Major Modern & Contemporary Art auctions
 

On 5th and 6th December, the Impressionist & Modern Art, Post-War & Contemporary Art and Twenty One Contemporary departments will be holding their prestige sales of major works by leading 20th and 21st century artists.

Impressionist & Modern Art
The Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction on 5th December brings together two major works by René Magritte, La Tempête, 1931, estimated €1.4M – €1.8M and by Kees Van Dongen, Mlle A.D. la baigneuse, Deauville 1920, estimated €1.8M – €2.4M. 

“The portrait of Mlle A.D. La baigneuse, Deauville 1920, is considered an icon of the Roaring Twenties by Van Dongen, unique for its size, aesthetics and provenance from the former Roberto Polo collection, as well as for its pedigree through exhibitions and publications. Its timeless beauty should appeal to the artist’s greatest admirers” 

Bruno Jaubert, Impressionist & Modern Art Director, Artcurial

A superb group of highly desirable works by Claude Monet, Bords de Seine dans la brume (1894), sold in aid of Médecins du Monde France, Eva by Fernando Botero, created in 2017 and estimated at €500,000-700,000, as well as an extraordinary bronze master model by Edgar Degas, Cheval à l’abreuvoir (est. €180,000- 250,000), and a rare Cubist still life by Jean Metzinger from 1913-1914.

Works by Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Juan Gris, Albert Gleizes, Raoul Dufy and Max Ernst will follow. 

Post-War & Contemporary Art
The Post-War & Contemporary Art auction will feature some exceptional works, including a perforated oil on canvas by Lucio Fontana entitled Concetto spaziale, Piazza San Marco al sole, from the rare series of paintings of Venice. This work is highly representative of Fontana’s style, characterised by the radicality of his approach and the violent, disorganised nature of the perforations he made on the canvas. 

Jean-Michel Basquiat will also be honoured with The Elephant. Painted two years before his death, this work is almost 3 metres long, with a brown background featuring skulls, skeletons and African motifs that are a perfect reflection of his style. 

The sale will also feature an oil and metal leaf on canvas by Anna-Eva Bergmann. Recently rediscovered at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, through a major retrospective dedicated to the artist, this work, estimated at €80,000 - 150,000, was produced at the very beginning of her career, in 1955. 

This will be followed by two works by Alexander Calder, a stabile made in the 1960s (est. €400,000 – €600,000) and a mobile from 1933 (est. €300,000 – €500,000). This extremely simple work of exceptional provenance belonged to the painter Jean Hélion, who received it from Calder following an exchange.

Also up for auction will be an oil on canvas by Nicolas de Staël, Composition, 1943-44 (est. €300,000 - €500,000), Matière Fauteuil by Antoni Tàpies, 1966, from the Fondation Vandenhove in Liège (est. €350,000 - €550,000), and a sculpture by Antony Gormley, Precipitate IX, 2007 (est. €200,000 - €300,000), star of the Critical Mass exhibition at the Musée Rodin. 

Twenty One Contemporary 
The week of the 20th and 21st centuries will close on 6th December at 8pm with the Twenty One Contemporary sale, featuring a selection of works from today's contemporary scene. A painting depicting the intimacy of childhood, typical of Claire Tabouret's world, estimated at €50,000 - €70,000, will be contrasted with an exceptional, mystical work by DRAN (est. €100,000 - €150,000). Other contemporary French artists to be auctioned include Amélie Bertrand, Marcela Barcelo and JR

Tadashi Kawamata's famous wooden huts will be on show alongside the iconic Relics by American artist Daniel Arsham. Zanele Muholi, in the spotlight this year at the MEP in Paris, offers us one of her most famous self-portraits from the Somnyama Ngonyama series (est. €12,000 - 18,000). Finally, visual artist Xavier Veilhan has brought together the most famous duo on the music scene, Daft Punk. This work is estimated €40,000 - €60,000. 

Information
Exhibition
1 December, 11am-6pm
2 December, 11am-6pm
3 December, 2pm-6pm
4 December, 11am-6pm
5 December, 11am-2pm

Auctions
Impressionist & Modern Art - Evening Sale, 5 December at 7pm
Impressionist & Modern Art - Day Sale, 6 December at 2pm

Post-War & Contemporary Art - Evening Sale, 5 December at 7:30pm
Post-War & Contemporary Art - Day Sale, 6 December at 4:30pm

Twenty One Contemporary, 6 December at 8pm

Contact
Modern Art 
Elodie Landais 
Tel. +33 1 42 99 20 84 
 

Contemporary Art
Sara Bekhedda 
Tel. +33 1 42 99 20 25