9 Artworks, 9 Specialists: Insights on Impressionist & Modern Art

Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale is open for online bidding from now until 18 May. Among the works on offer are a selection of early paintings from blue chip artists, including Edgar Degas and Pablo Picasso, along with an exquisite array of artworks from Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Tamara de Lempicka and Camille Pissarro, among others. Leading the auction is a mid-century painting from Italian Modernist Giorgio Morandi, entitled Natura morta.

Here, specialists speak on some of the artists and works which make this sale extraordinary. Shot from home, these videos offer an insider's look at the 2020 spring catalogue.

Giorgio Morandi, Natura morta, 1951
^{Estimate $1,000,000 – 1,500,000}

Senior Vice President and Specialist Frances Asquith discusses Giorgio Morandi's Natura morta, painted in 1951. The work is a perfect example of the mysterious quality that is often noted in Morandi’s compositions – that there is never quite enough room for the objects to exist together in that space.

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Roses dans un vase décoré, circa 1912-13
^{Estimate $450,000 - 650,000}

Senior Vice President, Co-Head of Department and Head of Day Sale Scott Niichel gives us a look at why Pierre-Auguste Renoir's still lifes were among his most commercially successful works, discussing the work Roses dans un vase décoré

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Tamara de Lempicka, Une Rose, circa 1938
^{Estimate $100,000 – 150,000}

Specialist Nina Piro (and her very well-behaved co-worker, Fly) discuss one of her favorite artworks from the auction, Tamara de Lempicka's Une Rose.

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Edvard Munch

Prints department Head and Senior Vice President Mary Bartow speaks on three important Edvard Munch prints which feature in the sale, all of which boast provenance from an extremely premier collection of the artist's work.

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Edgar Degas, Buste de jeune femme presque nue, 1867
^{Estimate $350,000 – 450,000}

Specialist Julia Leveille discusses the exquisite beauty and personality which comes through in Edgar Degas's early masterpiece, Buste de jeune femme presque nue.

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Auguste Rodin, Le Baiser, quatrième réduction ou petit modèle, conceived in 1898
^{Estimate $180,000 – 250,000}

Associate Specialist Danny Zhang speaks on the historic significance of Auguste Rodin's sculpture Le Baiser, quatrième réduction ou petit modèle.

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Camille Pissarro, Effet de niege à Osny, “La Ferme à Noël”, 1882
^{Estimate $250,000 – 350,000}

Associate Specialist Julia Sylvester discusses a work for auction that is incredibly fresh to the market, Camille Pissarro's Effet de niege à Osny, “La Ferme à Noël”.

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Marc Chagall, Devant la fenêtre, circa 1974-75
^{Estimate $200,000 – 300,000}

Associate Cataloguer & Content Manager Emilia Alvarez talks about the nostalgia and longing present in Marc Chagall's Devant la fenêtre, a work on paper.

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Raoul Dufy, Champ de blé en Normandie, 1935
^{Estimate $60,000 – 80,000}

Day Sale Administrator Peter Vergara delves into the beauty of Raoul Dufy's Champ de blé en Normandie, painted in 1935. The work comes to Sotheby's from the San Diego Museum of Art, and proceeds from its sale will benefit the museum's acquisition fund.

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