Georges Fouquet , époque Art Déco, rare broche plaque cristal de roche. Estimation 12 500 € / 14 000  €. Photo Tajan. 

Elle est de forme rectangulaire à pans coupés portant deux nacres grises et blanches sur une plaque d'or gris rehaussée de plaques laquées noires. Monture en or gris 18K. Travail français signé G. Fouquet et numéroté.  Poids brut : 27 gr. (restauration)  - Dimensions : 7, 6 x 3,1 cm 

Réfèrence : Les Fouquet catalogue exposition musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris, éditions Flammarion 1983. 

An Art Deco rock crystal, onyx brooch by GEORGES FOUQUET.

TAJAN, Importants Bijoux, le 29 Juin 2015 à 14h

Lacloche Frères, Années 1925, Bracelet ruban joaillerie. Estimation 12 000 € / 15 000  €. Photo Tajan. 

Il est composé de trois longs motifs à décor géomètrique serti de diamants taille brillant, baguette et taille anglaise. Ils sont réunis par des maillons rectangulaires également pavés de diamants. Monture en platine. Travail français signé LACLOCHE FRERES et numéroté. Poids brut : 41,2 gr. Poids des diamants : 12 carats environ. Dimensions : 18 x 1,4 cm 

Note: La production de la joaillerie LACLOCHE s’étale des années 1860 aux années 1950. 
Après avoir illustré l’art du précieux nécessaire, elle produisit dans les années 1920 et 1930 de magnifiques bijoux de platine et diamants que certains historiens intitulent « joaillerie blanche ». Ces bijoux furent reconnus et très prisés par la clientèle fortunée de la rue de la Paix, où les frères Lacloche étaient installés au numéro 15, porte à porte avec le magasin de CARTIER. 

Références : Hélène Andrieux, Bijoux Art Déco, catalogue exposition Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Editions Norma, 2009. 

A diamond and platinum bracelet by LACLOCHE, circa 1925.

TAJAN. Importants Bijoux, le 29 Juin 2015 à 14h

LONDON.- Following Wednesday night's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, today at Sotheby's in London a collection of unique ceramics by Pablo Picasso belonging to the artist’s granddaughter, Marina Picasso, soared well above the pre-sale high estimate to bring a combined total of £12,344,250 / $19,373,066 / €17,342,440. The ‘White Glove’, 100% sold, auction saw 87% of lots achieving prices above their high estimates. 

Guillaume Cerutti, CEO, Sotheby’s France and Deputy Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe, said: “We are delighted with today’s remarkable results, as is Mrs. Marina Picasso. A part of the sale proceeds will be allocated to educational programs for children in need, a cause that she has always championed. We thank her once again for entrusting us with works from her legendary collection and it has been a privilege working with her on bringing this wonderful group of ceramics to auction.” 

James Mackie, Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art specialist, said: “Today’s auction of unique Picasso ceramics was a landmark moment for sales of the artist’s work, setting a new benchmark for this medium. What makes these ceramics so special is that they were modelled by the artist’s own hands and are infused with a raw energy. Unlike Picasso’s editioned ceramics, each work is truly a one-off and this is why we saw such a fevered demand from collectors.” 

One of the most extensive and important groups of the artist’s work in this medium, the collection offered an incomparable insight into Picasso’s work in clay and the extraordinary breadth of his creativity and versatility. The collection comprised 126 lots, spanning examples from 1947-48 through to the late 1960s, and encompassing hand-painted plates, vases and tiles, to hand-modelled figures and more sculptural pieces. 

The top lot was Picasso’s Cabri, a vase of a baby goat, which sold for £485,000, over four times the pre-sale low estimate (£120,000-180,000). 

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973), Cabri, painted ceramic; manipulated vase; height: 37cm., 14 1/2 in. Executed circa 1947, this work is unique. Estimate 120,000 — 180,000  GBP. Lot sold. 485,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Collection of Marina Picasso.

Literature: Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1948, full page illustration p. 135

Vase positif negatif, a large jug into which Picasso cut out a vase-shaped form while the clay was still wet, realised £365,000 (est. £180,000-250,000).

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973), Vase positif négatif, dated 1.II.54; stamped Madoura plein feu on the underside; painted and partially glazed ceramic; large jug with cut out vase; height: 36cm., 14 1/8 in. Executed on 1st February 1954, this work is unique. Estimate 180,000 — 250,000  GBP. Lot sold. 365,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Collection of Marina Picasso.

Exhibited: Malaga, Museo Picasso Malaga, Picasso. Object and Image, 2007-08, no. 12, illustrated in colour in the catalogue 

Literature: Marilyn McCully & Michael Raeburn, The Collection of the Museu Picasso. Ceramics, Barcelona, 2012, illustrated in colour p. 86
Céramicas de Picasso. Un regalo de Jacqueline a Barcelona (exhibition catalogue), Museu Picasso, Barcelona, 2012, illustrated in colour p. 86 

Another highlights: 

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973), Tête mythologique; dated twice 1.2.48; painted, incised and partially glazed ceramic; gothic jug with cut out eyes and mouth; height: 34.5cm., 13 1/2 in. Executed on 1st February 1948, this work is unique. Estimate 100,000 — 150,000  GBP. Lot sold. 317,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Collection of Marina Picasso

Exhibited: Miami, Center for the Fine Arts, Picasso: At work, at home. Selections from the Marina Picasso Collection, 1985-86, no. 102, illustrated in the catalogue
Tokyo, Musées d'Art Yomiuri Shimbun Sha, Exposition Pablo Picasso, Collection Marina Picasso, 1986-87, no. CC-9, illustrated in the catalogue
Künzelsau, Museum Würth & Karlsruhe, Badisches Landesmuseum, Picasso, Sein Dialog mit der Keramik. Werke aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso, 1999, no.
Künzelsau, Museum Würth & Karlsruhe, Badisches Landesmuseum, Picasso, Sein Dialog mit der Keramik. Werke aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso, 1999, no. 10, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe & Pillsbury and Peters Fine Art, Dallas, Picasso in clay: Three decades of ceramics from the Marina Picasso Collection, 2000, no. 5, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Geneva, Galerie Jan Krugier, Ditesheim & Cie, Le feu et la terre, 2004-05  

Literature: Cahiers d'Art, Paris, 1948, illustrated p. 114

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973), Homme et Femme; dated twice 1.2.48; painted, incised and partially glazed ceramic; gothic jug with cut out eyes and mouth; height: 34.5cm., 13 1/2 in. Executed on 1st February 1948, this work is unique. Estimate 35,000 — 45,000  GBP. Lot sold. 293,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973), Femmes Fleurs; dated 31.1.48 and numbered II; painted, incised and partially glazed ceramic; gothic jug; height: 35cm., 13 3/4 in. Executed on 31st January 1948, this work is unique. Estimate 100,000 — 150,000  GBP. Lot sold. 269,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

Collection of Marina Picasso

Exhibited: Künzelsau, Museum Würth & Karlsruhe, Badisches Landesmuseum, Picasso, Sein Dialog mit der Keramik. Werke aus der Sammlung Marina Picasso, 1999, no. 9, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe & Pillsbury and Peters Fine Art, Dallas, Picasso in clay: Three decades of ceramics from the Marina Picasso Collection, 2000, no. 4, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Cannes, Centre d'art La Malmaison, Picasso, Le nu en liberté. Collection Marina Picasso, 2006-13, illustrated in colour in the catalogue  

Literature: Cahiers d’Art, Paris, 1948, full page illustration p. 105

Claude Monet, Champ d'avoine (Oat Field), 1890. Oil On Canvas, 26 x 36 7/16 in., 66 x 92.6 cm. Harn Museum of Art. Gift of Michael A. Singer, 1999.6. 

CHATTANOOGA, TN.- Opening to the public on June 27 – September 20, 2015 at the Hunter Museum of American Art, Monet and American Impressionism will feature several Monet paintings and highlight twenty-five American artists who launched a new way of painting in response to the influence of French Impressionism. The exhibition, a collaboration between the Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville, the Telfair Museums in Savannah and the Hunter Museum, will present roughly fifty paintings and twenty prints dated between 1880-1920 by many of the leading figures in American Impressionism, such as Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, Theodore Robinson, John Henry Twachtman, and J. Alden Weir. These artists adapted the innovations of French Impressionism and ultimately paved the way to a uniquely American style of painting in the 19th century. 

Frederick Carl Frieseke, The Garden Umbrella. Oil On Canvas, 32 5/16 x 32 5/16 in. Telfair Museum of Art. Bequest of Elizabeth Millar (Mrs. Bernice Frost) Bullard, 1942.7.

Monet explored the effects of light on color and form, and the Impressionists favored images of modern life painted in a revolutionary style that emphasized loose brushstrokes of unblended color. Enthralled by changing light effects, they painted informal subjects en plein air, or outdoors.  

John Leslie Breck, Grey Day on the Charles. 1894. Oil On Canvas, 18 x 22 in., 45.7 x 55.9 cm. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The J. Harwood and Louise B. Cochrane Fund for American Art.

The exhibition offers an exciting array of American Impressionist art as practiced by many of its leading figures such as Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, Theodore Robinson and John Henry Twachtman. In the late nineteenth century, these artists adapted the innovations of French Impressionism, ultimately paving the way to establishing it as one of the most enduring styles in American art. Some of these artists had direct knowledge of Monet’s techniques through extended stays in Giverny where Monet had settled in 1883. Others were exposed to his style through exhibitions of his art in New York, Boston and abroad, or through the filter of important teachers such as Metcalf and Robinson.  

Childe Hassam, Avenue of the Allies. Oil On Canvas, 18 1/8 x 15 3/16 in. Telfair Museum of Art. Bequest of Elizabeth Millar (Mrs. Bernice Frost) Bullard, 1942.11.

Spanning the years between 1887 and 1920, the paintings, pastels, and prints featured in the exhibition explore several topics that interested the Impressionists. Visitors will be able to contemplate the allure of Giverny, the pleasures of country retreats, the vibrance of urbanism and the comforts of home. Through these themes, the exhibition delves into the many ways American artists responded to Monet, as well as their shared taste for new approaches and attitudes to painting.  

Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Salem Willows, 1904. Oil On Canvas, 26 1/4 x 34 1/4 in. Terra Foundation for American Art. Daniel J. Terra Collection.

To take full advantage of this unique exhibition, the Hunter Museum will offer a variety of programs and events in celebration of the Monet and American Impressionism exhibition, including special members-only receptions, renowned guest speakers and public programming. 

Childe Hassam, Gloucester. 1919. Oil On Panel, 23 1/4 x 26 3/8 in., 59.1 x 67 cm. Harn Museum of Art. Gift from the Carol & Stephen Shey Collection 2004.41.

Frederick Carl Frieseke, Reflections (Marcelle). Oil On Canvas, 32 x 27 in. Telfair Museum of Art Museum purchase,  1910.1.

Gari Melchers, The Unpretentious Garden. Oil On Canvas, 33 5/8 x 40 1/2 in. Telfair Museum of Art Museum, purchase, Button Gwinnett Autograph Fund, 1916.5.

Ernest Lawson, Spring Thaw. Oil On Canvas, 25 1/4 x 30 1/8 in., 64.1 x 76.5 cm. Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.85.

Claude Monet, Bridge at Argenteuil on a Gray Day, c. 1876. Oil On Canvas, 24 x 31 5/8 in., 61 x 80.3 cm. National Gallery of Art Ailsa, Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.44.

Mary Cassatt, In the Omnibus, 1890-1891. Drypoint And Aquatint On Laid Paper, 14 3/8 x 10 1/2 in., 14 3/8 x 10 1/2 in. National Gallery of Art, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.250.

Mary Cassatt, Gathering Fruit, 1893. Aquatint, 16 11/16 x 11 11/16 in. Hill-Stead Museum, Alfred Atmore Pope Collection.

Childe Hassam, Washington's Birthday--Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street, 1916. Etching, 12 15/16 X 6 15/16 in, 32.9 X 17.6 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museum purchase with funds provided by the Long Endowment for American Art and Mr. and Mrs. Meredith Long 2000.199.

Mary Cassatt, Lydia and Her Mother at Tea, 1882. Soft Ground Etching And Aquatint, National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Collection, 1949.5.465.

Frederick Carl Frieseke, Lilies, by 1911. Oil On Canvas, 25 3/4 x 32 1/8 in., 65.4 x 81.6 cm. Terra Foundation for American Art Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.55.

Helen Maria Turner, Lillies, Lanterns and Sunshine, 1923. Oil On Canvas, 36 1/8 x 44 in., 103.5 x 123.8 cm. Chrysler Museum of Art, Gift of W.B.S. Grandy.

Theodore Robinson, Afternoon Shadows, 1891. Oil On Canvas, 19 x 22 1/2 in., 48.3 x 57.2 cm. Harn Museum of Art Museum purchase, funds provided by Michael A. and Donna Singer, 2007.7.

Willard Metcalf, Thawing Brook, 1917. Oil On Canvas, 36 x 36 in. Columbus Museum, G.1985.16.

Robert William Vonnoh, Jardin de paysanne, 1890. Oil On Canvas Board, 25 7/8 x 19 3/4 in., 65.7 x 50.2 cm. Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1987.8.

Mary Cassatt, Woman Bathing, 1890-1891. Drypoint And Aquatint On Laid Paper, 14 5/16 x 10 1/2 in., 36.4 x 26.7 cm. National Gallery of Art, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.253.

Childe Hassam, The Willow Pool, 1917. Etching On Paper, 7 3/8 x 8 15/16 in. Telfair Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Childe Hassam through Frank C. Crasto, Jr., 1940.13.12.

John Henry Twachtman, Horseneck Falls, ca. 1900. Oil On Canvas, 30 x 25 in. Columbus Museum, G.1997.4.

Richard Emil Miller (American, 1875-1943), La Toilette, c. 1914. Oil on canvas, 40 x 32 ½ in. (101.6 x 82.6 cm). The Columbus Museum, Georgia, Museum purchase made possible by Mrs. J.B. Knight, Jr., in memory of her husband.

Childe Hassam, Inner Harbor (Gloucester), probably 1918 Lithograph On Paper 7 7/16 x 11 1/2 in. Telfair Museum of Art Gift of Mrs. Childe Hassam through Frank C. Crasto, Jr. 1940.13.16.

Frederick Carl Frieseke, The Hammock, by 1915 Oil On Canvas 38 5/8 x 51 5/8 in. Telfair Museum of Art Museum purchase 1917.3.

Childe Hassam, Colonial Church Gloucester, 1913 Lithograph On Paper 13 1/4 x 10 1/8 in. Telfair Museum of Art Gift of Mrs. Childe Hassam through Frank C. Crasto, Jr. 1940.13.14.

Willard LeRoy Metcalf , Buttercup Time, 1920. Oil On Canvas, 26 1/4 x 29 in. Telfair Museum of Art Museum purchase, 1926.1.

James McNeill Whistler, The Thames, 1896. Lithotint With Scraping, 10 7/16 x 7 3/8 in. Baltimore Museum of Art, The Conrad Collection.

Childe Hassam, Northeast Gorge at Appledore, 1912. Oil On Canvas, 24 1/2 x 26 1/2 in., 62.2 x 67.3 cm. Harn Museum of Art Museum Purchase by exchange, gift of Louise H. Courtelis with additional funds provided by Michael A. Singer, 2004.22.

Childe Hassam, Springtime Vision, 1900. Oil On Canvas, 21 1/2 x 15 1/2 in., 54.6 x 39.4 cm. Harn Museum of Art. Bequest of Ruth P. Phillips, 2005.23.

Childe Hassam, French Tea Garden, 1910. Oil On Canvas, 35 x 40.25 in., 88.9 x 102.2 cm. Hunter Museum of American Art. Gift of the Benwood Foundation, 1976.3.13 Hunter Museum of America Art.

William James Glackens, Miss Olga D., 1910. Oil On Canvas, 32 x 26 in., 81.3 x 66 cm. Hunter Museum of American Art. Gift of the Benwood Foundation, 1976.3.11.

Lilla Cabot Perry, A Stream Beneath Poplars, 1890-1900. Oil On Canvas, 25.75 x 32 in., 65.4 x 81.3 cm. Hunter Museum of American Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Field, 1973.21.

Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558-1617) after Cornelis van Haarlem (Dutch, 1562-1638), Phaeton from The Disgracers, 1588. Engraving. Collection of The Hearn Family Trust. Photograph by Paul Mutino.

GREENWICH, CT.- The galleries of the Bruce Museum will be bursting with pride this summer and into fall: "The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride" opened on June 27, part of a groundbreaking series of area exhibitions exploring the Seven Deadly Sins. Presented by seven members of the Fairfield/Westchester Museum Alliance, the Seven Deadly Sins exhibitions represent the FWMA's first ever collaborative effort. 

"The Seven Deadly Sins have played a significant role in theology, literature and art since the Middle Ages," says Susan Ball, Deputy Director of the Bruce Museum and a curator of the exhibition. "Pride, or superbia, represents the mother of all sins and the one from which all others arise - the root of a many-branched tree. It's a fascinating, intriguing subject, and we're delighted to be presenting it at the Bruce." 

Jan Pietersz Saenredam (Dutch, 1565-1607) after Abraham Bloemaert (Dutch, 1564-1651), Temptation of Man, from The History of Adam and Eve, 1604. Engraving. Collection of The Hearn Family Trust. Photo: Paul Mutino.

Pride is explored within a historical context in the exhibition, which presents nearly 50 works ranging from Dürer works on paper from as far back as 1498 to Fay Ku's 2014 graphite and oil on mylar. Susan Ball and Co-Curator Amanda Skehan have selected paintings, engravings, etchings, lithographs, illustrated books, magazines, three-dimensional objects and more from private collections, galleries, and institutions that include Yale University Art Gallery, Minneapolis Institute of Art, National Gallery of Art, Princeton Art Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, and The Clark Art Institute. The curators hope that the exhibition encourages discussion, raising questions about the history of morality and moralizing. 

Public programs supporting the exhibition include a special after-hours event at the Bruce, the Superbia Soirée, on Friday evening July 17, and a Puppet Show Family Day featuring Magpie Puppets and The Emporer's New Clothes on Sunday, July 19.

Gabriel Schachinger (1850-1912), Sweet Reflections, 1886. Oil on canvas, 51 x 31 in. Woodmere Art Museum: Bequest of Charles Knox Smith Photograph by Rick Echelmeyer.

Gustave Caillebotte, Self-Portrait at the Easel, 1879-1880. Oil on canvas. Overall size: 90 115 cm (35 7/16 45 1/4 in.). Private Collection.

WASHINGTON, DC.- Fifty of the most important and beloved paintings of Paris and its environs by impressionist Gustave Caillebotte (1848–1894) will be the focus of the first major U.S. retrospective of the artist's work in 20 years. On view in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, from June 28 through October 4, 2015, Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye provides visitors with a better understanding of Caillebotte's artistic character and the complexity of his contribution to modernist painting. 

"Caillebotte's paintings were inaccessible for almost a century, and they are still hard to come by in public institutions. For those interested in his work, there is no place to go to get a deep or broad sense of his achievement. We are thrilled to present this exhibition and accompanying publication to a new generation of art lovers and those hungry for another peek at his best works," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. 

Gustave Caillebotte, At a Café, 1880, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, On deposit at Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY.

After Washington, Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye will be on view at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, from November 8, 2015, through February 14, 2016. 

From spectacular images of the new public spaces designed under Napoleon III by his prefect Baron Haussmann to visual meditations on leisure-time activities in and around Paris, the works presented will be lent by private collections and a small number of institutions in Europe and the United States. 

Gustave Caillebotte, The Boulevard Seen from Above, 1880, oil on canvas, Private Collection. © Comité Caillebotte, Paris

Organized thematically, the exhibition showcases Caillebotte's fascination with the contemporary lifestyle of the Parisian bourgeoisie, from depictions of interior life, portraits, and still lifes, to urban street views and idyllic river scenes. Many of the works on view were completed between 1875 and 1885, the period in which Caillebotte was most involved with the impressionist movement. 

Caillebotte sought to depict contemporary home life in the French capital, such as interior vantage points and views from the inside looking out. The exhibition opens with scenes of work and play set in bourgeois interiors, including A Game of Bezique (1881, Louvre, Abu Dhabi), Young Man Playing the Piano (1876, Bridgestone Museum of Art), and his first important painting The Floor Scrapers (1875, Musée d'Orsay). Views from balconies of the new buildings that were part of Haussmann's building project were of particular interest to Caillebotte, including The Rue Halévy, Seen from a Balcony (1878, Joan and Bernard Carl), a completely exterior view, and I (1880, Private Collection), a view from inside an apartment looking out. 

Gustave Caillebotte, The Floor Scrapers, 1875, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Gift of Caillebotte's heirs through the intermediary of Auguste Renoir, 1894. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY

Street views of Paris as revitalized by Haussmann are Caillebotte's most renowned works, including Paris Street, Rainy Day (1877, The Art Institute of Chicago) and The Pont de l'Europe (1876, Petit Palais, Geneva), both of which were included at the impressionist exhibition of 1877. 

Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street, Rainy Day, 1877, oil on canvas, The Art Institute of Chicago, Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection. Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago

Gustave Caillebotte, The Pont de l’Europe, 1876, oil on canvas, Association des Amis du Petit Palais, Geneva. Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.

"Caillebotte grew up in the destruction/construction zone of the 8th arrondissement in Paris, one of the new neighborhoods built during Napoleon III's massive urban renewal project of the 1850s and 1860s. His response to the modern city was quite personal and there is something in his aesthetic that speaks directly to 21st-century urban dwellers," said Mary Morton, exhibition curator and head of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. 

Two of Caillebotte's most provocative works—Man at His Bath (1884, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) and Nude on a Couch (1880, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts)—will be on view alongside individual portraits of the artist's friends, such as Portrait of Eugéne Daufresne (1878, Private Collection) and Portrait of Richard Gallo (1881, Private Collection). Two rarely seen self-portraits from private collections are also included. 

Gustave Caillebotte, Man at His Bath, 1884, oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum purchase with funds by exchange from an Anonymous gift, Bequest of William A. Coolidge, Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection, and from the Charles H. Bayley Picture and Painting Fund, Edward Jackson Holmes Fund, Fanny P. Mason Fund in memory of Alice Thevin, Arthur Gordon Tompkins Fund, Gift of Mrs. Samuel Parkman Oliver-Eliza R. Oliver Fund, Sophie F. Friedman Fund, Robert M. Rosenberg Family Fund, and funds donated in honor of George T. M. Shackelford, Chair, Art of Europe, and Arthur K. Solomon Curator of Modern Art, 1996–2011. Photograph © 2015 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Gustave Caillebotte, Nude on a Couch, 1880, oil on canvas, Lent by The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The John R. Van Derlip Fund.

Caillebotte's still-life paintings are potentially the most revelatory to visitors, from traditional images of dead birds and game (Game Birds and Lemons, 1883, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield), to decorated foodstuffs (Calf in a Butcher's Shop, c. 1882, Private Collection) and commercial food presentations (Fruit Displayed on a Stand, c. 1881–1882, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). The exhibition concludes with a section on suburban pleasures. River scenes and landscape views—popular themes of the impressionists—include The Yerres, Effect of Rain (1875, Indiana University Art Museum) and Sunflowers, Garden at Petit Gennevilliers (c. 1885, Private Collection).  

Gustave Caillebotte, Calf's Head and Ox Tongue, c. 1882, oil on canvas, The Art Institute of Chicago, Major Acquisitions Centennial Endowment. Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago

Gustave Caillebotte, Fruit Displayed on a Stand, c. 1881–1882, oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Fanny P. Mason Fund in memory of Alice Thevin. Photograph © 2015 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Gustave Caillebotte (1848–1894) 
Although Caillebotte is widely recognized as the painter of a small number of iconic works—particularly The Pont de l'Europe and Paris Street, Rainy Day—and sometimes given more credit as a collector and supporter of the arts, his breadth or depth as a critical impressionist artist is not generally known by the American public. 

Caillebotte was a unique player in the impressionist movement and his work was out of public view for almost a century, remaining in private collections. Born into a wealthy Parisian upper middle-class family, Caillebotte obtained a law degree and was a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War. He joined Léon Bonnat's studio and passed the entrance exam for the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1873, but his participation was minimal. 

Gustave Caillebotte, Portrait of a Man, 1880, oil on canvas, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin. Photography © The Cleveland Museum of Art

He was attracted by the innovative spirit of the artists who were to become known as the impressionists. Originally invited by Edgar Degas to participate in the first impressionist exhibition in 1874, Caillebotte did not join the group until 1876, at Auguste Renoir's invitation. Caillebotte was one of the regular participants in the group's exhibitions (1877, 1879, 1880, and 1882), and he organized the 1877 presentation. Having inherited a large fortune from his parents, Caillebotte had no need to sell his own paintings and could focus on collecting the work of his artist-friends instead. 

Caillebotte died young and his bequest left a collection of 69 impressionist masterpieces to the French government. The will was contested by his heirs, a compromise was reached, and 38 impressionist masterpieces were accessioned by the government and currently reside at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The rest of his paintings—more than 400 works—remain in the collection of his family.

Gustave Caillebotte, On the Pont de l’Europe, 1876–1877, oil on canvas, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth.

Gustave Caillebotte, Interior, Woman at the Window, 1880, oil on canvas, Private Collection. © Comité Caillebotte, Paris

Gustave Caillebotte, Portrait of Monsieur R., 1877, oil on canvas, Private Collection.

Gustave Caillebotte, A Boating Party, 1877–1878, oil on canvas, Private Collection. © Comité Caillebotte, Paris.

Gustave Caillebotte, Skiffs, 1877. Oil On Canvas, 35 x 45 3/4 in., 88.9 x 116.2 cm. National Gallery of Art, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon.

Gustave Caillebotte, The Fields, a Plain in Gennevilliers, Study in Yellow and Green, 1884, oil on canvas, Collection of Frederic C. Hamilton, Bequest to the Denver Art Museum. Photograph courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890). La Maison de la Crau (The Old Mill), 1888. Oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 21 1/4 inches (64.8 x 54 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York. Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear, 1966.

MILWAUKEE – Beginning June 18, the Milwaukee Art Museum will present, Van Gogh to Pollock: Modern Rebels, an exclusive touring exhibition that will showcase nearly 70 masterpieces from some of the most famous artists of the 20th century.

The exhibition brings together paintings and sculpture by 68   artists who shaped the course of modern art. The collection is   drawn from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York – which has one of the most respected collections of 20th century art in the country – and includes work by Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Andy Warhol, as well as one of Jackson Pollock’s finest drip paintings. 

Camille Pissarro, Peasants in the Fields, Eragny, 1890. Oil On Canvas, 34 1/4 x 40 1/2 x 4 1/2 in., 87 x 102.9 x 11.4 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Gift of A. Conger Goodyear, 1940.

“Van Gogh to Pollock will be a visually powerful, experiential journey for any art enthusiast,” said Brady Roberts, chief curator for the Milwaukee Art Museum. “This is the best chance most people will have to see key works of Post-Impressionism to Pop Art, many of which have not toured in decades.” 

“These modern art all-stars were rebelling against the academic norm.They took risks and challenged the art world status quo,” said Roberts. “They were innovators responding to the world around them, and the results are compelling.” 

Paul Gauguin, Spirit of the Dead Watching, 1892. Oil On Burlap Mounted On Canvas, 45 11/16 x 53 x 5 1/4 in., 116.05 x 134.62 x 13.34 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, A. Conger Goodyear Collection, 1965.

Van Gogh to Pollock unfolds chronologically, beginning with Post-Impressionism, and explores the radical innovators of the modern era—and the art that changed how we see the world. Cubism provided multiple views simultaneously; Surrealism sought to give the unconscious mind conscious form. With the Abstract Expressionists, New York took the reign from Paris as the Western art capital, and the artists of Pop Art called attention to the new culture of consumerism, appropriating its everyday imagery and products. This great collection allows visitors to see a rich, comprehensive snapshot of art making as a series of rebellions.

With the museum’s annual Lakefront Festival of Art (LFOA) scheduled June 19–21, the opening weekend of the exhibition, visitors will be offered two different art experiences for one ticket – LFOA and Van Gogh to Pollock. LFAO tickets are $17 for general admission, $14 for students and seniors, and $10 for Museum Members. Tickets can be purchased in advance at area businesses or online at mam.org/lfoa. 

Van Gogh to Pollock: Modern Rebels will be on view through Sunday, September 20.

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973). La Toilette, 1906. Oil on canvas. 59 1/2 x 39 inches (151.1 x 99.1 cm). Collection of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Fellows for Life Fund, 1926. © 2013 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Henri Rousseau, Flowers in a Vase, 1909. Oil On Canvas, 26 1/2 x 21 5/8 x 3 in., 67.3 x 54.9 x 7.6 cm.  Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1939.

Pablo Picasso, Nude Figure, Late Spring, 1910. Oil On Canvas, 39 x 30 in., 99.1 x 78.1 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. General Purchase Funds, 1954 © Succession Picasso

Giacomo Balla, Dinamismo di un Cane al Guinzaglio (Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash), 1912. Oil On Canvas, 37 5/8 x 45 1/2 x 2 5/8 in., 95.57 x 115.57 x 6.67 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear and Gift of George F. Goodyear, 1964© 2012 Artists Rights Society, New York / SIAE, Rome

Vassily Kandinsky, Fragment 2 for Composition VII, 1913. Oil On Canvas, 45 3/8 x 50 1/8 x 3 in., 115.25 x 127.32 x 7.62 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1947© 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Robert Delaunay, Soleil, Tour, Aéroplane, 1913. Oil On Canvas, overall: 61 3/4 x 61 3/4 x 3 1/4 inches, overall: 156.85 cm x 156.85cm x 8.26 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1964:14.

Amedeo Modigliani, La Jeune bonne, ca. 1918. Oil On Canvas, overall: 68 3/4 x 32 1/4 x 4 inches, overall: 174.6 x 81.9 x 10.16 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1939. RCA1939:6.

Joán Miró, Carnaval d'Arlequin, 1924-25. Oil On Canvas, 36 3/4 x 47 x 3 1/2 in., 93.35 x 119.38 x 8.89 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1940© 2012 Artists Rights Society, New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Marc Chagall (French, born Russia, 1887–1985). La vie paysanne (Peasant Life), 1925. Oil on canvas. 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 inches (100 x 80 cm). Collection of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1941. © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Arthur Garfield Dove, Fields of Grain as Seen from Train, 1931. Oil On Canvas, 33 1/4 x 43 1/4 x 4 1/4 in., 84.455 x 109.855 x 10.795 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1958 © the estate of Arthur G. Dove, courtesy Terry Dintenfass, Inc.

Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Monkey, 1938. Oil On Masonite, 19 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 1 1/2 in., 49.53 x 39.37 x 3.81 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear, 1966 © 2014 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Salvador Dalí (Spanish, 1904–1989). The Transparent Simulacrum of the Feigned Image, 1938. Oil on canvas. 28 1/2 x 36 1/4 inches (72.4 x 92.1 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear, 1966. © 2013 Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Henri Matisse, La Musique, 1939. Oil On Canvas, 55 x 55 x 4 in., 139.7 x 10.16 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1940 © 2011 Succession H. Matisse, Paris / Artists Rights Society, New York

Jackson Pollock, Convergence, 1952.Oil On Canvas, 95 1/4 x 157 1/8 x 2 7/8 in., 241.94 x 399.10 x 7.30 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1956© 2014 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Mark Rothko, Orange and Yellow, 1956. Oil On Canvas, 93 1/2 x 73 1/2 x 2 3/4 in, 237.5 x 186.7 x 7 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1956. © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Clyfford Still (American, 1904–1980). 1957-D No. 1, 1957. Oil on canvas. Support: 113 x 159 inches (287 x 403.9 cm). Collection of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1959. © 2013 The Estate of Clyfford Still and The Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, CO.

Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923–1997).  Head—Red and Yellow, 1962. Oil on canvas. 48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm). Collection of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1962. © 2013 Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

Helen Frankenthaler, Tutti-Frutti, 1966. Acrylic On Canvas, 116 3/4 x 69 in., 296.545 x 175.26 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1976, 1976.008 © 2014 Helen Frankenthaler / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Fu Baoshi (1904-1965): "Lady by the Bamboo". Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, inscribed and dated to 1945, with two seals of the artist. 44 1/4 x 13 inches (112.4 x 33 cm). Estimate $150,000-200,000. Sold for $1,410,000. Photo Michaan.

ALAMEDA, CA.- June 22, 2015 became a day of establishing records at Michaan's, as the Fine Asian Works of Art auction broke new sales ground. The auction’s star highlight, Fu Baoshi’s (1904-1965) hanging scroll Lady by the Bamboo, did not disappoint as it set a new U.S. auction record for the artist, realizing a price of over 7 times estimations. The painting by the revolutionary Chinese artist stemmed from the estate of Mr. and Mrs. David Galula and was secured by a Chinese buyer based in New York. A final floor bid cemented the sale of the coveted scroll to the tune of a handsome price realized of $1,410,000, becoming Michaan’s single highest selling painting to date (lot 6222, $150,000-200,000). Asian Art Specialist Mr. Harry Huang realized the artwork’s potential to break the million-dollar mark and was “…greatly pleased, although not entirely surprised…” by the result. 

The next of the auction’s top five performers was yet another painting from the Galula estate in Lin Fengmian’s Boats at Shore, which more than doubled estimates at $88,500 (lot 6224, $30,000-40,000). An underglaze blue and famille verte stem bowl of the Jiaqing mark and period achieved $82,600 (lot 6150, $15,000-20,000) and a pair of underglaze blue lidded ice chests of the Guangxu mark and period realized more than 12 times their high estimation at $76,700 (lot 6163, $4,000-6,000). Lastly, was the Qing dynasty scroll Mandarian Ducks attributed to Shen Quan, which sold for over 6 times the high estimate for $64,900 (lot 6201, $8,000-10,000). 

Lin Fengmian (1900-1991): Boats at Shore Mounted, ink and color on paper. Estimate: $30,000 / 40,000. Sold for $88,500. Photo Michaan.

Provenance: Mr. and Mrs. David Galula, acquired in China between 1945-1949.

An Underglaze Blue and Famille Verte Stem Bowl, Jiaqing Mark and of the Period. Estimate: $15,000 / 20,000. Sold for $82,600. Photo Michaan.

The deep rounded walls enameled in green to depict five sinuous dragons amidst clouds and wisps of flames, all against a ground of delicately incised waves to the exterior, the rim with a floral underglaze blue border and double underglaze blue rings to the interior, the bowl raised upon a slightly flared stem foot incised with swirling clouds and between additional double underglaze blue rings, the interior of the foot encircled by a six-character Jiaqing mark in underglaze blue. Diameter: 6 1/8 inches (15.5 cm)

A Pair of Underglaze Blue Lidded Ice Chests, Guangxu Marks and of the Period. Estimate: $4,000-6,000. Sold for $76,700. Photo Michaan.

Both of square form with flat corners, heavily decorated to all sides with leafy lotus scrolls surrounding stylized character medallionsframed by swirling clouds, between borders of geometricscrolls and floral lappets, the flat rim displaying leafy meanders,one side with a Guangxu six-character mark reserved just belowthe rim, each with a fitted two-piece paneled cover decorated ensuite and pierced with coin designs, with wood stands.11 1/2 x 17 7/8 x 17 7/8 inches (29.2 x 48 cm) each excluding stands.

Attributed to Shen Quan (1682-1765): Mandarin Ducks. Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, inscribed, dated to guiyou year of the Qianlong reign (1753), signed and with two seals of the artist. 62 x 32 inches (219.4 x 81.2 cm) approximately. Estimate: $8,000 / 10,000. Sold for $64,900. Photo Michaan. 

A reticulated white jade plaque sold as lot 6011 proved to be a sleeper hit with bidders, realizing over 9 times given estimates ($4,000-6,000). The 18th century piece stands as the top lot from the jade and hardstone carvings portion of the catalogue, admired for its even white hue and fine, auspicious, openwork carvings. An Internet buyer in China placed the winning bid for the plaque whose sale ended at a whopping $56,050. 

A Reticulated White Jade Plaque, 18th Century.Estimate: $4,000 / 6,000. Sold for $56,050. Photo Michaan.

Finely carved in openwork with a winged Daoist figure amidst scrolling clouds, with dragons to the top and the bottom, the front with a twelve-character inscription arranged in a oval, the reverse with the eight trigram symbols similarly arranged, the semi-translucent stone of an even white tone. Length: 3 1/2 inches (8.9 cm).

Additional lots from the Chinese paintings, calligraphy and books section yielded successful numbers from three highly regarded artists. Lin Fengmian’s circa 1940s ink and color on paper Landscape sold for $47,200 with estimates of $12,000-18,000 (lot 6225), Lu Shoukun’s sprawling Lion Rock, Hong Kong, completed in 1960, realized a price of $23,600 (lot 6246, $7,000-9,000) and a mounted scroll collection titled Five Landscapes by Yuan Songnian finished at $14,160 (lot 6217, $5,000-7,000).

Lin Fengmian (1900-1991): Landscape, Mounted, ink and color on paper, signed with one seal of the artist, 14 1/2 x 16 1/4 inches (36.8 x 41.3 cm). Estimate: $12,000 / 18,000. Sold for $47,200. Photo Michaan.

Provenance: Mr. and Mrs. David Galula, acquired in China between 1945-1949.

Lu Shoukun (1915-1975): Lion Rock, Hong Kong. Ink and color on paper, the upper right inscribed and titled, dated 1960 and signed ‘Lu Shoukun’ with three seals, matted, framed and glazed. 18 x 31 inches (45.7 x 78.8 cm) excluding frame. Estimate: $7,000 / 9,000. Sold fo $23,600. Photo Michaan.

Provenance: Atherton Gallery, Atherton, California, Circa 1969.

Yuan Songnian (1895-1966): Five Landscapes. Each as a mounted scroll, ink and color on paper, inscribed, dated,
and signed ‘Yuan Songnian’, with one seal, framed and glazed. 13 1/2 x 19 1/4 inches (34.3 x 48.9 cm) each.Estimate: $5,000 / 7,000. Sold fo $14,160. Photo Michaan.

Provenance: From a Private San Francisco Collection.

Categorically, Chinese ceramics held the most property to surpass estimates with front runners seen in a pair of underglaze blue dragon motif jars at $38,350 (lot 6157, $2,000-3,000), two copper-red glazed bowls for $34,220 (lot 6140, $7,000-9,000), a large 15th century Longquan charger realizing $17,700 (lot 6134, $4,000-6,000), a famille verte rouleau vase of an inertior scene (lot 6167, $2,000-3,000) along with two enameled porcelain plaques signed by Wang Yunquan (lot 6188, $6,000-8,000) realizing $16,520 each, a grouping of three underglaze blue dishes selling for $15,340 (lot 6159, $4,000-6,000) and a Qianlong marked famille rose vase depicting the Three Star Gods for $10,620 (lot 6187, $1,000-1,500). Five additional lots in the section sold from anywhere from over 4 times to over double projections as well (lots 6135, 6136, 6142, 6146, 6151). 

Two Underglaze Blue ‘Dragon’ Jars, Qianlong Marks and of the Period. Estimate: $2,000 / 3,000. Sold fo $38,350. Photo Michaan.

Both painted with two sinuous dragons chasing flaming pearls among ruyi scrolls above a ruyi lappet band around the foot, the shoulder displaying the eight Buddhist emblems. Height: 7 7/8 inches (20 cm) each.

Two Copper-Red Glazed Bowls, Yongzheng Marks and of the Period. Estimate: $7,000 / 9,000. Sold fo $34,220. Photo Michaan.

The first with rounded sides rising on a straight foot, the exterior covered in a raspberry-red glaze pooling to a darker tone around the foot, the interior and the base glazed white, inscribed to the base with a Yongzheng six-character mark within a double-circle; the second is a deep bowl supported on a short slightly flaring stem base lightly molded with a horizontal rib, the exterior under a deep red glaze, the interior white, inscribed to the recessed base with a Yongzheng six-character mark in seal script, wood stand. Widest: 7 3/8 inches (18.6 cm)

A Large Longquan Celadon-Glazed Charger, 15th Century. Estimate: $4,000/6,000. Sold for $17,700. Photo Michaan.

Heavily potted and with rounded sides, the interior carved in the center with trellis diaper below a band of peony scrolls, the exterior left plain, covered overall in a thick olive-green glaze pooling in the recesses. Diameter: 18 3/8 inches (46.7 cm)

A Famille Verte Rouleau Vase, Kangxi Period. Estimate: $2,000 / 3,000. Sold for $16,520. Photo Michaan.

Decorated with an interior scene of various characters from the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” novel, and boys at play on the ribbed neck. Height: 17 1/2 inches (44.4 cm). 

Two Enameled Porcelain Plaques, Signed Wang Yunquan (1916-1998), Late 20th Century. Estimate: $6,000/8,000. Sold for $16,520. Photo Michaan.

Each depicting a meandering river through a gorge filled with lush vegetation, populated with people in cliff side architectures and rafts on the river, titled, dated to 1980, inscribed, signed and with seal of the artist, within wood frame. 29 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches (74.3 cm) each excluding frame.

Three Underglaze Blue Dishes, 18th-19th Century. Estimate: $1,000-1,500. Sold for $10,620. Photo Michaan.

The largest decorated to the interior and exterior with outlined longevity emblems, scrolling designs and stylized longevity characters, the base with a Qianlong six-character seal mark; the second similarly designed with various scrolling longevity emblems in blue, the base with a Jiaqing six-character seal mark; the third with its interior painted with the ‘Eight Daoist Emblems’ centering a bat suspending three peaches, the exterior featuring five bats, the base with a Qianlong six-character sea mark. Widest: 8 1/4 inches (21 cm).

Of the textiles at sale, a Tibetan painted Buddhist silk scripture from the Qing dynasty stole the spotlight at over 10 times estimations, selling for $20,060 (lot 6104, $1,500-2,000). An East Bay floor bidder snapped up the religious artwork of numerous auspicious symbols, including Buddhist dragons and Snow Lions. Three other textiles in the sale sold above estimates as well, continuing to add to the auction prosperity (lots 6124, 6126, 6127). 

A Tibetan Painted Buddhist Silk Scripture, Qing Dynasty. Estimate: $1,500 / 2,000. Sold for $20,060. Photo Michaan.

Designed as a wall hanging and painted with a Tibetan inscription between pairs of Buddhist dragons and snow-lions, all below a large parasol flanked by banners, with a colorful silk panel covering the front depicting auspicious symbols. 59 x 25 inches (150 x 63.5 cm) approximately.

Further collectible works of art and decorative items proved popular with bidders, delighting with their novelty at auction. A gilt bronze weight depicting a recumbent stag sold for over 4 times estimates for $20,060 (lot 6094, $3,000-5,000) and a jade snuff bottle carved in the form of a pebble realized a price of over 5 times the high estimate at $16,520 (lot 6061, $2,000-3,000). Representing the breadth of successful property at sale is a carved amber snuff bottle at over 3 times projections (lot 6062) and an aloeswood wine cup (lot 6071) as well as a zitan wood censer (lot 6075) more than doubling estimates.

A Gilt-Bronze Stag Form Weight, Chenghua Mark. Estimate: $3,000 / 5,000. Sold for $20,060. Photo Michaan.

Shown in a recumbent position with legs tucked underneath its body and head turned backward, designed with a pair of gently curing antlers and incised details, the underside bearing a reserved Chenghua four-character mark. Length: 4 1/4 inches (10.8 cm) approximately.

A Jade Snuff Bottle, Qing Dynasty. Estimate: $2,000/3,000. Sold for $16,520. Photo Michaan.

Well-hollowed and of natural pebble form, with an intense layer of rich russet skin, green jadeite stopper. Height: 2 3/4 inches (7 cm).

An Aloeswood Wine Cup, 18th Century. Estimate: $1,500 / 2,000. Sold for $$4,425. Photo Michaan.

The irregular slightly conical form carved in high relief with three figures relaxing and engaging in leisurely activities, all within a continuous landscape setting comprising lush pine and bamboo trees. Height: 2 1/8 inches (5.4 cm) approximately. 

Exterior of Masterpiece London 2015 with 'Adam' and 'Eve' by Richard Hudson, represented by Leila Heller Gallery. Photo: Deniz Faragulle.

LONDON.- The Preview Day of the sixth edition of Masterpiece London ended with reports of record visitor numbers and strong sales across the board. The Fair draws collectors, curators, and designers from all over the world who view and purchase exceptional works of art spanning over 4,000 years of art history. This year the Fair welcomed a record 8,900 visitors on its opening day to the stunning Thames side location of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, an increase of over 26% on last year. 

"Opening day has proved better than ever!" said Raffaello Tomasso, at Tomasso Brothers Fine Art (Stand C2). "Visitors have loved the stand," added Dino Tomasso, "and we've met an enormous number of new contacts." Amongst several opening day sales was a Franco-Italian early C19th marble bust of Pyrrhus depicted as the Greek god Ares, sold for a price in the region of £100,000. 

Strong sales were reported across the board including the sale of the prime piece at Rupert Wace Ancient Art (Stand C21), Hygiea for a six figure sum. Symbolic & Chase (Stand C7) sold an important diamond and ruby Boucheron cuff for a seven figure sum and Koopman Rare Art (Stand C30), silver specialists sold their fair highlight The Great Seals of the Queen’s Bench, 1838. 

 The Great Seals of the Queen’s Bench, 1838. Photo courtesy Koopman Rare Art.

Modern British has performed particularly well with a previously unknown work by Henry Moore, a lead Helmet, 1950, discovered by Osborne Samuel (Stand D24) and sold to a private Canadian collector who flew in especially for the Fair. Richard Green (Stand D26) got off to a good start, including the sale of a fine painting by L.S. Lowry and Dickinson (Stand D2) sold works by Chagall, Miró and Rodin on Preview Day. Robertaebasta (Stand B42) were delighted with the opening day achieving many sales including an important work by Alighiero Boetti, 1988. The Tom Scott collection of clocks offered by Carter Marsh & Co (Stand D11) achieved lots of attention with the Medici Tompion selling for £4.5million and a further 5 long case clocks taking the total to an “astonishing” £8million. In the decorative arts Ronald Phillips (Stand D6) sold The Castle Howard mirrors, a set of four George II giltwood mirrors, circa 1740, and Robert Young Antiques (Stand C11) got off to a flying start with much of their stock selling within only a few hours of the fair opening. 

Adriaen de Vries, Bacchant, 1626.

AMSTERDAM.- The masterpiece has been acquired in December 2014 with the generous support of the Rembrandt Association (and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfund), BankGiro Lottery, the Rijksmuseum Fund, the VSBfund, the Mondriaan Fund, a private donation and the Rijksmuseum International Circle, enabled the Rijksmuseum to acquire this important work of art. With this very generous support this private and institutional funds endorse the particular importance of this purchase for the Netherlands Collection. 

Wim Pijbes, General Director of the Rijksmuseum: "Adriaen de Vries is the Dutch Michelangelo and his works are equally rare. Therefore it is absolutely great that we have been able to buy this fabulous sculpture for the Netherlands with the very generous support of many private donors and institutional funds". 

Dated 1626 and probably the last autograph work by De Vries the bronze represents the mythological figure of Bacchant. It displays the virtuoso and highly individual modelling style for which the sculptor was celebrated during his lifetime. This exceptionally sketchy, free and tactile style reached its apogee in the final years of his life and shows him as a true artistic innovator, centuries ahead of his time. 

Adriaen de Vries 
Born in the Hague in 1556 the ´imperial sculptor’ Adriaen de Vries enjoyed his greatest successes abroad. After a career in Italy and Germany he was appointed court sculptor to Emperor Rudolph II in Prague in 1601, the greatest collector of art of his time. The sculptor remained in Prague until the end of his life, working on commissions for princes in many European countries. 

For a long time Adriaen de Vries was one of the secrets of art-history, a highly original genius, only know by a handful of insiders. The successful international exhibition devoted to the sculptor that the Rijksmuseum organised together with the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in 1998-2000, has led to a wider appreciation of his bronzes and a revaluation of his reputation; nowadays he is considered as one of the most important sculptors of the early Baroque. 

Rediscovered by chance 
The bronze statue of Bacchant was rediscovered by chance in the courtyard of Schloss Sankt Martin (Austria) in 2010, where it had been since c. 1700. Most likely it was sold by the Dutch heirs of the sculptor after his death in 1626. 

Sculptures by Adriaen de Vries are kept in all major museum collection of the world. The Rijksmuseum owned the only work by the master in the Netherlands, a bronze relief of Bacchus and Ariadne. In addition, since 1977 it shows a larger statue of a seated Triton as a long-term loan from the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. The acquisition of Adriaen de Vries’ Bacchant fulfills an old wish; for the first time the sculptor is represented in a public collection of the Netherlands with a major work. The bronze will be on view at the Rijksmuseum form the Spring of 2015.

Adriaen de Vries, Bacchant, 1626. Photo: Jan Kees Steenman.

Jackson Pollock, 1950. Photograph by Hans Namuth. Courtesy Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona © 1991 Hans Namuth Estate

LIVERPOOL.- This summer Tate Liverpool presents the first exhibition in more than three decades to survey the late paintings of Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), made between 1951 and 1953; a phase of work referred to as his black pourings and a highly influential part of his career. 

Jackson Pollock is widely considered one of the most important and provocative American artists of the twentieth century, whose work has made an immense contribution to abstract art. Pollock famously pioneered ‘action painting’ - a process that saw him dripping paint on canvases laid flat on the studio floor. Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots focuses on the latter part of the artist’s career, shedding light on a less known but extremely significant part of his body of work. 

Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots introduces audiences to the artist’s practice via a selection of his important drip paintings made between 1947-50 including Summertime: Number 9A 1948 (Tate) and Number 3, 1949: Tiger 1949 (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden). Exhibiting works from the height of the artist’s fame set against his lesser known paintings serves to demonstrate the radical departure represented by the black pourings. The exhibition offers the opportunity to appreciate Pollock’s broader ambitions as an artist and makes these fascinating later paintings readable as ‘blind spots’ in an otherwise intensely debated career.  

Jackson Pollock, Yellow Islands, 1952. Oil on canvas; support: 1435 x 1854 mm. Presented by the Friends of the Tate Gallery (purchased out of funds provided by Mr and Mrs H.J. Heinz II and H.J. Heinz Co. Ltd) 1961 © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2014.

The black pourings, a series of black enamel and oil paintings, are presented alongside unique works on paper and prints from the same period, which are regarded as his most important and productive output as a draughtsman. Also on display are a number of virtually unknown and rarely seen sculptures, giving viewers the opportunity to reconsider his intentions as an artist. 

In 1965 art historian Michael Fried remarked that Pollock’s black pourings saw him ‘on the verge of an entirely new and different kind of painting … of virtually limitless potential’. After nearly four years of colourful, decorative, non-figurative paintings, Pollock felt compelled to return to the origins of his art. He needed to reinvigorate his practice during a personally difficult period in his life and the representational style of his black pourings, including the emergence of human figures and faces, signalled a major change of direction in Pollock’s style. His shift in technique also anticipated the arrival of colour field painting that followed in the mid-1950s to early 1960s; characterised by large areas of a more or less flat single colour it was found in the work of artists including Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis and Jules Olitski. 

The black pourings were first exhibited at Betty Parsons Gallery, New York in 1951, with another collection shown at Sidney Janis Gallery, New York in 1952. Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots is the largest gathering of these works in a public institution and the most significant showing since their 1980 presentation at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.

 Jackson Pollock, Number 7, 1952© The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015. © 2015. Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence.

An accompanying catalogue includes scholarly texts on Pollock’s practice with new essays by Jo Applin, University of York, Gavin Delahunty, Dallas Museum of Art, Michael Fried, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA and Stephanie Straine, Tate Liverpool. 

Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots has been developed in collaboration with The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. The exhibition at Tate Liverpool is curated by Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art, Gavin Delahunty (formerly Head of Exhibitions and Displays at Tate Liverpool) with Stephanie Straine, Assistant Curator, Tate Liverpool. The exhibition has been organised in partnership with the Dallas Museum of Art where it will be shown from 15 November 2015 – 20 March 2016. 

Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots is exhibited alongside Glenn Ligon: Encounters and Collisions and both exhibitions have been part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The two complementing exhibitions share Tate Liverpool’s fourth floor special exhibition galleries.

Jackson Pollock, Number 34, 1949© The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015. Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute/Art Resource, NY/Scala, Florence.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919); Paul Durand-Ruel, 1910. Oil on canvas Private Collection. Archives Durand-Ruel© Durand-Ruel & Cie

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- This summer, the Philadelphia Museum of Art presents a ground-breaking exhibition examining the early struggles and ultimate triumph of the artists who became known as the Impressionists and the role played by the visionary Parisian art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel in their success. Including masterworks by Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, and Mary Cassatt, Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting spans the period of 1865 through 1905. The exhibition begins when Durand-Ruel inherited his family’s art gallery and invested in the work of innovative painters such as Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, and Jean-François Millet. It then focuses on the decisive moment when he encountered the new and luminous paintings of the Impressionists that evoked a changing, modern world. It continues through the 1880s, when Durand-Ruel opened markets for the artists’ work in the United States, and the early 20th century, when the artistic genius of the Impressionists finally achieved international renown. It reunites for the first time key paintings from early Impressionist exhibitions, some of which have not been seen in the United States in decades, or ever before. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is the exhibition’s only U.S. venue. 

Timothy Rub, The George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, stated: “This landmark exhibition brings together a remarkable group of masterpieces from collections throughout the world to explore a chapter in the history of art that still captures our imagination. It tells the fascinating story of an enterprising art dealer who made an early and daring investment in these young artists, and essentially created the modern art market in the face of bankruptcy and public ridicule. Many great Impressionist collections today, including those of the Musée d’Orsay and the National Gallery, London—our partners in the development of this exhibition—were formed with works that passed through his hands.” 

Over a period of forty years, Durand-Ruel purchased around 12,000 pictures, including, roughly, 1,000 by Monet, 1,500 by Renoir, 400 each by Degas and Sisley, 800 by Pissarro, 200 by Manet, and 400 by Cassatt. He became a powerful driving force behind Impressionism, making it a household name. As Monet would recall in 1924, about two years after the dealer’s death, “Without Durand, we would have died of hunger, all us Impressionists.”  

The art dealer was introduced to Monet and Pissarro in London in 1871, where he began to exhibit and acquire their work. Soon he was buying Impressionist paintings on an unprecedented scale. Discovering the Impressionists recreates the boldness of this moment, displaying several of these early purchases, including Monet’s views of London (Philadelphia Museum of Art and National Gallery, London), Pissarro’s The Avenue, Sydenham (National Gallery, London), Sisley’s The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne (Metropolitan Museum of Art), and Degas’s Dance Foyer of the Opera at the rue Le Peletier (Musée d’Orsay).  

Camille Pissarro, The Avenue, Sydenham, 1871. © The National Gallery, London.

Alfred Sisley (French, 1839–1899), The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne, 1872. Oil on canvas. Purchased by Durand-Ruel from Sisley on August 24, 1872. Sold to Parisian collector Jean-Baptiste Faure on April 15, 1873. Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ittleson Jr., 1964. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), The Dance Foyer of the Opera at rue Le Peletier, 1872. Oil on canvas. Purchased by Durand-Ruel from Degas on August 10, 1872. Sold to British collector Louis Huth on December 7, 1872. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Bequeathed by Count Isaac de Camondo, 1911. © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY / Photo: Hervé Lewandowski

The exhibition also restages the dramatic moment in 1872 when Durand-Ruel purchased twenty-six paintings by Manet, a visionary acquisition that marked a turning point in the career of this controversial and innovative artist. From that remarkable acquisition, Discovering the Impressionists reunites such major works as Moonlight at the Port of Boulogne (Musée d’Orsay), The Battle of the U.S.S. “Kearsarge” and the C.S.S. “Alabama” (Philadelphia Museum of Art), and The Salmon (Shelburne Museum). They are presented along with Boy with a Sword (Metropolitan Museum of Art). 

Edouard Manet, Moonlight at the Port of Boulogne, 1868. © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski.

Edouard Manet,  The Salmon, 1868. Shelburne Museum, Vermont© Shelburne Museum

Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883), Boy with a Sword, 1861. Oil on canvas. Purchased by Durand-Ruel from Parisian art dealer Alexis-Joseph Febvre on January 8, 1872. Sold to American financier and mine operator Erwin Davis in 1881. Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of Erwin Davis, 1889. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY

The exhibition reassembles key paintings from the important Impressionist exhibition held at Durand-Ruel’s gallery in 1876, revealing how he advanced the artists’ careers and came into close contact with Berthe Morisot and others. Public response to that exhibition was deeply divided, with the press vociferously dismissing many of the works, while literary figures such as Henry James and Stéphane Mallarmé voiced support. 

Discovering the Impressionists also focuses on the importance of solo exhibitions, a novel concept that Durand-Ruel pioneered for his artists, most notably with Monet in 1883 and 1892. Demonstrating the impact of the 1883 exhibition are La Pointe de la Hève, Sainte-Adresse (National Gallery, London), Train in the Snow (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris), and Apple Galettes (Private Collection), a large-scale still-life depicting pastry tarts that is on view for the first time in the United States. From Monet’s famous 1892 exhibition of 15 paintings of poplar trees along the banks of a river near Giverny, six are reassembled from collections around the world to examine in depth the artist’s serial approach to this now celebrated subject.

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926),  Apple Galettes, 1882. Oil on canvas. Probably given by Monet to pastry chef and hotel manager Paul Graff in Pourville, France, in 1882. Lent by Graff to Monet’s 1883 solo exhibition. Private Collection.

Claude Monet, Poplars in the Sun, 1891. © National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo 

In 1905, Durand-Ruel organized the largest exhibition of Impressionism ever, at the Grafton Galleries in London, including more than 300 works by Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, and others. Among the paintings reassembled in Philadelphia will be Manet’s Music in the Tuileries Gardens (National Gallery, London), Monet’s Coal Carriers (Musée d’Orsay), Pissarro’s Pont Boieldieu, Rouen, Rainy Weather (Art Gallery of Ontario), Degas’s Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando (National Gallery, London), and Renoir’s Cup of Chocolate (Private Collection), the last of which has not been seen in the United States since 1937. Reproductions of period photographs that convey the Grafton exhibition’s unrivaled scale and ambition will also be on display, underscoring this triumphal moment in Durand-Ruel’s career. 

Edouard Manet, Music in the Tuileries Gardens, 1862. © The National Gallery, London

Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  The Cup of Chocolate, about 1877-8. © Photo courtesy of the owner

Beginning in 1883, while the Impressionists struggled for acceptance in Europe, Durand-Ruel took his artists’ works to the United States. Opening a gallery in New York in 1887, he began to play a pivotal role in the formation of American collections. Among the paintings he sold to collectors in this country are Degas’s The Ballet Class (Philadelphia Museum of Art) and Morisot’s Woman at Her Toilette (Art Institute of Chicago). Displayed together are Renoir’s large-scale Dance at Bougival (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Dance in the Country (Musée d’Orsay), and Dance in the City (Musée d’Orsay). Also included in this section is Mary Cassatt’s The Child’s Bath (Art Institute of Chicago) and Sisley’s View of Saint-Mammès (Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh). 

Edgar Degas,  The Ballet Class, 1880. Philadelphia Museum of Art © Philadelphia Museum of Art

 Berthe-Marie-Pauline Morisot (French, 1841–1895), Woman at Her Toilette, c. 1875–80. Oil on canvas. Purchased by Durand-Ruel from Morisot. Sold to American artist William Merritt Chase in 1886. The Art Institute of Chicago. Stickney Fund © The Art Institute of Chicago

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919), Dance at Bougival, 1883. Oil on canvas. Purchased by Durand-Ruel from Renoir on November 22, 1886. Pledged to Madame Hiltbrunner as security against a financial loan until 1891, when the painting was returned to Durand-Ruel Gallery stock. Sold to Rouen collector François Depeaux in 1894. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Picture Fund. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance in the Country, 1883. © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance in the City, 1883. © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski 

Mary Cassatt, The Child's Bath. 1893. Oil on canvas. Purchased by Durand-Ruel from Cassatt in November 1893. Sold to Connecticut collector Harris Whittemore on January 17, 1894. Bought back by Durand-Ruel on February 4, 1899. Sold to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1910. The Art Institute of Chicago. Robert A. Waller Fund. © The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois

The final gallery of the exhibition is dedicated to Durand-Ruel’s personal collection, which was housed in the family’s apartment in Paris. It brings together an intimate arrangement of these works for the first time, including family portraits by Renoir, a sculpture in marble by Auguste Rodin, and a salon door composed of still life and floral panels painted by Monet.  

Jennifer Thompson, the Gloria and Jack Drosdick Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture before 1900 and the Rodin Museum, stated: “Durand-Ruel and the history of Impressionism are to a large degree inseparable. From brilliant landscapes to riveting portraits of French leisure, the exhibition will demonstrate his unceasing commitment to fostering an appreciation for the work of these artists.”

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926), The Artist’s Garden in Argenteuil (A Corner of the Garden with Dahlias), 1873. Oil on canvas. Probably purchased by Durand-Ruel from Monet on December 16, 1873. Sold to a private collector named Baroux in Paris in 1881. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Janice H. Levin, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991 © National Gallery of Art, Washington

Paul Cézanne,  The Mill on the Couleuvre near Pontoise, about 1881. © Photo Scala, Florence / bpk, Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin / Photo: Klaus Goeken.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919), Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881. Oil on canvas. Purchased by Durand-Ruel from Renoir on July 7, 1881. Sold to French art critic Charles Ephrussi by 1883. The Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection. © The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois.

Gustave Courbet (French, 1819–1877), The Woman in the Waves, 1868. Oil on canvas. Purchased by Durand-Ruel from Courbet on February 26, 1873. Sold to Henry Osborne Havemeyer of New York on January 30, 1893. Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Portrait of Mademoiselle Legrand, 1875. © Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Sleeping Girl, 1880. © Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA (photo by Michael Agee)

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, Horses before the Stands, 1866-68. © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski.

Eugène Delacroix, Arab Horses Fighting in a Stable, 1860. © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Gérard Blot.

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, Peasant Girls bathing in the Sea at Dusk, 1869-75. © Photo courtesy of the owner.

Charles-François Daubigny, St Paul's from the Surrey Side, 1871-73. © The National Gallery, London.

Camille Pissarro, Fox Hill, Upper Norwood, 1870. © The National Gallery, London.

Claude Monet, The Thames below Westminster, about 1871.© The National Gallery, London.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880-1881. Oil On Canvas, 51 1/4 x 69 1/8 in. Phillips Collection. Acquired 1923. © Phillips Collection

Camille Pissarro (French, 1830–1903), The Lock at Pontoise, 1872. Oil on fabric. Probably purchased by Durand-Ruel from Pissarro on May 25, 1872. Sold to French painter James Tissot on November 17, 1873. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund, 1990. © The Cleveland Museum of Art

The simplicity of this scene—a barge being pulled through a lock in a Parisian suburb—belies its careful depiction of a crisp spring day and the rhythmic pattern of tree trunks reflected in water. The relatively empty composition and intense atmospheric observation make it one of the more daring of Durand-Ruel’s early purchases from Pissarro.

Thomas Gainsborough, A wooded landscape with, to the left, Gypsies gathered round a fire, and to the right, a pair of horses tethered, in the distance a rolling open view. Trimmed to 8⅞ x 12¾ ins. Estimate: £20,000–£30,000.

LONDON.- Ruislip based auction house Bainbridges will be offering a chalk and gouache drawing by Thomas Gainsborough for sale on Thursday, 2 July. Entitled Gypsy Encampment, Sunset and dated c1777-80, the drawing, first discovered by Bainbridges and following a year of research, has now been fully authenticated. 

The otherwise unknown drawing by Thomas Gainsborough has an impeccable provenance from the artist to the present owner. Initially recognised by an elderly Courtauld student and friend of the sale room, it was ultimately acknowledged by Dr Lyndsay Stainton, who was for many years a curator at the British Museum. Both experts were very excited to see it. It is a late work of a type known as a presentation drawing, measuring 22.5 x 32.2 cms. The large original oil painting, “Gypsy Encampment, Sunset” is on view in the Tate. The auction estimate has been set at £20,000-£30,000.

An inscription on the reverse states it was given by the artist to the portrait miniature painter Ozias Humphry and then passed to his son William Upcott, a librarian and antiquary who amassed a large collection of Gainsborough sketches. Bequested by Upcott to his friend Charles Hampden Turner the sketch descended through his wife’s relatives (the Wigram family). 

A presentation drawing by Thomas Gainsborough, newly discovered by Bainbridges, ‘Gypsy Encampment, Sunset’ (22.5 x 32.2 cms), with provenance from the artist to the present owner.

Fabergé gold and sepia enamel Admiralty Clock. Height: 4 3/8 inches 11.1 cm). A La Vieille Russie, Inc. at Masterpiece London 2015, stand C8.

Fabergé Pink Trellis Box – Circular pink and trelliswork guilloché enamel gold-mounted patch box, with two colors of color and featuring green and red enamel. By Fabergé, workmaster Michael Perchin. St. Petersburg, circa 1899. Provenance: Queen Mary of Romania, granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II. A La Vieille Russie, Inc. at Masterpiece London 2015, stand C8.

Gold, diamond, ruby and enamel pendant depicting a Russian farmhouse on a moonlit night, a reference to Nikolai Gogol’s collection of short stories, Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, and made in connection with the centenary of his birth. Engraved on the reverse in Cyrillic ‘In souvenir of the Gogol Jubilee spectacle – the magic night of 10 March 1909. E. A. Kuper from S. Zimin. By A. Fuld, Moscow, ca. 1909. A La Vieille Russie, Inc. at Masterpiece London 2015, stand C8.

Important silver and silver gilt icon of Christ Pantocrator enthroned in Glory. Christ, wearing a “jeweled” crown, is seated on an elaborate throne decorated with cherubs and is flanked by two angels, one holding a chalice, the other holding the lances of His passion. At the top is the inscription, “Czar of Czars, King of Kings.” and at the base is a banner, held by two seraphim, with the legend, “Your Kingdom is Forever; Your Power is Everlasting.” The maker of the frame is D. Andreyev, court silversmith (1835-1860), and it is signed and dated, St. Petersburg, 1843. Russian, 19th century. A La Vieille Russie, Inc. at Masterpiece London 2015, stand C8.

Black opal, white opal, plique-à-jour enamel and gold pendant necklace designed as a pair of gold trees with interwoven roots in the foreground. The abstracted lake and mountain background is composed of open-set white opal, black opal and plique-à-jour enamel, suspending an orange boulder opal. On original fancy link gold chain. Signed G. Fouquet, French, circa 1910. A La Vieille Russie, Inc. at Masterpiece London 2015, stand C8.

A La Vieille Russie, Inc. 781 Fifth Avenue, at 59th Street, New York, 10022, United States. E-mail alvr@alvr.com - website http://www.alvr.com

Conch and cassis cornuta pearl earrings, set with diamonds and sapphires inlaid into mother of pearl. BOGH-ART at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B29.

A bracelet set with a no-heat Burmese sapphire inlaid into white jade bangle with diamonds. BOGH-ART at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B29.

BOGH-ART. Place des Bergues 1, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland. T  +41 22 732 75 55 - E-mail contact@bogh-art.com - Website http://www.bogh-art.com

 White gold, blue topaz and diamond Koi Carp pendant (£POA). Theo Fennell at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B36.

Yellow Gold, diamond and rock crystl Mole & Toad Opening Ring (£POA). Theo Fennell at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B36.

Theo Fennell Ltd, 169 Fulham Road,  London, SW3 6SP, United Kingdom. T  020 7591 5000 - F  020 7591 5001. E-mail octavia.norrish@theofennell.com - Website http://www.theofennell.com

This magnificent Cartier bracelet, exhibited at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3, by Siegelson, boasts the symmetry and bold colour that defined the Art Deco period. The bracelet, in tapered black lacquer, is set with diamonds and emeralds and has natural pearls at either end of the open closure.

Art Deco emerald, sapphire and diamond pendant necklace by Cartier, Paris, 1925. Siegelson  at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3.

Cartier's 1928 Art Deco Turtle clock, exhibited by Siegelson at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3, features a clock face edged in gold with diamond-set hands in the form of a dragon, hidden inside a turtle’s shell decorated with black and turquoise enamel and ruby cabochons.

Cartier's Cole Porter Egyptian suite, which Siegelson exhibits at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3, features a 1926 Scarab belt buckle brooch and a 1928 Eye of Horus bracelet with diamonds and cabochon sapphires.

Theodore B Starr's 1920s acrostic stacking rings featuring either a square-cut diamond, a cabochon emerald, a cabochon amethyst or a cushion-cut ruby, exhibited by Siegelson at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3.

Siegelson is also exhibiting this Van Cleef & Arpels diamond, emerald and pearl brooch dating from 1926 at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3.

The Mauboussin diamond cuff bracelet and removable clip brooches exhibited by Siegelson at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3.

Suzanne Belperron and Jeanne Boivin Art Modern gold and ivory Tranche cuff, created for the house of René Boivin in 1931, to be exhibited by Siegelson at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3.

Siegelson ruby, sapphire, yellow diamond and enamel heart brooch by Paul Flato, New York, circa 1938. at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3.

Siegelson in collaboration with London-based jeweller Lauren Adriana at  at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3, which includes pair of spinel (35.80 and 37.62ct) and diamond earrings featuring a strand of natural pearls wrapped around the stone, suspended by diamond-set blackened silver.

Another jewel from the recent collaboration with Siegelson and Lauren Adriana at  at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3, includes a rare type IIb deep blue diamond (the same certified colour as the Hope diamond) and is surrounded by coloured pave diamonds with each stone hand-selected to bring out the unusual.

Artistic pink bakelite, ruby, and diamond jellybean suite of bracelet and earrings by Daniel Brush, New York, 1991 (on loan from Siegelson at Masterpiece London 2015, stand B3).

Siegelson, 589 5th Avenue, Suite 1501, New York, NY 10017 , United States. T  212-832-2666 - F  212-832-2882 - E-mail siegelson@siegelson.com - Website http://www.siegelson.com

LONDON.- Anish Kapoor’s Untitled 2012 is one of the star lots at Bonhams Postwar and Contemporary sale on July 1. Estimated at £400,000-600,000, the monumental convex disc is one of his signature mirrored works, with the stainless steel coated in a thin layer of magenta lacquer. 

Reflecting whatever stands before it, Untitled 2012 distorts, mutates and twists the world around it, the shapes that it holds moving and turning as the viewer approaches or retreats. As a pure concave surface, the work also picks up sound from all over the room and bounces it out from the centre, and producing an echo. 

Kapoor’s instantly recognizable, circular mirrored works have made the London-based artist a household name. Untitled 2012 is the climax of years of experimentation: the idea may be simple, but the execution is long, complicated and precise, and the results are complex and astounding. 

In a 2011 interview, Kapoor said, ‘The mirroredness, in the right conditions, does something to dematerialise the object... they have to be made very well, and it has taken me too many years to make them well enough.’ To produce the right effect, the steel must be polished perfectly smooth, so that when staring in to the reflection, you cannot tell where the surface begins. 

Francesca Gavin writes in Bonhams Magazine: ‘He is an artist whose work creates a sense of psychological disruption and the illusion of everlasting depth. Kapoor has made this mutable material truly his own.’ 

The artist's monumental public work Sky Mirror 2001 was ten years in the making from drawing board to completion. An even larger ten-metre version has since toured the world, being exhibited in the Rockefeller Centre, New York, the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg and Kensington Gardens, London. 

Kapoor’s largest project to date was unveiled in the gardens of Versailles earlier this month, a series of monumental sculptures in the grounds including Sky Mirror alongside Dirty Corner, which attracted attention after being defaced by French royalists.

Anselm Kiefer (German, 1945), Maria durch den Dornwald ging, 2005; titled, acrylic, emulsion, clay, dried roses, shellac, charcoal and adhesive on canvas laid on board, in the original steel frame, 286 by 140 by 10 cm., 112 5/8 by 55 1/8 by 3 15/16 in. Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 (€560,000 - 840,000). Photo: Bonhams.

Anselm Kiefer, the subject of a solo show at the Royal Academy last year, is also represented in the sale. Estimated at £400,000 - 600,000, his Maria durch den Dornwald ging from 2005 was recently featured in two German exhibitions. The title of the work, the translation of which is ‘Mary went through the forest of thorns’, is an allusion to a German folk song. Kiefer, who often refers to German culture and history, uses dried flowers, earth and ash to reflect the lyrics’ themes of spiritual immortality in the face of death. He compares his use of media to alchemy, transforming object into subject.  

Also in the sale are Andy Warhol’s 1982 Dollar Sign (estimated at £400,000-600,000), Banksy’s Keep it Real (estimated at £40,000-60,000), Lucio Fontana's Concetto Spaziale (estimated at £60,000 - 80,000) and Miquel Barceló's Vila Nova de Milfontes (estimated at £150,000 - 200,000). The sale is currently on view at Bonhams New Bond Street.

Lucio Fontana (Italian, 1899-1968), Concetto Spaziale, 1960-1963; signed, glazed ceramic. Diameter: 44 cm., 17 5/16 in. This work was executed circa 1960-1963. Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 (€84,000 - 110,000). Photo: Bonhams.

This work is registered in the Fondazione Lucio Fontana, Milan, under no. 3723/2. 

Provenance: Galerie Mony Calatchi, Paris
Private Collection, Buenos Aires
Private Collection, Italy
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Exhibited: Besana in Brianza, Villa Filippini, Picasso, Fontana, Sassu - Arte ceramica da Albisola a Vallauris, 2003, pp. 79 and 125, no. 24, illustrated in colour (incorrect orientation)

Notes: To engage with Concetto Spaziale from 1960-1963 is not to merely stand, look, and consider. Rather, one impulsively wanders around the object, contemplating, gazing and inspecting as the deep pearlescence of the glaze radiates a prismatic array of colour from its surface. Glistening golds and yellows lucidly transform into intense ultramarines and violets contrasted against a ground of deep earthy green and bronze, as if Fontana had physically captured the transience of a rainbow. Two sculptural perforations right through the centre of the artwork not only dissipate the colour further, but also allow the viewer to focus on the space directly behind the piece. These apertures are an archetypal motif for Fontana, and coupled with his use of glaze and form, the present work acts as the reified synthesis of his most important theories. 
Despite being best known for his slashed monochrome paintings, above all else, Lucio Fontana considered himself a sculptor. Born to a sculptor, Fontana's early life was based around his devotion to his father's craft: having moved from Argentina to Milan at a young age, he briefly moved back to Argentina where he set up his own sculpture studio, before finally settling back in Milan in 1928. It was there that he trained at the Accademia di Brera under the tutelage of the refined representational sculptor Adolfo Wildt. Like any other young artist, Fontana immediately produced work in line with the prevalent aesthetic movement of the time, in his case Novecento Italiano. Novecento was a representational movement characterised by a rejection of European Avant-Garde aesthetics in favour of embracing Italy's illustrious representational tradition. However, Fontana remained curious, and began to investigate new modes of expression. 

In 1935 Fontana moved to the small coastal town of Albisola in the North West of Italy. At the time, Albisola was the epicentre of Italian ceramic research and production, and it was here that his ceramic investigations began in earnest. During this fecund period, Fontana tackled a vast array of traditional subject matter including: fantasias, rampant horses, lions, sibyls, warriors, saints and crucifixes. Whilst ostensibly figurative, these works were executed in a loose and intense manner, the plasticity of clay acting as the perfect foil for Fontana's firm and expressive manipulation. The highly finished technique of his earlier work became looser and looser, slowly paving its way closer to pure abstraction.

Fontana continued in this vein for almost a decade until, after a period back in Argentina which coincided with World War II, Fontana wrote five seminal manifestos between 1947 and 1952 which outlined his theories of Spazialismo(Spatialism). Humanity went through a rapid technological advancement in the mid-twentieth century, with more progress made in fifty years than in the previous five hundred. Fontana understood the significance of this, and his treatises called for art to shed its historical and bourgeois frameworks and fundamentally update its spirit and form. Fontana's response to his own doctrine was to create art that explored a new dimension – and this concept is encapsulated perfectly in the present work. 

Commentators often mistake Fontana's holes and slashes as an attempt to bring the three-dimensional to a two-dimensional picture plane. Despite their aesthetic allure, Fontana's real interest was not in their form, rather, he was interested in what they revealed. This is particularly evident in Concetto Spaziale from 1960-1963, where the holes are large and gaping, and present the space behind to the viewer – and this is what Fontana considered to be a 'new dimension'. This dimension is neither pictorial nor definable per se but can be understood as being allegorical, an iconoclastic rip in art itself, and a portal into the unknown, the undefinable, and the new. 
In the Manifesto Blanco 1946, Fontana makes constant references to the notions of dynamism and movement, and he argued that art should be dynamic, as matter itself is in constant movement. The present work's pearlescent glaze makes it seem like it is in a constant state of flux, and as light dances across the surface, and as the viewer's position ever so slightly shifts, so too does the colour and the position from which it is reflected. This artwork may be innate, yet the perceived movement generated from its surface gives the impression it is motile. 

Artworks based on profound theory sometimes have a tendency to lose some of their aesthetic potential, yet the present work is an undeniably beautiful object. It was testament to Fontana's brilliance as an artist that he was able to combine the theoretical and the aesthetic with such harmony. 

Fontana had the foresight to realise that the world was not only rapidly changing, but that this change would result in a stage of human existence unlike any other period that had preceded it. He felt that art should reflect this vital transformation of the human condition, and he embarked on a search for a new dimension by transforming entrenched and historic artistic tropes, such as canvases and ceramics. Concetto Spaziale from 1960-1963 is the epitome of this thought process, and the physical embodiment of his mission to find a truly Modern mode of expression: dramatic ruptures intertwine with mutable colour to form an artwork truly pertinent to its era, and filled with the optimism and excitement that Fontana felt for mankind.

Herbert Ponting (1870-1935), The Great Wall in 1907. Photo: Wikipedia.org

BEIJING (AFP).- Around 30 percent of China's Ming-era Great Wall has disappeared over time as adverse natural conditions and reckless human activities -- including stealing the bricks to build houses -- erode the UNESCO World Heritage site, state media reported. 

The Great Wall is not a single unbroken structure but stretches for thousands of kilometres in sections, from Shanhaiguan on the east coast to Jiayuguan in the windswept sands on the edge of the Gobi desert. 

In places it is so dilapidated that estimates of its total length vary from 9,000 to 21,000 kilometres (5,600 to 13,000 miles), depending on whether missing sections are included. Despite its length it is not, as is sometimes claimed, visible from space. 

Construction first begun in the third century BC, but nearly 6,300 kilometres were built in the Ming Dynasty of 1368-1644, including the much-visited sectors north of the capital Beijing. 

Of that, 1,962 kilometres has melted away over the centuries, the Beijing Times reported. 

Some of the construction weathered away, while plants growing in the walls have accelerated the decay, said the report Sunday, citing a survey last year by the Great Wall of China Society. 

"Even though some of the walls are built of bricks and stones, they cannot withstand the perennial exposure to wind and rain," the paper quoted Dong Yaohui, a vice president of the society, as saying. 

"Many towers are becoming increasingly shaky and may collapse in a single rain storm in summer." 

Tourism and local residents' activities are also damaging the longest human construction in the world, the paper added. 

Poor villagers in Lulong county in the northern province of Hebei used to knock thick grey bricks from a section of wall in their village to build homes, and slabs engraved with Chinese characters were sold for 30 yuan ($4.80) each by local residents, it said. 

Under Chinese regulations people who take bricks from the Great Wall can be fined up to 5,000 yuan, the state-run Global Times said Monday. 

"But there is no specific organisation to enforce the rules. Damage could only be reported to higher authorities and it is hard to solve when it happened on the border of two provinces," said Jia Hailin, a cultural relics protection official in Hebei, according to the report.  

It added that explorations of undeveloped parts of the Great Wall -- an increasingly popular leisure activity in recent years -- had brought those sections more tourists than they could bear, damaging them severely. © 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

An area of the sections of the Great Wall at Jinshanling. Photo: Jakub Hałun/Wikipedia.org.