This section will be available this Autumn.
Almine Rech
tom wesselmann
Tom Wesselmann (USA, Ohio 1931-2004 New York) 'Smoker Study (For Smoker #11)', 1972 Oil on canvas 29.2 x 29.2 cm 46.4 x 46.4 x 3.8 cm (framed) Examined by the WPI's Wesselmann committee on 13 December 2023, for inclusion in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné Provenance: estate of the artist Courtesy of the Estate of Tom Wesselmann and Almine Rech / Photo: Thomas Barratt Smoker Study (For Smoker #11), 1972 belongs to Tom Wesselmann’s Smoker series, which the artist began in 1967. Born out of a desire to isolate and further investigate the representation of lips and the act of smoking, the Smoker series also found its origin in advertising, and stands as testament to the major role Wesselmann occupied in the birth and development of the Pop aesthetic. Today, Wesselmann’s Smoker paintings are among his most renowned works. The series began with Smoker, 1 (Mouth, 12), 1967, which is now held in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Wesselmann found photography to be a useful medium to capture his models in poses he would later translate to larger scale works. On one occasion, his friend Peggy Sarno lit a cigarette during a modeling session. Wesselmann took some photographs of her as she inhaled, still posing in a reclined position. This moment inspired the Smoker series, which is characterised by the presence of vivid red lips juxtaposed with curling white smoke. Smoker Study (For Smoker #11) is both bold and intimate, capturing a single moment of pleasure in a complex and ambitious composition indicative of the artist’s experimentation with subject, form, and color. In mid-century America, cigarette advertisements were incredibly elaborate, among the most sophisticated forms of marketing. As well as standing as an example of Wesselmann’s fascination with popular culture and the female body, Smoker Study (For Smoker #11) also demonstrates the artist’s mastery of oil paint, attention to detail, and sophisticated compositional style. In the 1960s, Wesselmann had been developing his Great American Nudes series when he was inspired to focus on specific details of female figures. In an almost fetishistic act, he started isolating elements of the female figure, creating smaller preparatory pieces as well as larger scale works depicting hands, breasts, and lips. Out of this approach his Mouth paintings and Smoker Series, works such as Smoker Study (For Smoker #11) were born. Tom Wesselmann (1931–2004) was one of the leading American Pop artists of the mid-20th Century. Departing from Abstract Expressionism, he explored classical representations of the nude, still life, and landscape, while incorporating everyday objects and advertising ephemera. Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 23, 1931. He attended Hiram College in Ohio from 1949 to 1951 before entering the University of Cincinnati. In 1953, his studies were interrupted by a two-year enlistment in the army, during which time he began drawing cartoons. He returned to the university in 1954 and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1956. During this time, he decided to pursue a career in cartooning and enrolled at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he was accepted into the Cooper Union and where his focus shifted dramatically to fine art.
Galerie Alexis Pentcheff
pierre bonnard
Pierre Bonnard (Fontenay-aux-Roses 1867-1947 Le Cannet) Promenade à Paris, circa 1911 Oil on canvas 40 x 60 cm Estate stamp lower left Provenance: collection of Pierre and Marie-Françoise Vernon Literature: Dauberville Jean et Henry, Bonnard, Vol. IV, Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, 1974, repr. p. 312 under n° 01992 Exhibitions: Pierre Bonnard, A. Tooth & Sons, London, 17 June-12 July 1969, repr. in exh. cat. n° 8; Matisse e Bonnard. Viva la pittura!, Rome, 2006, repr. in exh. cat. (ed. Skira) p. 340 under n° 125; Bonnard, Le Cannet, une évidence, Musée Bonnard, Le Cannet, 2020, repr. in exh. cat. p. 42 The creation of this work by Pierre Bonnard reminds us that the artist was also a photographer, experimenting with daring compositions. Though his painting captures the fleeting moment, it shares little with the tentative realism of early photography. Made entirely of color and sensation, it constructs a fragile world of subtle harmony. Just before embracing the South - before letting the Mediterranean light burst into color across his canvases - Bonnard explored a quieter, more muted sensuality in the early 1910s, while working in a studio in Paris, not far from the avenue depicted here. The “very Japanese Nabi,” as his friends from the group of his youth liked to call him, knew how to let color whisper on the canvas, how to conjure the intimacy of a letter. On one side of the painting, cool tones — blues and violets placed side by side - contrast with the russet hues of this autumnal Parisian avenue, bringing to the foreground, beneath a hat bathed in light like a reinvented halo, the lowered face of a woman reading. Her eyes are hidden, absorbed in the text. Though she has removed her gloves, she surely no longer feels the sharp chill of that November afternoon… Elegant silhouettes glide through the landscape; yet they endure — along with this hat-wearing heroine - on our retinas and in our memories, as companions to a shared intimacy, lasting only the time it takes to read a love letter. Unseen on the art market since the 1960s, this painting has been shown in several museum exhibitions, the most recent in 2020 at the Musée du Cannet, dedicated to the artist.
Gallery de Potter d’Indoye
georges jacob
Pair of bergères 'à la Reine' Georges Jacob (Cheny 1739-1814 Paris) France, Louis XVI period Carved and gilded wood H 100 x W 69 x D 61 cm Stamped Georges Jacob Provenance: Jacques Perrin, Paris, 1997 Pair of carved and gilded wood Bergères with rounded backs, decorated with acanthus leaves and an interlacing frieze. Tapered and caned legs with gadroons. The arched crest surmounts padded armrests, the frames carved with guilloche patterns and foliage, resting on turned fluted legs, stamped G. Jacob. Georges Jacob, received as master on the July 5th, 1765, is the most famous of all the 18th-century French menuisiers. Unlike his colleagues, Jacob founded his company from scratch in 1765 and moved his workshops to Rue Meslée in 1775. This is where the most brilliant period of his career took place and where the major royal commissions were produced. From 1773 he was solicited by the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, for which he continued to work until the Revolution. In addition to the Queen and, to a lesser extent, the King, his clientele included the main members of the royal family and its entourage. As ordinary carpenter to Monsieur, Count of Provence and brother of the King, the future Louis XVIII, he furnished most of his homes. He also worked for the Count of Artois, another brother of the King and future Charles X, Madame Élisabeth, sister of Louis XVI, the Prince of Condé, the Duke of Penthièvre, the Duke of Bavaria and Deux-Ponts Charles-Théodore, etc.
Gilden's Art Gallery
pablo picasso
Pablo Picasso (Malaga 1881-1973 Mougins) Le bain de pieds, 1960 Brush and India ink drawing on wove paper 20.9 x 26.9 cm This ink drawing is dated 26.1.60.II in ink in the upper image. Picasso created this work on Tuesday 26 January 1960 Provenance: Forum Fine Art, Zurich; private collection, Switzerland; Christie's, London, 10 February 2005, lot 685 Literature: C. Zervos (1968), Pablo Picasso - Œuvres de 1959 à 1961, Paris, vol. 19, reference n° 137 (ill., pl. 32)
Galerie Florence de Voldère
frederik bouttats l'ancien
Frédérik Bouttats the Elder (Antwerp, 1590-1661) Earthly paradise Oil on canvas 55.5 x 83 cm A painter of landscapes, paradises, and animals, he was also an engraver. He joined the Antwerp Guild as early as 1612. He had two pupils, as well as his sons Frédérik the Younger and Jacob. Founder of a famous family of artists, he contributed, along with his followers, to the influence and richness of Flemish painting through brilliant works under the influence of Velvet Brueghel, Jan van Kessel, and Roelandt Savery. To the great delight of naturalists and humanist scholars, the Breughels and their painter friends such as the Bouttats multiplied the themes of the Earthly Paradise, celebrating the beauty and diversity of creation. Like the Bird Traps, these paradises met with great success, and different versions can now be seen in the world’s greatest museums.
Galerie de la Béraudière
joan miró
Joan Miró (Barcelona 1893-1983 Palma de Majorque) Femme, oiseaux, 1976 Oil, gouache and oil stick on scratched board 65.1 x 50.2 cm Signed lower right 'Miró' Signed, dated and titled on the reverse: MIRÓ., 20/IV/76., Femme, oiseaux Provenance: estate of Joan Miró; Sotheby's, Madrid, 42 works by Joan Miró, 9 December 1986, lot 4 (in aid of the Fundaciò Pilar i Joan Miró, Palma de Mallorca); Quitana Fine Arts, New York; Ramis Barquet Gallery, Mexico City; private collection; Christie's, New York, 9 November 2000, lot 460; Waddington Galleries, London; private collection, Portugal (acquired from the above in 2004); Phillips, New York, 8 November 2015, lot 14; private collection, Europe Literature: Jacques Dupin, Ariane Lelong, Joan Miró, Catalogue raisonné. Paintings, vol. VI: 1976-1981, Paris, Gallery Lelong and the Miró Succession, 2004, ill. n° 1737, p. 49 Exhibitions: 2018, Brussels, Galerie de la Béraudière, Calder, Miró et leurs rencontres parisiennes; 2017, Brussels, Galerie de la Béraudière, La figure animalière; 2016, Brussels, Galerie de la Béraudière, Chefs-d'oeuvre de la galerie et Surréalisme In Woman, Birds, Joan Miró unfolds a free and vibrant universe, where colour and line become forces in motion. Against a deep black background, reds, yellows and whites burst forth with an almost musical intensity. The artist condenses the essence of his language into this work: the spontaneity of gesture, the simplicity of form and the poetry of symbolism. The woman and the bird, emblematic motifs in his work, merge into a space that is both controlled and spontaneous. Created at the end of his life, this composition expresses the supreme freedom of an artist at the height of his powers.
Galerie AB - Agnès Aittouarès
Sam Francis (California, 1923-1994) SF63-046, 1963 Acrylic on paper 90 x 63 cm Signed, dated and located Los Angeles on reverse Listed in the online catalogue raisonné of the artist under n° SF63-046 Provenance: Jean Fournier collection; private collection, Paris Exhibition: Paris, Galerie Jean Fournier, Sam Francis de 1947 à 1988 sur papier, October-November 1988
Victor Werner
carl johan bonnesen
Carl Johan Bonnesen (Aalborg 1868-1933 Copenhagen) African elephant, 1924 Bronze with green patina H 54 x W 78 x D 34 cm Signed and dated CARL J. BONNESEN 1924 Provenance: Professor Karl Meyer, board member of Villadsens Fabrikker; donated Nov. 9th, 1932, to the company director Christian Villadsen and his wife Ingeborg (as inscribed on the base); gifted by Christian Villadsen’s grandson to the previous owner
Van Pruissen Asian Art
yoshitsugu
Hattori Taira Yoshitsugu Yagami School Tsuba with 'Thousand Monkeys' Carved iron Japan, late 18th century Ø 7.1 cm Signed 'Yoshitsugu' An iron tsuba intricately carved in openwork (nikubori ji-sukashi) with a lively multitude of monkeys, including the famous Three Wise Monkeys. Their eyes and the rim are accented in gold using nunome-zōgan. The maker, Hattori Taira Yoshitsugu, was a pupil of Yagami school founder Noda Mitsuhiro and teacher of Onitake Toshiyoshi. The Yagami school, active in Nagasaki in the late 18th century, is renowned for its 'Thousand Monkeys' motif, as also seen in a comparable example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. n° 91.1.751).
Galerie Flak
Yipwon hook figure Korewori river, Papua New Guinea, 19th century or earlier (C-14 test) Carved wood H 200 cm Provenance: Merrin Gallery, New York; Californian artist Tony Berlant collection; acquired from the above in the 1980s; Michael Hamson collection, USA; Dr. Jean-Philippe Beaulieu collection, France; acquired from the previous in 2022
Philippe Heim
andré maire
André Maire (Paris, 1898-1984) Vue de Segovie, circa 1940 Oil on canvas 163 x 227 cm Signed lower right Certificate of authenticity issued by Philippe Heim Provenance: the artist's family Literature: André Maire (1898-1984), L'itinéraire décoratif d'un peintre voyageur, Éd. Gallimard, 16 October 2008, repr. p. 89 Exhibition: André Maire (1898-1984), L'itinéraire décoratif d'un peintre voyageur, Roubaix, La Piscine, 18 October 2008 to 1 February 2009
Jan Muller Antiques
Netherlandish School, circa 1500 Triptych with the Crucifixion and scenes from the Passion Oil on panel 51 x 36.5 cm (closed) 51 x 73 cm (open) The gallery is grateful to Dr. Didier Martens for his expertise The Crucifixion with Saint Jerome and Saint Dominic and Scenes from the Passion, Original frame. This triptych depicts Christ on the Cross, flanked by the sorrowful figures of the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist. Kneeling at the foot of the Cross are Saint Jerome and Saint Dominic, the latter holding a rosary. In the landscape beyond unfold several scenes from Christ’s Passion, culminating in the Crucifixion. This version follows the composition preserved in the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, which originally formed one half of a diptych. Its companion panel, depicting The Coronation of the Virgin, is held in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. The distinctive iconography is closely associated with the Dominican devotion to the Rosary. Surrounding the central Crucifixion are smaller narrative scenes illustrating key moments from the Passion of Christ: • Christ in the Garden of Olives: Following the Last Supper, Christ withdraws to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. In deep anguish, he prays to be spared his suffering, while ultimately submitting to God’s will. • The Circumcision: According to the Gospel of Luke, this event occurred eight days after Christ’s birth, during the Brit Milah ceremony at which he received his name. • The Flagellation: This scene depicts the scourging ordered by Pontius Pilate, the customary prelude to crucifixion under Roman law. • Christ on the Cold Stone: The pensive Christ sits, crowned with thorns and bearing the marks of his scourging, his head resting in contemplation. This image reflects the influence of the Devotio Moderna, a movement that emphasized Christ’s human suffering as a model for personal devotion.
Galerie Raf Van Severen
théo van rysselberghe
Théo Van Rysselberghe (Belgium, Ghent 1862-1926 Le Lavandou, France) Ile du Levant, circa 1904 Oil on panel 30 x 41.4 cm Signed with monogram bottom left Provenance: Foundation Catherine Gide; private collection, Brussels Literature: Feltkamp, 2003, réf. 1924-034, p. 441; Catalogue de l'exposition, Bruxelles, La Haye, 2006, p. 258; Théo Van Rysselberghe, l'instant sublimé, Museé de Lodève, 2012, p. 99; Théo Van Rysselberghe, Intime, 2005, p.65; Théo Van Rysselberghe, Bozar Books by Fonds Mercator & Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Belgian Art Research Institute, 2005, p. 229 Exhibitions: 2005, TVR, Intime, Espace Culturel, Le Lavandou, n° 37; 2006, Brussels, La Haye, without number, p. 229
Vagabond Antiques
Pair of carved Heraldic stone lions Central European, Hapsburg Territories, late 17th century Carved limestone H 90 x W 57 x D 77 cm A striking pair of limestone lions, carved in full relief and designed as true opposites. Each is seated upright, with bared teeth, strong haunches and tightly curled manes. Both wear a crown and hold an oval cartouche carved in bold relief with an interlaced monogram. They were made to flank the formal entrance of a major estate. The form and detailing are typical of high-status Baroque culture in Central Europe and the crown design is especially telling. Each features a repeating pattern of fleur-de-lis and crosses, closely following the design of imperial crowns used in Habsburg heraldry - particularly in the realms of Austria and Bohemia. A crucial distinction is the placement of such a crown directly on the animal - not merely above the cipher - which indicates an emblem of royal standing. Comparable examples can be seen on the monumental lions at Prince Eugene of Savoy's Upper Belvedere Palace in Vienna and others across Bavaria and Austria, where lions were used as heraldic supporters for noble or imperial arms. The monograms are hard to decipher but are almost certainly ciphers for the original owners or patrons. They likely stood at the gates of a major estate or seat of power under Habsburg rule or allegiance, marking out territories and status.
Galerie AB - Agnès Aittouarès
pablo picasso
Pablo Picasso (Malaga 1881-1973 Mougins) Two characters, séduction, 1953 Produced in Cannes on 16 December 1953 Ink on paper 20.9 x 26.4 cm Signed upper left and dated upper right Provenance: Scheffel Gallery, Bad Homburg, Germany; private collection, acquired from the Scheffel Gallery in 1989; private collection; private collection, Paris Literature: Christian Zervos, Pablo Picasso. Œuvres de 1953 à 1955, vol. 16, Paris, 1965, n° 57, p. 20; Dore Ashton, Picasso on Art: A Selection of Views, New York, 1972, p. 125
Galerie Greta Meert
carla accardi
Carla Accardi (Trapani 1924-2014 Rome) Frammenti, 1984 Acrylic on canvas 50 x 60 cm Frammenti, a work from 1984, ‘Fragments’; the work affirms Carla Accardi’s place as a voice of innovation in an Italian art scene dominated by male voices. In this 50 x 60 cm painting using only black paint on the untreated material of the canvas, the artist constructs a rhythmic interplay of signs animating recognition and illegibility, an evocation of a writing that dissolves into abstraction. The work embodies the tension that characterises her oeuvre: a subtle intertwining of classical painterly discipline and the radical openness of the avant-garde, resulting in a visual language that is as rigorous and experimental as it is personal.
unforget Decorative Arts
fulvio bianconi
Fulvio Bianconi (Padua 1915-1996 Milan) 'Sirena' vase model 4201 Designed in 1950, manufactured by Venini Murano, Italy Blown glass in amber color, iridescent, decoration in white glass called lattimo H 30.5 x W 20 x D 10 cm Acid signed on the reverse on 4 lines 'venini murano MADE IN ITALY' Provenance: Sotheby's London, Design, 16 October 2018, lot 88 Literature: Marc Heiremans, Art Glass from Murano 1910-1970, Stuttgart, 1993, p. 270, fig. 223 Franco Deboni, VENINI GLASS: Its history, artists and techniques, Volume I, Turin, 2007, n.p. for a drawing of the model in the Venini ‘Red’ catalogue; Franco Deboni, VENINI GLASS: Catalogue 1921-2007, Volume II, Turin, 2007, pl. 193; Marino Barovier, ed., FULVIO BIANCONI AT VENINI, exh. cat., Le Stanze del Vetro, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 2015, p. 16 for a sketch from the Venini ‘Black’ notebook, p. 25 possibly illustrates the present lot, pp. 130, 144, 156 In 1950, Bianconi created a series of glass sculptures, some representing marine subjects (mermaids and fish) in a playful manner, and others exploring the theme of the female body. Several of these pieces were successfully exhibited at the major traveling exhibition Italy at Work, organized in the United States between 1950 and 1953. Many of these sculptures are characterized by a technique of applying 'lattimo' threads that stand out on a transparent surface. Other sculptures feature Phoenician decorations which, like 'lattimo' decorations, are also used on vases with soft baselines.
Mearini Fine Art
Romano Alberti (Sansepolcro, 1502-1568) known as Nero Alberti da Sansepolcro o Maestro di Magione Sora Giulia Italy, 16th century Polychrome sculpture of stucco and paper mache constructed around a wooden core H 70 cm Provenance: private collection Literature: Sculture da vestire, Nero Alberti da Sansepolcro e la produzione di manichini lignei in una bottega del cinquecento. Cat. pp 69-70 and pp. 175-176 Exhibition: Museo di Santa Croce, Umbertide (Pg), 2005
Brame & Lorenceau
marie laurencin
Marie Laurencin (Paris, 1883-1956) Jeune fille au bouquet de fleurs, circa 1935-1940 Oil on canvas 61 x 50 cm Signed upper left Provenance: private collection Literature: Daniel Marchesseau, 'Marie Laurencin, Catalogue raisonné de l’Œuvre Peint', 1986, Éditions du Musée Marie Laurencin, Japan, 1986, n° 1150, repr. B&W
Pauline's Jewellery Box
Belle Epoque diamond tiara necklace, circa 1905 Platinum and diamonds Provenance: private collection, London An important Belle Epoque diamond tiara necklace, set with old European & rose cut diamonds. The estimated total diamond weight is approximately 12.00 carats. Estimated colour H-I on average. Estimated clarity VS-SI on average. The diamonds are bright & lively, mounted in platinum.
