Lot 425. A Magnificent 101.27 carats F colour VVS1 clarity Excellent polish Excellent symmetry Type IIa Diamond Tiara. Estimate CHF 4,500,000 - CHF 6,500,000 (USD 4,517,228 - USD 6,524,885). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Centering a modified shield-shaped diamond, weighing approximately 101.27 carats, to the diamond-set extending scrolls, inner diameter 11.0 cm, mounted in gold, in black leather case. 

Accompanied by report no. 10468562 dated 15 June 2017 from the Gemological Institute of America stating that the 101.27 carat diamond is F colour, VVS1 clarity, with excellent polish and excellent symmetry, and a Diamond Type Classification letter stating that the diamond has been determined to be Type IIa. 

Christie's. Magnificent Jewels, 14 November 2017, Geneva 

Lot 460. A Diamond and 9.17 carats Fancy Intense Pink colour SI1 clarity Type IIa Diamond Necklace. Estimate CHF 3,700,000 - CHF 4,500,000 (USD 3,714,165 - USD 4,517,228). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The graduated circular and baguette-cut diamond necklace suspending a fancy intense pink pear brilliant-cut diamond, weighing approximately 9.17 carats, pendant detachable to be replaced by a cultured pearl and diamond pendant, 46.5 cm, mounted in platinum and gold. 

(illustrated with the cultured pearl pendant)

Accompanied by report no. 10593341 dated 10 March 2014 from the GIA Gemmological Institute of America stating that the 9.17 carat diamond is Fancy Intense Pink colour, SI1 clarity, a Diamond Type Classification letter stating that the diamond is Type IIa, and a letter from the GIA.

Christie's. Magnificent Jewels, 14 November 2017, Geneva

Lot 502. A 22.69 carats D colour VVS2 clarity Type IIa Diamond Ring. Estimate CHF 1,700,000 - CHF 2,200,000 (USD 1,706,508 - USD 2,208,423). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Set with a rectangular cut-cornered diamond, weighing approximately 22.69 carats, between kite-shaped diamond shoulders, ring size 6. 

Accompanied by report no. 1334401 dated 1 August 2017 from the GIA Gemological Institute of America stating that the diamond is D colour, VVS2 clarity; also with a working diagram indicating that the clarity of the diamond is potentially Internally Flawless, and a Diamond Type Classification letter stating that the diamond has been determined to be Type IIa.

Christie's. Magnificent Jewels, 14 November 2017, Geneva

Lot 400. A 18.96 carats D colour VVS1 clarity Potentially Internally Flawless Diamond Ring, by Van Cleef & Arpels. Estimate CHF 1,500,000 - CHF 2,000,000 (USD 1,505,743 - USD 2,007,657). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Set with a rectangular cut-cornered diamond, weighing approximately 18.96 carats, between French-cut diamond shoulders, ring size 6, with French assay mark for platinum. Signed V.C.A., with maker's mark for Van Cleef & Arpels.

Accompanied by report no. 1182587716 dated 11July 2017 from the GIA Gemological Institute of America stating that the diamond is D colour,VVS1 clarity; also with a working diagram indicating that the clarity of the diamond is potentially Internally Flawless.

Christie's. Magnificent Jewels, 14 November 2017, Geneva

Pablo Picasso, Sleeping Nude, 13 March 1932. Oil and charcoal on canvas, 51 1/4 x 63 3/4 in., 130.2 x 161.9 cm. Estimate: $15 - 20 million. Image courtesy of Phillips.

LONDON.- Phillips announced that Pablo Picasso’s monumental Sleeping Nude will be sold as the centerpiece of Phillips’ 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London in March 2018. This extraordinary large-scale portrait of Picasso’s muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, was executed in 1932 and remained in Picasso’s own collection until the end of his life, when it was inherited by his widow, Jacqueline Roque, and subsequently by her daughter. Sleeping Nude is emblematic of an iconic period of Picasso’s oeuvre that was shaped by his devotion to Marie-Thérèse. The work was acquired in 1995 by the present owner, a European private collector. It will be on view at Phillips’ New York from 3 November, and Hong Kong from 23 November 2017. 

Hugues Joffre, Senior Advisor to the CEO, said: “ ‘Sleeping Nude’ depicts one of Picasso’s greatest muses: Marie-Thérèse Walter. Against a background of frenzied lines, Picasso has painted Marie-Thérèse’s body through a series of swooping curves, hinting at his fascination with her sensuous body. This work, executed during an important creative surge in 1932, exemplifies the sinuous, sensual style of painting that gave way to a string of masterpieces that are now housed in museum collections throughout the world. 1932, and Marie-Thérèse are the current focus of a major exhibition at the Musée Picasso, Paris; ‘Picasso 1932. Année érotique’, which will then travel to Tate Modern, London in the Spring of 2018. In response to the solid and consistent demand for important 20th century art, Phillips will offer selected works from this period, and as such we are delighted to present ‘Sleeping Nude’ as the star lot of our March Evening Sale.” 

Picasso met Marie-Thérèse on 8 January 1927, having been so struck by her beauty and youthful vitality that he approached her outside the Galeries Lafayette. Marie-Thérèse was initially ignorant of Picasso’s identity and celebrity, but soon fell under his spell, embarking on a years-long affair with the artist. This would inspire what John Richardson has described as Picasso’s 'most innovative period since Cubism.' During the first few months of 1932 Picasso painted a string of masterpieces depicting Marie-Thérèse, including Sleeping Nude. One of Picasso’s most recognised works from January that year, painted only weeks before Sleeping Nude, is Le Rêve, formerly owned by Steve Wynn and now in the collection of Steve Cohen. Other iconic works from this same period include Le miroir, Femme nue, feuilles et buste, which is now on long-term loan to Tate Modern, London, and Jeune fille devant un miroir, painted the day after Sleeping Nude and now in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Looking at this array of works, all created within a matter of weeks, it is not surprising to find that 1932 is described as Picasso’s Annus Mirabilis. 

Sleeping Nude is all the more distinguished because of its fusion of painting and drawing. The stained-glass-like lines that featured in many of Picasso’s paintings from the time are here shown against a backdrop filled with charcoal pentimenti. They add an almost Cubist dimension to Sleeping Nude, showing Marie-Thérèse from a number of angles. The present work is emblematic of the rare pictures that show Marie-Thérèse sleeping, a subject that introduces an incredible sense of intimacy. In Sleeping Nude, the viewer is invited into the very private world of love and desire the artist and his lover shared. The seminal works intimately depicting Marie-Thérèse which Picasso created in the early months of 1932, such as Sleeping Nude, appear to celebrate a release from the torment of carrying on an affair while still married to his ballerina wife, Olga Khokhlova. 

It is a tribute to the importance of Sleeping Nude that it has featured in a large number of exhibitions and publications, and also that it remained in Picasso’s own collection until the end of his life. Discussing his inability to let go of some of his greatest works, Picasso once boasted, or perhaps confessed: 'I am the greatest collector of Picassos in the world.'

Lot 30. Irving Penn (American • 1917 - 2009), Single Oriental Poppy, New York, 1968. Estimate £50,000 - 70,000. Courtesy Phillips.

Dye transfer print, printed 1989. Approximately 54.4 x 43.1 cm (21 3/8 x 16 7/8 in.). Signed, initialled, titled, dated in pencil, Condé Nast copyright credit (courtesy Vogue) reproduction limitation and edition stamps on the verso. From an edition of 18.

Provenance: Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York
Private Collection, Los Angeles

Literature: Flowers: Photographs by Irving Penn, New York: Harmony Books, 1980, p. 17
J. Szarkowski, Irving Penn, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1984, pl. 131
I. Penn, Passage: A Work Record, New York: Knopf, 1991, p. 176
Irving Penn: Flowers, Hamiltons Gallery, London, 2015, pl. 20
Irving Penn: Centennial, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017, back cover and p. 311

Catalogue Essay: '…the reader will probably note my preference for flowers considerably after they have passed that point of perfection, when they have already begun spotting and browning and twisting on their back to the earth.' Irving Penn.

Phillips. PHOTOGRAPHS LONDON AUCTION 2 NOVEMBER 2017 

Lot 28. Robert Mapplethorpe (American • 1946 - 1989), Lily, 1989. Estimate £12,000 - 18,000. Courtesy Phillips.

Dye transfer print, flush-mounted. 58.9 x 57 cm (23 1/4 x 22 1/2 in.). Signed, titled, dated, numbered 2/5 in ink and copyright credit reproduction limitation stamp on the reverse of the flush-mount.

Provenance: Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Private Collection, Tokyo, 2016

Literature: Flowers/Mapplethorpe, Boston: Bulfinch, 1990, pl. 45, there titled Tiger Lily.

Caravaggio (Italian, 1571-1610), Boy with a Basket of Fruit, about 1593-94. Oil on canvas. Ministero de Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo–Galleria Borghese.

The J. Paul Getty Museum will host a rare exhibition of three celebrated works by the great Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), on loan from the Galleria Borghese in Rome, home to the largest collection of Caravaggio’s paintings in the world. Caravaggio: Masterpieces from the Galleria Borghese will be on view at the Getty Center from November 21, 2017 through February 18, 2018.

According to Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, “These three masterpieces are among Caravaggio’s best-known paintings, and we are extremely grateful to the Galleria Borghese for sharing them with our public. Caravaggio’s revolutionary genius made him one of the most important and beloved figures in European art history. The opportunity to see three of his most renowned works alongside the exceptional 17th-century Italian masterpieces in our own collection is an event not to be missed.”

One of the most admired painters in history, Caravaggio developed a boldly naturalistic style that employed striking theatrical compositions and emphasized the common humanity of his protagonists. His art was both widely celebrated and highly controversial among his contemporaries and remained influential for centuries afterward.

The three paintings presented in the exhibition exemplify the crucial stages in Caravaggio’s short but intense career (he died at age 39).

Boy with a Basket of Fruit (ca. 1593-94) represents the beginning of the artist’s career when he moved from Lombardy to Rome and first attracted attention as a painter of realistic genre scenes and still lifes. Saint Jerome (ca. 1605) portrays the saint as a scholar reading and annotating sacred passages in the dramatically spotlight manner that Caravaggio made famous. In David with the Head of Goliath (ca. 1610), painted at the end of the artist’s career in his more somber and expressive later style, Caravaggio included his own features in Goliath’s head, purportedly in penance for his having committed a murder in May 1606. All three paintings were acquired by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a nephew of Pope Paul V, who knew Caravaggio personally and was one of his primary patrons.

Caravaggio (Italian, 1571-1610), David with the Head of Goliath, about 1609-1610. Oil on canvas. Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo–Galleria Borghese.

“Caravaggio continues to exert tremendous influence on art today. His exceptional combination of truth to life and drama, and that famous chiaroscuro, gave birth not only to a new style of painting, but also inspired generations of painters with his psychological naturalism,” said Davide Gasparotto, senior curator of paintings at the Getty Museum. “These rare loans are prime examples of Caravaggio’s exceptional talent and innovation.”

The exhibition at the Getty Museum is the first part of an international exhibition program on Caravaggio aimed at promoting the Caravaggio Research Institute, an international research project on the artist, conceived by Anna Coliva, director of the Galleria Borghese and supported by the Roman House FENDI through a three-year partnership with the Roman museum.

The partnership between the Galleria Borghese and FENDI is part of a patronage begun by the luxury goods House in 2015, and is based on the company’s belief that beauty must be shared and spread, and that the incomparable richness of the Galleria Borghese, a reflection of the Eternal City, is a powerful, cosmopolitan pathway to promote a refined cultural sensitivity, both contemporary and universal, in the same way that FENDI pursues in its collections a true example of aesthetic research and the absolute sign of “Made in Italy.”

"The Caravaggio Research Institute is an international scientific project that seeks to reintroduce within museums the most advanced research to make them producers of culture and not mere producers of blockbuster exhibitions. The Galleria Borghese and FENDI are honored that the Caravaggio Research Institute will be presented to the public at the Getty, a leading actor in preserving, researching, promoting and enhancing art and a leading authority in the realm of digital humanities,” says Anna Coliva, director of the Galleria Borghese.

 “We are proud to support the Galleria Borghese and the Caravaggio Research Institute through this unique exhibition opportunity at the Getty Museum. It is increasingly a fundamental value, as well as a moral one, for FENDI to enhance, support and export Italian art and beauty in the world, its excellence and its talents,” states Pietro Beccari, Chairman and CEO of FENDI.

Caravaggio: Masterpieces from the Galleria Borghese at the Getty Museum is supported by Mr. and Mrs. Bruce and Elizabeth Dunlevie, Ambassador and Mrs. Ronald S. Lauder, Mr. and Mrs. Mark S. Siegel and Ambassador and Mrs. Ronald P. Spogli. With additional support from FENDI.

 Caravaggio (Italian, 1571-1610), Saint Jerome, about 1605-6. Oil on canvas. Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo–Galleria Borghese.

Lot 33. Saint Christophe, Kongo, R.D. du Congo. Ivoire. H. 19,5 cm. Estimation 1 000/ 2 000 €. Prix réalisé: 7 800 €. Courtesy Cornette de Saint-Cyr

Rare pendentif présentant le saint portant l'enfant Jésus et une croix, illustrant le syncrétisme religieux des régions du bas-Congo.

Provenance: - Ancienne collection Belge.

Note: Ivoire d'Elephantidaes spp (I/A), antérieur à 1947 et conforme à la législation en vigueur.

Lot 79. Crucifix nkangi kiditu, Kongo, R.D. du Congo. Alliage cuivreux. H. 31,5 cm. Estimation 2 000/ 3 000 €. Prix réalisé: 6 100 €. Courtesy Cornette de Saint-Cyr

Rare représentation d'un christ en croix avec un personnage aux mains jointes à ses pieds suivant l'iconographie classique adoptée par les Kongos convertis au christianisme, ou du moins à un syncrétisme l'intégrant aux rites locaux. Les premiers rois Kongos furent officiellement convertis par les Portugais dès le XVI° siècle. La plupart de ces objets auraient été utilisés à des fins thérapeutiques. Porte un ancien numéro de collection: K 0673.

Provenance: - Ancienne collection Française
- Collection privée Européenne

Références bibliographiques: - Collectif: catalogue de l'exposition «Du Jourdain au Congo: Art et Christianisme en Afrique Centrale» Musée du Quai Branly - Paris- 2016, pp 57 à 64.

Arts d'Asie chez Cornette de Saint Cyr Paris, 75008 Paris, le 31 Octobre 2017. Expert : Cabinet Daffos-Estournel. Tel. : +33 6 09 22 55 13 – www.aaoarts.com

Lot 131. Lot composé de trois bols, Vietnam, période Annam, 9°-10° s. Estimation : 200 € / 300 €. Prix réalisé 450 €. Photo Cornette de Saint-Cyr

Grès à couverte blanchâtre. H. 19 cm.

Arts d'Asie chez Cornette de Saint Cyr Paris, 75008 Paris, le 31 Octobre 2017 à 14h30. Expert : Cabinet Daffos-Estournel. Tel. : +33 6 09 22 55 13. Consultant pour le Vietnam : Monsieur Philippe Truong. Tel. : +33 6 31 34 40 59

Lot 129. Lot composé de 4 assiettes céladon, Vietnam, dynastie des Trần-Lê, 13°-16°siècle. Estimation : 150 € / 300 €. Prix réalisé 250 €. Photo Cornette de Saint-Cyr

En grès, ces quatre assiettes retracent parfaitement l'ensemble de la production des céladons au Vietnam des couvertes jaune verdâtre au véritable céladon imitant Longquan et enfin à un vert grisâtre des Lê. Traces de pernette. D. 14,5 à 16,5 cm. Éclats.

Arts d'Asie chez Cornette de Saint Cyr Paris, 75008 Paris, le 31 Octobre 2017 à 14h30. Expert : Cabinet Daffos-Estournel. Tel. : +33 6 09 22 55 13. Consultant pour le Vietnam : Monsieur Philippe Truong. Tel. : +33 6 31 34 40 59

Claude Monet, “Rounded Flower Bed (Corbeille de fleurs),” 1876, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts.

DETROIT - “Monet: Framing Life” is an intimate exhibition focusing on an important painting in the DIA collection—Claude Monet’s “Rounded Flower Bed (Corbeille de fleurs)” from 1876, formerly known as “Gladioli” and recently retitled based on new research. Monet created this work while living in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil between late 1871 and early 1878, an especially productive time. It was there that he met and worked beside fellow avant-garde painters that formed the group now known as the Impressionists.

This exhibition brings the DIA’s painting together with 10 other Argenteuil paintings by Monet and fellow impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir—including seven major loans from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. In doing so, the exhibition presents a more comprehensive story about the creation of “Rounded Flower Bed (Corbeille de fleurs)” and how it fits into Monet’s body of work, as well as the history of Impressionism more broadly.

A catalog accompanies the exhibition.

This exhibition has been organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts and made possible by the Bonnie Ann Larson Modern European Master Series.

Generous corporate support has been provided by Park West Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, Altair, English Gardens, and Grand Hotel—Mackinac Island. 

Major support has been provided by Lois and Avern Cohn. Additional funding is contributed by Dr. Mark and Amy Haimann, Dr. Theodore and Diana Golden, anonymous donors, Eleanore and Dick Gabrys, and Andrew L. and Gayle Shaw Camden.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Claude Monet, “Snow in Argenteuil,” 1875, oil on canvas. The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Matsukata Collection.

Claude Monet, “Argenteuil,” about 1872, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.42.

 Claude Monet, “Bridge at Argenteuil on a Gray Day,” about 1876, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.44.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “Claude Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil,” 1873, oil on canvas. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut. Bequest of Anne Parrish Titzell, 1957.614.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “Claude Monet,” 1872, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1985.64.35.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  “Regatta at Argenteuil,” 1874, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.59.

Claude Monet, “The Artist’s Garden in Argenteuil (A Corner of the Garden with Dahlias),” 1873, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Gift of Janice H. Levin, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.27.1.

Claude Monet, “The Artist’s House at Argenteuil,” 1873, oil on canvas. The Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, 1933.1153.

Claude Monet, “The Bridge at Argenteuil,” 1874, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.24.

Claude Monet, “Woman with a Parasol–Madame Monet and Her Son,” 1875, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.29.

Lot 77. A massive huanghuali compound cabinet, dingxianggui, 18th century. Estimate USD  50,000 - 100,000. Sold for US$ 75,000 (€64,444). Photo: Bonhams.

Comprising of two sections, the smaller chest stacked on the top of the lower cabinet, both of rectangular form and each faced with two doors separated by a vertical stile, the four doors centering on a finely carved cartouche composed of foliate scroll swirling around phoenixes, auspicious chimes and bats, the corners of each door further embellished with carved foliate scroll work, the doors adorned with metal hardware, the lower cabinet raised on square legs linked by a carved and reticulated apron decorated with phoenixes, the wood panels with strong grain and ranging in color from dark brown to warm gold. 116 1/2 x 68 1/8 x 21in (296 x 173 x 53.2cm)

Provenance: Henry Henningsen, Denmark (circa 1885 - 19481), acquired in China.

Note: This impressive compound cabinet was acquired in the first half of the twentieth century in China. After the death of Henry Henningsen, his wife brought the cabinet back to Denmark. Sometime after that, the top and bottom sections were separated. They were not reunited until 2016 when the top section appeared at a Danish auction. Due to their long separation, the wood patina on the top and bottom section is subtlely different.

A pair of smaller cabinets from the Geldart collection, exhibiting similar aprons and carving, was sold in these rooms, 18 September 2009, lot 8020.

Bonhams. ASIAN WORKS OF ART, 30 Oct 2017, 10:00 EDT - NEW YORK

Lot 76. A huanghuali low table, Kangzhuo, Late Ming dynasty. Estimate USD  40,000 - 60,000. Sold for US$ 48,750 (€41,888). Photo: Bonhams.

Lot 156. Attributed to Lü Ji (1477-?), Eagles. 86 x 32 1/4in (218.4 x 81.9cm) each. Estimate USD  20,000 - 30,000. Sold for US$ 30,000 (€25,777). Photo: Bonhams.

Lot 167. Su Liupeng (1791-1862), Figures. 63 3/4 x 17 1/2in (161.9 x 44.5cm) each. Estimate USD  15,000 - 25,000. Sold for US$ 32,500 (€27,925). Photo: Bonhams.

Lot 58. A bronze figure of Samantabhadra, Ming dynasty, dated Tianqi fourth year corresponding to 1624. Estimate USD  18,000 - 25,000. Sold for US$ 23,750 (€20,407). Photo: Bonhams.

Lot 3. Four jade reticulated ornaments, Qing dynasty. Estimate USD  2,500 - 4,000. Sold for US$ 18,750 (€16,111). Photo: Bonhams.

Lot 6. A spinach jade 'Taotie' censer and cover, Early 20th century. Estimate USD  6,000 - 8,000. Sold for US$ 17,500 (€15,036). Photo: Bonhams.

Lot 50. A rare silver and gold kendi, Yuan-Ming dynasty (1279-1644). 6 1/4in (16cm) high. Estimate USD  8,000 - 12,000. Sold for US$ 10,000 (€8,592). Photo: Bonhams.