Powerful Prints by Munch, Hockney, Warhol and More

Edvard Munch, 1863–1944. The Two Human Beings. The Lonely Ones (W. 157; Sch. 133).
Estimate: £500,000–800,000.

Esteemed physician and anatomist Dr. Kristian Emil Schreiner remembered how an ordinary house-call resulted in his friendship with Edvard Munch: ‘It was a Sunday morning…Munch himself came to open the door, impeded by a couple of out-of-control setters jumping up and down about his knees.’

Munch honoured their relationship by insisting that Dr. Schreiner handle his personal papers upon his death in 1944. Of the 15,391 impressions of 714 different subjects listed in the printmaker’s will, 15,287 items went to the care of the foundation that would later become the Munch Museum, to whom Dr. Schreiner’s family also donated a painting. In return, the grateful foundation gifted the family this fine impression of The Lonely Ones—a lasting memento of Munch’s and Schreiner’s friendship.

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27 March 2018 | London

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Andy Warhol, 1928–1987. Campbell's Soup I (F. & S. II.44-53).
Estimate: £300,000–500,000.

Campbell's Soup I, is a series of 10 screenprints based on the original painted works first exhibited in 1962. Warhol linked Campbell's soup explicitly to his, and by extension to every American's, life and childhood: "I used to drink it. I used to have the same lunch every day for twenty years. I guess, the same thing over and over again. Someone said my life has dominated me; I like that idea."

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27 March 2018 | London

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Keith Haring, 1958–1990. Andy Mouse (L. pp. 64-65).
Estimate: £300,000–500,000.

Of his Andy Mouse, Keith Haring suggested: "It’s treating him [Warhol] like he was part of American culture, like Mickey Mouse was. That he himself had become a symbol…" By the time Haring met Warhol in 1984, the ‘founder’ of Pop Art was a venerable household name, as familiar to the American public as Cambell’s Soup cans or Brillo Pads.

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27 March 2018 | London

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Marc Chagall, 1887–1985, Cirque (M. 490-527; C. Bks. 68).
Estimate: £120,000–180,000.

Marc Chagall’s fascination with the circus began at a young age, when travelling acrobats, dancers and musicians visited his hometown of Vitebsk in pre-revolutionary Russia. In his later years in Paris, the artist regularly attended the Cirque d'Hiver with the art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard. Vollard encouraged the pastime in the hope that Chagall would be inspired to create an illustrated book on the subject.

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27 March 2018 | London

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Pablo Picasso, 1881–1973. Le Repas Frugal (Bloch 1; Baer 2).
Estimate: £110,000–150,000.

Le Repas Frugal represents one of Picasso's earliest forays into printmaking. The impoverished couple are a reference to Picassso's own condition, and that of many of his fellow artists, living in Monmartre around the turn of the 20th century. His poverty was such that the work was etched on a piece of zinc that had previously been used by another artist.

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27 March 2018 | London

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Roy Lichtenstein, 1923–1997. Reverie (C. 38).
Estimate: £60,000–80,000.

Created in 1965, Reverie references the lyrics from ‘Stardust’, a 1927 song by jazz musician Hoagy Carmichael. In this vibrant screenprint, Lichtenstein uses his characteristic comic book imagery and iconic benday dots to immortalise the young woman.

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27 March 2018 | London

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David Hockney, b.1937. An Image Of Celia(MCA Tokyo 277).
Estimate: £50,000–70,000.

One of Hockney’s many portraits of designer and close friend Celia Birtwell, An Image of Celia was made at a time when Hockney was exploring the use of composite photographs. Its strong use of primary colours is typical of the artist’s work during this period.

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27 March 2018 | London

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Albrecht Dürer, 1471–1528. Melencolia I (B. 74; M., Holl. 75).
Estimate: £40,000–60,000.

Dürer's Melencolia I was one of his three Meisterstiche, or master-engravings. Along with Knight, Death and the Devil, and Saint Jerome in His Study, they correspond to the three forms of virtue in medieval society: moral, theological and intellectual. Melencolia I, as a depiction of the artist's intellectual situation, is a kind of spiritual self-portrait.

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27 March 2018 | London

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Rembrandt Harmensz. Van Rijn, 1606–1669. Self-Portrait With Saskia (B., Holl. 19; New Holl. 158; H. 144).
Estimate: £10,000–15,000.

This etching depicts Rembrandt and his wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh — whom he frequently called upon to model in his works. Produced just two years after their marriage, it is the only work in which Rembrandt and his wife appear together, and represents a celebration of his new bride.

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27 March 2018 | London

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Portfolio, Die Schaffenden.
Estimate: £30,000 –50,000.

This ground-breaking portfolio was commissioned by Paul Westheim, an important and powerful art critic and publisher in Weimar Germany, and a significant supporter of Modern German artists. Westheim hoped that the portfolio would develop, tailor and broaden collector’s tastes as it combined the works of established figures, such as Erich Heckel, with prints by more obscure, emerging artists, such as Otto Lange.

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27 March 2018 | London

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