Cities
See also : 18th century painting Venice Italy II France Paris Monet England George IV to Victoria UK II Turner Germany Germany II Richter Richter < 1986 US painting < 1940 Warhol USA by Warhol Groups Music and dance
Chronology : 18th century 1760-1769 19th century 1830-1839 1840-1849 1870-1879 1900-1909 1908 1914 1934 1962 1968 1969
Chronology : 18th century 1760-1769 19th century 1830-1839 1840-1849 1870-1879 1900-1909 1908 1914 1934 1962 1968 1969
1768 A Venitian Masterpiece by Francesco Guardi
2011 SOLD 26.7 M£ including premium
The wealthy English tourists enabled the development of vedute, these realistic paintings of urban scenes of Rome and Venice.
In Venice indeed, in the late 1760s, the uncontested master of the genre, Canaletto, is aging. He died in 1768.
It is certainly no coincidence that the most achieved works of Francesco Guardi date from the same period: Canaletto's position on the market was to be taken.
In this time of greater maturity, Guardi executed very few large paintings. The view from the Rialto Bridge, an oil on canvas 120 x 204 cm, for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 6, is exceptional. It is estimated £ 15M.
As ever, the architectures are much detailed. The dense and gentle animation is typical of Guardi, but the cloudy atmosphere and contrasting sunlight are worthy of Canaletto. This work was sold in 1768 : to an Englishman, of course.
It is shown in the press release shared by Artdaily.
POST SALE COMMENT
This exceptional painting was sold £ 26.7 million including premium, in the upper range of the estimates that had been ambitious yet.
In Venice indeed, in the late 1760s, the uncontested master of the genre, Canaletto, is aging. He died in 1768.
It is certainly no coincidence that the most achieved works of Francesco Guardi date from the same period: Canaletto's position on the market was to be taken.
In this time of greater maturity, Guardi executed very few large paintings. The view from the Rialto Bridge, an oil on canvas 120 x 204 cm, for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 6, is exceptional. It is estimated £ 15M.
As ever, the architectures are much detailed. The dense and gentle animation is typical of Guardi, but the cloudy atmosphere and contrasting sunlight are worthy of Canaletto. This work was sold in 1768 : to an Englishman, of course.
It is shown in the press release shared by Artdaily.
POST SALE COMMENT
This exceptional painting was sold £ 26.7 million including premium, in the upper range of the estimates that had been ambitious yet.
1768 From Both Sides of the Rialto
2017 SOLD for £ 26M including premium
A pair of oils on canvases is unique in the history of the vedutas by the conjunction of their monumental dimension, 120 x 204 cm each, with the maturity of one of the greatest artists of Venice, Francesco Guardi. The canvases are wider than the looms in use at that time and a nearly invisible join had been needed in the lower part of the image.
They show the commercial district of Venice, the Rialto, on the Grand Canal on both sides of its spectacular single arched covered bridge which housed shops. Through his picturesque animation and his luminosity, Guardi appears as a worthy continuator of Canaletto.
The sequence of monuments is correct but these panoramas are too wide to respect a unique perspective. The large format brings an abundance of details and an exceptional vision of the Venetian atmosphere.
Guardi worked from the collection of his autograph drawings and the modifications made to the monuments do not allow to date his paintings with accuracy. We will consider 1768 for this pair for two reasons. The death of Canaletto in April certainly generate great ambitions to Guardi suddenly becoming the best supplier of the tourists. The first owner was a young British aristocrat who had his tour in 1768, arriving in August in Venice.
The pair was separated in 2011. The view taken northward was sold by Sotheby's for £ 26.7M including premium on July 6, 2011. The view in the reverse direction is for sale on July 6, 2017 in London by Christie's, lot 25. The press release of 5 April announces that it is expected to exceed £ 25M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
They show the commercial district of Venice, the Rialto, on the Grand Canal on both sides of its spectacular single arched covered bridge which housed shops. Through his picturesque animation and his luminosity, Guardi appears as a worthy continuator of Canaletto.
The sequence of monuments is correct but these panoramas are too wide to respect a unique perspective. The large format brings an abundance of details and an exceptional vision of the Venetian atmosphere.
Guardi worked from the collection of his autograph drawings and the modifications made to the monuments do not allow to date his paintings with accuracy. We will consider 1768 for this pair for two reasons. The death of Canaletto in April certainly generate great ambitions to Guardi suddenly becoming the best supplier of the tourists. The first owner was a young British aristocrat who had his tour in 1768, arriving in August in Venice.
The pair was separated in 2011. The view taken northward was sold by Sotheby's for £ 26.7M including premium on July 6, 2011. The view in the reverse direction is for sale on July 6, 2017 in London by Christie's, lot 25. The press release of 5 April announces that it is expected to exceed £ 25M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Une toile monumentale (122x200cm) de Francesco Guardi fait partie de la vente Old Master à Londres le 6/07 https://t.co/99ODYfvEzn pic.twitter.com/hHqqm8dzHo
— Christie's Paris (@christiesparis) June 12, 2017
1835 Turner over the Tiber
2014 SOLD for £ 30.3M including premium
Turner visited Rome twice, in 1819 and 1828. He was dazzled by that city which was trying to organize its modernity without denying its glorious past. During his first trip, he was concerned about illustration and drew hundreds of sketches of views and monuments. The goal of the second visit was to soak in the atmosphere for producing oils on canvas.
Turner had a friend as difficult as himself in his temper : Hugh Munro of Novar. It was the time of the watercolorist travelers and Munro would have liked to become an artist. Turner tried to help him but the younger man was not skilled. He was to become one of the greatest art collectors of his time.
When Turner returned from Rome, Munro commissioned him with a painting on which the city was to be shown with the greatest topographic truth. Turner reinspected his drawings. The oil on canvas showing the view of Rome from Mount Aventine, 93 x 126 cm, was completed in 1835.
In the morning light, this view is a masterpiece from that period of great maturity of the artist. The blurring by mist above the Tiber is a pre-impressionist feat. The drawing of the urban texture is of high detail all over the huge extent of the city and the animation is nice.
This work could be a pendant with a view from Capitoline hill purchased in 1839 by Munro. Passed in 1878 in the collection of the Earls of Rosebery, both paintings have remained in a fabulous condition. The view from the Capitol was sold for £ 29,7M including premium by Sotheby's on July 7, 2010.
The view over the Tiber is estimated £ 15M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on December 3, lot 44. I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
Turner had a friend as difficult as himself in his temper : Hugh Munro of Novar. It was the time of the watercolorist travelers and Munro would have liked to become an artist. Turner tried to help him but the younger man was not skilled. He was to become one of the greatest art collectors of his time.
When Turner returned from Rome, Munro commissioned him with a painting on which the city was to be shown with the greatest topographic truth. Turner reinspected his drawings. The oil on canvas showing the view of Rome from Mount Aventine, 93 x 126 cm, was completed in 1835.
In the morning light, this view is a masterpiece from that period of great maturity of the artist. The blurring by mist above the Tiber is a pre-impressionist feat. The drawing of the urban texture is of high detail all over the huge extent of the city and the animation is nice.
This work could be a pendant with a view from Capitoline hill purchased in 1839 by Munro. Passed in 1878 in the collection of the Earls of Rosebery, both paintings have remained in a fabulous condition. The view from the Capitol was sold for £ 29,7M including premium by Sotheby's on July 7, 2010.
The view over the Tiber is estimated £ 15M, for sale by Sotheby's in London on December 3, lot 44. I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
1839 Turner on the Roman Hills
2010 SOLD 29.7 M£ including premium
During his two trips to Rome in 1819 and 1828, Turner made studies of panoramas and monuments. The Eternal City has continued to fascinate him: in 1839, he gathers these travel memories to compose a large oil on canvas, 90 x 122 cm.
The artist has placed the easel of his memory at the top of Capitoline Hill. The city lies before him, fully bathed in a wonderful light that enhances the perspective. The foreground is animated with efficiency and discretion by goatherds and peasants.
Do not look for photographic truth in this image. According to the style of that time, the position of the buildings owes more to art than to reality. But it is no longer a capriccio, and ancient and pontifical monuments are finely drawn.
Such a piece on the art market is by itself an event. Its exceptional condition makes it one the most important auction lots of the year. The painting has kept its original freshness and frame. It had been previously only once on the art market, in 1878. The Earl of Rosebery paid 4,450 guineas for it, on the occasion of his honeymoon.
On July 7 in London, Sotheby's announce this masterpiece at 12 million pounds.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate had been underestimated but not the importance of this painting, well relayed by the press releases.
Result: £ 29.7 million including premium.
See below the video shared by Sotheby's and the image shared by Wikimedia :
The artist has placed the easel of his memory at the top of Capitoline Hill. The city lies before him, fully bathed in a wonderful light that enhances the perspective. The foreground is animated with efficiency and discretion by goatherds and peasants.
Do not look for photographic truth in this image. According to the style of that time, the position of the buildings owes more to art than to reality. But it is no longer a capriccio, and ancient and pontifical monuments are finely drawn.
Such a piece on the art market is by itself an event. Its exceptional condition makes it one the most important auction lots of the year. The painting has kept its original freshness and frame. It had been previously only once on the art market, in 1878. The Earl of Rosebery paid 4,450 guineas for it, on the occasion of his honeymoon.
On July 7 in London, Sotheby's announce this masterpiece at 12 million pounds.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate had been underestimated but not the importance of this painting, well relayed by the press releases.
Result: £ 29.7 million including premium.
See below the video shared by Sotheby's and the image shared by Wikimedia :
1841 View of Venice by Turner
2006 SOLD for $ 36M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Venice had a hard time taming Turner. His first tour of Italy, in 1819, included only a short visit to Venice, which he completely avoided in 1828. Inspired by poets, he conceived his views of Italy and Greece by unleashing his own imagination from sketches brought back by his friends.
Turner had an unlimited confidence in the correctness of his vision. Annoyed by the posthumous influence of Bonington, he exhibited new views of Venice during the summer of 1833 at the Royal Academy, to serve as models of the expression of atmosphere and poetry in painting, without having seen again the City of the Doges. He made his second stay there at the end of the same year and finally considered including Venice in his regular work.
An identical sequence of events took place in 1840, with two views of Venice exhibited at the Royal Academy before his departure for his third and final visit, which lasted two weeks only. This time the ethereal charm of Venice has operated.
In the following years, Turner was making a distinction between the watercolor sketches and the views in larger format which he considered as his finished works, the only ones worthy of being exhibited and sold. His finished views of Switzerland are large watercolors and his finished views of Venice are oils on canvas.
Painted in his studio after his come back, the panoramic views of Venice deserved a larger format than the watercolors. In order not to lose anything in the luminosity and the freshness of the colors, he paints Venice in oil with the same pigments as his watercolors. The pre-impressionist atmosphere also suggests that he had transferred the wet in wet technique of his watercolors onto his canvases, before adding the more realistic narrative drawing of the gondolas.
On April 6, 2006, Christie's sold as lot 97 for $ 36M including premium a view of the Giudecca with La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio. This oil on canvas 61 x 92 cm was prepared by Turner for the 1841 exhibition of the Royal Academy. As often with this artist, the perfection of the composition and the color balance prevail over the topographic reality.
A 24 x 30 cm watercolor showing the Dogana under the new moon was sold for £ 960K including premium by Christie's on July 10, 2014, lot 209. The evanescent clarity may be compared with the atmosphere of the oil on canvas discussed above.
Turner had an unlimited confidence in the correctness of his vision. Annoyed by the posthumous influence of Bonington, he exhibited new views of Venice during the summer of 1833 at the Royal Academy, to serve as models of the expression of atmosphere and poetry in painting, without having seen again the City of the Doges. He made his second stay there at the end of the same year and finally considered including Venice in his regular work.
An identical sequence of events took place in 1840, with two views of Venice exhibited at the Royal Academy before his departure for his third and final visit, which lasted two weeks only. This time the ethereal charm of Venice has operated.
In the following years, Turner was making a distinction between the watercolor sketches and the views in larger format which he considered as his finished works, the only ones worthy of being exhibited and sold. His finished views of Switzerland are large watercolors and his finished views of Venice are oils on canvas.
Painted in his studio after his come back, the panoramic views of Venice deserved a larger format than the watercolors. In order not to lose anything in the luminosity and the freshness of the colors, he paints Venice in oil with the same pigments as his watercolors. The pre-impressionist atmosphere also suggests that he had transferred the wet in wet technique of his watercolors onto his canvases, before adding the more realistic narrative drawing of the gondolas.
On April 6, 2006, Christie's sold as lot 97 for $ 36M including premium a view of the Giudecca with La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio. This oil on canvas 61 x 92 cm was prepared by Turner for the 1841 exhibition of the Royal Academy. As often with this artist, the perfection of the composition and the color balance prevail over the topographic reality.
A 24 x 30 cm watercolor showing the Dogana under the new moon was sold for £ 960K including premium by Christie's on July 10, 2014, lot 209. The evanescent clarity may be compared with the atmosphere of the oil on canvas discussed above.
1876 Bal du Moulin de la Galette by Renoir
1990 SOLD for $ 78 M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
In 1863 Charles Gleyre admonishes Monet because he does not follow the model of the antique. Bringing with him three friends, Sisley, Renoir and Bazille, Monet slams the door and manages to paint outdoors.
Their temperaments are different. They are young and tempted by the good life of dancing balls. While Monet is overtaken by his wife, Renoir expresses the carefree joie de vivre of the groups to which he applies the impressionist style. Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette in 1876 and Le Déjeuner des Canotiers, exhibited in 1882, are among the most important masterpieces of painting.
Renoir painted two identical versions of the Moulin de la Galette. The largest, 131 x 175 cm, became the property of the French State through the Caillebotte bequest and is currently at the Musée d'Orsay.
The other version is an oil on canvas 78 x 114 cm damaged by folding. Coming from the Whitney collection, it was sold for $ 78M including premium by Sotheby's on May 17, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The buyer was a Japanese collector named Ryoei Saito, who had acquired the Portrait of Dr Gachet by Van Gogh two days earlier at Christies for $ 82M including premium. Saito creates some terror in the art world by announcing that at his death he will be cremated with the two paintings to avoid that enormous inheritance rights are required to his heirs.
Saito died in 1996. His threat was not carried out because his wealth had turned down and the artworks were sequestered by his creditors, but the two paintings were never seen again. The Van Gogh was reportedly located in 2007 in the collection of an Austrian financier who has since gone bankrupt.
Their temperaments are different. They are young and tempted by the good life of dancing balls. While Monet is overtaken by his wife, Renoir expresses the carefree joie de vivre of the groups to which he applies the impressionist style. Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette in 1876 and Le Déjeuner des Canotiers, exhibited in 1882, are among the most important masterpieces of painting.
Renoir painted two identical versions of the Moulin de la Galette. The largest, 131 x 175 cm, became the property of the French State through the Caillebotte bequest and is currently at the Musée d'Orsay.
The other version is an oil on canvas 78 x 114 cm damaged by folding. Coming from the Whitney collection, it was sold for $ 78M including premium by Sotheby's on May 17, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The buyer was a Japanese collector named Ryoei Saito, who had acquired the Portrait of Dr Gachet by Van Gogh two days earlier at Christies for $ 82M including premium. Saito creates some terror in the art world by announcing that at his death he will be cremated with the two paintings to avoid that enormous inheritance rights are required to his heirs.
Saito died in 1996. His threat was not carried out because his wealth had turned down and the artworks were sequestered by his creditors, but the two paintings were never seen again. The Van Gogh was reportedly located in 2007 in the collection of an Austrian financier who has since gone bankrupt.
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1902 February in London
2015 SOLD for $ 40.5M including premium
During a brief stay in London in 1899 for family reasons, Claude Monet observed the Thames. He came back for painting on the late winter of the following year. His idea was to show the time of day as he had done for the poplars and for Rouen cathedral.
Through his window at the Savoy Hotel, Claude watches Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges in the pink fog of the morning. On one of the first evenings he sees the sunset above the neo-Gothic buildings of the Houses of Parliament and the river. Like Constable, he will be an extraordinary interpreter of the English sky.
The best view is from the garden of St. Thomas's Hospital. The artist is already famous. He easily gets the authorization to work every day in this place. Every afternoon at 4:00, he leaves the hotel to retrieve or resettle his easels at the hospital.
The light changes at every moment with the clouds pushed by the wind and the instability of the fog. As for the poplars in 1892, Claude works on several paintings in parallel, finding and catching evening after evening the same tiny ephemeral details of the sunset light. His control is total and even his method for applying his brush varies depending on the desired effect.
This project is the most amazing in the history of painting. By considering the three motifs altogether (the two bridges and the Parliament), Claude maintains a hundred paintings during this 1900 stay. He leaves London before spring when the sun is now higher and the light has changed. He returns with his paintings in the following year but snow and cold prevent a new progress.
Claude finishes his paintings at Giverny and scrupulously notes the year of completion beside his signature. He considers the whole as inseparable until the 1904 exhibition by Durand-Ruel that gets a considerable success, anticipating his famous uncompromising attitude before the first exhibition of his Water Lilies series.
The subgroup of the Parliament from St. Thomas's consists of 19 oil paintings in a unique format 81 x 93 cm. One of them is estimated $ 35M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 11, lot 24A.
Dated 1902, this painting is one of the first that was completed by the artist, perhaps because the very expressive sky is particularly exciting. Despite the clouds, the sun plays behind the high tower and the same pink shades apply to the edges of the clouds and to the reflections in the river.
The image is shared by Wikimedia:
Through his window at the Savoy Hotel, Claude watches Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges in the pink fog of the morning. On one of the first evenings he sees the sunset above the neo-Gothic buildings of the Houses of Parliament and the river. Like Constable, he will be an extraordinary interpreter of the English sky.
The best view is from the garden of St. Thomas's Hospital. The artist is already famous. He easily gets the authorization to work every day in this place. Every afternoon at 4:00, he leaves the hotel to retrieve or resettle his easels at the hospital.
The light changes at every moment with the clouds pushed by the wind and the instability of the fog. As for the poplars in 1892, Claude works on several paintings in parallel, finding and catching evening after evening the same tiny ephemeral details of the sunset light. His control is total and even his method for applying his brush varies depending on the desired effect.
This project is the most amazing in the history of painting. By considering the three motifs altogether (the two bridges and the Parliament), Claude maintains a hundred paintings during this 1900 stay. He leaves London before spring when the sun is now higher and the light has changed. He returns with his paintings in the following year but snow and cold prevent a new progress.
Claude finishes his paintings at Giverny and scrupulously notes the year of completion beside his signature. He considers the whole as inseparable until the 1904 exhibition by Durand-Ruel that gets a considerable success, anticipating his famous uncompromising attitude before the first exhibition of his Water Lilies series.
The subgroup of the Parliament from St. Thomas's consists of 19 oil paintings in a unique format 81 x 93 cm. One of them is estimated $ 35M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 11, lot 24A.
Dated 1902, this painting is one of the first that was completed by the artist, perhaps because the very expressive sky is particularly exciting. Despite the clouds, the sun plays behind the high tower and the same pink shades apply to the edges of the clouds and to the reflections in the river.
The image is shared by Wikimedia:
1908 The Challenge of Venice
2019 SOLD for £ 27.5M including premium
A photo shows an elderly couple surrounded by the famous doves of the Piazza San Marco. Claude and Alice are resolutely unaware of the facade of the basilica behind them : Monet really did not come to Venice for tourism.
Monet arrives in Venice on October 1, 1908. He stays there for two and a half months, with his canvases, palettes and colors. The challenge is immense : all artists have loved Venice. The interpretation of the sun through the mist has already been made, by Turner in 1841. Monet will focus on the reflections of sky and stones in the lapping of the canals and of the lagoon.
The view of the Palazzo Contarini, sold for £ 19.7M including premium by Sotheby's on June 19, 2013, painted at the beginning of his session, is interesting by its false awkwardness. The composition strictly divided into two equal areas for monument and canal, and without horizon, would repel a buyer of postcards. The attention is all the more stirred to the beauty of the textures and to the multicolored reflections.
Now sure of the quality of his art, Monet emboldens himself to compose topographical views of the greatest classicism. Two almost identical close views of the Palazzo Ducale confirm that the artist is more interested in the special atmosphere of Venice, which he calls the "enveloppe", than in the variations over the hours.
One of them, 81 x 99 cm, is kept at the Brooklyn Museum. The other one, 81 x 93 cm, is estimated £ 20M for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 26, lot 6.
When Monet returns home, he sells to Bernheim-Jeune most of his views of Venice. He continues to finish them until their triumphal exhibition in 1912. After the exhibition he further modifies one of the views of the Ducal Palace, in search of the perfect rendering of his artistic conceptions.
The painting that goes on sale is probably the artwork that was improved in 1912 or 1913. The balance of shades is very successful, without a dominant color although the details of the palette are bright. The texture of the surface of the water is of a great regularity. The majestic palace appears blurry, as de-focused : it was not the major theme of the image.
Please watch the videos shared by Sotheby's.
Monet arrives in Venice on October 1, 1908. He stays there for two and a half months, with his canvases, palettes and colors. The challenge is immense : all artists have loved Venice. The interpretation of the sun through the mist has already been made, by Turner in 1841. Monet will focus on the reflections of sky and stones in the lapping of the canals and of the lagoon.
The view of the Palazzo Contarini, sold for £ 19.7M including premium by Sotheby's on June 19, 2013, painted at the beginning of his session, is interesting by its false awkwardness. The composition strictly divided into two equal areas for monument and canal, and without horizon, would repel a buyer of postcards. The attention is all the more stirred to the beauty of the textures and to the multicolored reflections.
Now sure of the quality of his art, Monet emboldens himself to compose topographical views of the greatest classicism. Two almost identical close views of the Palazzo Ducale confirm that the artist is more interested in the special atmosphere of Venice, which he calls the "enveloppe", than in the variations over the hours.
One of them, 81 x 99 cm, is kept at the Brooklyn Museum. The other one, 81 x 93 cm, is estimated £ 20M for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 26, lot 6.
When Monet returns home, he sells to Bernheim-Jeune most of his views of Venice. He continues to finish them until their triumphal exhibition in 1912. After the exhibition he further modifies one of the views of the Ducal Palace, in search of the perfect rendering of his artistic conceptions.
The painting that goes on sale is probably the artwork that was improved in 1912 or 1913. The balance of shades is very successful, without a dominant color although the details of the palette are bright. The texture of the surface of the water is of a great regularity. The majestic palace appears blurry, as de-focused : it was not the major theme of the image.
Please watch the videos shared by Sotheby's.
Take a look at a selection of highlights from our forthcoming Impressionist & Modern, Surrealist and Contemporary sales, from Monet's Venetian vision to a tender portrait by Lucian Freud: https://t.co/SHoIZg1hu1#SothebysImpMod #SothebysContemporary
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) February 12, 2019
1913-1914 Berliner Strassenszene by E.L. Kirchner
2006 SOLD 38 M$ including premium by Christie's
Shared by Wikimedia :
1934 Suburbs for Sale
2013 SOLD 40.5 M$ including premium
The house is for Hopper the theme that ensures the continuity of civilization. It symbolizes the past by surviving after the move or death of its residents. The 1929 crisis could only exacerbate his reluctant vision of the modern world.
Hopper is the most famous car user in the history of art. He tirelessly revisits the same places to perform sketches which he then reworks in his workshop in the form of large oil paintings.
Painted in 1934, East Wind over Weehawken, 86 x 128 cm, shows houses viewed from a small crossing of streets in suburban New Jersey. This place should support life but the streets are empty. These houses are promoted to the rank of major characters in the drama and wait for who knows what.
In the foreground, a tall unsightly city lamp divides the picture as if it were the keeper of nothingness. Seeking other marks, we see a sign at the limit of readability announcing For Sale. The moment before or after can reveal life. Two very small spots on far left edge are characters. Or not. Mankind does not matter.
This painting is estimated $ 22M, for sale by Christie 's in New York on December 5.
POST SALE COMMENT
The pessimistic view of civilization expressed by Hopper in the 1930s is still relevant. This outstanding example of his art has been sold for $ 40.5 million including premium.
The image is shared in Wikimedia :
Hopper is the most famous car user in the history of art. He tirelessly revisits the same places to perform sketches which he then reworks in his workshop in the form of large oil paintings.
Painted in 1934, East Wind over Weehawken, 86 x 128 cm, shows houses viewed from a small crossing of streets in suburban New Jersey. This place should support life but the streets are empty. These houses are promoted to the rank of major characters in the drama and wait for who knows what.
In the foreground, a tall unsightly city lamp divides the picture as if it were the keeper of nothingness. Seeking other marks, we see a sign at the limit of readability announcing For Sale. The moment before or after can reveal life. Two very small spots on far left edge are characters. Or not. Mankind does not matter.
This painting is estimated $ 22M, for sale by Christie 's in New York on December 5.
POST SALE COMMENT
The pessimistic view of civilization expressed by Hopper in the 1930s is still relevant. This outstanding example of his art has been sold for $ 40.5 million including premium.
The image is shared in Wikimedia :
1962 The Blurred Image of Liberty
2012 SOLD 43.7 M$ including premium
For Warhol, in 1962, all experiences, all messages are possible. His artistic language is entirely new.
The use of silkscreen ink applied to the enlargement of a trivial photograph is the decisive creative invention of Warhol. It allows the endless repetition of the same image, with a speed of execution that quickly diversifies the catalog of the artist. It is not to be considered as a print due to the variants from a completed artwork to another and also because of the finish with spray enamel and graphite.
But what does exactly want this former designer of ads? Present to the world a publicity for America, or deride its consumer society? Exalt the hope of a sheltered life, or exacerbate the futility of politics?
If there were only stars and soup cans, Warhol's message is simple. Disasters, electric chairs, car crashes put everything into question. Executed in 1962, Warhol's Statue of Liberty anticipates all the social gnashing of his art. In our world, everything is false.
The symbol is present, as in reality, off Manhattan. Warhol well knows that the multiplicity of images kills emotion. Thanks to his screen printing technique, he kills the hope of Liberty by aligning 4 rows of 6 identical images.
Warhol knows that painting is an illusory representation of the three-dimensional reality of the world. Each of the 24 units of Miss Liberty is treated in green and red like an anaglyph, but the two views are from one single postcard. The viewer with his stereoscopic glasses marvels at a false illusion of 3D due to inequality of the finish.
This canvas 198 x 206 cm is for sale by Christie's on November 14 in New York. The logics would be that it is acknowledged as one of the key works of Warhol, in excess of $ 35M. The auction house has not published an estimate. Here is the link to the catalog.
I invite you to play the video featured by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This surprising artwork provides a final denial to whoever thinks that the art, personality and ambition of Warhol are simple to decode. This Statue of Liberty is one of the masterpieces of the first great year of the artist, as well as the 200 One Dollar Bills, sold exactly for the same price at Sotheby's in 2009: $ 43.7 million including premium.
The use of silkscreen ink applied to the enlargement of a trivial photograph is the decisive creative invention of Warhol. It allows the endless repetition of the same image, with a speed of execution that quickly diversifies the catalog of the artist. It is not to be considered as a print due to the variants from a completed artwork to another and also because of the finish with spray enamel and graphite.
But what does exactly want this former designer of ads? Present to the world a publicity for America, or deride its consumer society? Exalt the hope of a sheltered life, or exacerbate the futility of politics?
If there were only stars and soup cans, Warhol's message is simple. Disasters, electric chairs, car crashes put everything into question. Executed in 1962, Warhol's Statue of Liberty anticipates all the social gnashing of his art. In our world, everything is false.
The symbol is present, as in reality, off Manhattan. Warhol well knows that the multiplicity of images kills emotion. Thanks to his screen printing technique, he kills the hope of Liberty by aligning 4 rows of 6 identical images.
Warhol knows that painting is an illusory representation of the three-dimensional reality of the world. Each of the 24 units of Miss Liberty is treated in green and red like an anaglyph, but the two views are from one single postcard. The viewer with his stereoscopic glasses marvels at a false illusion of 3D due to inequality of the finish.
This canvas 198 x 206 cm is for sale by Christie's on November 14 in New York. The logics would be that it is acknowledged as one of the key works of Warhol, in excess of $ 35M. The auction house has not published an estimate. Here is the link to the catalog.
I invite you to play the video featured by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This surprising artwork provides a final denial to whoever thinks that the art, personality and ambition of Warhol are simple to decode. This Statue of Liberty is one of the masterpieces of the first great year of the artist, as well as the 200 One Dollar Bills, sold exactly for the same price at Sotheby's in 2009: $ 43.7 million including premium.
1968 Richter invents the Hyperrealistic Blur
2013 SOLD 37 M$ including premium
Gerhard Richter is the true rebel of art. Some artists before him including Rauschenberg had introduced disgust as a variant of artistic impression. Richter goes much further. He debases the art to reveal its profound nature.
In 1962, he considers that a bad photo does not lie because it is too ugly to deserve retouching. It expresses real life, the reality of a fleeting moment which had probably been important for its author.
The anti-art by Richter consists to disproportionately enlarge black and white photos, blurry and often without any interest but in a great variety, by using a hyperrealistic technique already perfectly controlled.
One of his earliest works is the image of an airplane in flight, magnified as an oil on canvas up to 130 x 200 cm. Made in 1963, it was sold for $ 11.2 million including premium by Christie's on November 13, 2007.
The strength of the anti-artistic message of Richter is so great and so new that he finds customers. Domplatz Mailand, an oil on canvas 275 x 290 cm painted in 1968, was commissioned by the Milanese offices of Siemens.
The image is a masterpiece of ugliness with a particularly unpleasant blur. The original photo was lost, thankfully! This photo by an unidentified tourist may be repeated by anyone, without blurring motion, with a more relevant composition than truncating both the cathedral on the right and the buildings on the left.
With this quality and its very large size, Mailand Domplatz is the culmination of the first period of Richter. On the following year, he managed to radically shake the established tradition of landscape painting.
Domplatz Mailand is estimated $ 30M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 14. It is illustrated in a very interesting blog post shared by the auction house.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This large painting is a technical feat of the first style of Richter, playing altogether on the easy identification of the subject and on the difficulty of reading it. It was sold $ 37M including premium.
In 1962, he considers that a bad photo does not lie because it is too ugly to deserve retouching. It expresses real life, the reality of a fleeting moment which had probably been important for its author.
The anti-art by Richter consists to disproportionately enlarge black and white photos, blurry and often without any interest but in a great variety, by using a hyperrealistic technique already perfectly controlled.
One of his earliest works is the image of an airplane in flight, magnified as an oil on canvas up to 130 x 200 cm. Made in 1963, it was sold for $ 11.2 million including premium by Christie's on November 13, 2007.
The strength of the anti-artistic message of Richter is so great and so new that he finds customers. Domplatz Mailand, an oil on canvas 275 x 290 cm painted in 1968, was commissioned by the Milanese offices of Siemens.
The image is a masterpiece of ugliness with a particularly unpleasant blur. The original photo was lost, thankfully! This photo by an unidentified tourist may be repeated by anyone, without blurring motion, with a more relevant composition than truncating both the cathedral on the right and the buildings on the left.
With this quality and its very large size, Mailand Domplatz is the culmination of the first period of Richter. On the following year, he managed to radically shake the established tradition of landscape painting.
Domplatz Mailand is estimated $ 30M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 14. It is illustrated in a very interesting blog post shared by the auction house.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This large painting is a technical feat of the first style of Richter, playing altogether on the easy identification of the subject and on the difficulty of reading it. It was sold $ 37M including premium.
1969 Curator and Partner
2019 SOLD for £ 38M including premium
Looking for sexual freedom, David Hockney arrives in California in 1964. The easy life nevertheless does not answer his questioning about communication within a couple.
Between 1968 and 1977 he makes double portraits in very large format, 214 x 305 cm. He alternates between homosexual and heterosexual couples and ends the series with his own parents, clearly assessing that his concern is no longer sex but dialogue. The sitters are most often identified in the title and are very recognizable.
Invariably the two characters are distant from each other with a deliberately orthogonal gazing. In this strange intimacy, the painter is an invisible social voyeur.
Installed again in London in 1968, he does not neglect America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is preparing a major exhibition that will reveal post-war American art to the general public. The curator of this important cultural operation is the highly influential Henry Geldzahler.
Hockney arrives in Geldzahler's living room in Manhattan with his sketchbook, polaroid camera and flu. Back in his studio in London, he paints in 1969 'Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott'. This acrylic on canvas will be sold by Christie's in London on March 6, lot 8. The December 17 press release announces an estimate in excess of £ 30M.
The two men could not be more dissimilar and yet their life as a couple is sustainable. Robust and confident in himself, Geldzahler is comfortably seated in the middle of a beautiful sofa worthy of the greatest Art Deco collections. On the right, his young partner is standing, dressed in a raincoat too big for him and as stiff as the floor lamp. The scene is located by the skyscrapers beyond the small window.
Between 1968 and 1977 he makes double portraits in very large format, 214 x 305 cm. He alternates between homosexual and heterosexual couples and ends the series with his own parents, clearly assessing that his concern is no longer sex but dialogue. The sitters are most often identified in the title and are very recognizable.
Invariably the two characters are distant from each other with a deliberately orthogonal gazing. In this strange intimacy, the painter is an invisible social voyeur.
Installed again in London in 1968, he does not neglect America. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is preparing a major exhibition that will reveal post-war American art to the general public. The curator of this important cultural operation is the highly influential Henry Geldzahler.
Hockney arrives in Geldzahler's living room in Manhattan with his sketchbook, polaroid camera and flu. Back in his studio in London, he paints in 1969 'Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott'. This acrylic on canvas will be sold by Christie's in London on March 6, lot 8. The December 17 press release announces an estimate in excess of £ 30M.
The two men could not be more dissimilar and yet their life as a couple is sustainable. Robust and confident in himself, Geldzahler is comfortably seated in the middle of a beautiful sofa worthy of the greatest Art Deco collections. On the right, his young partner is standing, dressed in a raincoat too big for him and as stiff as the floor lamp. The scene is located by the skyscrapers beyond the small window.
