S otheby’s Modern Evening Auction will showcase an exceptional group of works from the esteemed collection of Joseph H. Hazen—the renowned Hollywood film producer and distinguished art collector. The collection is led by Fernand Léger's La Jeune fille au bouquet and Alberto Giacometti’s Femme debout (Poseuse I), alongside important works of Orphism including two paintings by František Kupka—among the most valuable by the artist ever to appear on the market—and Robert Delaunay’s previously unseen Nature morte, created just one year before his landmark mural for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris.

The collection, titled Spirit of Dreams: The Joseph H. Hazen Family Collection, will be offered as part of the Modern Evening Auction in New York, with further works to be offered in the Modern and Contemporary Day Auctions. Many of these museum-quality works have remained in the Hazen family collection for over 70 years and, in most cases, will make their auction debut this May.

A highlight of the group is Fernand Léger’s La Jeune fille au bouquet, a tender 1921 work that reflects the artist's shift away from the abstract forms of his pre-war works. The painting carries a fascinating provenance, including its seizure from collector Alphonse Kann by the Nazis and subsequent recovery through the efforts of French Resistance heroine Rose Valland.

Joseph H. Hazen was a visionary producer whose influence left an indelible mark on Hollywood’s golden age. He contributed to major films such as True Grit, Barefoot in the Park, and Rose Tattoo and collaborated with legendary stars including Elvis Presley, Kirk Douglas, and Jane Fonda. Initially an executive at Warner Brothers, Joseph H. Hazen played a pivotal role in negotiating a landmark deal with Vitaphone which brought synchronized audio to films like The Jazz Singer (1927), effectively marking the end of the silent era in cinema. Later, Hazen co-founded Wallis-Hazen Productions, a significant force in mid-20th-century Hollywood. Formed through a partnership with producer Hal B. Wallis, Wallis-Hazen Productions became a pioneering, independent, filmmaking entity, producing a string of acclaimed, commercially successful films that helped define post-war American cinema.

Beyond cinema, Hazen was an avid and discerning collector, drawn to the groundbreaking artistic movements of the 20th century. Over the course of his life, he assembled and amassed an extraordinary collection of masterworks, 15 of which were sold at Sotheby’s in November 1995. The group achieved $51.8 million, led by Vincent van Gogh’s Sous Bois, which brought $27 million, at the time the fourth highest price ever achieved for the artist at auction.

Now, some 30 years later, Sotheby’s will present a further selection of works shedding new light on Hazen’s previously unknown passion for Orphism, a movement he believed captured the very essence of beauty and human experience. These pivotal works have remained in the Hazen family for over seven decades, making their auction debut this May.

A highlight of the group is Fernand Léger’s La Jeune fille au bouquet, a remarkable and rare work completed in 1921, when the artist was at the height of his exploration of neoclassical themes. It captures a young woman holding flowers, a tender subject Léger depicted only twice in this way. Although by 1920 the female figure had become a recurring theme in his art, in La Jeune fille au bouquet Léger brings the figure to the fore, cropped at the head and knees, with only the faintest suggestion of space around her.

Although La Jeune fille au bouquet moves away from the rigid mechanics of Léger’s pre-war works, it remains rooted in the industrial world. The sweeping curves of the figure’s hair recall Léger’s depictions of billowing smoke seen in pre-war works such as Les Fumées sur les toits (1911–12) and Le Soldat à la pipe (1916). In La Jeune fille au bouquet he adds a more human touch, bringing his machine-age style to a more romantic subject. The figure is surrounded by a geometric framing clearly influenced by the Dutch De Stijl group in which Léger was strongly interested at the time.

This remarkable work comes to auction with a fascinating and storied provenance. It was first acquired by Léger’s primary dealer, Léonce Rosenberg, a mere month after it was painted, before passing into the hands of the distinguished art collector Alphonse Kann.

In October of 1940, the work was seized by the Einsatzstab Reichleiter Rosenberg (ERR), the Nazi task force responsible for looting art, assigned the inventory number “Ka 1182,” and subsequently deposited in the Jeu de Paume, which had been transformed into a central depot for looted works in Paris. It would eventually become one of over 900 pieces loaded onto a train bound for the German market; however, it crossed the path of the intrepid Rose Valland, a French art historian and Resistance heroine.

Valland, who had worked quietly at the Jeu de Paume under the watchful eye of the occupiers, kept meticulous records of the stolen artworks, documenting their origins, destinations, and the identities of their rightful owners. Her knowledge of German, which she kept secret, enabled her to overhear crucial conversations and gather information that would prove indispensable. Her detailed records became vital to the Monuments Men and the Allied forces in the aftermath of the war, helping to recover and restitute thousands of artworks.

On August 1, 1944, Valland learned that a train, laden with 148 crates of looted art, including La Jeune fille au bouquet, was scheduled to depart for Germany the following day. Through her courageous actions, she halted the train's departure, ensuring that the invaluable works were not lost to the Nazis. Valland's unparalleled bravery and unwavering commitment to preserving cultural heritage earned her numerous honors, securing her place as one of the most decorated women in French history.

Thanks to Rose Valland’s efforts, La Jeune fille au bouquet was safely returned to Kann in 1947 before entering the Hazen collection in 1955.

Alberto Giacometti’s Femme debout (Poseuse I) was conceived in 1954 and cast shortly thereafter. It is unique in two respects: as both the only cast of this form known to be hand-painted by the artist and the only cast with a long right arm. An evocative example of Giacometti’s fascination with the hieratic standing female figure, this work beautifully encapsulates the exploration of this subject that was central to the artist’s mature works, which began with Femme au Chariot in 1943 and culminated with the Grande Femmes I-IV in 1960. Bronzes hand-painted by Giacometti are particularly rare; the surface of the present work is enlivened not just by the artist’s method of kneading, pinching and pulling the clay or plaster prior to its casting but also by his dedicated attention to the paint application which further serves to highlight the form of this standing figure. Femme debout (Poseuse I) was acquired by Joseph H. Hazen in 1961 from World House Galleries. Exhibited at the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge in 1966, the present work has not been publicly exhibited since that time.

František Kupka was a pioneering Czech painter and graphic artist, widely regarded as one of the earliest creators of pure abstraction in modern art. Born in Opočno, Bohemia, he trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, and later in Vienna and Paris. He began his career as an illustrator, but his artistic vision quickly led him away from representation towards a bold, revolutionary style rooted in color, rhythm, and spiritual expression.

Although Kupka initially worked in a Symbolist and figurative mode, by the 1910s he had emerged as a leading figure of the Orphist movement—alongside Robert and Sonia Delaunay—embracing vibrant, musical compositions that sought to capture the dynamism of modern life. Influenced by music, science, and philosophy, Kupka developed a visual language that was both rigorously intellectual and deeply intuitive, grounded in a belief in the transcendent power of abstraction.

By the 1920s, Kupka had fully broken from figurative painting and was working independently in his studio outside Paris. His art from this period, including Flux et reflux (1923) and Formes flasques (1919–25), marked a decisive move into pure abstraction, placing him among the first artists—alongside Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian—to explore non-representational art in its fullest sense. Color, movement, and form became his primary vehicles of expression.

Although his radical approach was often overshadowed by more prominent contemporaries, Kupka’s groundbreaking canvases anticipated later movements such as Op Art and Abstract Expressionism. His legacy, long overlooked, has since been recognized as foundational to the evolution of 20th-century abstraction.

Recent years have witnessed a striking resurgence in appreciation for Kupka’s work, with his top six auction prices all achieved in the last five years. This renewed attention has been fueled by major global exhibitions, including the landmark Kupka: Pioneer of Abstraction at the Grand Palais in Paris (2018)—the first such retrospective in over three decades—and Harmony and Dissonance: Orphism in Paris, 1910–1930, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (2025), which featured eleven of his works.

Also included in the auction is Robert Delaunay’s Nature morte (1936). A leading figure in the development of Orphism, Delaunay was also prominently featured in the Guggenheim’s recent exhibition. His deep interest in geometric and abstract forms is seen in Nature morte, where interwoven circles and segmented planes of color embody the idea of synchronized movement, evoking the relentless momentum of innovation and progress.

Created in 1936, the year before Delaunay’s iconic mural for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, this work reflects a renewed phase of experimentation, as the artist turned to mural painting to escape the limits of the easel. As he explained, "The concept of a boundless universe leads to the painting that has been inserted into a frame being rejected and replaced with one which continues both inside and outside and even extends into eternity."

This painting, which has never been publicly reproduced in color until now, appears at auction having remained in the Hazen collection since 1955.