Children
Not including Madonna and Child
See also : Top 10 Painting Art on paper Rockwell Nude French sculpture Van Gogh Gauguin Picasso Picasso 1900-1930 Picasso 1940-60 Italy Modigliani Eastern Europe Japan and Korea Flowers Music and dance
Chronology : 1870-1879 1889 20th century 1900-1909 1905 1918 1919 1927 1939 1950 1951 2000-2009 2000
See also : Top 10 Painting Art on paper Rockwell Nude French sculpture Van Gogh Gauguin Picasso Picasso 1900-1930 Picasso 1940-60 Italy Modigliani Eastern Europe Japan and Korea Flowers Music and dance
Chronology : 1870-1879 1889 20th century 1900-1909 1905 1918 1919 1927 1939 1950 1951 2000-2009 2000
1879 Danseuse au Repos, pastel by Degas
2008 SOLD 37 M$ including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
Degas became interested in the world of dance at the instigation of his friend Ludovic Halévy. In 1875 the inauguration of the Paris Opera at the Palais Garnier opened a new phase in his life and in his art. He attends the performances that take place three times a week, and his subscription allows an unlimited access behind the scenes.
The "petits rats" are of great interest to him. These very young women do not have that need for sexual activity which masks the psychological authenticity of the prostitutes. Their lives are exhausting, in training and on stage, but the glory may reward their efforts.
Degas did not rule out any technique. In 1875 he was seduced by the use of pastel enhanced with gouache on paper. Unlike oil and watercolor, this opaque material very easily allows the many reworks desired by the artist throughout the execution of an artwork.
In 1880 at the 5th impressionist exhibition, Degas displays a pastel and gouache 46 x 67 cm titled Deux danseuses, probably made in 1879. After an exhausting exercise, two ballerinas in tutu are seated side by side on a bench. They ignore each other, only trying to catch their breath, the body leaning forward.
The artist painted in the same technique another work, 59 x 64 cm, titled Danseuse au repos. It was sold for $ 37M including premium by Sotheby's on November 3, 2008, lot 14.
The girl on the right side in Deux Danseuses is in exactly the same attitude as before, with the left hand massaging the painful ankle and the other hand resting on the other knee. With her frail limbs and her upturned nose, this young woman has a resemblance to Marie, the model of the sculpture titled Petite danseuse de quatorze ans made by Degas around the same time. In a bold composition as Degas liked, her partner is almost entirely out of field
The "petits rats" are of great interest to him. These very young women do not have that need for sexual activity which masks the psychological authenticity of the prostitutes. Their lives are exhausting, in training and on stage, but the glory may reward their efforts.
Degas did not rule out any technique. In 1875 he was seduced by the use of pastel enhanced with gouache on paper. Unlike oil and watercolor, this opaque material very easily allows the many reworks desired by the artist throughout the execution of an artwork.
In 1880 at the 5th impressionist exhibition, Degas displays a pastel and gouache 46 x 67 cm titled Deux danseuses, probably made in 1879. After an exhausting exercise, two ballerinas in tutu are seated side by side on a bench. They ignore each other, only trying to catch their breath, the body leaning forward.
The artist painted in the same technique another work, 59 x 64 cm, titled Danseuse au repos. It was sold for $ 37M including premium by Sotheby's on November 3, 2008, lot 14.
The girl on the right side in Deux Danseuses is in exactly the same attitude as before, with the left hand massaging the painful ankle and the other hand resting on the other knee. With her frail limbs and her upturned nose, this young woman has a resemblance to Marie, the model of the sculpture titled Petite danseuse de quatorze ans made by Degas around the same time. In a bold composition as Degas liked, her partner is almost entirely out of field
1888 Pissarro playing with Fire
2020 SOLD for £ 13.3M including premium
Camille Pissarro could be considered as the ultimate guarantor of the impressionist movement. He is the only artist whose paintings have been included in all the eight exhibitions of the group. He could just as well be considered as their gravedigger : the refusal of Monet, Sisley, Renoir and Caillebotte to participate in the last event in 1886 is by protest against the support provided by Pissarro to his new friends Seurat and Signac.
Pissarro moved away from the Paris region in 1884 to settle in Eragny-sur-Epte, near Gisors and not far from Giverny. He observes an authentic peasant life in a pleasant rural landscape. In that place, to better capture the quiet atmosphere of the countryside, he begins using divisionist techniques. Seurat is very proud of this apostasy from impressionism by one of its most famous exponents.
Divisionism, or pointillism, is a painstaking process which is hardly compatible with Pissarro's desire for spontaneity and humanism. At the time of Seurat's untimely death in 1891, he states that this technique is no longer suiting him. The hatched knife painting of Pissarro's pointillist works paves however the way for the precise and meticulous touch of the rest of his career.
Signac had managed to convince Seurat that pointillism was taking all its advantage when expressing an intense light. This remark is superbly applied by Pissarro in his painting Gelée blanche subtitled Jeune paysanne faisant du feu, oil on canvas 93 x 93 cm conceived in spring 1887 and completed in July 1888.
On a sunny winter morning, a peasant girl helped by a young boy feeds a big wood fire in a meadow. She is bent under the wind which pushes her skirt, imitating the position of the woman in Millet's Angelus like a snub from the anarchist to the religious scene of his predecessor. The warm clothes of the boy confirm a very cold weather.
The technical feat in this work is the extreme luminosity of the smoke, made up of a crossed pattern of blue hatching gradually interspersed with large white lines in a contrasting effect which provides a three-dimensional illusion.
This brilliant painting is perhaps a unique tour de force within the short pointillist period of Pissarro. It was seized in 1940 in Paris from a Jewish collector. Restituted in 2018 to his heirs after having been entrusted for eighteen years to the Musée d'Orsay, it is estimated £ 8M for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 4, lot 11.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, including a painting by Signac with the same provenance.
Pissarro moved away from the Paris region in 1884 to settle in Eragny-sur-Epte, near Gisors and not far from Giverny. He observes an authentic peasant life in a pleasant rural landscape. In that place, to better capture the quiet atmosphere of the countryside, he begins using divisionist techniques. Seurat is very proud of this apostasy from impressionism by one of its most famous exponents.
Divisionism, or pointillism, is a painstaking process which is hardly compatible with Pissarro's desire for spontaneity and humanism. At the time of Seurat's untimely death in 1891, he states that this technique is no longer suiting him. The hatched knife painting of Pissarro's pointillist works paves however the way for the precise and meticulous touch of the rest of his career.
Signac had managed to convince Seurat that pointillism was taking all its advantage when expressing an intense light. This remark is superbly applied by Pissarro in his painting Gelée blanche subtitled Jeune paysanne faisant du feu, oil on canvas 93 x 93 cm conceived in spring 1887 and completed in July 1888.
On a sunny winter morning, a peasant girl helped by a young boy feeds a big wood fire in a meadow. She is bent under the wind which pushes her skirt, imitating the position of the woman in Millet's Angelus like a snub from the anarchist to the religious scene of his predecessor. The warm clothes of the boy confirm a very cold weather.
The technical feat in this work is the extreme luminosity of the smoke, made up of a crossed pattern of blue hatching gradually interspersed with large white lines in a contrasting effect which provides a three-dimensional illusion.
This brilliant painting is perhaps a unique tour de force within the short pointillist period of Pissarro. It was seized in 1940 in Paris from a Jewish collector. Restituted in 2018 to his heirs after having been entrusted for eighteen years to the Musée d'Orsay, it is estimated £ 8M for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 4, lot 11.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, including a painting by Signac with the same provenance.
Three Impressionist masterpieces stolen by the Nazis are heading to auction: https://t.co/ZAUbpnbn4C pic.twitter.com/XiWLOK0Tef
— Artnet (@artnet) January 13, 2020
1889 Asylum and Sea
2014 SOLD 17 M£ including premium
Vincent Van Gogh is interned in the asylum at Saint-Rémy from May 1889. Between crises of madness, he maintains his ambition of being better than all the other painters.
He copies in his own style the pictures that Theo sends to him. His idea is pedagogic : assembling a wide variety of subjects in order to demonstrate the possibilities of figurative art.
In October, Vincent copies L'homme est en mer of Virginie Demont-Breton. His oil on canvas 66 x 51 cm is estimated £ 6M, lot 39 in the catalog of Sotheby's in London on February 5.
Daughter of the peasant painter Jules Breton, Virginie specialized in scenes of marine life. L'homme est en mer shows a languid young woman sitting by the fire with her baby, powerless against the dangers faced by her husband.
Vincent accurately reflects the composition but is not simply a follower of Demont-Breton. The colors are gorgeous, reinforced by the lines typical of his style through which his paintings go beyond the emotional load of impressionists and pointillists.
The outside world is prohibited to the enclosed artist. The parallel between his own distress and the anguish of the woman is probably a psychological reason that guided his choice. The reference to the sea symbolizes both freedom and danger, and the sleeping baby is leading to the future.
POST SALE COMMENT
This surprising painting by Van Gogh inspired by Demont-Breton was sold for £ 17M including premium.
The image is shared by Wikimedia :
He copies in his own style the pictures that Theo sends to him. His idea is pedagogic : assembling a wide variety of subjects in order to demonstrate the possibilities of figurative art.
In October, Vincent copies L'homme est en mer of Virginie Demont-Breton. His oil on canvas 66 x 51 cm is estimated £ 6M, lot 39 in the catalog of Sotheby's in London on February 5.
Daughter of the peasant painter Jules Breton, Virginie specialized in scenes of marine life. L'homme est en mer shows a languid young woman sitting by the fire with her baby, powerless against the dangers faced by her husband.
Vincent accurately reflects the composition but is not simply a follower of Demont-Breton. The colors are gorgeous, reinforced by the lines typical of his style through which his paintings go beyond the emotional load of impressionists and pointillists.
The outside world is prohibited to the enclosed artist. The parallel between his own distress and the anguish of the woman is probably a psychological reason that guided his choice. The reference to the sea symbolizes both freedom and danger, and the sleeping baby is leading to the future.
POST SALE COMMENT
This surprising painting by Van Gogh inspired by Demont-Breton was sold for £ 17M including premium.
The image is shared by Wikimedia :
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1899 Maternité by Gauguin
2004 SOLD for $ 39M including premium by Sotheby's
Link to catalogue.
1905 Innocent Children of the Période Rose
2018 SOLD for $ 115M including premium
Pablo Picasso is back in Paris in April 1904. Barcelona had not dissipated his morbid obsessions and he needs a restart. He installs his workshop at the Bateau-Lavoir and finally manages to create a couple, with Fernande. Gradually his painting loses its blue predominant to include warm colors like pink or orange. It is his Période Rose.
Poverty had dominated his Période Bleue. It is now replaced by the optimistic and promising theme of children ready to enter adulthood. The Garçon à la pipe, oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm painted in 1905, was sold for $ 104M including premium by Sotheby's on May 5, 2004.
Pablo mixes the innocence of the nude with the acquisition of a first job. Although the formats are very different, the Fillette à la corbeille fleurie, 155 x 66 cm painted in 1905, and the Garçon menant un cheval, 220 x 131 cm finished in 1906, appear as pendants.
The girl is standing in profile. The body is healthy, straight. The expression is rebellious without any excuse for immodesty, in a striking psychological effect : this young person has obviously been disturbed in her occupation.
During the very short Période Rose the line is delimited and effective. The figurative realism of this Fillette makes forget that nudity may not have been necessary. This artwork successively delighted Gertrude Stein and David Rockefeller. It will be sold on May 8 by Christie's in New York, lot 15.
Poverty had dominated his Période Bleue. It is now replaced by the optimistic and promising theme of children ready to enter adulthood. The Garçon à la pipe, oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm painted in 1905, was sold for $ 104M including premium by Sotheby's on May 5, 2004.
Pablo mixes the innocence of the nude with the acquisition of a first job. Although the formats are very different, the Fillette à la corbeille fleurie, 155 x 66 cm painted in 1905, and the Garçon menant un cheval, 220 x 131 cm finished in 1906, appear as pendants.
The girl is standing in profile. The body is healthy, straight. The expression is rebellious without any excuse for immodesty, in a striking psychological effect : this young person has obviously been disturbed in her occupation.
During the very short Période Rose the line is delimited and effective. The figurative realism of this Fillette makes forget that nudity may not have been necessary. This artwork successively delighted Gertrude Stein and David Rockefeller. It will be sold on May 8 by Christie's in New York, lot 15.
1905 Garçon à la Pipe by Picasso
2004 SOLD for $ 104M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
The miserability of the Période Bleue of Picasso, based on the difficult life of circus acrobats, was socially a dead end. In 1905 he reacts with new themes where the characters imagine their future without losing a stuck or surly attitude. These works include the Femme à l'éventail and two children, the Fillette à la corbeille de fleurs and the Garçon à la pipe.
La Fillette, oil on canvas 155 x 66 cm, was sold for $ 115M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2018. Le Garçon, oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm, was sold for $ 104M including premium by Sotheby's on May 5, 2004, lot 7.
The Garçon à la Pipe is a subtle blend of realism and dreamlike and, as such, will remain the archetype of the Période Rose. Dressed in blue overalls, the gloomy teenager is drawn in a fine line. The pipe marks his expectation of maturity. Picasso did not reveal his identity, because it is an allegory. He is however P'tit Louis, a boy from Montmartre who spent long hours watching the artists working at the Bateau-Lavoir.
The inspiration suddenly came to Picasso after a month of interruption of the work. In the blur of a dream, the character is positioned in front of a wallpaper with patterns of roses and wears a garland of flowers in his hair. A simultaneous use of a sharp image in a floral blur had also been attempted by Odilon Redon.
The little worker thus becomes a supernatural being. A relevant comparison was made with Verlaine's poem titled Crimen Amoris. In the dream of a delicious Orient where the seven sins supersede the five senses amidst the roses, the most handsome of the evil angels, indifferent to temptations and caresses, is a boy of sixteen who wears a crown of flowers. His ambition, annihilated at the end of the poem, was to be "the one who will create God".
La Fillette, oil on canvas 155 x 66 cm, was sold for $ 115M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2018. Le Garçon, oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm, was sold for $ 104M including premium by Sotheby's on May 5, 2004, lot 7.
The Garçon à la Pipe is a subtle blend of realism and dreamlike and, as such, will remain the archetype of the Période Rose. Dressed in blue overalls, the gloomy teenager is drawn in a fine line. The pipe marks his expectation of maturity. Picasso did not reveal his identity, because it is an allegory. He is however P'tit Louis, a boy from Montmartre who spent long hours watching the artists working at the Bateau-Lavoir.
The inspiration suddenly came to Picasso after a month of interruption of the work. In the blur of a dream, the character is positioned in front of a wallpaper with patterns of roses and wears a garland of flowers in his hair. A simultaneous use of a sharp image in a floral blur had also been attempted by Odilon Redon.
The little worker thus becomes a supernatural being. A relevant comparison was made with Verlaine's poem titled Crimen Amoris. In the dream of a delicious Orient where the seven sins supersede the five senses amidst the roses, the most handsome of the evil angels, indifferent to temptations and caresses, is a boy of sixteen who wears a crown of flowers. His ambition, annihilated at the end of the poem, was to be "the one who will create God".
1918 Le Fils du Concierge by Modigliani
2006 SOLD for $ 31M including premium by Sotheby's
1918 Children in the French Riviera
2019 SOLD for £ 18.4M including premium
It is war, and life in Paris becomes difficult. Zborowski decides to look for new customers in the Côte d'Azur. From April 1918 to May 1919, Modigliani and Jeanne accompany Zbo and his wife, sharing their time between Nice and Cagnes.
Compared to Montparnasse, the circle of friends is smaller. Zbo no longer tries the experience of the nude, which had caused a scandal in December 1917 at the Berthe Weill gallery and had been a commercial failure. Amedeo begins to paint gentle portraits of children and adolescents. Zbo encourages him or at least lets him do it.
With these young people, all of them belonging to the popular classes, Amedeo seeks once again to sort some ideal mankind. As in his sculpted heads in 1911, each opus is different. The series includes several repetitive features, partially following the model of the Garçon au gilet rouge painted by Cézanne thirty years earlier.
The child is seen from the front, sitting with his hands crossed on his lap. Modigliani has not yet solved the issue of the eyes : the gaze is blank, giving an impression of quiet waiting while the painter is at work. The head is most often leaning to the side, bringing the expression of a confident intimacy. The shape of the eyebrows, ears, chin is enough to differentiate the child. The hairstyle and clothes are not standardized.
On June 19 in London, Sotheby's sells the portrait of an unidentified young boy, lot 8 estimated £ 16M. This oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm was painted in 1918. Sold by Zbo in 1927, it had never reappeared and was only illustrated by black and white photos. Its splendid range of warm colors was not known.
Le Fils du Concierge, painted in Cagnes in 1918 in the same format, was sold for $ 31M including premium by Sotheby's on November 7, 2006. Jeune homme roux assis, 100 x 65 cm, sold for $ 17.6M including premium by Christie's on May 6, 2014, was made in 1919 : the eyes filled in sky blue are a characteristic of the ultimate portraits painted by Amedeo.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Compared to Montparnasse, the circle of friends is smaller. Zbo no longer tries the experience of the nude, which had caused a scandal in December 1917 at the Berthe Weill gallery and had been a commercial failure. Amedeo begins to paint gentle portraits of children and adolescents. Zbo encourages him or at least lets him do it.
With these young people, all of them belonging to the popular classes, Amedeo seeks once again to sort some ideal mankind. As in his sculpted heads in 1911, each opus is different. The series includes several repetitive features, partially following the model of the Garçon au gilet rouge painted by Cézanne thirty years earlier.
The child is seen from the front, sitting with his hands crossed on his lap. Modigliani has not yet solved the issue of the eyes : the gaze is blank, giving an impression of quiet waiting while the painter is at work. The head is most often leaning to the side, bringing the expression of a confident intimacy. The shape of the eyebrows, ears, chin is enough to differentiate the child. The hairstyle and clothes are not standardized.
On June 19 in London, Sotheby's sells the portrait of an unidentified young boy, lot 8 estimated £ 16M. This oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm was painted in 1918. Sold by Zbo in 1927, it had never reappeared and was only illustrated by black and white photos. Its splendid range of warm colors was not known.
Le Fils du Concierge, painted in Cagnes in 1918 in the same format, was sold for $ 31M including premium by Sotheby's on November 7, 2006. Jeune homme roux assis, 100 x 65 cm, sold for $ 17.6M including premium by Christie's on May 6, 2014, was made in 1919 : the eyes filled in sky blue are a characteristic of the ultimate portraits painted by Amedeo.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
#AuctionUpdate Amedeo Modigliani’s sublime portrait of an anonymous youth from 1918 sells for £18.4 million. This exceptionally rare work had been in the same family collection since first acquired by Modigliani’s dealer in 1927 pic.twitter.com/8hVsSidCGj
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) June 19, 2019
1919 Portraits in Montparnasse
2015 SOLD for $ 43M including premium
Amedeo Modigliani came back from Nice to Paris in May 1919 with Jeanne and their baby Giovanna. Helped by Zborowski, he set up his studio rue de la Grande Chaumière. Peace had returned and a period of great creativity begins for the artist.
Since he had to give up sculpture because of his failing health, Amedeo is primarily a portrait painter. His models are the people around him in the art world of Montparnasse and humble fellows who cannot be his customers. His paintings are difficult to sell.
The portraits of seated models at the Grande Chaumière are set up similarly with small variations in the position of the hands and the orientation of the head. The format of the canvas increases, close to life size. Amedeo also works on the harmony of rare colors.
When Paulette Jourdain arrives at Montparnasse, she is a still a child at only 15 years old. She obtains to work for Zborowski. She is the last model of Amedeo in 1919. Her portrait, oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm, is for sale at Sotheby's in New York on November 4, lot 12T. The estimate beyond $ 25M was announced in the press release of 4 September.
The search for expression is dominant over realism with two signature innovations in Amedeo's art : a tall neck creating a neat distance between head and body and the eyes completely filled in blue that announce surrealism and are certainly a proof of kindness of the artist for his model. A blue eyed portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne with Hat, oil on canvas 92 x 54 cm, was sold for £ 27M including premium by Christie's on February 6, 2013.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's. The image is shared by WikiArt.
Since he had to give up sculpture because of his failing health, Amedeo is primarily a portrait painter. His models are the people around him in the art world of Montparnasse and humble fellows who cannot be his customers. His paintings are difficult to sell.
The portraits of seated models at the Grande Chaumière are set up similarly with small variations in the position of the hands and the orientation of the head. The format of the canvas increases, close to life size. Amedeo also works on the harmony of rare colors.
When Paulette Jourdain arrives at Montparnasse, she is a still a child at only 15 years old. She obtains to work for Zborowski. She is the last model of Amedeo in 1919. Her portrait, oil on canvas 100 x 65 cm, is for sale at Sotheby's in New York on November 4, lot 12T. The estimate beyond $ 25M was announced in the press release of 4 September.
The search for expression is dominant over realism with two signature innovations in Amedeo's art : a tall neck creating a neat distance between head and body and the eyes completely filled in blue that announce surrealism and are certainly a proof of kindness of the artist for his model. A blue eyed portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne with Hat, oil on canvas 92 x 54 cm, was sold for £ 27M including premium by Christie's on February 6, 2013.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's. The image is shared by WikiArt.
(1879-1881) > 1922 Study for a Rat d'Opéra
2015 SOLD for £ 15.8M including premium
Petite danseuse de quatorze ans is a sculpture by Degas edited posthumously by Hébrard in bronze with muslin skirt and satin hair ribbon.
A copy from this edition was sold for £ 13.3M including premium by Sotheby's on February 3, 2009.
Another copy was sold for £ 7M before fees by Sotheby's on June 27, 2000. It was a star lot at Christie's on November 1, 2011 but could not reach its very expensive estimate. It comes back to Sotheby's in London on June 24, lot 14 more reasonably estimated £ 10M.
I republish below my 2011 discussion :
Original artist with an uneasy temper, Edgar Degas was one of the most innovative graphic artists of the nineteenth century. He knew that he was close to the Impressionists and appreciated their rejection of classicism. His own creative process was very complex, as shown in the example below.
In 1879, Marie draws the attention of the artist. Aged 14, this "petit rat d'Opéra" is an ungrateful teenager, far from physiological maturity, with awkward gestures, but already attracted to her future career as a dancer (which ended before it was to start when she was fired from the dance school for repeated absences).
Degas was a painter, draftsman, sculptor, photographer, printer, but his great art was oil and pastel. He used drawing and sculpture like sketches.
On his first sculpture of Marie, 74 cm high, the girl is naked. This makes sense since the artist wants to study the movements of her body. This is not enough for him. He realized another larger statue in painted wax, a little over 1 m, in the same position, with the unconventional idea to equip it with a dancing dress in cloth.
After much hesitation, Degas shows his Petite danseuse de quatorze ans at the Impressionist exhibition of 1881. After this unique event and until his death in 1917, no sculpture of the master will be exhibited.
Degas considered that his waxes were too fragile for preparing bronze casts. From 1922 to 1938, Hébrard can now publish the sculptures found in Degas's studio. By its realism that does not reject ugliness, the Petite danseuse will be considered as a key work of modern sculpture.
I invite you to watch the video shared in 2015 by Sotheby's :
A copy from this edition was sold for £ 13.3M including premium by Sotheby's on February 3, 2009.
Another copy was sold for £ 7M before fees by Sotheby's on June 27, 2000. It was a star lot at Christie's on November 1, 2011 but could not reach its very expensive estimate. It comes back to Sotheby's in London on June 24, lot 14 more reasonably estimated £ 10M.
I republish below my 2011 discussion :
Original artist with an uneasy temper, Edgar Degas was one of the most innovative graphic artists of the nineteenth century. He knew that he was close to the Impressionists and appreciated their rejection of classicism. His own creative process was very complex, as shown in the example below.
In 1879, Marie draws the attention of the artist. Aged 14, this "petit rat d'Opéra" is an ungrateful teenager, far from physiological maturity, with awkward gestures, but already attracted to her future career as a dancer (which ended before it was to start when she was fired from the dance school for repeated absences).
Degas was a painter, draftsman, sculptor, photographer, printer, but his great art was oil and pastel. He used drawing and sculpture like sketches.
On his first sculpture of Marie, 74 cm high, the girl is naked. This makes sense since the artist wants to study the movements of her body. This is not enough for him. He realized another larger statue in painted wax, a little over 1 m, in the same position, with the unconventional idea to equip it with a dancing dress in cloth.
After much hesitation, Degas shows his Petite danseuse de quatorze ans at the Impressionist exhibition of 1881. After this unique event and until his death in 1917, no sculpture of the master will be exhibited.
Degas considered that his waxes were too fragile for preparing bronze casts. From 1922 to 1938, Hébrard can now publish the sculptures found in Degas's studio. By its realism that does not reject ugliness, the Petite danseuse will be considered as a key work of modern sculpture.
I invite you to watch the video shared in 2015 by Sotheby's :
1927 The Glory of the Pastry Cook
2013 SOLD 18 M$ including premium
The portrait of apprentice pastry cooks is a recurring theme for Soutine. These boys engaged in a job that they have not chosen are a mirror of the difficulties of his own life. These young people are already ugly and sad. Their uniform reveals their lower class profession for the service of the rich.
One of the first versions astonishes Paul Guillaume and Dr. Barnes, ensuring the lasting fame of the artist, a fame of which he so rarely profited because of his ever dissatisfied nature.
On May 8 in New York, Christie's sells the sixth and final portrait of pastry cooks, painted circa 1927. This oil on canvas, 76 x 70 cm, is extraordinary for its emotional intensity and technical quality.
The malaise of the boy is visible from his sickly eye, pouting mouth and clumsy hands clutching the hips.
The artwork is at the intersection of Modigliani's ideal compositions, Picasso's pauperism in the blue period and Monet's chromatic subtlety within the white, and of course the nervousness of the brushwork is proper to Soutine. This masterpiece is estimated $ 16M.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This engaging work is probably one of the best paintings by Soutine available on the art market. It was sold $ 18M including premium.
One of the first versions astonishes Paul Guillaume and Dr. Barnes, ensuring the lasting fame of the artist, a fame of which he so rarely profited because of his ever dissatisfied nature.
On May 8 in New York, Christie's sells the sixth and final portrait of pastry cooks, painted circa 1927. This oil on canvas, 76 x 70 cm, is extraordinary for its emotional intensity and technical quality.
The malaise of the boy is visible from his sickly eye, pouting mouth and clumsy hands clutching the hips.
The artwork is at the intersection of Modigliani's ideal compositions, Picasso's pauperism in the blue period and Monet's chromatic subtlety within the white, and of course the nervousness of the brushwork is proper to Soutine. This masterpiece is estimated $ 16M.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This engaging work is probably one of the best paintings by Soutine available on the art market. It was sold $ 18M including premium.
1939 Thérèse is growing up
2019 SOLD for $ 19M including premium
The Klossowski brothers grew up in an intellectual atmosphere. Their father was an art historian. Their mother, a pupil of Pierre Bonnard, became the lover of Rainer Maria Rilke after the first world war. Gide encourages the two boys. Pierre will seek to reconcile surrealism and pornography. Balthasar will become Balthus.
In 1935 the self-portrait of Balthus as king of cats inaugurates the weird universe of the artist. The young man appears normal except for too long legs to which a cat comes to rub. Balthus will always let the observer identify the meaning of his art. The cat came for a hug, or to rid its fur from its fleas, or to worship its self-proclaimed lord.
In the following year the artist observes the children of his neighbors. Thérèse is 11 years old and Hubert is two years older. The girl wears the gloomy expression of pre-adolescence, that phase during which the body is still unfinished. From 1936 to 1939 Balthus executes ten portraits of this young sitter.
Modern influence groups vigorously protested in 2017 against the eroticism of these images of children. They looked at the bare thighs and the skirt sometimes raised up to glimpse the underwear. The girl performs a writhing that suits her age. If we put on the index the portraits of Thérèse by Balthus we must join to them the ballerinas by Degas. The perversity lies essentially in the perception made by the observer who must be protected against himself. Balthus was right.
On May 13 in New York, Christie's sells Thérèse sur une banquette, oil on board 73 x 92 cm painted in 1939, lot 8Aestimated $ 12M.
At the age of 14 Thérèse is still a slender child. Carefree of her own attitude, she is slumped on the bench, one hand on the floor and the other hand raised to swing a string. She looks downward. Once is not customary, another work painted in the same year provides an additional information : a kitten jumps to catch the ball hanging from the string.
In 1935 the self-portrait of Balthus as king of cats inaugurates the weird universe of the artist. The young man appears normal except for too long legs to which a cat comes to rub. Balthus will always let the observer identify the meaning of his art. The cat came for a hug, or to rid its fur from its fleas, or to worship its self-proclaimed lord.
In the following year the artist observes the children of his neighbors. Thérèse is 11 years old and Hubert is two years older. The girl wears the gloomy expression of pre-adolescence, that phase during which the body is still unfinished. From 1936 to 1939 Balthus executes ten portraits of this young sitter.
Modern influence groups vigorously protested in 2017 against the eroticism of these images of children. They looked at the bare thighs and the skirt sometimes raised up to glimpse the underwear. The girl performs a writhing that suits her age. If we put on the index the portraits of Thérèse by Balthus we must join to them the ballerinas by Degas. The perversity lies essentially in the perception made by the observer who must be protected against himself. Balthus was right.
On May 13 in New York, Christie's sells Thérèse sur une banquette, oil on board 73 x 92 cm painted in 1939, lot 8Aestimated $ 12M.
At the age of 14 Thérèse is still a slender child. Carefree of her own attitude, she is slumped on the bench, one hand on the floor and the other hand raised to swing a string. She looks downward. Once is not customary, another work painted in the same year provides an additional information : a kitten jumps to catch the ball hanging from the string.
1950 Claude et Paloma by Picasso
2013 SOLD for $ 28M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1951 The Best Cover of the Saturday Evening Post
2013 SOLD 46 M$ including premium
The Second World War is over but it will not be the last war. American people wish to be comforted. Their favorite artist is not an intellectual of the big city but Norman Rockwell who since 1916 draws with humor the varied themes of everyday life for the covers of the Saturday Evening Post.
Rockwell's images are the result of a lengthy preparation in consultation with the editor. He imagines the action, finds photos that he cut and assembles, and performs sketches before the final oil on canvas.
On November 24, 1951, Thanksgiving Day, when the magazine publishes Saying Grace, its publishers are aware that it is the masterpiece of the artist. The accompanying text clearly indicates that this grandmother who prays with her five year old grandson expresses the best that life can bring to the Americans.
Rockwell has placed the group in a restaurant with tight tables, from a low point of view inviting the observer to feel that he is sitting at the next table. Two young men complete this family, watching with sympathy the two main characters.
Four years later, the Saturday Evening Post asked its readers to identify what was the best cover by Rockwell. They praised Saying Grace.
In 1953, the oil on canvas 109 x 104 cm was given by Rockwell to the art editor of the magazine, Kenneth Stuart. The artwork remained in the Stuart family. It is estimated $ 15M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 4. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This image was considered sixty years ago as the masterpiece of Rockwell. It is still the case. The original oil painting was sold for $ 46M including premium.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
Rockwell's images are the result of a lengthy preparation in consultation with the editor. He imagines the action, finds photos that he cut and assembles, and performs sketches before the final oil on canvas.
On November 24, 1951, Thanksgiving Day, when the magazine publishes Saying Grace, its publishers are aware that it is the masterpiece of the artist. The accompanying text clearly indicates that this grandmother who prays with her five year old grandson expresses the best that life can bring to the Americans.
Rockwell has placed the group in a restaurant with tight tables, from a low point of view inviting the observer to feel that he is sitting at the next table. Two young men complete this family, watching with sympathy the two main characters.
Four years later, the Saturday Evening Post asked its readers to identify what was the best cover by Rockwell. They praised Saying Grace.
In 1953, the oil on canvas 109 x 104 cm was given by Rockwell to the art editor of the magazine, Kenneth Stuart. The artwork remained in the Stuart family. It is estimated $ 15M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on December 4. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This image was considered sixty years ago as the masterpiece of Rockwell. It is still the case. The original oil painting was sold for $ 46M including premium.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
2000 The Threat of the Millennials
2019 SOLD for HK$ 196M including premium
In 2000 Yoshitomo Nara returns to Japan after twelve years in Germany. His style changes. The heads of little girls are replaced by full length standing portraits. The dimensions of the works increase, the outlines are less black and pastel hues soften the image.
Yoshitomo Nara does not want his art to be political. Yet it was in 2000, inspired by his recent visit to Auschwitz. The children of this era are already the Millennials, who desire to influence the evolution of the world against dangers which they cannot analyze and even less control. The titles transcribe this imaginary revolt : Last warrior subtitled The Unknown soldier, The Little ambassador.
Knife behind back is one of the strongest messages, increased by a bird's eye view without a visible surrounding. The mouth is severe and stubborn. The right hand is hidden, justifying the interpretation of the title as a threat. This 234 x 208 cm acrylic on canvas will be sold on October 6 by Sotheby's in Hong Kong, lot 1142.
The other two examples referred above, also painted in 2000, are taken from auction history. The Little ambassador, 198 x 132 cm, was sold for HK $ 24M including premium by Sotheby's on October 2, 2016. Last warrior, 165 x 150 cm, was sold for HK $ 21.7M including premium by Phillips on May 28, 2017 .
This Japanese girl is contemporary with the invention of emoji. The suggestion of a hidden object is a fruitful idea. The character soon loses his aggressiveness and smiles gently. Right hand in back, acrylic on a 180 cm circular canvas painted in 2002 and mounted on fiberglass, was sold for $ 2.17M including premium by Sotheby's on November 17, 2017.
Yoshitomo Nara does not want his art to be political. Yet it was in 2000, inspired by his recent visit to Auschwitz. The children of this era are already the Millennials, who desire to influence the evolution of the world against dangers which they cannot analyze and even less control. The titles transcribe this imaginary revolt : Last warrior subtitled The Unknown soldier, The Little ambassador.
Knife behind back is one of the strongest messages, increased by a bird's eye view without a visible surrounding. The mouth is severe and stubborn. The right hand is hidden, justifying the interpretation of the title as a threat. This 234 x 208 cm acrylic on canvas will be sold on October 6 by Sotheby's in Hong Kong, lot 1142.
The other two examples referred above, also painted in 2000, are taken from auction history. The Little ambassador, 198 x 132 cm, was sold for HK $ 24M including premium by Sotheby's on October 2, 2016. Last warrior, 165 x 150 cm, was sold for HK $ 21.7M including premium by Phillips on May 28, 2017 .
This Japanese girl is contemporary with the invention of emoji. The suggestion of a hidden object is a fruitful idea. The character soon loses his aggressiveness and smiles gently. Right hand in back, acrylic on a 180 cm circular canvas painted in 2002 and mounted on fiberglass, was sold for $ 2.17M including premium by Sotheby's on November 17, 2017.
