1971
1971 Estrangement
2019 SOLD for $ 29.5M including premium
In 1966 Peter Schlesinger is attending a drawing class in Los Angeles. For this session, the teacher is David Hockney, an eccentric Brit with a tomato red suit, cardboard glasses and a terrible Yorkshire accent. It's love at first sight.
Their life as a couple lasts several years, with social gatherings and travels. The age difference is too much and Peter needs new adventures. They start arguing.
In February 1971 the couple rents a hotel room in Marrakech. David sketches his friend, sometimes from behind, on the large sunny terrace. in the following month, back in his studio, David feels that Peter escapes him. He paints Sur la Terrasse (the title is in French), which he will finish during the summer.
Sur la Terrasse is a staging in three successive distances in the manner of Bonnard's terraces. In the background, the morning sun bathes the lush vegetation. The middle stage is the terrace on which Peter, seen from behind, is standing and looks at the garden. The foreground is the opening of the window from where we imagine that David is observing Peter.
At this time David works in the presence of Jack Hazan for preparing a biopic. The moviemaker has thus the chance to attend during the long period when the artist cannot overcome his first heartbreak. Hazan will also record in 1972 the preparation of Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) on the theme of Peter's interest in another man.
Sur la Terrasse had not been displayed to the public since 1973. This 275 x 214 cm acrylic on canvas is estimated $ 25M for sale by Christie's in New York on November 13, lot 9 B. Portrait of an artist was sold for $ 90M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2018. The biopic A Bigger Splash was released in 1974.
Their life as a couple lasts several years, with social gatherings and travels. The age difference is too much and Peter needs new adventures. They start arguing.
In February 1971 the couple rents a hotel room in Marrakech. David sketches his friend, sometimes from behind, on the large sunny terrace. in the following month, back in his studio, David feels that Peter escapes him. He paints Sur la Terrasse (the title is in French), which he will finish during the summer.
Sur la Terrasse is a staging in three successive distances in the manner of Bonnard's terraces. In the background, the morning sun bathes the lush vegetation. The middle stage is the terrace on which Peter, seen from behind, is standing and looks at the garden. The foreground is the opening of the window from where we imagine that David is observing Peter.
At this time David works in the presence of Jack Hazan for preparing a biopic. The moviemaker has thus the chance to attend during the long period when the artist cannot overcome his first heartbreak. Hazan will also record in 1972 the preparation of Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) on the theme of Peter's interest in another man.
Sur la Terrasse had not been displayed to the public since 1973. This 275 x 214 cm acrylic on canvas is estimated $ 25M for sale by Christie's in New York on November 13, lot 9 B. Portrait of an artist was sold for $ 90M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2018. The biopic A Bigger Splash was released in 1974.
1971 Twombly blurs his own Message
2015 SOLD for $ 17.5M including premium
From 1966 to 1970 in his series of Blackboards inspired from the action painting, Cy Twombly had gone to meet the roots and mechanisms of semiotic and graphic communication, beyond the invention of writing.
This break into reflex and subconscious is no longer sufficient. He had lost through his practice in New York the empathy which he maintained in Rome with the emotions from all periods. He then performs a synthesis between the Blackboard and the antique graffiti, altogether reintroducing color which is an improvement and erasing which is a decay.
On November 10, 2004, Christie's sold for $ 5.4 million including premium an oil, wax crayon and graphite on canvas 161 x 195 cm made in Rome in January 1971. The entangled loops in shades of gray are structured in wide lines such as in the blackboards of the previous years, but the clarity of the line is erased over the entire length while the regions empty of proto-writing remain intact.
On November 10 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 17B a canvas 148 x 196 cm painted in similar technique, also dated 1971 but not located. This work certainly subsequent to the example discussed above is a very rare and stunning example of the annihilation by the artist of his own process before he redirects his art to other topics. The estimate is not published.
The oblique and multicolored proto-message is here is a broad line running across the picture from left to right. It has become virtually imperceptible by the domination of a network of colored lines, launched as a waterfall on the entire available surface with the exception of a reserve at the top left corner.
Several years before, at the time of his pornographic inspiration, the Roman waterfall was one of the favorite themes of the artist. It was a flow that looked homogeneous but actually consisted of a texture of multiple graffiti.
This break into reflex and subconscious is no longer sufficient. He had lost through his practice in New York the empathy which he maintained in Rome with the emotions from all periods. He then performs a synthesis between the Blackboard and the antique graffiti, altogether reintroducing color which is an improvement and erasing which is a decay.
On November 10, 2004, Christie's sold for $ 5.4 million including premium an oil, wax crayon and graphite on canvas 161 x 195 cm made in Rome in January 1971. The entangled loops in shades of gray are structured in wide lines such as in the blackboards of the previous years, but the clarity of the line is erased over the entire length while the regions empty of proto-writing remain intact.
On November 10 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 17B a canvas 148 x 196 cm painted in similar technique, also dated 1971 but not located. This work certainly subsequent to the example discussed above is a very rare and stunning example of the annihilation by the artist of his own process before he redirects his art to other topics. The estimate is not published.
The oblique and multicolored proto-message is here is a broad line running across the picture from left to right. It has become virtually imperceptible by the domination of a network of colored lines, launched as a waterfall on the entire available surface with the exception of a reserve at the top left corner.
Several years before, at the time of his pornographic inspiration, the Roman waterfall was one of the favorite themes of the artist. It was a flow that looked homogeneous but actually consisted of a texture of multiple graffiti.
1971 Ocean Park 48 by Diebenkorn
2012 SOLD for $ 13.5M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1971 The Mental Landscape of Joan Mitchell
2019 SOLD for $ 13.3M including premium
New York City did not suit the creativity of Jackson Pollock. It is the same for Joan Mitchell in Paris where she set up her studio in 1959. Yet she develops an original style based on the centrifugal explosion of bright colors on a white background, which ensures her fame.
She reacts in 1964. Her art is too violent. By exploiting her own anger, she forgets her main theme which is the expression of the colors of nature. The title, sometimes topographical, barely guides the viewer to understand what she wanted to do.
She finds the solution in 1968 by settling in Vétheuil, this village on a bend of the Seine where Monet had lived before Giverny. Her workshop in an old farm building enables to increase the width of the paintings while maintaining the towering height that had been her specialty in Paris.
Her style changes totally. The surface is completely filled. The endless ground is composed of blocks as if seen from the air, with shimmering colors that express the various crops. She does not want to copy a landscape but to express her feeling. Paradoxically, she finds in Vétheuil the memory of the unlimited cornfields of her childhood between Saskatchewan and the Great Lakes.
Blueberry, oil on canvas 200 x 150 cm painted in 1969, already announces this transition. It was sold for $ 16.6M including premium by Christie's on May 17, 2018 over a lower estimate of $ 5M.
Plowed Field, painted in 1971, is a culmination of this phase of meditative tranquility, with a great diversity of warm colors in the blocks that simulate the imaginary fields. This triptych of oils on canvas of total size 285 x 540 cm is estimated $ 12M for sale by Christie's in New York on November 13, lot 25 B.
She reacts in 1964. Her art is too violent. By exploiting her own anger, she forgets her main theme which is the expression of the colors of nature. The title, sometimes topographical, barely guides the viewer to understand what she wanted to do.
She finds the solution in 1968 by settling in Vétheuil, this village on a bend of the Seine where Monet had lived before Giverny. Her workshop in an old farm building enables to increase the width of the paintings while maintaining the towering height that had been her specialty in Paris.
Her style changes totally. The surface is completely filled. The endless ground is composed of blocks as if seen from the air, with shimmering colors that express the various crops. She does not want to copy a landscape but to express her feeling. Paradoxically, she finds in Vétheuil the memory of the unlimited cornfields of her childhood between Saskatchewan and the Great Lakes.
Blueberry, oil on canvas 200 x 150 cm painted in 1969, already announces this transition. It was sold for $ 16.6M including premium by Christie's on May 17, 2018 over a lower estimate of $ 5M.
Plowed Field, painted in 1971, is a culmination of this phase of meditative tranquility, with a great diversity of warm colors in the blocks that simulate the imaginary fields. This triptych of oils on canvas of total size 285 x 540 cm is estimated $ 12M for sale by Christie's in New York on November 13, lot 25 B.
1971 The Blue Universe of Kim Whanki
2019 SOLD for HK$ 102M including premium
After the Korean War, Kim Whanki manages to create a synthesis between avant-garde art and the traditions of his country. In Paris from 1956 to 1959, he appreciates that the diversification of materials allows new pictorial effects. He moves permanently to New York in 1963.
His schematized figurative art is progressively immersed in flat areas of a single color with different shades of density. The blue of sky and sea is his favorite color. Influenced by the art of Barnett Newman, he abandons any figurative reference in 1970 and uses increasing formats.
He wants to express after Newman the basic forces that confront each other in the universe, but without losing sight from Asian concepts such as yin and yang. Like with Yayoi Kusama, the field seems to be spreading beyond the frame. He admires Rothko and brings fine variations within his apparent monochrome.
His works are now patterns of dots that shine on a background of the same color with a painstaking geometric regularity. It is in this phase that Kim Whanki becomes a direct precursor of dansaekhwa, the Korean abstract art movement that will be created in 1975, a year after his untimely death.
Kim Whanki's main works are defined by a serial number and a date. He does not forget the sun. 12-V-70 # 172, 173 x 200 cm, consists of yellow dots on a yellow background. It was sold in November 2016 by Seoul Auction for 4.6 billion won including premium, worth $ 5.4 million at that time.
Artworks that represent an achievement in Kim Whanki's mystical approach have a title. On November 23 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells the most ambitious, Universe, 05-IV-71 # 200 consisting of cobalt blue dots on a dark blue background, lot 17 estimated HK $ 48M.
This oil on cotton is the only diptych and the largest opus of the series, of overall dimension 254 x 254 cm. It is also the only work based on concentric geometries : each element is built on an endless spiral, thus simulating twice the forces of the starry sky.
19-VII-71 # 209 is a pattern of dots in oblique lines, with a technique and shades of blue similar to # 200. This painting 253 x 202 cm was sold for HK $ 31M before fees by Seoul Auction on October 5, 2015.
His schematized figurative art is progressively immersed in flat areas of a single color with different shades of density. The blue of sky and sea is his favorite color. Influenced by the art of Barnett Newman, he abandons any figurative reference in 1970 and uses increasing formats.
He wants to express after Newman the basic forces that confront each other in the universe, but without losing sight from Asian concepts such as yin and yang. Like with Yayoi Kusama, the field seems to be spreading beyond the frame. He admires Rothko and brings fine variations within his apparent monochrome.
His works are now patterns of dots that shine on a background of the same color with a painstaking geometric regularity. It is in this phase that Kim Whanki becomes a direct precursor of dansaekhwa, the Korean abstract art movement that will be created in 1975, a year after his untimely death.
Kim Whanki's main works are defined by a serial number and a date. He does not forget the sun. 12-V-70 # 172, 173 x 200 cm, consists of yellow dots on a yellow background. It was sold in November 2016 by Seoul Auction for 4.6 billion won including premium, worth $ 5.4 million at that time.
Artworks that represent an achievement in Kim Whanki's mystical approach have a title. On November 23 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells the most ambitious, Universe, 05-IV-71 # 200 consisting of cobalt blue dots on a dark blue background, lot 17 estimated HK $ 48M.
This oil on cotton is the only diptych and the largest opus of the series, of overall dimension 254 x 254 cm. It is also the only work based on concentric geometries : each element is built on an endless spiral, thus simulating twice the forces of the starry sky.
19-VII-71 # 209 is a pattern of dots in oblique lines, with a technique and shades of blue similar to # 200. This painting 253 x 202 cm was sold for HK $ 31M before fees by Seoul Auction on October 5, 2015.
1971 Amityville by de Kooning
2018 SOLD for $ 11.6M including premium by Sotheby's
Link to catalogue.
1971 An Artist within the Cultural Revolution
2013 SOLD 80 MHK$ including premium
In 1971, the Chinese Cultural Revolution lasted since five years and Chen Yifei was 25. For a young painter, the glorification of the hero is the only possible topic. Chen is one of the most talented artists of his generation : he will not miss it.
His mentors are Soviet Russian, and the influence of Korzhev on Chen is certain. For both artists, the communist flag plays an essential role in the represented theme.
Red Flag is a diptych painted by Chen in 1971 and 1972. One of the elements shows young soldiers in battle, heavily armed. They are active and motivated. This oil on canvas, 300 x 159 cm, numbered Red Flag 1, is estimated HK $ 45M , for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5.
The diptych was separated. Red Flag 2, kept in the Museum of Shanghai, is a lighter composition showing students justifying the intellectual legitimacy of the revolution.
In fact, the transition to modern Chinese painting has begun. Traditionalists resent seeing their young soldiers in battle and not in the glory of a victory already achieved.
Red Flag 1 is an important work in the period of military art from Chen's youth, altogether romantic, realistic and Soviet. For a Western observer, it is indeed a discovery. Freed from the Cultural Revolution, Chen will reach his glory by continuing to stage the young people of his time, but the violin will then supersede the machine gun .
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The importance of this painting was correctly analyzed by Sotheby's. It was sold for HK $ 80 million including premium, beyond its higher estimate.
His mentors are Soviet Russian, and the influence of Korzhev on Chen is certain. For both artists, the communist flag plays an essential role in the represented theme.
Red Flag is a diptych painted by Chen in 1971 and 1972. One of the elements shows young soldiers in battle, heavily armed. They are active and motivated. This oil on canvas, 300 x 159 cm, numbered Red Flag 1, is estimated HK $ 45M , for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5.
The diptych was separated. Red Flag 2, kept in the Museum of Shanghai, is a lighter composition showing students justifying the intellectual legitimacy of the revolution.
In fact, the transition to modern Chinese painting has begun. Traditionalists resent seeing their young soldiers in battle and not in the glory of a victory already achieved.
Red Flag 1 is an important work in the period of military art from Chen's youth, altogether romantic, realistic and Soviet. For a Western observer, it is indeed a discovery. Freed from the Cultural Revolution, Chen will reach his glory by continuing to stage the young people of his time, but the violin will then supersede the machine gun .
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The importance of this painting was correctly analyzed by Sotheby's. It was sold for HK $ 80 million including premium, beyond its higher estimate.
1971 One of the latest Large Size Paintings by Picasso
2009 SOLD 7.7 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Until the end of his long life, Picasso was an inventive and prolific painter. The number of times he changed his style completely over the seven decades of his career is remarkable, and it was always successful.
Painted on 26 August 1971, two months before he celebrated his 90th birthday, "la Femme au Chapeau" (Woman with Hat) is typical of compositions from that time, very colorful, with deformities of the face that meet the cubist tradition. The dominating look of the sitter makes it close from the series of musketeers, from the same period.
This painting is particularly interesting because, with its 1.80 m high, it is undoubtedly the largest of the latest paintings by Picasso. It is the first lot announced by Christie's for the evening sale of impressionist and modern art, on May 6 in New York.
The estimated $ 8 million seems reasonable. Christie's reminds us that they have sold around $ 15 million in 2007 two portraits made a few years before this one, one showing a man with a pipe, and the other a musketeer with a nude.
POST SALE COMMENT
There were two later paintings by Picasso in this sale. Both have been sold around the estimate.
A little lower than the estimate for the Femme au Chapeau, which was the subject of our discussion: $ 7.7 million including expenses.
A little higher than the estimated $ 12 million for a Mousquetaire à la Pipe, 1968, 146 x 89 cm: $ 14.6 million including expenses.
Until the end of his long life, Picasso was an inventive and prolific painter. The number of times he changed his style completely over the seven decades of his career is remarkable, and it was always successful.
Painted on 26 August 1971, two months before he celebrated his 90th birthday, "la Femme au Chapeau" (Woman with Hat) is typical of compositions from that time, very colorful, with deformities of the face that meet the cubist tradition. The dominating look of the sitter makes it close from the series of musketeers, from the same period.
This painting is particularly interesting because, with its 1.80 m high, it is undoubtedly the largest of the latest paintings by Picasso. It is the first lot announced by Christie's for the evening sale of impressionist and modern art, on May 6 in New York.
The estimated $ 8 million seems reasonable. Christie's reminds us that they have sold around $ 15 million in 2007 two portraits made a few years before this one, one showing a man with a pipe, and the other a musketeer with a nude.
POST SALE COMMENT
There were two later paintings by Picasso in this sale. Both have been sold around the estimate.
A little lower than the estimate for the Femme au Chapeau, which was the subject of our discussion: $ 7.7 million including expenses.
A little higher than the estimated $ 12 million for a Mousquetaire à la Pipe, 1968, 146 x 89 cm: $ 14.6 million including expenses.
1971 Korean Abstraction
2015 SOLD for HK$ 31M before fees
The art of Kim Whanki was initially positioned at the extreme border between abstraction and figuration, inviting the viewer to recognize stylized forms. By opting later for a total abstraction, the artist offers a synthesis of Western art and of Korean sensitivity.
Kim Whanki retained the expressive force of minimalism and the traditional Korean taste for pointillism. Working in New York since 1963, he can at last devote himself to his art. The titles of his works evoking air, sound, quietness, cosmos, finally forgetting the anguish from the Korean War, strengthen the comparison with Zen art. He is a contemporary of VS Gaitonde and Agnes Martin.
Kim Whanki is a continual experimenter. To achieve his dot paintings of the early 1970s, he uses the absorption of color in the interstices of the fabric, so obtaining a homogeneous effect over a large area.
On October 5 in Hong Kong, Seoul Auction sells a dot painting 253 x 202 cm made in 1971, lot 44 estimated HK $ 20M. This artwork has no other title than its date but makes us penetrating with the manner of abstract expressionism into the heart of a nebula of stars. A detail is shown in the release shared by Blouin Artinfo.
The premature death of Kim Whanki in 1974 has certainly prevented the artist to be recognized as one of the most genuine creators of modern abstraction in the experimental path opened by Burri and Klein.
Kim Whanki retained the expressive force of minimalism and the traditional Korean taste for pointillism. Working in New York since 1963, he can at last devote himself to his art. The titles of his works evoking air, sound, quietness, cosmos, finally forgetting the anguish from the Korean War, strengthen the comparison with Zen art. He is a contemporary of VS Gaitonde and Agnes Martin.
Kim Whanki is a continual experimenter. To achieve his dot paintings of the early 1970s, he uses the absorption of color in the interstices of the fabric, so obtaining a homogeneous effect over a large area.
On October 5 in Hong Kong, Seoul Auction sells a dot painting 253 x 202 cm made in 1971, lot 44 estimated HK $ 20M. This artwork has no other title than its date but makes us penetrating with the manner of abstract expressionism into the heart of a nebula of stars. A detail is shown in the release shared by Blouin Artinfo.
The premature death of Kim Whanki in 1974 has certainly prevented the artist to be recognized as one of the most genuine creators of modern abstraction in the experimental path opened by Burri and Klein.
1971 Lamborghini Miura SV Speciale
2020 SOLD for £ 3.2M including premium by Gooding
narrated in 2015 before the sale of a Miura SVJ by RM Auctions (see below)
Ferruccio Lamborghini, an industrialist specializing in tractors, had a passion for fine automobiles. When he launched his business into the latter specialty, he voluntarily went opposite to the strategy of the major manufacturers : Lamborghini sports cars will be perfect, using techniques similar to racing cars, but will remain road vehicles without specific adaptation to track racing.
The Lamborghini Miura is a masterpiece by the coachbuilder Bertone. When the prototype was released in 1965, it was the precursor of the current era of supercars. The prestige of the new brand was immediate.
Lamborghini developed in 1970 a high-end variant, the Miura SV, meaning Super Veloce and so clearly identifying which market was targeted.
The boss accepted the SVJ project of a competition variant of the SV. His intention concerning the SVJ was probably to test new solutions which can then be reused in later high-end road cars. When the SV is released in 1971, Lamborghini requires the destruction of the only SVJ prototype. The car escaped the sentence but was destroyed in an accident shortly after.
Discretion was not total, and the SVJ had created some desires. For three years, Lamborghini accepted exceptionally to transform some SV cars into the SVJ configuration. The population of this ultimate Miura does not exceed seven vehicles.
A 1971 Miura SV factory converted in SVJ was sold for $ 1.9M including premium by RM Auctions on January 15, 2015. An SV Speciale with the lubrication and the differential of the SVJ was sold for £ 3.2M including premium by Gooding on September 5, 2020, lot 2 (auction postponed from April 1). Here is the link to the pre sale press release.
The Lamborghini Miura is a masterpiece by the coachbuilder Bertone. When the prototype was released in 1965, it was the precursor of the current era of supercars. The prestige of the new brand was immediate.
Lamborghini developed in 1970 a high-end variant, the Miura SV, meaning Super Veloce and so clearly identifying which market was targeted.
The boss accepted the SVJ project of a competition variant of the SV. His intention concerning the SVJ was probably to test new solutions which can then be reused in later high-end road cars. When the SV is released in 1971, Lamborghini requires the destruction of the only SVJ prototype. The car escaped the sentence but was destroyed in an accident shortly after.
Discretion was not total, and the SVJ had created some desires. For three years, Lamborghini accepted exceptionally to transform some SV cars into the SVJ configuration. The population of this ultimate Miura does not exceed seven vehicles.
A 1971 Miura SV factory converted in SVJ was sold for $ 1.9M including premium by RM Auctions on January 15, 2015. An SV Speciale with the lubrication and the differential of the SVJ was sold for £ 3.2M including premium by Gooding on September 5, 2020, lot 2 (auction postponed from April 1). Here is the link to the pre sale press release.
1971-1972 The Sharp Angles of the Boomerang
2015 SOLD for € 3.3M including premium
From his early career, Giorgetto Giugiaro introduced sharp angles in car bodies. Employed by Bertone and afterward by Ghia, he worked on many brands and continued with the same diversity after he created his own company Italdesign in 1968.
In 1971 Italdesign draws for Citroën the body of the Maserati Bora. Giugiaro takes a chassis without engine to assemble a futuristic body known as the Maserati Boomerang. The concept car is on display at the 1971 auto show in Turin.
This car is created to dream. Maserati apparently did not intend to build further copies but made the effort in 1972 to make functional the unique Boomerang concept car. A major achievement was reached in 2003 when a new owner commissioned the changes required to its registration for French roads, still valid today.
The Maserati Boomerang is for sale by Bonhams in Chantilly on September 5, lot 11.
This low and tapered coupé is still highly futuristic 44 years after its conception. It recently participated in several concours d'elegance where it is hard to overcome. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house. It has a dedicated page in Wikipedia.
Here is the image shared by Herranderssvensson (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
In 1971 Italdesign draws for Citroën the body of the Maserati Bora. Giugiaro takes a chassis without engine to assemble a futuristic body known as the Maserati Boomerang. The concept car is on display at the 1971 auto show in Turin.
This car is created to dream. Maserati apparently did not intend to build further copies but made the effort in 1972 to make functional the unique Boomerang concept car. A major achievement was reached in 2003 when a new owner commissioned the changes required to its registration for French roads, still valid today.
The Maserati Boomerang is for sale by Bonhams in Chantilly on September 5, lot 11.
This low and tapered coupé is still highly futuristic 44 years after its conception. It recently participated in several concours d'elegance where it is hard to overcome. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house. It has a dedicated page in Wikipedia.
Here is the image shared by Herranderssvensson (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
1971 A Perfect 2499
2017 SOLD for CHF 2.8M including premium
On November 12 in Geneva, Phillips sells as lot 187 a highly desirable Patek Philippe wristwatch estimated CHF 1.5M : high-end model, prestigious metal, pristine condition, variant in the dial.
Introduced in 1941 with reference 1518, the perpetual calendar chronograph is a useful complication that meets the expectations of wealthy users. The great success of this combination continued up to current day with new references among which the 2499 lasted 34 years from 1951 to 1985. The later references are 3970, 5970 and 5270.
The piece that comes for sale is a watch from the third series of the model 2499 for which an advance was made in the elegance of the dial, with the marks of the seconds pushed away to the periphery. With this series the baton marks sometimes applied on the previous series for the hours are systematically replacing the Arabic numerals.
This watch features a variant in the dial which is exceptionally rare including a simplification of the batons plus pretty arrows at 3, 5, 7 and 9 o'clock where the full length of the baton should come in conflict with the position of the sub-dials.
It is one of only six known in pink gold from the third series. The pink gold is particularly sought after by collectors of this model. Reminding two prices for the first series : CHF 3.2M including premium by Antiquorum in October 2002 (at that time the Swiss franc was less expensive than today) and CHF 2.63M including premium by Christie's on November 9, 2014.
Made in 1971 the watch for the next sale has been preserved for almost half a century in a sensational mint condition.
Introduced in 1941 with reference 1518, the perpetual calendar chronograph is a useful complication that meets the expectations of wealthy users. The great success of this combination continued up to current day with new references among which the 2499 lasted 34 years from 1951 to 1985. The later references are 3970, 5970 and 5270.
The piece that comes for sale is a watch from the third series of the model 2499 for which an advance was made in the elegance of the dial, with the marks of the seconds pushed away to the periphery. With this series the baton marks sometimes applied on the previous series for the hours are systematically replacing the Arabic numerals.
This watch features a variant in the dial which is exceptionally rare including a simplification of the batons plus pretty arrows at 3, 5, 7 and 9 o'clock where the full length of the baton should come in conflict with the position of the sub-dials.
It is one of only six known in pink gold from the third series. The pink gold is particularly sought after by collectors of this model. Reminding two prices for the first series : CHF 3.2M including premium by Antiquorum in October 2002 (at that time the Swiss franc was less expensive than today) and CHF 2.63M including premium by Christie's on November 9, 2014.
Made in 1971 the watch for the next sale has been preserved for almost half a century in a sensational mint condition.
