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Humanity Revealed in Portraits and Property from a Distinguished Private Collection

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Sotheby’s is honoured to offer this incredible private collection spanning all the way from Old Master Paintings and Drawings, to Impressionist and Modern, Contemporary Art, and Prints. Presenting the strong theme of portraiture and humanity throughout, a theme predominantly captured through the medium of works on paper through the ages, a collection of 25 works will also be offered in a dedicated single-owner sale in Paris on the theme of portraiture captured on paper, entitled “Traits et Portraits” (Lines and Portraits).

Old Master Paintings Evening Sale
30 JANUARY 2019 | NEW YORK

American Art
6 MARCH 2019 | NEW YORK

Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale
27 FEBRUARY 2019 | LONDON

Contemporary Art Day Auction
6 MARCH 2019 | LONDON

Art Impressioniste et Moderne
MARCH 2019 | PARIS

Traits et Portraits: Une Collection Particulière Londonienne
28 MARCH 2019 | PARIS

Vente Œuvres sur Papier
MARCH 2019 | PARIS

Prints & Multiples
26 MARCH 2019 | LONDON

American Paintings
MAY 2019| NEW YORK

Modern & Post War British Art Day Sale
JUNE 2019 | LONDON

Humanity Revealed in Portraits and Property from a Distinguished Private Collection

  • Daniele Crespi, The Annunciation
    Estimate $300,000–500,000
    Daniele Crespi’s Annunciation encapsulates this great Lombard artist’s contribution to Italian seicento painting. Executed on panel, this is a rare easel-sized painting by Crespi, and one which has only reemerged within the past few years. The idyllic, softly modeled contours reflect the lingering Mannerist influence of Correggio, along with more contemporary inspiration from Giulio Cesare Procaccini and Giovanni Battista Crespi, called Il Cerano.

    Master Paintings Evening Sale
    30 JANUARY 2019 | NEW YORK
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  • Bernardo Strozzi, Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist
    Estimate $300,000–500,000
    This work, dating to circa 1620, is a dazzling example of Strozzi's strong chiaroscuro and bold color palette. Born in Genoa, Bernardo Strozzi studied painting briefly before entering the Capuchin Monastery at San Barnaba in 1598 and earning the nickname Il Cappuccino. Despite his vocation, Strozzi continued to paint devotional pictures like this Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist, a subject to which he would return repeatedly.

    Master Paintings Evening Sale
    30 JANUARY 2019 | NEW YORK
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  • Francisco de Goya, Portrait of the Actress Rita Luna
    Estimate $1,000,000–1,500,000
    Goya’s pensive and enigmatic Portrait of Rita Luna dates to 1814-1818. Luna was one of the most celebrated dramatic actresses of Goya’s day. Born into a theatrical family in the provincial center of Málaga, she left to seek her fortune on the stages of Madrid when she was only nineteen. It seems likely that the portrait was kept by Goya for his own personal use, as it is documented in a letter written by Mariano Goya in 1859 detailing its discovery, now stored at the British Library.

    Master Paintings Evening Sale
    30 JANUARY 2019 | NEW YORK
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  • Francisco de Goya, La Tauromaquia
    Estimate £200,000–300,000
    A celebration of Spain’s national pastime, Goya’s La Tauromaquia (Delteil 224-256; Harris 204-236) documents the history of the sport with illustrations of medieval toreros and contemporaneous heroes. Comprising 33 painterly etchings with aquatint, the set was first published in 1816, offering relief and entertainment in the post-war era. This excellent example of the First Edition, printed in dark umber ink, has a distinguished provenance, having belonged to Marcel Louis Guérin and the author of the catalogue raisonné, Tomás Harris.

    Prints & Multiples
    26 MARCH 2019 | LONDON
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  • Chaïm Soutine, Paysage Arbreux
    Estimate £400,000–600,000
    Arriving in Paris in 1913, Soutine left La Ruche to settle in the suburb of Falguière where he shared a studio with Modigliani. Aside from his many portraits and still lives, he was interested in the depiction of nature in its rawest state. The beauty of the neighboring countryside gave him the opportunity to develop a powerful naturalism where nature at its most glorious take centre stage. In the present work, nature seems to overtake man. There is an almost Cézanne-like quality to the brushstrokes within the present work; indeed, Cézanne’s art had a profound influence on Soutine: ‘The way in which Cézanne rigorously cropped and fragmented the space surrounding his forms, this crushing of ‘solids into flat planes’ became more than a mere pictorial technique for Soutine. (exhibition catalogue: Chaim Soutine, Galerie Thomas, Munich, 2009, p. 65).

    Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale
    27 FEBRUARY 2019 | LONDON
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  • Pablo Picasso, Nu Couché Tenant une Fleur/Nu Couché et Pigeons
    Estimate €200,000–300,000
    This extraordinary double-sided drawing is testament to Picasso’s natural flair as a draughtsman. Executed in 1972—when, aged 91, Picasso’s own physical stamina had inevitably waned—his focus on erotic subjects in his paintings and drawings only intensified. In Diana Widmaier Picasso’s monograph on her grandfather’s art from these years, she claims that 'painters go about their painting to fulfill urgent needs and work off their passions'. This was undoubtedly the case for Picasso, who longed for the physical sensations that now eluded him. Rendered with a confident and free-flowing brush and ink line, the image of the reclining nude on the recto image of the present work is one of pure sensuality, and takes the odalisque paintings of Ingres and Matisse as clear art historical references.

    Traits et Portraits
    28 MARCH 2019 | PARIS
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  • Edouard Vuillard, La Grande Mère a L'evier
    Estimate £200,000–300,000
    The pointillist technique of this painting draws upon the work of Signac and Seurat and shows a clear separation in style from his Nabi peers. This painting is of Vuillard’s maternal grandmother, of whom he was exceptionally fond. He referred to her as ‘bonne-maman’. The sincerity and complexity of La grande mère a l’évier is a prime example of Vuillard’s portraiture during this early stage of his career. The identity of the subject is not immediately evident from the brushwork. However, the manner in which the light catches her face betrays a certain sensitivity. Bonne-maman was a subject of particular deference to Vuillard, rendered in the avant-garde pointillist style of the time.

    Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale
    27 FEBRUARY 2019 | LONDON
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  • Pablo Picasso, Femme aux Bras Croisés (Françoise)
    Estimate €300,000–500,000
    This extraordinary sculpture conveys the triumphant presence and spirited character of Picasso’s muse and lover from this period, Françoise Gilot. Françoise's youthful vitality and natural elegance inspired an overarching sense of fecundity and grace in the artist’s depictions of her that is embodied here. Over the years, Picasso developed a stylised language specifically dedicated to her that Brigitte Léal described as: “all curves and circles, reproduces for us the fullness of forms and highlights her characteristic features: slim waist, round breasts and in particular a serious and intense gaze”.

    Art Impressionniste et Moderne
    29 MARCH 2019 | PARIS
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  • Chaïm Soutine, Le Poisson
    Estimate £200,000–300,000
    Painted circa 1933 Le Poisson is the first time that Soutine removes the fish from the setting of a meal with the animal becoming the sole focal point of the composition. Transforming the traditional genre of the still-life, Soutine’s fish becomes a platform upon which he can develop his psychological portraiture and reflect upon themes of identity as a Russian Jew living in Paris. This unique perspective regarding his subject-matter, combined with the artist’s feelings of isolation, lend Soutine’s paintings a poignancy and angst distinctive of his canon.

    Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale
    27 FEBRUARY 2019 | LONDON
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  • Max Liebermann, Reiter in der Allee bei Sakrow
    Estimate £250,000 –350,000
    Reiter in der Allee bei Sakrow, executed in 1924, is a typical example of Max Liebermann’s mature œuvre, depicting a delightful subject drawn from urban leisure. A tranquil scene of two riders walking down an avenue of trees, the work is testament to Liebermann’s rich expressive brushwork and mastery of light effects, strongly influenced by the style of the French Impressionists. Qualities of weightlessness and life-like warmth emanate from the work and demonstrates why Liebermann deserves the status as the most important German Impressionist painter.

    Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale
    27 FEBRUARY 2019 | LONDON
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