Lot 2137. A painted pottery figure of a prancing horse, Tang dynasty (618–907). Estimate US$ 4,000 - 6,000 (€3,800 - 5,700). Photo: Bonhams.

Modeled with a raised right foreleg, the back legs bent to bear its weight, the raised head turned slightly to the left with mouth agape and nostrils flared, the long, thick mane combed over to the left side of the neck, richly caparisoned, the saddle blanket painted with floral decoration, the tail docked and tied, Japanese fitted wood box. 15in (38.2 cm) high

Provenance: Mayuyama and Company, Tokyo, 3 May 1950

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 13 Mar 2017, 12:00 EDT, NEW YORK

Way back, each one of us belongs to a tribe. With its traditions and rituals, its customs and costumes which express who we are and differentiate us from the tribe next door;
As the world becomes increasingly globalized and homogenized we seek our identity and comfort in that which brings us back to our roots, however intercrossed our genes may be; Global Tribal.

Loin dans notre histoire, chacun de nous appartient à une tribu. Avec ses traditions et ses rituels, ses coutumes et costumes qui expriment qui nous sommes et nous différencient de la tribu d'à côté.
Le monde devenant de plus en plus global et uniformisé, nous recherchons notre identité et notre bien-être dans ce qui nous rapproche de nos racines, quel que soit l'inter croisement de nos gènes. Global Tribal.

Hedi Xant, The longer you last. Chrome-plated resin, brass, perspex, 30 x 52 x 36 cm, 2013© Hedi Xant

Hedi Xant, My the Cast Soul. Experimental sculpture for which molten aluminum is cast into a mold via explosion, 2013 © Hedi Xant

Lot 6. An exceptionally rare and large fine blue and white reserve-decorated 'peony' dish, Xuande mark and period (1426–1435). Estimate 1,000,000 — 1,500,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's. 

well potted, the shallow rounded sides rising from a short tapered foot to a delicately everted rim, boldly decorated to the interior with a large peony bloom borne on a leafy stem enclosed within a single-line border and framed at the well by fruiting branches of loquat, cherry, persimmon, peach, lychee and pomegranate, the exterior decorated with a continuous chrysanthemum scroll, all finely incised and reserved against a rich 'royal blue' glaze, beneath a further transparent glaze, the six-character mark inscribed in underglaze blue in a horizontal line reserved in a rectangular cartouche just below the rim, the unglazed base burnt orange. Diameter 15 1/4  in., 38.6 cm

Provenance: Collection of Baron Guy de Villelume (1908-1991), Château de La Gorgue, France (until 1988).
A French Private Collection.

This magnificent, large ‘royal blue’ dish was made to impress the imperial court and reflects the search for new classics at China’s imperial porcelain kilns during the Xuande reign (1426-1435). Its extremely rare reverse decoration technique had been experimented with already in the late Yuan period (1279-1368), but in order for it to find favor at the early Ming court (1368-1644) it needed to be refined technically. The Xuande period is marked by a sudden keen imperial interest in ceramics. While in the Yongle reign (1403-1424), many of the finest items made at Jingdezhen were still sent abroad, in the Xuande period, with the generalized use of the imperial reign mark, production at the imperial kilns appears to have been destined almost exclusively for the palace.

Although the rich cobalt-blue ground worked spectacularly well to highlight bright fruit and flower designs, the material costs – due to the high quality and quantity of cobalt required – and the technical expertise required by the indirect reserve decoration process probably made production on a larger scale of wares in this style impractical even for the imperial kilns. The production time would have far exceeded that of dishes painted in the positive, in blue on white, so that this technique was clearly not suited for production in larger numbers. Apart from occasional trials, it was more or less abandoned after the Xuande reign, to be properly revived again – like many other early Ming styles – only in the Yongzheng period (1723-1735).

The resist technique as used on this dish appears complicated. The design was first incised into the unfired white body and the mark on the outside inscribed in underglaze blue. Then either the design only or the complete inside and outside – opinions vary – was or were covered with a transparent glaze, and subsequently the background around the design with a blue glaze. The plain rings around the center and the foot, however, appear as if scratched through the blue glaze, and in some areas, more transparent glaze appears to have been added after the blue, creating in places a very thick white layer, which has partly obscured the incising. The overall effect was much refined since the Yuan dynasty, the surface being smooth and even, without any gaps where blue meets white.

Only three other dishes of this decoration technique, design and size appear to be recorded. Although the silhouette effect seems at first glance almost stencil-like, since the basic composition is always the same, each dish is individually hand-decorated and varies from the next. On a companion dish in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, from the Ataka collection, for example, the two parallel stems in the center, of which one belongs to the main peony bloom and the other to the small bud and leaves behind it, seem to have been inadvertently overpainted in blue, so that the bloom appears to be floating. Yet overall, the dish obviously pleased the courtly quality control in the Xuande reign (so that rejection was not considered), as it still does today: in Japan the dish has been designated as ‘Important Cultural Property’. The dish has been frequently illustrated and exhibited; it is published, for example, in Sekai tōji zenshū/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, col. pl. 30; and was included in Chūgoku no tōji/Special Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1994, cat. no. 267.

Another dish of this design, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated Mingdai Xuande yuyao ciqi/Imperial Porcelains from the Reign of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, 2015, pl. 89; and a third such dish, also formally in the collection of Baron Guy de Villelume in France, where it was displayed together with the present dish, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 2nd December 2015, lot 3112.  

Lot 3112. An exceptionally rare large blue and white reserve-decorated ‘peony’ dish, Xuande six-character mark in underglaze blue in a line and of the period (1426-1435). Estimate HK$15,000,000 - HK$25,000,000 ($1,944,540 - $3,240,900). Price Realized HK$20,280,000 ($2,629,018). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

(Cf. my post: An exceptionally rare large blue and white reserve-decorated ‘peony’ dish, Xuande six-character mark and of the period)

This peony design with fruit sprays inside and a chrysanthemum scroll outside is otherwise very rarely seen in any coloration, but was executed at the Jingdezhen imperial kilns equally in cobalt-blue on white, in iron-brown on white, and in cobalt-blue against a yellow background, very similarly conceived in all versions, with even the fruit sprays distributed around the center in the same order and at the same coordinates; rejected examples of all three styles from the imperial kiln site were included in the exhibition Jingdezhen chutu Ming Xuande guanyao ciqi/Xuande Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. nos 85-1 to 85-3 (figs 1-3); and a successfully fired example with this design in a very pale café-au-lait colour is in the Shanghai Museum, see Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections: A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 3-50 (fig. 4).

Fig. 1. A large brown and white reserve-decorated ‘peony’ dish, Xuande mark and period© Jingdezhen Ceramics Archaeology Institut

Fig. 2. A large blue and white ‘peony’ dish, Xuande mark and period© Jingdezhen Ceramics Archaeology Institute

Fig. 3. A large yellow-ground blue and white ‘peony’ dish, Xuande mark and period. © Jingdezhen Ceramics Archaeology Institute

Fig. 4. A large brown and white ‘peony’ dish, Xuande mark and period© Shanghai Museum

Only about a dozen related Xuande dishes are known, all except one of smaller size. The one larger dish is a broken piece in the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Sekai bijutsu taizenshū /New History of World Art: Tōyō hen [Oriental section], vol. 8: Min [Ming], Tokyo, 1999, pl. 144, sold in our London rooms, 10th November 2004, lot 590, and published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1667.

The waste heaps of the Jingdezhen kiln sites also brought to light sherds of a somewhat smaller dish (35 cm) decorated with a daylily – a pattern, of which no perfect example appears to survive – which was exhibited in reconstructed form at the Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, op.cit., cat. no. 82-3. 

Otherwise dishes decorated in this technique are known in two well-known designs that later became very popular painted in blue against a yellow ground, both smaller: one with a flowering pomegranate branch, the other with gardenia in the center, both surrounded by four fruiting branches. Six dishes (approximately 29 cm) are known of the pomegranate design: in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, included in the exhibition Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu/Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, cat. no.198; in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace Museum], Beijing 2005, vol. 1, pl. 111; in the Asia Society, New York, from the Sedgwick and Rockefeller collections, illustrated in Denise Patry Leidy, Treasures of Asian Art: The Asia Society’s Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, New York, 1994, pl. 178, and sold twice in our London rooms, 9th November 1954, lot 72, and 2nd July 1968, lot 122; and another was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2007, lot 839, and is illustrated in Julian Thompson, The Alan Chuang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Hong Kong, 2009, cat. no. 13. A second dish of this design from the Sedgwick collection, also attributed to the Xuande period, but unmarked, is illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, no. 4:41; and a deliberately destroyed example recovered from the waste heaps of the Ming imperial kiln site at Jingdezhen, was exhibited at the Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, op.cit., cat. no. 84. 

All these dishes have the mark reserved in a cartouche below the rim, like the present piece, and the unglazed bases tend to be burnt a vivid orange to a dark reddish brown, perhaps due to application of an iron-rich wash, although this seems to be missing on the Ataka example. Smaller dishes decorated in this technique (c. 25 cm), of the gardenia pattern, have a glazed base with the regular reign mark inscribed within a double circle. Six dishes of this smallest size are recorded, of which three are in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see the Museum’s 1998 exhibition, op.cit., cat. no. 82, and Soame Jenyns in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 31, 1957-59, pl. 6c; one in the Guangdong Provincial Museum, see Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], vol. 13, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 26; one in the Anhui Provincial Museum, illustrated in Wenwu 1982, no. 9, p. 20, figs 1 and 2; and one, sold in our London rooms, 13th March 1973, lot 235, published in Tōji taikei, vol. 42, Tokyo, 1975, col. pl. 15 and p. 129, fig. 15, today probably in a private Japanese collection. 

This latter gardenia design was closely copied in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), see Lu Minghua, op.cit., pl. 5-33, for an example in the Shanghai Museum attributed to the Yongzheng period, when pieces with contemporary white-against-blue designs were also produced in this technique, see Krahl, op.cit., vol. 2, no. 843. A blue-glazed ground was in the Xuande period also used for a few bowls and small dishes with reserved fish-pond designs, which are executed, however, in a slightly different technique, with details painted in slip. 

Sotheby's. Ming: The Intervention of Imperial Taste, New York, 14 mars 2017, 10:00 AM

Giuseppe Cesari called Cavalier d'Arpino (1568-1640 Arpino Rome), The Rape of Proserpina, Rome, about 1615-20. Oil on panel, 43.5 x 37 cm © Altomani & Sons srl

Study: Prof. Herwarth Rottgen

Provenance: Rondinini Palace, Rome, about 1615-20; private collection, Stockholm, Drottningg 6, 1862

Gianfrancesco Susini (1575-Florence-1653), Small walking horse with flowing mane and reins. Bronze statuette, with mid-brown patina, on an old wooden pedestal with architectural mouldings; Height 16.2 cm; Cast from a model by Giambologna (1529-1608)© Altomani & Sons srl

Provenance: Private collection, New York

Literature: E. Dhanens, Jean Boulogne, Brussels 1956, cat. no. LXIII, pp. 274, 280-1; C. Avery, A. Radcliffe [eds.], Giambologna, Sculptor to the Medici, exh. cat., Arts Council of Great Britain, 1978, no. 151; S.J. Fleming, 'Bronzes from the Giambologna workshop: two attributions', in MASCA Journal, I, 7 June 1981, pp. 205-7; L. Camins, Glorious Horsemen. Equestrian Art in Europe, 1500-1800, exh. cat., Springfield 1981, no. 54; C. Avery, 'Giovanni Bologna and the Horse', in Partridge Fine Arts Ltd., Summer Exhibition, London 1987, pp. 9-12; C. Avery, Giambologna: the Complete Sculpture, Oxford 1987, pp. 59, 161, pl 162; H. Keutner, 'Appendice: bronzi moderni', in Galleria Colonna, Sculture, Rome 1990, p. 300, no. XV; L.O. Larsson, European Bronzes, 1450-1700, Swedish National Art Museums, Stockholm 1992, p. 29, no. 6; C. Avery, Giambologna: an Exhibition of Sculpture by the Master and his Followers from the collection of Michael Hall Esq., exh. cat., New York 1998, no. 42

Leonardo Bettisi called Don Pino (1564-Faenza-1589), Guttatoio with Medici coat of arms, Navicella with dolphin feet and crown and Florentin Lily in the coat of arms, circa 1568-1588, Florence Medici Factory, Casino of San Marco Foundry of Francesco I De Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 1574-1587. Majolica, 20 x 34 x 15 cm © Altomani & Sons srl

Literature: Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti, Bianchi di Faenza, Ferrara 1996, Casa Editrice Belriguardo

Altomani & Sons srl. Stand 177. TEFAF Maastricht 2017. mail@altomani.com - www.altomani.com

PIACENZA.- In Piacenza, 2017 will be remembered as the year of Guercino. 

From 4 March to 4 June, the seventeenth-century artist from Emilia (Cento, Ferrara, 1591 – Bologna, 1666), who left much important evidence of his work in Piacenza, will be celebrated with a series of highly evocative initiatives of substantial historical and artistic relevance, uniting the Cathedral and Palazzo Farnese in a single visitor experience that takes in both the sacred and the secular. 

Guercino in Piacenza is promoted by the Piacenza and Vigevano Foundation, by the Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio and by the Municipality of Piacenza, with the patronage of the Region of Emilia Romagna and of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and of Tourism (MiBACT), with a contribution from the Piacenza Chamber of Commerce.  

The nerve-centre of the entire event will be the Cathedral, whose dome is home to the breathtaking cycle of frescos painted by Guercino in 1626-1627 and now visible in all its beauty with a new lighting system designed by Davide Groppi.  

One quite exceptional feature of this event, possible throughout the two months, is that visitors will have the almost unique and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to climb up inside the dome of Piacenza Cathedral, to get a close-up view and admire the six panels frescoed with images of the prophets Haggai, Hosea, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Micah and Jeremiah, the lunettes depicting episodes from the infancy of Jesus – the Annunciation to the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Presentation at the Temple and the Flight into Egypt – to eight enchanting Sibyls and the frieze of the tambour.  

The public’s visit will start in a multimedia room, where visitors will find an innovative way of interpreting Guercino’s masterpiece and of taking part in an unprecedented full-immersion experience using special 3D visors. 

At the same time, the Ducal Chapel in the Palazzo Farnese will host an exhibition, curated by Daniele Benati and Antonella Gigli together with an academic committee comprising Antonio Paolucci, Fausto Gozzi and David Stone, presenting a selection of 20 further masterpieces by Guercino that together constitute a good representation of the long parable of his career, which saw him rise to the status of one of the internationally most popular Italian artists of the seventeenth century. 

In addition to the entire event, March of next year will see the Civic Museums in Palazzo Farnese hosting a symposium of the leading experts of Guercino, who will disseminate the results of the latest studies of his work.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, Frescoes in the dome of the Duomo of Piacenza, 1626-1627

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, Frescoes in the dome of the Duomo of Piacenza, 1626-1627

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, Frescoes in the dome of the Duomo of Piacenza, 1626-1627 

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, Frescoes in the dome of the Duomo of Piacenza, 1626-1627

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, Frescoes in the dome of the Duomo of Piacenza, 1626-1627

 Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, Frescoes in the dome of the Duomo of Piacenza, 1626-1627

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, Frescoes in the dome of the Duomo of Piacenza, 1626-1627

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, The Death of Cleopatra, 1648, oil on canvas, 173 × 238 cm

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, Susanna and the olders, 1649-1650, oil on canvas, 133 × 181 cm

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino, The Trinity, around 1616-1617, oil on canvas, 154 × 262 cm

Lot 2140. A large Longquan celadon tripod censer, Ming dynasty  (1368–1644). Estimate US$ 2,500 - 3,500 (€2,400 - 3,300). Photo: Bonhams.

Potted with a wide mouth and lipped rim above a waisted neck, the rounded sides incised with a diamond diaper incorporating cloud scrolls, covered with a lustrous sea-green glaze stopping short of the center of the interior, the similarly unglazed raised circular base burnt orange during firing. 11 7/8in (30.2cm) diameter

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 13 Mar 2017, 12:00 EDT, NEW YORK

Lot 2141. A carved Longquan celadon wine jar, Late Yuan-Early Ming dynasty. Estimate US$ 6,000 - 8,000 (€5,700 - 7,600). Photo: Bonhams.

Of slightly compressed baluster form with a lipped rim, carved around the sides with panels enclosing chrysanthemums alternating with four characters reading jin yu man tang, between scrolling foliage surrounding the shoulder and lappets around the countersunk base, covered overall with a thick rich green crackled glaze, wood cover. 10 1/2in (26.7cm) high

Note: A closely related jar with identical inscription, dated 14th/15th century, was sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 27 April, 1993, lot 29. A further example, dated Ming dynasty was sold at Christie's, New York, 17-18 March 2016, lot 1559; and another dated 15th century was sold Christie's, Hong Kong, 31 October 2000, lot 860. 

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 13 Mar 2017, 12:00 EDT, NEW YORK

Vincent van Gogh, Branches de marronniers en fleurs, 1890. Huile sur toile, 73 x 92 cm, F 820. Collection Fondation E. G. Bührle.

ARLES - L’exposition « Calme et Exaltation. Van Gogh dans la Collection Bührle » présente huit tableaux de Vincent van Gogh. Cette sélection met en lumière, non seulement les différentes étapes dans la carrière de l’artiste néerlandais, mais également la vision d’un collectionneur, l’industriel suisse Emil Bührle (1890-1956), pour lequel représenter la progression stylistique d’un artiste à travers une collection était primordial. Aussi, l’éclaircissement de la palette de Van Gogh et la synthétisation de diverses influences dans son art constituèrent le fil conducteur des acquisitions éclairées du collectionneur. La Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles s’est vu accorder un prêt de six toiles par la Fondation Collection E. G. Bührle à Zurich, détentrice de sept toiles de l’artiste au total. Les six toiles de cette collection sont ici présentées aux côtés de deux autres prêts.

Le Vieux Clocher (1884) et Tête de paysanne (1885) sont des œuvres de jeunesse, réalisées dans la ville néerlandaise de Nuenen ; Les Ponts d’Asnières (1887) et Autoportrait (1887) datent du séjour de l’artiste à Paris, où il s’inspira de l’impressionnisme et du pointillisme. Enfin, Les Sarcleuses et Branches de marronniers en fleur, toutes deux de 1890, témoignent de la maturité artistique qu’il atteignit à la fin de sa carrière. Avec Branches de marronniers en fleur, Van Gogh nous donne à voir l’exaltation du printemps. La touche y apparaît résolument vivace, les couleurs franches et la composition audacieuse par son horizontalité. La période provençale est, elle, représentée par deux prêts en provenance l’un d’une collection particulière et l’autre du musée Van Gogh d’Amsterdam. Bien que la lumière brillante et les couleurs éclatantes de la Provence aient nourri sa palette, Van Gogh utilise dans L’Entrée dans une carrière (1889) les teintes du Nord. L’Oliveraie (1889), également peinte dans les environs de Saint-Rémy, intègre dans le parcours de l’exposition l’un des motifs provençaux préférés de l’artiste.

Vincent van Gogh naît le 30 mars 1853 à Groot-Zundert, aux Pays-Bas.

À l’âge de 16 ans, il est employé par la société de négoce d’art Goupil & Cie à La Haye, puis travaille pour les filiales de Bruxelles, Londres et Paris. Se désintéressant du commerce artistique, il se tourne vers la religion et se fait prédicateur laïc en Belgique, de 1878 à

Il décide de devenir artiste en août 1880. Il se veut le peintre de la vie quotidienne, notamment paysanne, et s’inspire, entre autres, de Jean-François Millet. Paysages et natures mortes définissent aussi son œuvre. En 1886, il découvre à Paris l’art de l’estampe japonaise, et côtoie les artistes du mouvement impressionniste.

Convaincu que la couleur est la clé de la modernité, Van Gogh part en Provence chercher la lumière et les couleurs éclatantes. Rêvant d’y créer une communauté artistique, il s’installe à Arles en février 1888. Gauguin le rejoint en octobre mais, fin décembre, leur collaboration s’avère finalement impossible. En mai 1889, déçu et malade, Van Gogh demande à intégrer un asile à Saint-Rémy. Il y demeure une année, poursuivant sa recherche d’un art expressif, basé sur la couleur et la touche. Durant ces vingt-sept mois passés en Provence, Van Gogh produit plus de 500 tableaux et dessins.

En mai 1890, il part pour Auvers-sur-Oise où, en l’espace de deux mois, il peint les 70 derniers tableaux d’une œuvre qui comptera plus de 2000 pièces. Il meurt le 29 juillet 1890 à l’âge de 37 ans. Son génie artistique et son tragique destin font de lui une véritable icône artistique internationale.

Commissaires de l’exposition : Bice Curiger, Lukas Gloor

Vincent van Gogh, L’Oliveraie, Saint-Rémy, 1889. Huile sur toile, 53,5 x 64,5 cm. Collection Fondation E. G. Bührle.

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait, Paris, 1887. Oil on canvas, 47 x 35.4 cm. Foundation E. G. Bührle Collection, Zürich.

ARLES.- The exhibition Calm and Exaltation. Van Gogh in the Bührle Collection, taking place at the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles in spring and summer 2017, presents an ensemble of eight paintings that are representative of the artist’s dazzling stylistic progression over the course of his brief career. The loans come from two institutions. Seven originate from the eponymous collection of the Swiss industrialist, whereby six of these seven are today part of the Foundation E. G. Bührle Collection, Zürich. The eighth canvas, on display at the Fondation for a year, is on loan from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Vincent van Gogh’s expressivity and his vision for the “modern portrait” have inspired many artists, including Alice Neel (1900–1984), one of the most important American figurative painters of the 20th century. 

The exhibition Calm and Exaltation. Van Gogh in the Bührle Collection presents eight paintings by Vincent van Gogh. This selection allows us to see not only the different phases in the Dutch artist’s career, but also the vision of a collector, the Swiss industrialist Emil Bührle (1890–1956), for whom it was crucial that his collection should convey the stylistic development of each artist represented within it. Thus the thread running through his dazzling acquisitions of works by Van Gogh is the lightening and brightening of Vincent’s palette and his synthesis of different influences in his art. The Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles has been granted the loan of six canvases from the Foundation E. G. Bührle Collection, Zürich, which holds in all seven works by Van Gogh. These six canvases are presented here alongside two other loans. 

The Old Tower (1884) and Peasant Woman, Head (1885) are early works painted in the Dutch town of Nuenen, while Bridges Across the Seine at Asnières (1887) and Self-Portrait (1887) date from the artist’s time in Paris, where he was inspired by Impressionism and Pointillism. Lastly, The Weeders and Blossoming Chestnut Branches (both 1890) testify to the artistic maturity that Vincent attained at the end of his career. In Blossoming Chestnut Branches, Van Gogh shows us the exaltation of spring. The brushwork is resolutely energetic, the colours vibrant and the composition bold in its horizontality. Vincent’s extended stay in Provence is represented by two loans respectively issuing from a private collection and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Although the clear light and bright colours of the South found their way into his paintings of this period, in Entrance to a Quarry (1889) Van Gogh returns to the more sombre palette he had favoured in the North. With Olive Orchard (1889), likewise painted in the countryside around Saint-Rémy, one of the artist’s favourite Provençal motifs takes its place in the exhibition. 

Vincent van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in Groot-Zundert in the Netherlands. At the age of 16 he joins Goupil & Cie, a firm of art dealers in The Hague, and subsequently works in the company’s offices in Brussels, London and finally Paris. He gradually loses interest in the commercial art world and, in 1878–79, he becomes a lay preacher in a mining community in the Borinage area of Belgium. 

In August 1880 Van Gogh decides to become an artist. He wants to be a painter of everyday life, and, above all, of peasant life, following in the footsteps of artists such as Jean-François Millet. Landscapes and still lifes, too, become an important part of his oeuvre. In 1886 in Paris he discovers Japanese prints and he meets Impressionist artists. 

Convinced that colour is the key to modernity, Van Gogh leaves for Provence in search of bright light and vibrant colours. Dreaming of establishing a community of artists, in February 1888 he settles in Arles. Gauguin joins him in October, but their collaboration collapses in late December 1888. Disappointed and ill, in May 1889 Van Gogh has himself admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy, where he remains for a whole year. He continues with his search for an expressive art based on colour and brush strokes, creating more than 500 paintings and drawings during his 27 months in Provence. 

In May 1890 Van Gogh moves to Auvers-sur-Oise, where in just over two months he produces the final 70 paintings of an oeuvre that comprises more than 2,000 works. He dies on 29 July 1890 at the age of 37. Van Gogh’s artistic genius and the poignant story of his life transform him into a veritable international icon. 

Exhibition curators: Bice Curiger, Lukas Gloor

Vincent van Gogh, Bridges Across the Seine at Asnières, Paris, 1887. Oil on canvas, 53.5 x 67 cm. Foundation E. G. Bührle Collection, Zürich

Lot 2142. A blue and white porcelain 'Shou' character jar, Ming dynasty, Wanli six-character mark and of the period (1573-1620). Estimate US$ 25,000 - 35,000 (€24,000 - 33,000). Photo: Bonhams.

Of ovoid form with a high shoulder, the curving walls painted in underglaze blue with the three friends of winter, pine, bamboo and prunus, the foliage sprouting from stylized shou-character-form trunks, the short, straight neck painted with upright banana leaves. 9 1/4in (23.5cm) high

Provenance: Christie's, New York, 16 September 1998, sale 8966, lot 365
Formerly in the Jingguantang Collection

Note: A closely related jar was sold at Christie's, London, 10 May 2011, sale 7964, lot 259. 

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 13 Mar 2017, 12:00 EDT, NEW YORK

Lot 2143. A set of five blue and white kosometsuke shallow bowls, Late Ming dynasty. Estimate US$ 3,000 - 5,000 (€2,800 - 4,700). Photo: Bonhams.

Each painted to the well with a circular medallion enclosing a cricket on a rock beneath a chrysanthemum blossom, surrounded by shaped panels enclosing sprigs of flowers and fruits and geometric designs on the cavetto and everted barbed rim, the exterior with stylized floral motifs. 6in (15.2cm) diameter

Provenance: Mayuyama & Co., Tokyo, prior to 17 December 1950

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 13 Mar 2017, 12:00 EDT, NEW YORK

Lot 2144. A wucai dragon censer, 17th century.  Estimate US$ 6,000 - 8,000 (€5,700 - 7,600). Photo: Bonhams.

Of bombe form, painted in colored enamels and underglaze blue, with a pair of confronted dragons separated by the sun rising from behind a rock and crashing waves, all amid flaming wisps. 8 5/8in (22cm) diameter

Note: A closely related censer was sold at Christie's, London, 15 December 2005, sale 5568, lot 406. Another similar censer was sold at Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 13 November 2006, sale 1011, lot 20. 

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 13 Mar 2017, 12:00 EDT, NEW YORK

Gabriel Metsu (Dutch, 1629–1667), Woman Reading a Book by a Window, c. 1653–54. Oil on canvas, 41.34 x 35.71 in. (105 x 90.7 cm). The Leiden Collection, New York

WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.- Genre painting—scenes depicting everyday life—flourished in the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century. The style of fijnschilderijen (or fine painting: highly detailed, naturalistic paintings rendered with an extraordinary precision of brushstrokes) became particularly popular in the university city of Leiden as a result of the artistic innovations developed by the painter Gerrit Dou (1613–1675). Dou’s small-scale, finely executed genre scenes, which often feature a single figure leaning out over a stone window ledge, display a splendid degree of illusion in the depiction of space, light, and material surfaces. The exquisite character of these works, taken together with their possible symbolic or moralizing meaning, encourages close study by viewers.

Gerrit Dou (Dutch, 1613–1675), Girl at a Window, c. 1655. Oil on panel, 10.56 x 7.5 in. (26.9 x 19 cm). Clark Art Institute, 1955.716

Artists working in and around Leiden in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries responded to Dou’s themes and painting style in significant ways, whether by taking up the motif of a figure peering out of a stone archway or ledge, depicting the intellectual meditations of a scholar, or capturing the effects of light on different surface textures. This exhibition explores the work of Dou and his contemporaries through the focused theme of the inner world—considering tradition and innovation in the representation of figures in interior spaces, individuals in moments of contemplation or quiet exchange, and the enduring taste among collectors for fijnschilderijen.

March 5–September 17, 2017

Lot 2145. A pair or large blue and white porcelain baluster jars and covers, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate US$ 4,000 - 6,000 (€3,800 - 5,700). Photo: Bonhams.

Freely painted in brilliant cobalt with phoenixes soaring on a background of foliate scroll and giant peony blossoms, the neck with a ruyi-band and the covers similarly decorated. 16 1/4in (41.3cm) high

Note: A smaller pair of jars, with nearly identical form and decoration, was sold at Christie's New York, 28 January, 2013, sale 2671, lot 401. 

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 13 Mar 2017, 12:00 EDT, NEW YORK

Lot4126. A blue and white beaker vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate US$ 3,000 - 5,000 (€2,800 - 4,700). Photo: Bonhams.

Formed with a slightly bulging middle section set between a gently flaring mouth and foot, each section painted with alternating petal lappets enclosing morning glory and peony. 16 7/8in (43cm) high

Bonhams. CHINESE WORKS OF ART AND PAINTINGS, 13 Mar 2017, 12:00 EDT, NEW YORK

Lot 2147. A blue and white molded porcelain phoenix tail' vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate US$ 10,000 - 15,000 (€9,500 - 14,000). Photo: Bonhams.

Lot 2148. An underglaze blue and copper red-decorated celadon ovoid vase, 18th century. Estimate US$ 12,000 - 18,000 (€11,000 - 17,000). Photo: Bonhams.

Tony Cragg, Caldera, 2008. Bronze, 480 x 372 x 342cm. Courtesy the artist and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo © Michael Richter.

WAKEFIELD.- Yorkshire Sculpture Park presents the most extensive UK exhibition to date by leading sculptor Tony Cragg in the Underground Gallery and open air. New sculptures, works on paper and pieces drawn from nearly five decades of Cragg’s practice will survey and demonstrate the artist’s pioneering and continued mastery of materials. 

A ‘radical materialist’, Cragg defines sculpture as a ‘rare category of objects’, and takes a taxonomic approach to his own practice, something reflected in the exhibition. The wit and will to analyse the properties of all of the planet’s resources and use them to make new things is unique to human beings, along with the intuition to sort, order and categorise the things that exist and that we bring into existence. The exhibition begins at the entrance to the Park with the magnificent bronze sculpture Caldera (2008), nearly five metres in height and set against the extraordinary landscape setting of the Bretton Estate. 

Tony Cragg, Caldera, 2008. Courtesy the artist and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo © Michael Richter.

Cragg’s extraordinary career has its roots in a fascination for, and exploration of, the possibilities of the material world, which he considers to be ‘the huge storeroom [in which] lie the keys to essential processes and explanations of our existence’. Cragg’s artistic practice developed from drawings he made to document experiments whilst working as a lab technician at the National Rubber Producers Research Association (1966–68). He went on to study at London’s Wimbledon School of Art and the Royal College of Art and during two summer vacations worked nightshifts in a foundry that manufactured components for engines. The combination of art and the experience of the physical transformation of materials through industrial processes is the cornerstone of Cragg’s practice. 

His is a systematic approach but, as is exemplified in his major series Rational Beings, which is substantially represented in this exhibition, it is one that acknowledges the alchemical transformation of particular configurations of materials into objects with meaning beyond the sum of their parts. On a material level, for example, the human body is just a unique and fleeting combination of particular atoms from the universe. The artist believes that ‘it could be said that the most fantastic material is the human neuron’, leading Cragg to consider his sculptures as being ideas made manifest. 

Tony Cragg, A Rare Category of Objects (installation view). Courtesy the artist and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo © Michael Richter.

Cragg’s extraordinary career has its roots in a fascination for, and exploration of, the possibilities of the material world, which he considers to be ‘the huge storeroom [in which] lie the keys to essential processes and explanations of our existence’. Cragg’s artistic practice developed from drawings he made to document experiments whilst working as a lab technician at the National Rubber Producers Research Association (1966–68). He went on to study at London’s Wimbledon School of Art and the Royal College of Art and during two summer vacations worked nightshifts in a foundry that manufactured components for engines. The combination of art and the experience of the physical transformation of materials through industrial processes is the cornerstone of Cragg’s practice. 

His is a systematic approach but, as is exemplified in his major series Rational Beings, which is substantially represented in this exhibition, it is one that acknowledges the alchemical transformation of particular configurations of materials into objects with meaning beyond the sum of their parts. On a material level, for example, the human body is just a unique and fleeting combination of particular atoms from the universe. The artist believes that ‘it could be said that the most fantastic material is the human neuron’, leading Cragg to consider his sculptures as being ideas made manifest. 

Tony Cragg, Caught Dreaming, 2006. Courtesy the artist and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo © Michael Richter.

From the small scale to the monumental, Cragg’s prolific practice is the outcome of a constantly questioning and experimental symbiotic process of thought and manual making, which always starts with drawing. This relationship is articulated in the Underground Gallery through a selection of drawings and sculpture alongside each other, allowing visitors to trace the development of ideas into physical form. 

With the support of his studio, Cragg makes his sculptures by hand, each evolution of thought inspiring the next. His intuition to sort and categorise, evident in his childhood fossil collection, is expressed in the significant early stacked series in which the accumulated content of his studio, including stones, wood, and books, are formed into geological-like sculptures. This important strand of his practice is shared through the extraordinary sculpture Minster (1990), which greets visitors in the first space of the Underground Gallery. This leads to the previously unseen work in white stone Accurate Figure (2011), which, set against the magnificent gallery windows with historic yew hedge beyond, makes permeable the experience of indoors and out. This dialogue is further explored through the series of Hedge sculptures in the first gallery, considered in relation to key works in the open air such as Early Forms (2001). Further major sculptures in the open air include McCormack (2007) named after the artist’s long-time assistant and Outspan (2008).  

Tony Cragg, Outspan, 2008. Courtesy the artist and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo © Michael Richter.

In the Underground Gallery centre space important early and mid-career sculptures, such as Secretions (1998), are shown alongside recent pieces that continue to push the possibilities of both maker and material including the exquisite Group (2012), which is created out of many layers of wood. The third gallery of smaller-scale works draws the eye to consider the close and remarkable details of surface and medium. The entire gallery presents a summation of Cragg’s important career and demonstrates that he is an artist in full command of his chosen discipline. It is given further life through the Project Space, which for the first time shares a breath-taking and inspirational insight into the artist’s studio through the generous loan of personal materials, given context through a chronological overview of the development of Cragg’s practice. 

In YSP’s 40th year, the exhibition offers not only the opportunity to experience the work of one of the world’s leading artists, but reinforces the life-affirming capacity of humanity to create. As Cragg himself believes ‘go into a museum and you will automatically be confronted with a whole category of objects that are all, every single one, because of the concentration and the commitment of the individuals that have stood behind them and made them, fighting against mediocrity.’ 

Cragg’s open and contagious fascination for the universe will inform YSP’s associated learning programme and offer, making links to the National Arts Education Archive which is based at the Park. A limited edition and exclusive exhibition merchandise will be available to purchase along with a full colour publication sharing unique insights into Cragg’s career from both an art historical and philosophical perspective, with texts by Dr Jon Wood (Henry Moore Institute) and Dr Rowan Bailey (The University of Huddersfield).

Tony Cragg, Points of View, 2013. Courtesy the artist and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo © Michael Richter.

Tony Cragg, Sail, 2016. Courtesy the artist and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo © Michael Richter.

Tony Cragg, Willow, 2014. Courtesy the artist and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo © Michael Richter.

Lot 2152. A large famille rose jardinière, 18th century. Estimate US$ 5,000 - 7,000 (€4,700 - 6,600). Photo: Bonhams.

Lot 2153. A pair of famille rose bowls, Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period (1723-1735). Estimate US$ 8,000 - 12,000 (€7,600 - 11,000). Photo: Bonhams.