Sotheby's

Claude Monet’s Meules à Giverny, One of the Artist’s Most Iconic Motifs & Enduring Images of Impressionism, To Star in Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction Estimated to Achieve in Excess of $30M Meules Leads Works from an Important American Estate Celebrating 150th Anniversary of Impressionism & Its Influence in America “Reflecting on the 150th anniversary of the very first Impressionist exhibition, we cannot take for granted how truly radical Monet was as a painter. With his haystacks, the revolutionary ideas and techniques that initially defined Impressionism are expertly employed during a moment of significant transformation for the artist.” - Allegra Bettini, Head of the Modern Evening Auction in New York Nearly 150 years ago to the day, the first Impressionist exhibition ever staged opened in Paris on 15 April 1874. Central to the exhibition, and to the radical group of artists who banded together to organize the exhibition on their own, was Claude Monet, whose painting Impression, Sunrise from 1872 helped give a name to the groundbreaking movement that would forever change the history of art. Now, a century and a half later, as the milestone anniversary of the first avant-garde is commemorated around the world with exhibitions, books, documentaries, and more, Sotheby’s will present Monet’s Meules à Giverny (1893) as a highlight of the Modern Evening Auction, spotlighting one of the artist’s more enduring and beloved motifs and one of the most celebrated hallmarks of Impressionism. The auction will also mark five years since Monet’s Meules (1890) achieved $110.7 million at Sotheby’s, establishing a record price for the artist and for any Impressionist piece sold at auction. Executed in 1893, Meules à Giverny is one of only a handful of works by the artist featuring his iconic haystack motif to come to auction in recent years and represents the last moment Monet fully engaged with the subject of large haystacks. It also comes to market with distinguished provenance, having been brought to the United States in 1895 by its first owner, the American landscape painter, Dwight Blaney, who immediately lent it to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The work has remained in the same private collection for decades. Works from the collection will be unveiled in Sotheby’s global galleries this week before going on view from 3 May in New York, ahead of the Modern Evening Auction on 15 May. Preview our Modern Evening Auction below: https://lnkd.in/gV7ZPqKQ

Last Thursday was something of a red-letter day for Sotheby's Tax, Heritage & Museums Team. We were delighted to host a reception for some of our important professional partners, from right across the private wealth industry. It was a great opportunity, not only to celebrate those relationships, but also to mark my arrival as Head of the Tax and Heritage Team. And all this against the backdrop of some of the really beautiful paintings which will be featuring in our Modern British and Irish Art sale in June. What a night!

Sotheby's to Offer Four Masterworks by Joan Mitchell Spanning Nearly Half a Century The Most Significant Group of Works by the Artist to Appear at Auction Charting the Defining Decades of the Artist’s Celebrated Career With a Combined Estimate in the Region of $40M, the Paintings will Highlight Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auction in New York Representing the most significant selection of paintings from Joan Mitchell’s oeuvre to ever come to market, this May Sotheby’s will offer four defining masterworks by one of the 20th century’s most celebrated titans of Abstract Expressionism - all hailing from the same esteemed private collection. Each created during a key period of her storied career, the individual works chart the development of Mitchell’s painting through the defining seasons of her life: from her early works as she forged her own path as a leading figure of the male-dominated New York School, to her colorful soaring canvases created in the lush French countryside late in her career. Spanning nearly half a century of artistic production, together the conversation between these paintings offers a visual timeline of the radical transformations of her practice from 1954 through to 1990.   The group is comprised of Untitled from 1954, an exceptional example of Mitchell’s early work, completed two years after her first New York City solo exhibition (estimate $8/12 million); her large-scale canvas Noon from 1969, the year after her permanent move to Vétheuil, France, where she settled along the Seine on an estate once owned by Claude Monet (estimate $15/20 million); Untitled, 1973, created just one year after her first major museum solo exhibition (estimate $1/1.5 million); and Ground, 1989-90, a vibrant late-period monumental diptych (estimate $12/18 million).    Lucius Elliott, Head of Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auctions in New York, commented: “Joan Mitchell’s paintings feed on tension, and the push-and-pull of her work harkens to her lifelong commitment to abstraction and innovation, as well as her obsession with placing herself within an art historical milieu. An artist central to the birth of Abstract Expressionist as a distinctly American artform, Mitchell would also flee New York to permanently relocate to France, even living at a home formerly owned by Monet where she would begin obsessively painting her Sunflowers and draw inspiration from the natural world. It is through Mitchell’s exploration of natural forms that she transformed her work to a wholly new expression of abstraction and representation, expertly riding the knife edge to achieve a visual style that is unmistakably her own. This concise and expertly curated group of paintings marks an unprecedented opportunity to trace Mitchell’s painterly evolution and witness the ways in which her mastery took shape across decades.” https://lnkd.in/dwvSTRcG

Leonora Carrington's Magnum Opus to Highlight Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction A Masterwork of Surrealism, Les Distractions de Dagobert Will be Offered in New York this May with Record $12 - 18M Estimate "Les Distractions de Dagobert is the definitive masterpiece of Leonora Carrington's long and storied career, bearing all the hallmarks of the artist at her absolute height. The painting pioneers the visionary style that we associate with surrealism today, while equally evocative of Hieronymus Bosch's anarchic tableaus, bridging artistic boundaries to achieve an entirely new language. Like Carrington herself, the painting defies easy categorization, existing on an astral plane of its own unique being. - Julian Dawes, Sotheby's Head of Impressionist & Modern Art in New York The most significant work by the celebrated Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, Les Distractions de Dagobert, will be offered during Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction in New York, where it is set to become the most valuable work by the artist ever offered at auction with an estimate of $12 – 18 million. Appearing on the market for the first time in nearly 30 years, the work is widely recognized as the defining masterpiece of Carrington’s career, showcasing rich surreal imagery and luminous color on a large scale. The work was painted in 1945, just two years after Carrington’s arrival in Mexico from Europe as part of a wave of Surrealist artists who emigrated to the Americas in the wake of the war, signaling the beginning of a period of transformational productivity and artistic independence for the artist. Once in Mexico City, alongside the community of “exiled” Surrealists including Remedios Varo, Wolfgang Paalen, Alice Rahon, and others, as well as modern Mexican painters including Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Carrington shook off the role of “muse” assigned to her by André Breton to achieve an unprecedented level of mastery and freedom in her painting. Les Distractions de Dagobert is the crowning achievement of this critical period, the most significant milestone in her artistic career, and a major landmark in Surrealism. "While painting Les Distractions de Dagobert, Leonora experimented with light and color, to create worlds within worlds. One could say that her works developed a very personal interpretation of Surrealism, influenced by her motherhood, she gave birth' to her creations. Leonora studied with great care and attention both the northern Renaissance painters and the Quattrocento, and Les Distractions de Dagobert combines these influences in an extraordinary exploration of objects and textures, conjuring chromatic fire and illuminating our inner space in a fiery meditation." - Dr. Gabriel Weisz Carrington. Professor of Comparative Literature, Son of Leonora Carrington https://lnkd.in/gV7ZPqKQ

Surviving Study for the Infamous Portrait of Churchill Commissioned by Parliament as a Birthday Gift to be Offered at Auction One of the Most Intimate Portrayals of Sir Winston Churchill, Painted by One of the Leading Artists of the Day & A Surviving Relic from a Defining Moment in the Prime Minister’s History On View to the Public at Blenheim Palace from 16 – 21 April Displayed in Room where Churchill was Born, in his 150th Anniversary Year Ahead of Exhibitions at Sotheby’s in New York & London with the Auction on 6 June “The name Churchill evokes for each person a different snapshot of a multifaceted man. In this rare portrait, Churchill is caught in a moment of absent-minded thoughtfulness, and together with the backstory of its creation, it gives the impression of a man truly concerned with his image. This version shows Churchill closer to how he wished to be perceived, his less austere and gentler side, and so it is tempting to imagine how his reaction might have differed. Having remained within the close circles of the artist and the sitter for generations, the sale of this work is an opportunity to acquire a piece of history.”   - Andre Zlattinger, Sotheby’s Head of Modern British & Irish Art This Spring, Sotheby’s will offer one of the best surviving portraits of Churchill by Sutherland relating to the 80th birthday commission, an intimate painted study created in preparation for the final destroyed work. Focused solely on the head, Sutherland pours his energies into a dextrous, painterly analysis of the man during an incomparably challenging period of his life. It was given by Graham Sutherland to Alfred Hecht, the framer to the greatest Modern British artists of the day, who kept it all of his life and gifted it to the present owner. It is now set to make its auction debut. Prior to the auction, the painting will be exhibited at Blenheim Palace, the Oxfordshire home of the Churchill family. It will be on view to the public from 16 – 21 April in Winston Churchill’s birthplace, in a fitting tribute to his 150th anniversary.   The painting will then travel to Sotheby’s New York (3-16 May) and London (25 May-5 June), before going under the hammer on 6 June with an estimate of £500,000 – 800,000. https://lnkd.in/gYmWRQbh

We have just published our Wine and Spirits Market Report for 2023. This annual publication contains a comprehensive review and analysis of our global wine and spirits business covering our endeavors with charity auctions, auction records, market trends, buyer demographics and other insights.   Last year, Sotheby’s annual worldwide auction sales of Wine & Spirits achieved a record total of $159 million, surpassing last year’s high of $158 million. Notably, the number of auctions held worldwide increased for the fourth consecutive year, doubling pre-pandemic levels with a +17% increase of lots offered year-over-year.   Last year was also a critical year for new talent across both auction and retail with two important additions to the global team: Nick Pegna was appointed Global Head of Wine & Spirits and Vanessa Conlin was appointed Global Head of Wine Retail, both bringing an expanded number of roles across the global team.   The report includes a selection of our top auction lots by category, the top wine producers by region and the top spirits brands, among other key takeaways. https://bit.ly/4aO8bHk #SothebysWine #SothebysSpirits #wine #spirits #whisky #whiskey

🪨𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐒💎 has arrived in Geneva. Join us all week long. From 4 to 8PM Monday April 8 through Wednesday April 10, you can finally see the 24 rare and unusual timepieces we’ve unearthed in a groundbreaking collaboration between heist-out and Sotheby’s Watches. Anticipation is heavy for the underground watch auction we’re holding Thursday night April 11 in a secret Geneva wine cave. The mysterious location: La Corne à Vin, Rue de Lausanne 47b. Public previews in the cave are free. Wine will be flowing. Come see what has the whole town buzzing, then register to bid: https://lnkd.in/epBypyej #SothebysGeneva #heistout #SothebysWatches #RoughDiamonds #WatchesandWonders

A Defining Masterwork from Lucio Fontana’s Most Revered Body of Work: Concetto spaziale, La fine di Dio To be Offered at Sotheby’s New York this May  With an Estimate of $20-30 Million   Emerging from the Esteemed Rachofsky Collection Where it has Resided for Over 20 Years Immediately captivating and emanating intense energy in its vibrant yellow hue, Lucio Fontana’s Concetto spaziale, La fine di Dio represents the very best of his groundbreaking practice. Translating to “Spatial Concept, The End of God”, this group of paintings was born at a seismic moment in the 1960s, when significant advancements were happening in the exploration of space, which ultimately became the catalyst for the next decade of Fontana’s radical artistic production.    This May in New York, Sotheby’s will offer a seminal work from this era-defining series, painted in vivid cadmium yellow, from the collection of Cindy and Howard Rachofsky - passionate collectors, visionaries and, not least, philanthropists of the highest order, whose invaluable support has completely transformed the artistic landscape of their hometown Dallas and beyond. The densely pierced ovoid canvas will be presented as a highlight of Sotheby’s major Contemporary Evening Auction on May 15 with an estimate of $20-30 million – making this one of the most valuable works by Fontana ever to appear on the market. Ahead of its auction, Concetto spaziale, La fine di Dio will go on view in Sotheby’s galleries in Milan from April 5-11 and then again as part of the company’s preview exhibitions in New York from May 2-15.    Of the 38 monumental paintings that make up this series, Concetto Spaziale, La fine di Dio is one of only four Fontana created in yellow - with the other three housed in esteemed private collections around the world. This particular version is, however, unarguably one of the most important and accomplished of the entire series, having been a highlight of the artist’s retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2019. The work is differentiated by the all-over density of its punctures, around which thickly built-up layers and globs of impasto coalesce, resulting in a composition that sears with visual drama and heightened intensity.    In addition to this, its appearance this season will mark the first time a yellow Concetto spaziale, La fine di Dio has come to auction since 2015, when another canvas of the same color, set the artist’s current auction record of $29.2 million. In fact, all six of Fontana’s top prices at auction are held by comparable masterworks from this series in a variety of bold monochromes. When Cindy and Howard Rachofsky acquired this particular painting in 2003, it set an auction record for the artist at the time.   https://lnkd.in/dX82jEPf

A Highly Curated Collection Featuring the Literary Icons of the Last 200 Years: The Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko To Be Sold In New York During Sotheby’s Book Week, 11 – 26 June Featuring: The Autograph Manuscript of a Sherlock Holmes Novel, The Sign of Four  The Most Valuable Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Item Ever Offered at Auction   One of the Rarest Volumes First Editions of American Literature, Edgar Allan Poe’s First Published Collection, Tamerlane and Other Poems "While any collection will bear the personal imprint of its collector, the library of Rodney Swantko is curated with an exceptional level of detail and dedication, celebrating the rich tapestry of 20th century literature. Known in literary circles as a meticulous collector, the full scope of Swantko's library is now fully revealed for the first time, showcasing the totality of his collecting vision and the taste and curiosity that drove his passion for decades.” - Richard Austin, Sotheby's Global Head of Books & Manuscripts This June, Sotheby’s Book Week will feature as its centerpiece The Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko, a significant collection of modern literature encompassing rare examples of the most famous volumes in English and American literature from the past two centuries. The auction, taking place on 26 June, comprises a remarkable array of over forty rare books and manuscripts encompassing iconic works by, Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Vladimir Nabokov, Edgar Allan Poe, John Steinbeck, and Walt Whitman. The Swantko collection also features two extraordinary literary artworks including Sidney Paget’s original drawing for the illustration The Death of Sherlock Holmes for the Conan Doyle short story The Final Problem. The library is principally distinguished by its extraordinary range of presentation copies of literary first editions, which include A Christmas Carol inscribed by Dickens to Walter Savage Landor, his friend and fellow author; The Wonderful Wizard of Oz inscribed by L. Frank Baum to Elizabeth Hubbard; presentation copies of four works by Fitzgerald, including a very fine Great Gatsby, signed by Fitzgerald “Scott and Zelda” and given to Zelda’s sister and her husband; and copies of the first English editions of Lolita, inscribed by Nabokov to Graham Greene and Nabokov’s wife, respectively, each additionally enhanced by an original drawing of a butterfly. The crowning achievement of the Library may well be its extraordinary material by Edgar Allan Poe, which includes not only the notoriously rare Tamerlane and Other Poems, but also autograph manuscripts of three poems. https://lnkd.in/eScT7Jhy

Andy Warhol & Jean-Michel Basquiat's Monumental Masterwork from Famed Collaboration Series to Highlight Sotheby's Marquee Contemporary Art Auction this May This May, Sotheby’s will present as a highlight of the Contemporary Evening Auction one of the most significant paintings created jointly by legendary artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat during their famed period of collaboration from 1983 - 1985. The painting, Untitled (1984), is a large-scale example of their multi-year creative experiment that fused their distinctive visual languages and styles – Warhol’s signature use of screenprinting and mechanically produced imagery, such as corporate logos, coupled with Basquiat’s expressionistic, figurative scrawls in paintstick–to create one of the most singular bodies of work in 20th century art. In the four decades since their creation, the Warhol-Basquiat collaboration paintings have only added to the mystique and legend of their creators, and stand out as daring testaments to their artistic partnership and friendship.    Coming to auction for the first time in nearly 15 years with an estimate in the region of $18 million, Untitled’s sale will mark a major new benchmark price for the series. The sale follows a period of recent critical reappraisal and cultural attention for Warhol-Basquiat works, including a blockbuster retrospective held last year at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Titled Basquiat x Warhol: Painting Four Hands, the exhibition represented the largest collection of collaboration paintings ever exhibited, and a version of the exhibition travelled later in 2023 to the Brant Foundation in New York. Untitled was a centerpiece of both exhibitions, and together the surveys marked the most significant ever presentation of these famed collaborative works. "Of all the Warhol-Basquiat works from this brief and fertile moment, Untitled stands out as one of the supreme examples, fully showcasing the range of their artistic powers. The painting is a masterpiece of juxtaposition and contradiction: the cool, mechanical restraint of Warhol’s imagery, overlaid with Basquiat’s anarchic energy and freewheeling technique. Warhol and Basquiat perform a call and response throughout the painting, riffing and improvising off one another’s work to create a radical, harmonious symphony of color, imagery and form.” - Lucius Elliott, Sotheby's Head of Contemporary Marquee Auctions in New York