket of figs or plums firmly posed on the table and a warring flower pot which tries to raise from the table side with its leaves folded like spider legs. This oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm was sold for $ 16.6M by Sotheby's on October 23, 2021, lot 7.
Painted in September 1943, Nature morte aux fruits et au compotier is a much quieter and more classical still life proudly dominated by a daisy. This oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm was sold for $ 8.3M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on October 23, 2021, lot 9.
Painted in September 1943, Nature morte aux fruits et au compotier is a much quieter and more classical still life proudly dominated by a daisy. This oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm was sold for $ 8.3M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on October 23, 2021, lot 9.
