Lot 4. Deux jarres, Vietnam, dynastie des Lê, 14°-15° siècle. Terre cuite. H. 20 et 18,5 cm. Estimation : 150 € / 250 €. Photo Cornette de Saint-Cyr 2018

Lot 8. Plat, Vietnam, dynastie des Lê, 16° siècle. D. 26 cm. Estimation : 500 € / 1 000 €. Photo Cornette de Saint-Cyr 2018

Plat en grès porcelaineux décoré en bleu sous couverte d’un bouquet de lotus, interprétation vietnamienne du décor des Ming « au bouquet noué» et sur le carvetto de rinceaux de lotus. L’extérieur de panneaux de lotus. Base chocolatée. 

Pièce de comparaison: - Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences of Australia, D. 35, 2 cm, A7285, John Guy, Oriental Trade Ceramics in South-East Asia, Nine to Sixteenth Centuries, 1990, n°124.

Stoneware dish, Vietnam, early 1400s. W: 35.2 cm. Purchased 1978, A7285. © Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences of Australia 

Lot 10. Deux tasses, dynastie des Lê, 16° siècle. D. 7 – 4 cm. Estimation : 100 € / 200 €. Photo Cornette de Saint-Cyr 2018

Lot 11. Petit pot et une boîte à couvercle, dynastie des Lê, 16° siècle. H. 7 cm (pot) - D. 9 cm (boite). Estimation : 150 € / 250 €. Photo Cornette de Saint-Cyr 2018

Fra Angelico (Italian, about 1400-1455), The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin, 1424-1434. Tempera with oil glazes and gold on panel, 85.7 x 45.1 cm (33 3/4 x 17 3/4 in.). Courtesy of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

BOSTON, MASS.- The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is the sole venue for Fra Angelico: Heaven on Earth, on view Feb. 22 through May 20, 2018. The exhibition explores renowned Renaissance painter Fra Angelico’s talent for storytelling. For the first time ever, the four newly restored reliquaries – containers for holy relics that were painted for the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence between 1424 and 1434 - have been reunited at the Gardner. Together they picture the life of the Virgin Mary and offer the opportunity to explore his talent for sacred tales. 

Fra Angelico (about 1400-1455) was celebrated in his own time as the most famous painter in Italy. With remarkable ingenuity and rare technical expertise, he reconceived popular compositions and infused familiar Christian stories with new meaning. His iconic altarpieces and frescoes – painted for two Popes, members of the Medici family of Florence, and the city’s merchant elite – transformed Western art. They secured his place in history and forged the future of painting in Italy. 

Fra Angelico, The Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi (1424–34). Museo di San Marco, Florence á Polo Museale della Toscana. 

Born near Florence, Fra Angelico trained in the workshop of the highly accomplished painter Lorenzo Monaco, collaborating with him on small narrative panels and manuscripts. Angelico’s admission to the Dominican Order, a religious group devoted to Saint Dominic, transformed his career. Success at their Florentine headquarters of Santa Maria Novella and the church of San Marco led to prestigious commissions outside of Florence including employment at the Vatican Palace in Rome under Pope Nicholas V. Anointed “angelic” by the Dominican Order after he died in 1455, the title gave Angelico stature akin to Saint Thomas Aquinas.  

Heaven on Earth brings together choice examples of his narrative art, inviting visitors to experience the wonder of his breathtaking stories up close and in a new light. Two monumental altarpieces, an intricate series of panels from his Silver Chest (Armadio degli Argenti), a precious triptych for private devotion, and nine predella scenes join the four reliquaries in a dramatic installation evocative of their Renaissance context. Many of these works are visiting the United States for the first time from their home collections in Italy. 

Fra Angelico, The Madonna della Stella (1424–34). Museo di San Marco, Florence á Polo Museale della Toscana.

Unprecedented loans for this exhibition include the three extraordinary reliquaries (Museo di San Marco, Florence) a magnificent altarpiece of Paradise (Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence) and the jewel-like Corsini Triptych (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Palazzo Corsini, Rome). Also restored for this exhibition is the altarpiece of The Entombment of Christ (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), which is on display to the public for the first time in over 40 years at the Gardner Museum. 

In 1899, Isabella Stewart Gardner acquired one of the four reliquaries: the mesmerizing Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin. It was the first painting by Fra Angelico to come to America. The other three reliquaries – The Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi, The Coronation of the Virgin, and The Madonna della Stella – reside in Florence. Newly restored to their Renaissance splendor thanks to a special collaboration with the Museo di San Marco, the reliquaries reveal Angelico’s mastery of materials and genius for narrative composition.  

Fra Angelico (Italian, about 1400 - 1455), Armadio degli Argenti, 1450-1452. Tempera on panel, 123 x 60 cm (48 7/16 x 23 5/8 in.) Museo di San Marco, Florence á  Polo Museale della Toscana.

“Although separated for over 200 years, these four precious painted reliquaries showcase Fra Angelico’s peerless creativity and unparalleled technical accomplishments,” said Dr. Nathaniel Silver, the Gardner Museum’s Associate Curator of the Collection. “The reliquaries, carefully selected altarpieces, furniture panels, and a triptych illuminate the relationship between form and function, revealing how the artist shaped each story for its intended purpose.” 

“We are thrilled to present the work of this extraordinary Renaissance artist and storyteller,” said Peggy Fogelman, the Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Museum. “Gardner was the first collector in the United States to acquire a Fra Angelico, when she had already begun plans for her boldly conceived museum. It is only fitting that these works be reunited here in Boston for the public to enjoy."  

Fra Angelico, The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin (detail; 1424-34). Courtesy of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

The accompanying exhibition catalogue is edited by Dr. Silver. Nine essays challenge the prevailing view of Angelico as the tradition-bound painter of pious Madonnas, reposition him on the cutting edge of Renaissance artistic developments, and reveal the Dominican networks crucial to his success. Extended catalogue entries offer fresh insights and provide up-to-date bibliography for each work. Contributing authors include William Hood (Institute of Fine Arts), Jeremy Howard (University of Buckingham), Anne Leader (Independent Scholar), Laura Llewellyn (J. Paul Getty Museum), Chiara Pidatella (Tufts University), Gianfranco Pocobene (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), Carl Brandon Strehlke (Philadelphia Museum of Art), Marilena Tamassia (Museo di San Marco), and Beth Williamson (University of Bristol). 

On view in parallel with this exhibition is Isabella’s Relics, a presentation in the Vatichino gallery of the historic palace. Organized by consulting curator Casey Riley, it features little-known objects, archival material and ephemera collected by Isabella Stewart Gardner, revealing her own fascination with relics both sacred and secular.

Fra Angelico, The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin (detail; 1424-34). Courtesy of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

Lot 20. Trois coupes à thé, Chine, fours de Fujian, dynastie des Song, 12°-13° siècle. D. 10 à 11,5 cm. Estimation 200 €/300 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Lot de trois coupes à thé en grès de type temmokuà couverte épaisse, dont deux à glaçure brun noir et l’autre brun rouge.

Lot 23. Deux assiettes, Qingbai, Chine, fours de Fujian, dynastie des Song, 12°-13° siècle. D. 16,5 et 13,5 cm. Estimation 200 €/300 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Lot comprenant deux assiettes en grès porcelaineux émaillé céladon clair, dont un à décor moulé sous couverte d’une fleur de lotus.

Lot 19. Deux pots, Chine, Fours de Longquan, dynastie des Yuan, 14°siècle. H. 6 et 7 cm. Estimation 200 €/300 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Lot de deux pots en grès émaillé céladon à décor moulé sous couverte de chrysanthèmes, de pétales de lotus et de volutes.

Lot 22. Deux pots, Chine, Fours de Longquan, dynastie des Yuan, 14°siècle. H. 6,5 cm. Estimation 200 €/300 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Lot comprenant deux pots en grès émaillé céladon à décor moulé sous couverte de dragons, de pétales de lotus et de volutes.

Lot 14. Mark Bradford, Helter Skelter I, signed with the artist's initial, titled and dated '"HELTER SKELTER" m 2007' on the reverse, mixed media collage on canvas, 365.8 x 1036.3 cm (144 x 407 7/8 in.). Executed in 2007. Estimate £6,000,000 - 8,000,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

LONDON.- Phillips’ upcoming Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art is poised to set the highest total for a London sale in company history. With 50 works of art spanning over a century, the sale is anchored by an outstanding group of Modern artists, comprising works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Marino Marini and Henry Moore. Star contemporary works include Rudolf Stingel’s Untitled, and Mark Bradford’s Helter Skelter I from the Collection of John McEnroe, 7-time Grand Slam Champion. The sale also represents an important group of German artists, offering Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, Albert Oehlen and Sigmar Polke, among others. Expected to realise in excess of£51 million, the 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale will take place at 7pm on 8 March and will be followed by the Day Sale on 9 March, which will feature 181 lots. 

Dina Amin, Senior Director and Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Europe, said, “Our global team has worked to create a sale that is the most impressive offering of 20th Century & Contemporary Art seen at Phillips London to date. The sale begins with a landmark sculpture from Matisse’s oeuvre, ‘Nu allongé I (Aurore)’, executed in 1907-08, and follows through to a stunning 2012 work by Rudolf Stingel. We are particularly excited to bring to auction Mark Bradford’s‘Helter Skelter I’, from the Collection of John McEnroe. Further private collections that Phillips has been entrusted with this season include a selection of Modern works from the Collection of Betty and Stanley Sheinbaum, the Collection of Blake Byrne, Los Angeles, and the Triton Collection Foundation.”  

The sale is led by Pablo Picasso’s La Dormeuse, an extraordinary large-scale portrait of the artist’s muse Marie-Thérèse Walter. Executed during an important creative surge in 1932, La Dormeuse 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. Picasso’s so-called annus mirabilis, 1932, as well as Marie-Thérèse, will be the focus of the first ever solo Pablo Picasso exhibition at Tate Modern: Picasso 1932 – Love, Fame, Tragedy, which opens to the public on 8 March, the day of Phillips’ Evening Sale. La Dormeuse sits in meaningful dialogue alongside Matisse’s Nu allongé I (Aurore). Picasso’s immediate response to Nu allongé I (Aurore) has often been noted in the series of abstract nudes with raised elbows and twisted poses that he first made in 1907, as the twos titans of Modern art continued to embrace similar themes in response to each other’s work throughout their careers. The sculpture, an early lifetime cast, exemplifies the same sinuous pose that goes on to feature in a string of masterpieces that are now housed in museum collections throughout the world. Having been in a French private collection for almost seven decades, Nu allongé I (Aurore) has not been seen in public since it was last exhibited at the Montross Gallery, New York in 1915. 

Lot 10. Pablo Picasso, La Dormeuse, dated '13 mars XXXII' on the stretcher, oil and charcoal on canvas, 130.2 x 161.9 cm (51 1/4 x 63 3/4 in.). Executed on 13 March 1932, this work is accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity signed by Claude Picasso. Estimate £12,000,000 - 18,000,000. Image courtesy of Phillips. 

Lot 9. Henri Matisse, Nu allongé I (Aurore), signed, numbered ‘Henri Matisse 3/10’ and stamped with the foundry mark ‘Bingen-Costenoble, fondeur Paris’ on the base, patinated bronze, 34.3 x 50.2 x 28.6 cm (13 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 11 1/4 in.). Conceived in Collioure in 1907 and cast by Bingen-Costenoble, Paris, circa 1908, this work is number 3 from an edition of 10 plus 1 artist's proof numbered 0/10. Estimate £5,000,000 - 7,000,000.  Image courtesy of Phillips. 

Further Modern highlights include two works by Max Ernst, one of the most important Surrealist artists. Colombe blanche, 1925 (estimate: £350,000 - 500,000) and Le Surrealisme, 1942 (estimate: £350,000 - 450,000), both reveal Ernst’s crucial involvement with some of the writers associated with Surrealism. Colombe blanche was initially owned by the poet Paul Eluard, and then by Roland Penrose, while the title of Le Surrealisme et la peinture was taken from André Breton’s 1928 essay of the same name and is a study for the celebrated oil painting of the same title, housed in the Menil Collection in Houston.  

Lot 28. Max Ernst, Colombe blanche, signed and dated ‘max ernst '25’ lower right, oil and graphite on canvas, 65 x 50.5 cm (25 5/8 x 19 7/8 in.). Painted in 1925. Estimate £350,000 - 500,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

The leading contemporary work of the sale is Untitled by Rudolf Stingel, an artist Phillips has a long-standing history of championing. Untitled is one of only twelve electroformed copper, plated nickel and gold panels created by the artist in this size. Hailing from Stingel’s seminal investigation into graffiti during his iconic installations at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Whitney Museum in New York in 2007, the artist produced the present work by casting panels from the incised gallery walls, electroplating them in copper and sealing them with gold. Viewers were invited to scratch, write and mark the surface at will, their individual traces accumulating into a mass of anonymous marks. Exploring the notion of authorship, Stingel physically engaged his audiences allowing the public to become the artist en masse, creating an artwork which captured hundreds of voices. 

Lot 21. Rudolf Stingel, Untitled, electroformed copper, plated nickel and gold, in 4 parts, overall 240 x 240 cm (94 1/2 x 94 1/2 in.). Executed in 2012. Estimate £4,000,000 - 6,000,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Works by Post-War German artists include Anselm Kiefer’s Die Meistersinger, executed in 1981 - 1982 (estimate: £1,500,000 - 2,000,000). Die Meistersinger epitomises Kiefer’s critical engagement with collective German history and mythology, an enduring subject borne out of his personal experiences. In the 1980s the question of politics and art burgeoning in Germany began to disseminate through crucial international exhibitions including the seminal Zeitgeist exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin in 1982, curated by Sir Norman Rosenthal and Christos M. Joachimides. Die Meistersinger was included in this defining exhibition and later included in Kiefer’s first retrospective in the US in 1987 to 1989 which toured from The Art Institute of Chicago to the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Hailing from the same important private collection is Sigmar Polke’s Untitled from 1989 (estimate: £800,000 - 1,200,000). 

Lot 18. Anselm Kiefer, Die Meistersinger, titled and inscribed '"Die Meistersinger auf der Festspielwiese Nürnberg"' upper centre; oil, emulsion, sand and collage elements on canvas, 280 x 380 cm (110 1/4 x 149 5/8 in.). Executed in 1981 - 1982. Estimate £1,500,000 - 2,000,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Depicting an otherworldly figure set against a rich ground, P.D. Idol is one of five paintings that comprises Cologne painter Georg Baselitz’ Idol series from 1963-1964 (estimate: £1,500,000 - 2,000,000). Painted at a critical moment in Baselitz’ career, when he first garnered international acclaim, P.D. Idol incorporates the central concerns of the artist’s early painterly practice and his exploration of the burden of culture and identity, and anticipates his acclaimed Heroes paintings made in the following year. 

Lot 17. Georg Baselitz, P.D. Idol, signed 'G. Baselitz' lower left; further signed and titled 'G. Baselitz "P.D. Idol"' on the reverse, oil on canvas, in artist's frame, 101 x 81.5 cm (39 3/4 x 32 1/8 in.). Painted in 1964. Estimate £1,500,000 - 2,000,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Diamond Dust Shoes (Pink) and Diamond Dust Shoes (Green) from 1980 are two monumental and glittering examples that stem from one of Warhol’s most significant series (illustrated left). Diamond Dust Shoes originated as an ad-campaign assignment from his friend and fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick. 

Lot 32. Andy Warhol, Diamond Dust Shoes (Pink), stamped by the Estate of Andy Warhol and Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., numbered and initialed 'VF PA87.003' on the overlap, synthetic polymer paint, diamond dust and silkscreen ink on canvas, 228.7 x 178.2 cm (90 x 70 1/8 in.). Executed in 1980. Estimate £1,400,000 - 1,800,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Lot 33. Andy Warhol, Diamond Dust Shoes (Green), stamped twice by the Estate of Andy Warhol and Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., numbered and initialed 'VF PA70.003' on the overlap, synthetic polymer paint, diamond dust and silkscreen ink on canvas, 228.6 x 177.8 cm (90 x 70 in.). Executed in 1980. Estimate £1,400,000 - 1,800,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Profil Genre Azteque is an historic early painting by Jean Dubuffet. The picture was dedicated and given to his friend, the famous author and member of the French Resistance Jean Paulhan on the first New Year’s Day following the end of World War II. Profil Genre Azteque featured in Dubuffet’s second exhibition, when he showed a group of Hautes Pâtes, works sharing the heavy, incised impasto visible here. The work was later included in Kirk Varnedoe’s landmark exhibition High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1990. This painting has a rich sense of materiality that complements the titular profile, which has been scrawled on the surface with a frenetic energy that speaks of the energy of graffiti and the street as well as timeless cave paintings and the art of the insane. Profil Genre Azteque has been owned by a string of high profile collectors since it was painted over seven decades ago, including Larry Aldrich, Sir Edward Hulton and Dieter Hauert. 

Lot 27. Jean Dubuffet, Profil Genre Aztèque, signed with the artist's initials, titled, dedicated and dated 'à Germaine et Jean 1er janvier 1946, Bonne année J.D. "PROFIL GENRE AZTEQUE" novembre 1945' on the reverse, oil on canvas, 65.4 x 54 cm (25 3/4 x 21 1/4 in.). Painted in 1945. Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Of the works from the Collection of Betty and Stanley Sheinbaum is Marino Marini’s Piccolo Cavaliere, 1949 (estimate: £400,000 - 600,000). Marini’s painstaking manual labour is clearly evident within this sculpture, which has been hand chiselled and given a variegated patina to create a textural and unique finish. Piccolo Cavaliere was purchased by Los Angeles collector Betty Sheinbaum from famed art dealer Eric Estorick in 1958, and remained in the prolific collection until today.  

Lot 7. Marino Marini, Piccolo Cavaliere, stamped with the artist's initials 'M.M' on the base, hand chiselled bronze with variegated patina, 40.6 x 33 x 16.5 cm (16 x 13 x 6 1/2 in.). Conceived and cast in 1949, this work is from an edition of 6, all differently finished, and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the Fondazione Marino Marini. Estimate £400,000 - 600,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Phillips wishes to thank the Fondazione Marino Marini for their expertise and help with cataloguing this work.

Triton Collection Foundation will be offering a number of works across both the Evening and Day sales, including Lucian Freud’s Small Naked Portrait, 2005 (estimate: $400,000 - 600,000), and Henry Moore’s Two Three-Quarter Figures on Base, 1984 (estimate: £400,000 - 600,000). 

Lot 11. Lucian Freud, Small Naked Portrait, oil on canvas, 40.6 x 55.8 cm (15 7/8 x 21 7/8 in.). Painted in 2005. Estimate £400,000 - 600,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Lot 8. Henry Moore, Two Three-Quarter Figures on Base, incised with the artist's signature and numbered 'Moore 2/9' on the base, bronze, 101 x 53.7 x 36.2 cm (39 3/4 x 21 1/8 x 14 1/4 in.). Cast in 1984, this work is number 2 from an edition of 9 plus 1 artist's proof. Estimate £400,000 - 600,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

This work is recorded in the archives of the Henry Moore Foundation.

Coming from the Collection of Blake Byrne, Los Angeles is The Pilgrim, 2006, an enigmatic work by Marlene Dumas (estimate: £1,500,000-2,000,000). The Pilgrim was exhibited for the first time in the exhibition Man Kind at Galerie Paul Andriesse in Amsterdam in 2006. It was then not only shown in Dumas’ acclaimed retrospective exhibition that travelled from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Menil Collection, Houston, in 2008 and 2009, it was also included in the extraordinary exhibition Tronies-Marlene Dumas and the Old Masters at Haus der Kunst, Munich, in 2010-2011.

Lot 13. Marlene Dumas, The Pilgrim, signed, titled, inscribed and dated '“The Pilgrim" M Dumas 2006 OBL' on the reverse, oil on canvas, 100 x 90 cm (39 3/8 x 35 3/8 in.). Painted in 2006. Estimate £1,500,000 - 2,000,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Lot 18. Boîtes à couvercle, Chine, dynastie des Ming (1368-1644).  D. 9 et 8 cm. Estimation 200 €/300 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Lot de deux boites couvertes en porcelaine dont l’un est monochrome bleu et l’autre, à paroi godronnée et à décor en bleu sous cobalt de fleurs et plantes.

Lot 24. Bol, Chine, Fours de Zhangzhou, dynastie des Ming, 15°-16° siècle. D. 15 cm. Estimation 80 €/150 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Bol en porcelaine décorée en bleu sous couverte de fleurs.

Lot 25. Deux bols, Chine, dynastie des Ming, début du 16° siècle. D. 7 – 4 cm. Estimation 80 €/150 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Deux bols en porcelaine décorée en bleu cobalt sous couverte de de feuilles de plantain, de vagues stylisées et, à l’intérieur, d’une conque sur un fond de vagues.

Lot 28. Plat à décor d'un rocher, Chine, Fours de Zhangzhou, dynastie des Ming, Hongzhi-Zhengde, fin 15°-début 16° siècle. D. 25 cm, H. 5 cm . Estimation 400 €/800 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Plat en porcelaine décorée en bleu sous couverte d’un rocher percé entouré de pivoines arborescentes, l’extérieur décoré de larges rinceaux de chrysanthème. Des plats similaires ont été retrouvés aux Philippines et Indonésie, ainsi que dans les épaves comme celles de la jonque de Lena. 

Lot 30. Bol, Chine, Fours de Zhangzhou, dynastie des Ming, fin 15°-début 16° siècle. D. 15 cm. Estimation 200 €/300 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Bol en porcelaine décorée en bleu sous couverte des huit symboles bouddhiques (poisson, ombrelle, nœud mystique, vase, roue de la loi, conque, etc) sur un rinceau feuillu. A l’intérieur, six têtes de ruyi rayonnent autour de motifs géométrique et autour de la bordure d’une frise en sanscrit. 

Lot 29. Bol, Chine, Fours de Zhangzhou, dynastie des Ming, Wanli, fin 16°-17°siècle. D. 14,5 cm. Estimation 200 €/300 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Bol en porcelaine décorée en blanc sur un beau fond bleu dégradé sous couverte de trois grues parmi les lotus et, à l’intérieur, d’une croix vajra enrubanné (symbole de la doctrine de bouddha). Des pièces similaires ont été retrouvées dans les fours de Zhangzhou et Dongxi (Fujian) ainsi que les épaves du San Diego. 

Pièces similaires: - Fondation Baur, fin du 16e - début du 17e siècle, D. 15 cm, FB.CM.2004.sw28, Monique Crick, Chinese Trade Ceramic for South-East Asia, 2010, cat.276. 
- Réunion des Musées de France, Le San Diego, Un trésor sous la mer, 1994, p.318.

Ring, 2003. Sapphire, copper and white gold. Width 1.3 cm (0.5 in.). Hemmerle (Stand 13).© TEFAF

Brooch, 2011. Sapphire, iron and white gold. Hemmerle (Stand 13). © TEFAF 2018

Earrings, 2017. Smoky quartz, brown diamonds, bronze and white gold. Hemmerle (Stand 13). © TEFAF 2018

A new Harmony Bangle from Hemmerle featuring two aquamarines (26.16 + 24.93 cts) set in textured aluminium. Hemmerle's Harmony Bangles are renowned for their almost seamless mechanisms engineered to twist to open. Examples can be found in the permanent collections of the V&A in London and Cooper Hewitt in New York. The unusual light blue colour on the metal has been developed by Hemmerle in their Munich atelier through years of experimenting with aluminium's colour variations.

Lot 164. Effigie funéraire Konso, Ethiopie. Bois. H. 167 cm. Estimation 8 000 €/12 000 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Puissante et ancienne figure commémorative waaga, portrait idéalisé d'un défunt ayant atteint le grade supérieur de la société Gada. 

La surface érodée ajoute au caractère mystérieux de cette effigie, tout en laissant encore voir les traits essentiels du visage, les colliers, la crête sagittale, et l'ornement phallique kallache.

Lot 41. Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, Attese, signed and titled 'L Fontana "Concetto spaziale ATTESE"' on the reverse; further inscribed 'La firma è scritta male / sono nervoso' on the reverse, waterpaint on canvas, 55.3 x 46.5 cm (21 3/4 x 18 1/4 in.). Executed in 1968, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the Fondazione Lucio Fontana and is registered under no. 68 T 68. Estimate £650,000 - 850,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.

Provenance: Egidio Lanza, Intra
Centro Arte Internazionale, Milan
Private Collection, Italy (acquired from the above in September 1972)
Christie's, London, 15 October 2007, lot 218
Private Collection
Cardi Gallery, Milan
Private Collection, Miami (acquired from the above in 2014)

Literature: Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogue Raisonné des Peintures, Sculptures et Environnements Spatiaux, vol. II, Brussels, 1974, no. 68 T 68, p. 200 (illustrated)
Enrico Crispolti, Fontana, Catalogo generale, vol. II, Milan, 1986, no. 68 T 68, p. 690 (illustrated)
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo ragionato di sculture, dipinti, ambientazioni, vol. II, Milan, 2006, no. 68 T 68, p. 882 (illustrated)
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo ragionato di sculture, dipinti, ambientazioni,vol. II, Milan, 2015, no. 68 T 68, p. 882 (illustrated)

Note: Enveloping the viewer in the artist’s conception of space, Concetto spaziale, Attese is a dramatic and powerful example of Lucio Fontana’s tagli - or cuts - a body of works Fontana made in Milan between 1958 and 1968. Exemplary of his concern with dimensionality, with two clean central incisions, the present work marks a decade since the artist’s first experimentations with tagli. From the final year of Fontana’s life and career, the present work was executed at the critical height of the esteemed artist’s oeuvre.

The pair of vertical cuts in the present work affords the canvas an almost architectural absoluteness. The powerful, serene and pure blue of the ground colour echoes the same hues of the artist’s very first work from the tagli series. Here, the vibrant blue paired with the two clean slashes creates a serene and balanced composition which explores the realm and limitations of cosmic space. The initial impact of the intense and meditative blue, recalls Fontana’s friend and fellow artist Yves Klein’s trademarked and chosen tone. Since 1957, when Klein first exhibited his Blue Monochrome paintings at the Apollinaire Gallery in Milan, Fontana had admired the French artist and the infinite effects of the colour blue. Like Klein, Fontana utilised the uniformly painted canvas to enhance the viewer’s perception and consciousness of space.

In Concetto spaziale, Attese purity prevails in the clean lines and deep blue of the composition. The concentrated tranquillity of the work echoes the pure and sublime environment created by the artist for his presentation at the 1966 Venice Biennale, an installation of white canvasses for which he won the grand prize. Fontana presented an entire room filled with his tagli paintings; this meditative space was designed to give ‘the spectator an impression of spatial calm, of cosmic rigour, of serenity in infinity’ (Lucio Fontana, quoted in Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Ragionato di sculture, dipinti, ambientazioni, vol. I, Milan, 2006, p. 105).

Underpinned by a revolutionary shift towards new media and fascination with the relationship between artworks and their environment, Fontana’s tagli examine the dimensionality of space. Despite his consistent and active violation of the canvas plane, the artist’s work is neither violent nor destructive but rather representative of an eloquent and visual argument for a radical expansion of the medium of painting. Through his slashes, an act of liberation, Fontana actively opens the canvas and reveals a new dimension. Manipulating matter, the artist forged new spaces for the visualization of his ideas. Elaborating on his motives and quest toward the eternal, his Manifesto Spaziale(spatialist manifesto) asserted: ‘We believe that art liberates matter, the meaning of eternity from the concern for mortality. We are not interested in whether a completed gesture lives for a moment or a millennium, since we are truly convinced that it will be eternal after it has been accomplished’ (Lucio Fontana, Primo Manifesto spaziale, Milan, 1947).

The tagli series, meditative and monochrome disrupted canvas planes, is delineated by a varying number of slashes. From single, gestural and curved incisions, to multiple cuts, slashed in opposite directions or rhythmic repetitions, each cut represents Fontana’s conscious and thoughtful working method. Offering further insight into the artist’s creative psyche is the text he inscribed onto the verso of his paintings from 1964 onwards. On the reverse of his tagli works with one cut the artist wrote ‘Attesa’ – or hope. On the reverse of works with multiple cuts, like the present painting, Fontana penned the plural form of hope, ‘Attese’, adding temporal dimension to his more generic title of Concetto spaziale (Spatial Concept). In 1958, the same year he commenced his tagli series, the artist stopped signing his works on the front to avoid detracting from the purity of the painting itself.

Keenly interested in the modernisation of science and technology, and the increased impact thereof on contemporary living, the artist celebrated the importance of his own action in the active manipulation of medium and slashing the canvas. He created his iconic tagli with a Stanley Knife; making single downward motions through damp canvas he subsequently broadened the incisions by pulling them apart by hand and curving them inwards before fastening them with black gauze on the reverse. This manual, visceral and tactile process emphasises the artist’s concern with the manipulation of space and his move away from automation. Further refusing to accept modern industrialisation and the increased mechanisation of art, Fontana added personal sentences to the reverse of his canvasses. The present work is inscribed ‘La firma e’scritta male – sono nervoso’ (The signature is badly written, I am nervous), adding personal and human intervention to the reverse of the canvas, 

Pivotal to his tagli series is the notion of the artwork simultaneously representing reality and appearance. In line with the title, Concetto spaziale, Attese, the composition is not just about space but rather a spatial concept and the potential of dimensionality. Through slashing his canvasses, the artist moves towards infinity whilst revealing an active and vital quality. Through his concern with the dimensions of space, Fontana holds a singular position in the canon of 20th century art history. Meditatively interrogating the interaction between ruin and construction through the juxtaposition of void and pure canvas ground, the present composition is a fundamental work from the height of Fontana’s artistic output.

Phillips. 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, London Auction, 8 March 2018.

Lot 80. Aspect farouche Shiva, Inde centrale, ca 10°-12° siècle. Grès, 33 x 45 cm. Estimation 8 000 €/12 000 €. Photo: Cornette de Saint Cyr 2018

Important torse provenant d’une grande représentation d’un aspect farouche de Shiva, très probablement Bhaïrava, identifiable au serpent lui servant de collier et au brassard finement ciseléà l’imitation de l’orfèvrerie, orné de têtes de morts. Accidents et manques visibles. Un srivatsa orne sa poitrine.  

Provenance: - Allan & Karen Beagle (Londres) le 30 mai 1992 
- Collection privée Suisse 
- Collection d’un amateur Belge 

Arts d'Asie - Art Tribal - Documentation chez Cornette de Saint Cyr Paris, 75008 Paris, le 06 Mars 2018 à 14h30. Expert : Cabinet Daffos-Estournel. Tel. : +33 6 09 22 55 13.