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Swiss Art Highlights

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The Swiss Art / Swiss Made auction in Zurich on 27 June features a large selection of quality paintings, works on paper, sculptures, prints, furniture and design from renowned Swiss artists from the 19th century through to the present day, including Albert Anker, Alexandre Calame and François Bocion, Cuno Amiet, and Augusto and Giovanni Giacometti. The top lot of the sale is Félix Vallotton’s rare and important masterpiece La Néva, brume légère.

Click ahead to discover more about this and other highlights from the sale, chosen by specialist Stephanie Schleining.

Swiss Art/Swiss Made | Zurich | 27 June

Swiss Art Highlights

  • Bocion, Chemin dans les vignes, 1886, Oil on canvas, 43.5 x 70 cm.
    Estimate : 100,000-150,000 CHF
    Chemin dans les Vignes is an impressive and light-filled pre-impressionist masterpiece which depicts a young winemaker in the UNESCO heritage region of Lavaux, above Lake Geneva, on a sunny day.

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  • Peder Monk Monsted, View of Vevey, oil on canvas, 45 x 62 cm.
    Estimate: 8,000-12,000 CHF
    During his later years, the famous Danish artist travelled throughout the Mediterranean and spent some time in Switzerland. He was greatly inspired by François Bocion, and the landscape above Lake Geneva offered Monsted comparable atmospheres to those depicted in his famous Scandinavian views.

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  • Auguste Baud-Bovy, Le Paysage de Port-Tunnel, oil on canvas, 70 x 91 cm.
    Estimate: 40,000-60,000 CHF
    This exquisite and important painting depicts the family of Henri Durant – founder of the Red Cross – in their house in the Geneva countryside. As in other works from his early period, the artist focuses on a detailed description of the foliage combined with effects of light and shadow.

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  • Anker, Mädchenbildnis mit roter Kopfbedeckung, 1879, oil on canvas laid down on cardboard, 44.5 x 33.5 cm.
    Estimate : 200,000-300,000 CHF
    Throughout his career, Albert Anker portrayed people from his immediate surroundings, most of time young children or elderly people, with astounding dedication and impressive technical mastery. In 1879, three of the artist’s paintings were exhibited in the important exhibition of the newly built Kunstmuseum Berne. 

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  • Cuno Amiet, Dekoration Blumenfrauen I, 1914, oil on canvas, 140 x 53 cm.
    Estimate: 150,000-200,000 CHF
    Willy Russ-Young was a passionate collector of Ferdinand Hodler's work and commissioned Cuno Amiet to paint a four-piece cycle to decorate his dining room. He requested that flowers be the central motif of the composition. The present work is reminiscent of Hodler’s monumental moving figures in front of abstract landscapes and is considered a synthesis of Amiet’s iconographic and stylistic preoccupations during this period.   

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  • Vallotton, La Néva, brume légère, 1913, Oil on canvas , 60 x 81 cm.
    Estimate : CHF 1,000,000-1,500,000
    A masterpiece from the artist’s Russian period, rare and distinct from the rest of his œuvre. It is appearing on the auction market for the very first time, after having stayed in the same family since 1965. The highly modern composition with flat surfaces, lack of perspective, darkly silhouetted male figure and lamp-post are reminiscent of the nabi movement, revealing the enduring influence on Vallotton of Japanese wood-prints.

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  • Ernest Biéler, Le vieux mendiant, tempera on paper laid down on wood, 26.5 x 24 cm.
    Estimate: 120,000-180,000 CHF
    The artist focuses on genre paintings and works known as « Type de Savièse ». Alongside children and young women in the local traditional dress, he portrays elder men with beards and hats, in square, close portraits and creates tailored wooden frames which are an integral part of the composition.

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  • Ernest Biéler, Trois jeunes filles de Granois, 1920, Pencil, watercolour and gouache on paper, 31 x 37 cm.
    Estimate : 500,000-700,000 CHF
    This full-length portrait depicts three young girls from the village of Savièse and is an iconic work. As in other portraits by Ernest Biéler and by the artists from the “Ecole de Savièse” group, the traditions of the region are depicted through close attention to local dress, decorative elements and landscapes. After 1905, Ernest Biéler abandoned oil painting in favour of small-scale works executed in watercolour and tempera.

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  • Le Corbusier, Taureau autrement que sur la terre, 1956, Enamel on metal, 55 x 46 cm.
    Estimate: 80,000-120,000 CHF
    Renowned architect, designer and artist, Le Corbusier experimented with several techniques. Nevertheless, his works in enamel on metal very rarely appear at auction. This surrealist composition is highly reminiscent of Picasso cubist period.

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  • Balthasar Burkhard, Rio Negro, 2002, gelatin silver print on aluminium, 125 x 250 cm.
    Estimate: 12,000-18,000 CHF
    Over the past 40 years, Balthasar Burkhard's work has been influenced by his many travels around the world. In 2002, the enigmatic Brazilian landscape of the Rio Negro inspired this rare, monumental and high-quality photograph.

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