It has been said that Sotheby’s galleries around the world are like an ever-changing museum exhibition, and this week our Zurich exhibition space will play host to many of the most well-established names of Switzerland’s artistic landscape. Highlights from our upcoming sale of Swiss Art / Swiss Made on 27 June include works by Félix Vallotton, Albert Anker, Ernest Biéler, Cuno Amiet and Le Corbusier, as well as more contemporary figures such as John Armleder, Sylvie Fleury and Martin Disler. Explore the works for yourself by clicking on the image below to experience a 3D tour of the galleries.
Leading the exhibition will be Félix Vallotton’s rare and important masterwork, the wintry Saint Petersburg cityscape La Néva, brume légère. This superb painting is one of a small group of rare works completed following his visit to Russia in 1913. Adding to its rarity, the piece boasts exceptional provenance: it remained within close circles connected to the artists before entering a private collection in 1965.
Alongside it, an extraordinary private collection of 15 works from the famed ‘École de Savièse’ group of artists including masterpieces by Ernest Biéler, the painter who led this collective focused on the traditions and the simplicity of rural life in Switzerland. All of the artists shared a common iconography, strongly focused on local traditions and customs. Key works in this group include Biéler’s exceptional composition, Trois jeunes filles de Granois, 1920, a standout example of the painter’s visual language and stylistic signature.
ERNEST BIÉLER, TROIS JEUNES FILLES DE GRANOIS, 1920. ESTIMATE CHF 500,000–700,000.
From the 19th century to the contemporary era, the works on offer capture a key place and time in the career of important Swiss artists, opening up a key aspect of their work. The artists’ response to their surroundings, as transposed in oils, watercolours, tempera, sculpture or photographic print, gives the viewer fascinating insights into their artistic method.
The auction in Zurich on 27 June continues Sotheby’s themed sales of Swiss Art / Swiss Made, showcasing works from a wide variety of artistic periods and movements. These are all bound together by a common thread: the enormous diversity of the country’s artistic landscape.
