This section will be available this Autumn.
Dei Bardi Art
Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) Inspired by the Ancient Roman Type III bust of the Emperor Northern Italy, late 16th century Marble H 22.5 x W 16 x D 11 cm H 35 cm (with red marble base) Provenance: private collection, South of France Carved in Northern Italy in the late 16th century, this refined marble head portrays Marcus Aurelius, revered as the emblematic 'philosopher emperor'. Deliberately modeled on the ancient Roman Type III portrait created at the outset of his reign (161–180 AD), it reflects the Renaissance passion for reviving imperial imagery. Its intimate scale points to a cultivated humanist milieu - likely a private studiolo or collector’s cabinet. Responding to antiquarian collecting and humanist scholarship, the sculptor reinterprets the imperial model as an exemplum virtutis for early modern audiences. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, scholars and collectors, deeply engaged with ancient texts and material remains, regarded imperial portraiture as a privileged vehicle of moral exemplarity and aesthetic perfection.
Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art
max ernst
Max Ernst (Brühl 1891-1976 Paris) Un Caprice de Neptune, 1959 Oil on canvas 27 x 35 cm Signed lower right 'max ernst' Provenance: Paolo Marinotti; Lawrence Rubin Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York; private collection, Germany Literature: W. Spies, S. and G. Metgen: Max Ernst. Oeuvre-Katalog, Werke 1954-1963, Cologne, 1998, p. 194, n° 3425 (ill.) Exhibitions: 1961, June-July, Paris, Max Ernst sculptés, Galerie au Pont des Art Weill; 1966, 17 June-2 October, Venice, Max Ernst, Oltre la pittura, Palazzo Grassi, cat. n° 7 (ill.); 1979, Munich, Max Ernst, Retrospektiv, Haus der Kunst, cat. n° 296, ill. III (colour ill. n° 30, ill. 331)
Galerie Alexis Pentcheff
Regency period frame France, 18th century Carved oak, gilded with gold leaf 112.5 x 146 cm (sight size) Provenance: Montanari collection Sand-textured background decorated with acanthus scrolls, small flowers, drops, shells, and padded cartouches. Openwork acanthus leaves overflowing with playful movement in the corners.
Galerie Berès
Georges Lemmen (Brussels, 1865-1916) Vue sur l'église de Dadizele, circa 1891 Oil on panel 16 x 24 cm Monogram lower right GL This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné being prepared by Olivier Bertrand Literature: Roger Cardon, Georges Lemmen 1865-1916, Brussels, 1997, 40 p. 104
Guy Pieters Gallery
fernando botero
Fernando Botero (Medellin 1932-2023 Monaco) Man with walking stick, 1987 Bronze H 140 x W 48 x D 28 cm Provenance: Veranneman-Kruishoutem foundation, private collection, Belgium Literature: Galerie Beyeler-Basel, Botero (exh. cat.), Basel, 1988, ill. in colour of another cast from same edition; Marlborough Gallery, Botero: Recent Sculpture (exh. cat.), New York, 1990, n° 24, p. 49, ill. in colour of work from same edition; Vittorio Sgarbi, Botero, Dipinti, Sculture, Disegni, Milan, 1991, p. 103, ill. in colour of the monumental version; Botero al Forte Belvedere di Firenze (exh. cat.), Florence, 1991, p. 31, ill. of the monumental version
TASCHEN
salvador dalí
Salvador Dalí (Spain, Figueras 1904-1989) Dalí. BABY SUMO This collector’s edition of 10,000 numbered copies presents Salvador Dalí’s work in unprecedented size and detail and is accompanied by a chronology following his path from Catalonia through Paris to Hollywood and back, with photos, sketches, and magazine pages.
Victor Werner
constant permeke
Constant Permeke (Antwerp 1886-1952 Ostend) Head of farmer, 1926 Oil on canvas 80 x 55 cm Signed 'Permeke' lower right Bears a label on the reverse that likely indicates the artwork was part of an exhibition organised with the support or involvement of the Belgian Ministry of Public Education at the time
d'Arschot & Cie
Perfume bottle and case Germany, circa 1620 Anonymous silversmith Chased, engraved, and partially gilded silver. Case in boiled leather. H 9 cm – Weight: 58 g This elegant perfume bottle stands out for the exceptional preservation of its original boiled leather case, a testament to the care taken in protecting and transporting such precious objects in the 17th century. The bottle features a finely engraved vegetal motif enlivened with small exotic birds, typical of the work of silversmiths from southern Germany during the first third of the century. At a time when the distillation of essences was still in its infancy, such bottles accompanied the daily life of the elite, allowing the frequent application of fleeting perfumes. This model, fitted with a screw cap ensuring perfect sealing, illustrates both the practical function and the symbolic value of perfume as a marker of social distinction.
De Wit Fine Tapestries
victor vasarely
Victor Vasarely (Hungary 1906-1997 Paris) WA-4, circa 1970 Wool 156 x 156 cm Signed lower right corner Aubusson, atelier Pinton (Monogram lower left corner) Edition 1/6 The WA-4 tapestry consists of a large square divided into four squares, on top of which a fifth square is placed, itself divided into four squares. The inside of each of these squares is filled with rhombuses whose colour change from dark blue to purple and then to light beige. These rhombi are arranged on backgrounds of varying colours, ranging from charcoal grey to purple and pink, then from aqua green to pale pink and dark green. The different colour areas are clearly distinct from one another when viewed up close on the tapestry's very fine fabric. But when you step back and view the tapestry from a distance, the planes and shapes seem to interact with each other, and the colours appear to move. The optical effects are particularly striking here. Our gaze is captured by the illusion of movement created by the brain. Vasarely experimented with this fascinating relationship between vision and perception in his paintings, which he then transposed into various media, including glass, ceramics, metal, goldsmithing and tapestry. Vasarely relied on science, because he believed it was the only common language available to humanity. He developed a pictorial system based on the logic of algorithms and binary codes, a square background, coloured and filled with simple geometric shapes. A champion of geometric abstraction, he is best known as the inventor of op-kinetic art (the adjective kinetic derives from the Greek word κίνησις (kinesis), meaning “movement”). Op art or optical art was revealed to the general public by the sensational exhibition ‘Le Mouvement’ (1955), which Vasarely initiated at the Denise René gallery in Paris. In this exhibition he brought together younger artists such as Bury, Jacobsen, Soto and Tinguely alongside the leading figures of Marcel Duchamp and Alexander Calder. Alongside his work as a painter, Vasarely devoted a significant portion of his activity to transposing his art into other media. He promoted the reproduction of his works as tapestries, as he saw this as an opportunity for recreation, in contrast to the concept of a unique work. He envisioned a concept of art for all, based on a new aesthetic, leading to ‘the polychrome city of happiness’. He thought of his tapestries as prototypes, hand-woven in limited numbers and displayed in the comfortable homes of art lovers. He painted around a hundred tapestry cartoons, woven in various workshops. Furthermore, he played a pioneering role by inviting other artists to try their hand at this art form, including Léger, Jean Arp, Agam, Atlan, Dewasne and Josef Albers. This textile experimentation was the result of Vasarely's encounter with François Tabard, an Aubusson tapestry entrepreneur, and Denise René, an avant-garde gallery owner. According to the artist, kinetic art, often described as cold, is compatible with tapestry insofar as it results from a "technique that allows for flat areas to retain warmth. There is none of the monotony of flat areas applied with a brush to a surface." With Tabard, Vasarely developed a systematic method of creating cartoons, allowing infinite chromatic combinations to be obtained. Denise René was the publisher of these tapestries (1952-1970). From 1966 onwards, the national tapestry manufacturers of the Gobelins and Beauvais wove Vasarely's designs. Shortly afterwards, another industrialist from Aubusson, Olivier Pinton, began weaving Vasarely's designs. More than thirty cartoons were finely woven, including WA-4, created around 1970.
Douwes Fine Art b.v.
henri fantin-latour
Henri Fantin-Latour (Grenoble 1836-1904 Buré) Vase de Pivoines, 1902 Oil on canvas 41 x 37 cm Signed lower left 'Fantin' The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Sylvie Brame Provenance: Tempelaere, Paris; Tavernier, Paris; Colnaghi, London; Galerie Brame, Paris, 1978; Sotheby's London, 1978, lot 205; private collection, Europe; Sotheby’s London, 1989, lot 2; private collection, Europe; Sotheby’s London, 1996, lot 24; Noortman Master Paintings, Maastricht, bought at TEFAF 2004; private collection, Belgium; Douwes Fine Art, Amsterdam Literature: Mme Fantin-Latour, Catalogue de l'oeuvre complet de Fantin-Latour, Paris, 1911, n° 1937, p. 206
Galeria Bessa Pereira
Abraham Palatnik (Brasil, Natal 1928-2020 Rio de Janeiro) Cupboard, 1950s Iron, wood and painted glass H 90 x W 150 x D 49 cm Origin: Brasil Provenance: private collection, Rio de Janeiro; Galeria Bessa Pereira collection Literature: Vicente, A., & Vasconcellos, M. (Comps.), Móvel moderno brasileiro (1st edition), São Paulo: Olhares, 2017, pp. 244-245; Vasconcellos, M., Móvel brasileiro moderno (1st edition), Rio de Janeiro: Aeroplano, 2012, p. 193
Pron
fausto melotti
Fausto Melotti (Rovereto 1901-1986 Milan) Il meridiano delle campane, 1979 Brass H 97.5 x W 74 x D 38 cm Literature: Milan, Galleria Stendhal, Cascella Consagra Melotti, 1980; Padua, Stevenson Arte Contemporanea, Fausto Melotti. Sculture, tecniche miste e incisioni, 1982; Intra, Galleria Corsini, Fausto Melotti. Sculture e Acquarelli. Un'opera d'arte è un'oasi, 1982; Busto Arsizio, Galleria Il Punto Sette, Fausto Melotti, 1984; Parma, Galleria La Sanseverina, Fausto Melotti, 1986, pp. 29, 47, n° 29, ill. Exhibitions: Gianni Cavazzini, Poetiche sosprese di Fausto Melotti, in Gazzetta di Parma, May 23rd, 1986, ill.; Germano Celant, Melotti, Catalogo generale, Tomo secondo, Sculture 1973-1986 e Bassorilievi, Milan 1996, p. 512, 1979 n° 21, ill.
Galerie Cento Anni
philippe wolfers
Philippe Wolfers (Brussels, 1858-1929) Fiançailles (Engagement), circa 1911 Bronze with brown patina and original marble base H 50.5 cm Signed Ph. Wolfers Lost-wax cast n° 1 Provenance: private collection, France Literature: La Dynastie Wolfers–de l’Art nouveau à l’Art déco, Werner Adriaenssens & Raf Steel, p. 396
Samuel Vanhoegaerden Gallery
Bram Bogart (Delft 1921-2012 Sint Truiden) Topgroen, August 1963 Mixed media on canvas laid on wooden panel 161 x 201 cm Signed, dated and titled on reverse Provenance: private collection, London In August 1963, Bram Bogart created a powerful and iconic work: Topgroen (August 1963). The painting – executed with homemade paint on a board/canvas made by the artist himself – measures approximately 161 x 201 cm and testifies to Bogart's radically innovative approach to matter and colour. The work Topgroen is at the heart of Bogart's most highly regarded period, in which he experimented with imposing layers of paint, sculptural reliefs and a colour palette that transcends the surface and becomes almost tangible. In this work, he combines powerful fields of colour with monumental texture: an intense red surface is directly framed by thick, almost architecturally shaped green and yellow accents. The paint is hardly imagination anymore, but matter – as if the paint itself is the object. Topgroen marks a turning point in Bogart's oeuvre: colour and volume become one, the painting resists classical painting through an enormous physical presence of the matter. The work invites tactile viewing: the depth of the paint layers, the shadow effects between reliefs, and the tension between surface and volume make it a masterpiece of material painting. Bogart thus confirms his pioneering role in European post-war abstraction.
