Lot 226. Bol, Chine, Dynastie Yuan (1279-1368). Grès émaillé de type Junyao. D. 16 cm. Estimation: €500 - €1,000. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr. 

Lot 227. Jarre globulaire, Chine, Dynastie Yuan (1279-1368). Grès émaillé de type Junyao. H. 8 cm. Estimation: €400 - €800. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr. 

Lot 229. Bol à décor végétal, Chine méridionale, ca 12° siècle. Grès. H. 12,5 cm. Estimation: €9,000 - €10,000. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr. 

Lot 230. Bol à décor végétal, Chine ou Vietnam, ca 13°-14° siècle. Grès à décor incisé sous couverte céladon. H. 15 cm. Estimation: €750 - €950. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr. 

Lot 228. Petite jarre à deux anses, Chine, Dynastie Qing (1644-1912). Grès à couverte céladon craquelée. H. 10 cm. Estimation: €200 - €400. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr. 

 Titian’s epic series of large-scale mythological paintings, known as the 'poesie', will be brought together in its entirety for the first time since the late 16th century at the National Gallery next March.

From the original cycle of six paintings, the exhibition will reunite 'Danaë' (1551–3, The Wellington Collection, Apsley House); 'Venus and Adonis' (1554, Prado, Madrid); Diana and Actaeon (1556–9) and Diana and Callisto (1556–9), jointly owned by the National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland; and the recently conserved 'Rape of Europa' (1562) from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. 

Following its landmark decision to lend works on a temporary basis for the first time in its 119-year history, the Wallace Collection will lend its painting from the cycle, 'Perseus and Andromeda', (1554–6), to the exhibition in Trafalgar Square.

The National Gallery’s own Death of Actaeon (1559–75), originally conceived as part of the series, but only executed much later and never delivered, will also be displayed in London. 

Painted between about 1551 and 1562 the 'poesie' are among the most original visual interpretations of Classical myth of the early modern era and are touchstone works in the history of European painting for their rich, expressive rendering.

All the paintings revolve around love and desire:, their fruits and perils. Combining Titian’s remarkable talent as both artist and storyteller, the mythological scenes capture moments of high drama; a fatal encounter, a shameful discovery, a hasty abduction. In these paintings Titian expertly manipulates paint and colour to dazzling effect; capturing luminous flesh, sumptuous fabrics, water and reflection, as well as atmospheric, almost enchanted, landscapes. His characters show very human, and relatable, emotions: euphoria, concern, guilt, surprise, shame, desperation, anguish, and terror.

The paintings depict stories from Classical mythology, primarily drawn from the Roman poet Ovid’s 'Metamorphoses'. Because he considered them visual equivalents to poetry, Titian called them his ‘poesie.’ He distilled in them the knowledge of painting and visual storytelling that he had acquired over five decades as an artist to create some of his most profound statements on human passion and irrationality, on love and death. The series was commissioned by Philip II of Spain, who highly unusually gave Titian an open brief to select his subjects.

Letters between Titian and Philip show that he conceived the 'poesie' to be displayed together in a single room but, since Philip was constantly changing residence during the course of their creation, it is unlikely that the patron was thinking of a specific destination for the group. The paintings are a prime example of a great artist in rare concert with a sensitive patron, continuing to grow and deepen his artistic outlook into his older years.

The commission was a turning point in Titian’s career. It provided him with an opportunity to deepen his skills at staging complex narrative, handling difficult and ambiguous emotion, and painting expressively to appeal to all five senses.

Shortly after finishing 'Diana and Actaeon', Titian began on a sequel for Philip showing the story’s tragic conclusion: The Death of Actaeon. Although he originally conceived this picture as part of the series, he never sent it to Phillip. He worked on it later, probably in the 1560s or early 1570s, but we do not know for whom. It may have remained in his studio until his death in 1576.

 

Titian, Diana and Actaeon, 1556-9. Oil on canvas, 184.5 x 202.2 cm. © The National Gallery London / The National Galleries of Scotland.

Titian, The Death of Actaeon, about 1559-75. Oil on canvas, 178.8 x 197.8 cm. © The National Gallery, London.

The artist was already known for mythological paintings that set animated groups of figures in idyllic landscapes. His breakthrough work in this genre was the dazzling set of pictures he made for Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, which included Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–3) now in the National Gallery.

Of Titian’s six great 'poesie' for Philip II of Spain, only two remained in Madrid, Spain: 'Danaë' and 'Venus and Adonis'. 'Danaë' remained longer, but was taken by Joseph Bonaparte in 1813 and seized by Wellington in the Battle of Vitoria, after which it came to England. 'Venus and Adonis' was also in England, as Titian sent it to Philip when he was in London, having just married Mary Tudor (1516–1558).

Titian, Danae, about 1551–3. Oil on canvas, 114.6 × 192.5 cm, Wellington Collection, Apsley House, London. © Stratfield Saye Preservation Trust.

Titian, Venus and Adonis, about 1553-4. Oil on canvas, 186 × 207 cm, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. © Photographic Archive Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.

The other four, 'Perseus and Andromeda', 'Rape of Europa', 'Diana and Callisto', and 'Diana and Actaeon', plus the unfinished 'The Death of Actaeon', passed by different routes into the collection of Philippe II, Duc d’Orléans (1674–1723). When this collection was auctioned in London in 1798, the five 'poesie' were divided but remained in British collections throughout the 19th century. 'Perseus and Andromeda' was unsold at the first sale, and then changed hands before being sold at the second Duc d’Orléans sale in 1805. All the 'poesie' have, therefore, been in the UK at some point, and 'Perseus and Andromeda' several times, first when Van Dyck brought it to London some time after 1623.

The outstanding quality of the 'poesie' inevitably attracted offers from wealthy collectors abroad and in 1896 the 'Rape of Europa' was sold to Isabella Stewart Gardner for her collection in Boston, USA . However, 'Perseus and Andromeda' was secured for Britain the following year as part of the Wallace Collection bequest. In 1972, when 'The Death of Actaeon' was offered for sale, the National Gallery successfully purchased the painting with the help of government funds and following a nationwide public appeal. In 2009, the National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland jointly acquired 'Diana and Actaeon'; and in 2012, 'Diana and Callisto', securing the last two of these masterpieces for the public.

Titian, Perseus and Andromeda, about 1554-6. Oil on canvas, 183.3 x 199.3 cm, The Wallace Collection, London. © The Wallace Collection, London / Photo: The National Gallery, London.

Titian, The Rape of Europa, 1559–62. Oil on canvas, 178 × 205 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. © Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

Titian, Diana and Callisto, 1556-9. Oil on canvas, 187 × 204.5 cm. © The National Gallery London / The National Galleries of Scotland.

Dr Matthias Wivel, Curator of 16th-Century Italian Paintings at the National Gallery, and curator of 'Titian: Love Desire Death', says: 'For many lovers of painting, this is the realisation of a dream once thought impossible. The paintings are so powerful individually that I find it hard to overestimate the effect, finally, of seeing them together.'

Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, says: 'Unthinkable until today, for the first time in over four centuries, now thanks to the Wallace Collection’s loan of the Titian'Perseus and Andromeda', all of the artist’s late ‘poesie’ mythologies will be seen together.'

Matthew Moore, President and Managing Director, Liberty Specialty Markets, says: 'We are proud to be supporting the exhibition. We are one of the leading global providers of specialty insurance cover for Fine Art and Specie collections. We understand how important it is to preserve and care for these pieces of history so that we can enjoy them and so can future generations. This is a once in lifetime opportunity to be able to see all six paintings in one place and I am very much looking forward to enjoying them.'

The exhibition will travel to the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh (11 July – 27 September 2020), the Prado, Madrid (20 October 2020 – 10 January 2021), and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston (11 February – 9 May 2021). 'Perseus and Andromeda' is confirmed only for London at present.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Matthias Wivel, Curator of 16th-Century Italian Paintings at the National Gallery, London.

Exhibition organised by the National Gallery, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Museo Nacional del Prado, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

16 March – 14 June 2020

JAR. A natural pearl, Colombian emerald and fancy vivid yellow diamond necklace, 2017. © Symbolic & Chase

Designed as one long strand of natural pearls, between rondelles accented with single-cut diamonds, embellished at various intervals with circular-cut emerald-set spheres, suspending a tassel incorporating a 19th Century-cut 114.63 carat vivid yellow diamond, and a Colombian emerald drop, signed JAR Paris, 2017, together with JAR Paris presentation box.

Accompanied by a GIA monograph detailing the characteristics and importance of the main diamond and an SSEF certificate stating that the drop-shaped briolette emerald weighing 4.61 carats is of Colombian origin and has minor amount of oil in fissures.

Diamond Provenance: Formerly in the collection of Countess Rosario Zouboff Aquired at Christies’s London in 1962 on the occasion of the auction ‘The Property of the Countess Rosario Zouboff’ Private Collection. The Countess (1892-1984) was born in Argentina to a very wealthy Prussian father and Argentinian mother. She travelled frequently to Europe, spending a lot of time in Geneva. She first married the Count Arrivabene (Italian Ambassador in Iran) in 1914, then remarried in 1922 (in Geneva) with the Count Serge Platonovitch Zoubov (1881-1964)

Literature: Cf: Ian Balfour, Famous Diamonds, Antique Collectors’ Club 2009, page 321 ‘The World’s Largest Cut Diamonds’ table where the diamond is mentioned (both under 114.63cts and 114.03cts as it was miscataloged in 1962)

NEW YORK, NY.- For the past 10 years, Asia Week New York has presented an abundance of magnificent treasures from every part of the Far East for the pleasure and enjoyment of Asian art aficionados. These exceptional works of art are to be found at 34 gallery exhibitions curated by prominent Asian art experts that are open to the public on March 12 to 19 (*and in some instances, until March 21). Joining in the excitement are six top-tier auction houses–Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, Heritage Auctions, Sotheby’s and iGavel–plus numerous world-class museums and cultural institutions.

Says Asia Week New York chairwoman Katherine Martin: “As Asia Week New York enters a new decade, we look forward to increasing the public’s awareness and knowledge of the joys of collecting Asian art–hence we are excited to present a comprehensive series of gallery talks by our esteemed experts.”

As always, Asia Week New York exhibitions–free and open to the public—promise the rarest and finest examples of Asian textiles, ceramics, furniture, sculpture, bronzes, paintings and jewelry from every area and period of Asia. Organized by category, here are some of the important highlights to be discovered at Asia Week New York’s participating galleries:

Chinese Works of Art: Ancient Through Contemporary
In their Spring Exhibition of Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art, Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc. features a finely painted mid-17th century Ming blue-and-white porcelain vase and cover. The 12-inch tall vase is decorated with military figures in a mountainous outdoor setting while the dome is painted with a land and seascape scene, including a 10-story pagoda. 16 East 52ndStreet, 10th floor.

First-time Asia Week New York participant Carlton Hobbs LLC presents Asian Influence on European Decorative Art, 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries, featuring an exceptional 19th century black lacquer polychrome and two-color gilt cabinet on the original stand. This spectacular piece exemplifies the English revival in chinoiserie taste at the turn of the 18th to the 19th century and renewed the interest in lacquered furniture from China, particularly black lacquer enhanced with shimmering gold powder and gold leaf decoration. 60 East 93rd Street.

An exceptional 19th century black lacquer polychrome and two-color gilt cabinet on the original stand, Chinese for the European Market, Early 19th century. Courtesy Carlton Hobbs LLC (New York, NY)

An exquisite Ryukyuan mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer stand takes center stage at Privileged, the exhibition at Kaikodo LLC. The Ryukyuan chain of islands extending from Kyushu to Taiwan, also known as Okinawa, supported a rich tradition of lacquer making since the late 14th century when ties were established with the newly established Ming dynasty in China. This beautiful stand could have been made to display a vase of flowers, or like many utilitarian objects for the elite, presented as a work of art. 74 East 79th Street.

Ryukyuan Mother-of-Pearl Inlaid Lacquer Stand, 17th-18th century. Height: 39.7 cm. (15 5/8 in.). Width at base: 31.7 cm. (12 1/2 in.). Courtesy Kaikodo LLC (New York, NY)

Chinese and Japanese Costumes, Textiles and Paintings at Alan Kennedy will spotlight an album of forty paintings, commissioned by James Ware, a British sea captain who arrived in China in 1881. Ware recruited local artists to make the imaginative paintings, adding typescript captions at the bottom of each page. Giant Confusion is one such painting that is part of the collection. James Goodman Gallery, 41 East 57th Street, 8th floor

“GiantConfusion”, China, late 19th century. Ink, color and gold on paper. Courtesy Alan Kennedy (Santa Monica, CA).

At J.J. Lally & Co., a very early and rare Ming dynasty (14th-15th century) bronze goose-form incense burner will be among the exquisite works of art on view at ELEGANTLY MADE: Art for the Chinese Literati. This brilliantly cast censer is the largest of its kind yet recorded and the only example known which is complete with its original matching base. 41 East 57th Street, 14th Floor.

A large bronze goose-form incense burner, Early Ming Dynasty, late 14th - 15th Century. Height 14 1/2 inches (37 cm). Length 18 3/4 inches (48 cm). Courtesy J. J. Lally & Co. (New York, NY).

A standout piece in Chinese and Japanese Ceramics at Zetterquist Galleries, is a large Japanese 17th century porcelain Kakiemon lidded bowl, with a masterfully enameled chrysanthemum pattern, an early example of the Kakiemon style and a technical tour de force for its time. 3 East 66th Street, Suite 2B.

Large Porcelain Kakiemon Covered Bowl, 17th century, Japan. Diameter: 23.3cm. Courtesy Zetterquist Galleries (New York, NY)

Indian, Himalayan, & Southeast Asian Art:
Ancient Through Contemporary
In New Acquisitions, Walter Arader Himalayan Art points to a fine Company School pen and ink watercolor of an Asian Paradise-Flycatcher, from Calcutta, circa 1810, on European laid paper with the watermark of the Strasburg Lily, which indicates that the painting was completed on the more expensive and higher quality European laid paper and reserved in India for high commissions. Arader Galleries, 1016 Madison Avenue.

A fine Company School watercolor of an Asian Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi), Calcutta ca. 1810. Watercolor with pen and ink, 17¾ x 12 inches. Courtesy Walter Arader (New York, NY)

From Art Passages comes the exhibition Of Love, Epic, and Kingship. Highlighted is a painting titled Vasant Ragaputra of Hindola raga, from Kshemakarna Ragamala. Ragamala, or Garland of Music Melodies, which were divided into groups and subgroups. These melodies were often translated into visual depictions as in this painting. Here, Vasant means Springtime and the blue-skinned son of Hindola raga prepares to dance to the tune of female musicians surrounding him. This painting is from the earliest set illustrating poet Kshemakarna's 1570 poems describing the Ragamala. 1018 Madison Avenue, 5th floor.

Vasant Putra of Raga Hindola, From the Earliest Kshemakarna Ragamala, Popular Mughal or Bikaner,  India, ca. 1610. Folio measures 8 7/8 x 11 3/4 inches (22.5 x 29.8 cm). Courtesy Art Passages (San Francisco, CA).

A spectacular late 16th-early 17th century Tibetan tangka, Yama as Dharmaraja, is one of the highlights in Fine Sculptures and Tangkas at Carlo Cristi Asian Arts Company. Two deities, Yama and Chamunda, traditionally represented in cosmic union, stand separated in a powerful stance, a unique composition of great dynamic expression. The tangka shows a refined combination of the Tibetan and Chinese pictorial vocabulary. Leslie Feely Gallery, 1044 Madison Avenue, 4th floor.

Yama as Dharmaraja, Tibet, late 16th-early 17th c. Distemper on cotto, 55 x 77 cm ( 22 1/2 x 30 1/4 in.). Courtesy Carlo Cristi (Brussels, Belgium).

In their exhibition Court Paintings from India and Iran, Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch, Ltd. shine a spotlight on Krishna courting Radha with his skillful fluting, an opaque watercolor with gold on paper, circa 1780. The painting illustrates a scene from the Bhagavata Purana, an ancient Hindu epic, comprised of 18,000 verses and 12,000 cantos, which narrates scenes from the lives of Vishnu and Krishna. It was executed for a royal patron at the Court of Kangra in the lower Himalayan range south of Kashmir and would have been part of a large series of paintings. 67 East 80th Street, Suite 2.

Krishna courting Radha with his skilful fluting, Guler, Pahari Hills, India, circa 1780. Opaque watercolour with gold on paper, 18.6 by 26.6 cm. painting; 23.3 by 31.3 cm. folio. Courtesy Oliver Forge & Brendan Lynch Ltd (London, UK).

Paintings for the Pahari Rajas, on view at Francesca Galloway, features paintings from several important private collections including remarkable court portraits, and dynamic and innovative illustrations of the great Hindu epics Ramayana, Bhagavata Purana and Gita Govinda. Among the exhibition’s highlights is Krishna and his friends playing hide-and-seek by night, circa 1765, depicting an intimate and whimsical scene of youths playing a game of hide and seek. This painting, masterfully rendered, shows Krishna with his friends whose bodies glimmer under the starlight against the dark hillside 1018 Madison Avenue, 1st floor.

Krishna and his friends playing hide-and-seek by night. Folio from a Bhagavata Purana, Guler, c. 1765. Opaque pigments and gold on paper, within a black margin and a pink border. Courtesy Francesca Galloway (London, UK).

Not to be missed in God/Goddess, at Kapoor Galleries, is the important Chinnamasta, which literally translates to “severed head,” one of ten mahavidyas or goddesses worshipped in the Hindu tradition, all incarnations of the great goddess Devi. This rare treasure is signed by master artist Nainsukh of Guler, an important innovator of a strong and widely admired tradition of Indian painting. 34 East 67th Street, 3rd floor.

Chinnamasta. Signed Nainsukh on verso, India, Guler, c. 1740. Gouache and gold on paper, 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (19 x 19 cm. Courtesy Kapoor Galleries (New York, NY).

 Himalayan and Indian Art: Aesthetic Meta-Moments at Navin Kumar Gallery, explores the question of what it means for our lives to be consistent with our own insight about everyday life. One of the gallery’s featured paintings depicts the Buddhist deity Manjushri, who is associated with the insight into the nature of reality. Only a handful of the greatest of scholars, monks, and kings were considered to have been living emanations of Manjushri, and amongst the earliest of them, is the monk Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen. In the 18th century painting, Manjushri with scenes from the life of Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen, the monk’s life is traced, from birth, to his educational activities, to his stay at the court of Godan Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan. 900 Park Avenue, Suite 4E.

Manjushri. With scenes from the life of Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen, Kingdom of Derge, 18th Century, 28 in x 20.75 in. Courtesy Navin Kumar Gallery (New York, NY)

Thomas Murray makes his Asia Week New York debut with Rarities: The Himalayas to Hawaii, featuring a fabulous sculptural betel cutter, which is a portrait of a Javanese sultan in wayang “shadow puppet” style, in a 17th century costume and holding a royal keris dagger. It was made from iron, which is difficult to cast, and inlaid with gold. As such, it could only have been made in a court atelier. The ritual chewing of betel permeated all of the sub-cultures and social strata of Indonesia, from headhunters to the highest courts of Java. It was offered to guests as a welcome and ritually exchanged at births, marriages, and funerals. Arader Galleries, 1016 Madison Avenue.

Royal betel nut cutter, kacip, Java, 17th–19th century. Iron, gold inlay, 5.5 in / 14 cm. Ex Tri Heriyanto collection. Courtesy Thomas Murray (Mill Valley, CA).

This stunning 19th century South Indian three-string, seed pearl and ruby necklace with the clasps made from flat cut diamonds is one of the many treasures in the Jewels of Asia exhibition at Susan Ollemans Oriental Art. Gallery Vallois, 27 East 67th Street, Ground Floor.

Pearl and Ruby Necklace, India, 19th Century. Courtesy Susan Ollemans (London, UK)

With galleries in New Delhi and Kolkata, Akar Prakar makes its Asia Week New York debut with Form & Play–Recent Work by Ganesh Haloi with Roobina Karode, chief curator of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, as their curatorial advisor, preceding his retrospective at CSMVS, museum Mumbai, in October 2020. Untitled, a gouache on Nepali handmade paper, has a specific association with the nature of water. The near-abstract shapes, patterns and textures refer to the submerged and floating aquatic plants, their gentle movements and incessant and silent lifecycle. Glowing layers of colors on the deep, intense color-ground using natural and organic pigments, a technique he resurrected from the Asian traditional practice illustrate Haloi’s extraordinary skill. 41 East 57th Street, Suite 704.

Ganesh Haloi, Untitled, 2018. Gouache on Nepali handmade paper. Size: 18.5 x 25.5 inches. Courtesy Akar Prakar (New Delhi, India)

Rosenberg & Co. mounts a solo-artist exhibition called Blue Night, Red Earth: The Work of Nguyen Cam. Nguyen Cam is a contemporary visual artist working primarily in paint, collage, and mixed media. His chosen materials include used rice sacks, corrugated cardboard, and gingko leaves, each relating to his deep, complex relationship with his native country, Vietnam. Untitled #20's color palette and composition exemplify his material exploration of his unique journey. 19 East 66th Street.

Nguyen Cam, Untitled #20, 2010. Mixed media on canvas,11.5 x 11.5 in. Signed with the artist's monogram lower right. Courtesy Rosenberg & Co. (New York, NY).

Japanese Works of Art: Ancient To Contemporary
In 250 Years of Japanese Prints, The Art of Japan showcases, among many Japanese woodblock prints, In the Mirror of the House of Blue Dishes, an arresting image by Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900). This unusual vertical triptych tells the story of the samurai Aoyama Tessan, who possesses ten treasured blue-and-white ceramic plates. The central image in the triptych stands alone as a strong and haunting figure, but the entire triptych is necessary to illustrate the dramatic episode. The Mark Hotel, 25 East 77th Street, Suite 215.

Toyohara Kunichika (1835 - 1900), ​​​​​​​In the Mirror of the House fo Blue Dishes (Sarayashiki Kesho sugar kagami), October 1892. Courtesy The Art of Japan (Seattle, WA)

Dai Ichi Arts features a beautiful stoneware Oribe-glazed vase by the contemporary ceramicist Yamaguchi Makoto. He was inspired by the "ouroboros,” an ancient symbol of death and rebirth, expressing this with the form and flow of the glaze, which originated in the 16th century Momoyama Period. 18 East 64th Street, Suite 1F.

Yamaguchi Makoto 山口真人(1978- ) , Oribe Vase 織部花器, 2019. H9.8” x L23.2 x D15.3”, H25 x L59 × D39cm. Stoneware. Courtesy Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. (New York, NY)

In SHINTO REDUX: Kami || Shin-magatama by Hiroyuki Asano, Carole Davenport spotlights a mesmerizing and rare Shinto deity, from the Heian period, 10th -11th century. Based on nature and the spirit dwelling within mountains, trees, waterfalls, geographical sites and creatures, as well as venerated deceased human beings, Shinto was the first native religion of Japan. Leigh Morse FA, 22 East 80th Street, 5th floor.

Shinto deity, Japan, Heian period, 10th - 11th century, 18 inches high. Wood with gesso, lacquer, traces of gilding. Courtesy Carole Davenport (New York, NY)

Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints presents Fine Japanese Prints Including Samurai/Spirits: A Collection of Kuniyoshi, featuring Snow at Zojo Temple by Kawase Hasui, dated 1922. Hasui’s spare design of a man in western dress walking towards the majestic vermilion main gate of the Zojo Temple is also his first depiction of this Tokyo landmark, a subject he returned to in several famous designs in the following decades. This pre-earthquake work was produced in a limited edition of 100 prints that was by subscription only. The Mark Hotel, 25 East 77th Street.

Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), Snow at Zojo Temple (Yuki no Zojoji), 1922. Courtesy Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints (Burbank, CA)

Among Fine Japanese Prints, at Hara Shobo, is Hiraizumi Konjikido (Golden Hall), a delicate snowy winter scene by Kawase Hasui, dated 1957. The Mark Hotel, 25 East 77th Street.

Kawase Hasui, Hiraizumi Konjikido (Golden Hall, Hiraizumi), 1957. Sealed zeppitsu (last work), limited 350, numbered onverso. Courtesy Hara Shobo (Tokyo, Japan)

At Ippodo Gallery New York, Koichiro Isezaki’s contemporary spin on traditional Bizen ware in his yō series is the focal point of The Breath of Clay – The Life of Koichiro Isezaki’s Contemporary Bizen. Appearing to sink into itself, this beautiful collapse- form ceramic vase, graced by delicate flashing, is reminiscent of the flame traveling upwards, leaving soft hues of orange and brown. 32 East 67th Street.

Koichiro Isezaki, yō, 2019. H 16 3/4 x 11 1/2 in. Courtesy Ippodo Gallery (New York, NY)

In the exhibition, Japanese Art, Mika Gallery/Shouun Oriental Art features Welcoming Descent of Amida and Twenty-five Bodhisattvas, a 13th century Pure Land sect Buddhist painting from the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in gold, color and ink on silk. info@mikagallery.com or phone 646-339-7046.

Welcoming Descent of Amida and Twenty-five Bodhisattvas, 13th Century, Kamakura period. Gold, Color, and Ink on Silk, H 124.8cm W 68cm. Courtesy Mika Gallery (New York, NY).

Joan B Mirviss LTD juxtaposes contemporary ceramics with traditional woodblock prints in two simultaneous exhibitions: Restraint and Flamboyance, Masterworks of Mino and Ukiyo-e from the Collection of George Crawford. Katsushika Hokusai is arguably Japan’s most celebrated artist and many of his woodblock prints have become iconic images of Japan. While many designs from the artist’s “Thirty-six Views of Fuji” series, circa 1830, are better known, this dramatic and far rarer scene of Amida Waterfall stands as one of the artist’s most compelling compositions, effectively conveying the power of nature. 39 East 78th Street, Suite 401.

Katsushika Hokusai, Amida Waterfall in the distance on the Kisokaido, 1833. Photo by Richard Goodbody, courtesy Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd (New York, NY)

This metal vessel called Ritsu (Rhythm) by Iede Takahiro, one of Japan’s most celebrated contemporary metal artists, stands out in The Four Elements in Japanese Arts: Earth, Air, Fire and Water, the exhibition at Onishi Gallery. The artist, inspired by traditional Japanese bamboo basketry, painstakingly weaves strips of rigid metal of different colors, heating and hammering each strip. 521 West 26th Street.

Iede Takahiro (b. 1962), Vessel Ritsu (Rhythm), 2019. Metal weaving of shakudo, shibuichi and silver, h. 6 x w. 6 1/4 x d. 6 3/8 inches (15.5 x 16 x 16.2 cm). Courtesy Onishi Gallery (New York, NY)

The showstopper at Giuseppe Piva’s exhibition Japanese Art and Antiques is Tsutsumi Do Tosei Gusoku, a 17th -18th century ceremonial suit of Samurai armor bearing the kamon of the Mōri family, from the Edo period. The details of the armor, the kawari kabuto, the use of luxurious materials and the cuirass covered in brocade are all characteristics of the flamboyant style of the Mōri clan.

Tsutsumi Do Tosei Gusoku, Edo period, 17th-18th century. Courtesy Giuseppe Piva Japanese Art (Milan, Italy).

Seven Women: Applying Makeup Before a Mirror, by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), circa 1792-93, is from The Baron J. Bachofen von Echt Collection of Golden Age Ukiyo-e exhibition at Scholten Japanese Art. A lavish production for its time, this tour de force is an example of the best type of ukiyo-e (art of the floating world), created by one of the period’s most important artists, and published by a highly influential publisher. It was produced during the Golden Age (circa 1780-1800), considered the highpoint in ukiyo-e print production.

Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Seven Women: Applying Makeup Before a Mirror, ca. 1792-93, woodblock print with mica, 14 1/4 by 9 1/2 in., 36.1 by 24.1 cm. Courtesy Scholten Japanese Art (New York, NY).

Swirling Ring is one of the works featured in TAI Modern’s Abe Motoshi solo exhibition, the Japanese bamboo artist’s first in the United States. Abe is known for his numerous original plaiting techniques and devotion to the art form. He started this flower basket back in 1984 but only completed it in 2014, after he was inspired to flip the basket upside down and cut out the bottom, creating a more satisfying form. Abe’s work is shown in conjunction with the exhibition Selected Works of Japanese Bamboo Art, a survey of contemporary and historic pieces. 38 East 78th Street.

Abe Motoshi, Swirling Ring, 2014. Madake bamboo, rattan, 5.5 x 15.5 x 15.5 in. Courtesy TAI Modern (Santa Fe, NM).

Shiryū Morita’s ink-on-paper folding screen takes center stage in Japanese Modern and Post-War Art, the exhibition at Thomsen Gallery. 9 East 63rd Street.

Shiryū Morita (1912-1998), Ryū (Dragon), 1985. Two-panel folding screen; ink on paper, 62¾ x 100 inches (159.7 x 253.7 cm). Courtesy Thomsen Gallery (New York, NY). 

Among the New Acquisitions at Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art is Buddha of Compassion, an elegant six-armed wooden statue made in the 14th century, between the end of the Kamakura period and the beginning of the Muromachi period. Using gold powder paint and gold leaf, this rare piece was created in the same manner as an Amida Nyorai, one of Asia’s most popular deities. Arader Galleries, 1016 Madison Avenue.

“Buddha of Compassion” (Nyoirin Kannon), Edo period. Wooden sculpture, 39,5 (height) cm (the statue), 74,5 (height) cm (including the base). Courtesy 

Korean Works of Art: Ancient To Contemporary
Boccara Art, a newcomer to Asia Week New York presents two separate exhibitions: one in New York called Lavinia Yu: In Search of Lost Ocean, and the other in Brooklyn titled Kim Jeong Yeon & Hyun Ae Kang: Living in a Restful House. Recognized for her installations, which combine the natural energy of her motherland with explosive expressionistic calligraphy, Living in a Restful House, explores the concepts of family and home in modern society, as well as the existential angst of human beings in the physical space and time. Lavinia Yu: In Search of Lost Ocean, at 130 West 56th Street; Kim Jeong Yeon & Hyun Ae Kang: Living in a Restful House, at 198 24th Street in Brooklyn.

Kim Jeong Yeon, "Living in a Restful House", South Korea, 2006. Latex and wood. Courtesy Boccara Art (Brooklyn, NY)

Dreams of Blue and White Porcelain and Photography at HK Art & Antiques LLC features the work of Bohnchang Koo, whose photographs of blue and white ceramics from the Korean collections of well-known museums in the world, capture the simplistic beauty of the delicately painted porcelain– created with a rare and highly prized blue pigment. 49 East 78th Street, Suite 4B.

Symbolizing the majesty of the royal family, this late 18th century blue and white dragon jar—used as storage vessels or vases for monumental floral displays at banquets in the royal court for feasts and rituals– is the focal point in Kang Collection Korean Art’s exhibition A Fantastic Dragon Jar and Recent Acquisitions. The decoration on this jar reveals the dynamic yet painstaking skill of the painters of the royal court. Arader Galleries, 1016 Madison Avenue.

Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954), Tulips, 1914. Oil on canvas; 114.3 x 90 cm. Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift.

CLEVELAND, OH.- The Cleveland Museum of Art announced the gift and promised gift of more than 100 Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and modern European and American paintings, drawings, and prints; Chinese and Japanese ceramics; and other works of art from the collection of Clevelanders Joseph P. and Nancy F. Keithley. Valued at more than $100 million, the gift is the largest to the CMA since the 1958 bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.

Ninety-seven of the works have come to the museum as outright gifts; another 17 are promised gifts that will enter the museum’s collection in the future. The gift and promised gift comprise five paintings by Pierre Bonnard; four each by Maurice Denis and Edouard Vuillard; two each by Milton Avery, Georges Braque, Gustave Caillebotte, Joan Mitchell, and Félix Valloton; and individual pictures of outstanding quality by Henri-Edmond Cross, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, and Andrew Wyeth. Among the works on paper are six watercolors by John Marin, five drawings by Bonnard, and a spectacular pastel by Eugène Boudin.

Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867-1947), Nude Rising from Bed (Le Lever Nu),  1912. Oil on cardboard, mounted to panel. Unframed: 74.9 x 101.6 cm (29 1/2 x 40 in.). Promised Gift of Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley 9.2020. 

Eugène Boudin (French, 1824-1898), Seascape with Open Sky (Marine au grand ciel), 1860. Pastel on paper. Unframed: 21.3 x 28.7 cm (8 3/8 x 11 5/16 in.). Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.116. 

Milton Avery (American, 1885–1965), Hens and Chickens, 1948. Oil on canvas; 99.1 x 139.7 cm. Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift.

The entire collection – all the Keithleys’ gifts and promised gifts – have been transferred to the museum, and beginning on Tuesday, March 17, a selection of the works will be on view in the CMA’s permanent collection galleries. A large-scale exhibition of the Keithley gift will take place in fall 2022 and be accompanied by a comprehensive publication.

“It is incredibly exciting to see such a wide range of important works added to the museum’s collection,” said Scott Mueller, chairman of the board of the Cleveland Museum of Art. “Visitors from Cleveland and around the globe will benefit from Nancy and Joe’s keen collecting vision and abundant generosity.”

Nancy and Joseph Keithley are longtime, generous supporters of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mrs. Keithley became a trustee of the museum in 2001, and from 2006 to 2011 she was chair of its Accessions Advisory and Collections committees. She has also served as a member of the Finance Committee and is currently a member of the board’s Executive, Buildings and Grounds, and Collections committees. She is also a trustee of the Musical Arts Association, which oversees the Cleveland Orchestra.

“Joe and I are thrilled to be giving back to our community,” said Mrs. Keithley. “Cleveland is our home and we have enjoyed building our lives here. It is important to us to share our collection with our fellow Northeast Ohioans, and we felt the Cleveland Museum of Art was a perfect home for the works of art we have assembled, cherished, and now joyfully make available to all.”

An engineer by training, Mr. Keithley is the former chairman of the board, president and CEO of Keithley Instruments, Inc., a company that he led for seventeen years. He is a member of the boards of the Holden Forests & Gardens, the Cleveland Foundation, and LAND Studio and a trustee emeritus of Case Western Reserve University.

In 2013 the Keithleys established the Keithley Institute for Art History, a collaborative program of the museum and Case Western Reserve University to train future curators, scholars, museum directors and academic leaders. The program emphasizes an “object-oriented” approach to the teaching of art history, integrating theory with the direct observation of works in the museum’s celebrated permanent collection. The Keithleys’ gift will facilitate this effort, bolstering the number and high caliber of works available for study.

Mr. Keithley commented, “For Nancy and me, collecting has been a true joy, and we are delighted that these works will inspire museum visitors from Cleveland and around the world. That they will also be available to students—and will inform the teaching of art history and museology at the Keithley Institute—is especially exciting for us."

The Chinese Ceramic Collection 

Pair of Qingbai Ware Bowls with Covers, China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), 12.5 x 15.5 cm (4 15/16 x 6 1/8 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift, 2020.173.

Lobed Vase, China, Qing dynasty (1644-1912), Kangxi reign (1661-1722), 20.3 x 12 cm (8 x 4 3/4 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift, 2020.174.

Black Glazed Tea Bowl, 1100s–1200s, China, Fujian Province, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Black glazed ceramic, Jian ware, 6.5 x 12 cm (2 9/16 x 4 3/4 in.) Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.175.

Black Glazed Tea Bowl, 1100s–1200s, China, Fujian Province, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Black glazed ceramic, Jian ware, 5.6 x 14 cm (2 3/16 x 5 1/2 in.) Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.176.

Black Glazed Tea Bowl, China, Jiangxi Province, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Black glazed ceramic with "quail-spot" pattern, Jizhou ware, 6 x 11.6 cm (2 3/8 x 4 9/16 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.177.

Pair of lead glazed jars of owl shape, the cover modeled in the shape of an owl's head, China, Henan Province, Western Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 8), 19 x 13.8 x 11.8 cm (7 1/2 x 5 7/16 x 4 5/8 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.178.

Wucai Baluster Jar and Cover, c. 1640, China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Chongzhen reign (1628-1644), 36.5 cm (14 3/8 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.179.

Yellow Glazed Bowl, China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Zhengde mark and reign (1505-21). Porcelain, 18.1 cm (7 1/8 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.180.

Bowl with Scrolling Lotus Design, China, Longquan ware, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Stoneware, celadon ware, 6.6 x 15.5 cm (2 5/8 x 6 1/8 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.181.

 Dish with Floral Designs, 1100s–1200s, China, Qingbai ware, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Porcelain with bluish-white glaze, 6.5 x 17.2 cm (2 9/16 x 6 3/4 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift, 2020.182.

Dish with Floral Designs, 1100s–1200s, China, Qingbai ware, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Ceramic with bluish-white glaze, 4.5 x 18 cm (1 3/4 x 7 1/16 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift, 2020.183.

Jar with four lug handles, China, Jingdezhen ware, Southern Song dynasty (960-1279). Ceramic with yellowish-white glaze, 15 x 13 cm (5 7/8 x 5 1/8 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.184.

Jar with finely incised floral design, c.1500, China, Qingbai ware, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Ceramic with "sweet-white" glaze, 14 x 16.4 cm (5 1/2 x 6 7/16 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.185.

Bowl with bi-disc foot, China, Gongxian ware, Five dynasties (907-960). Stoneware with ivory white glaze, 4.7 x 18.5 cm (1 7/8 x 7 5/16 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.186. 

Marbled finely potted glazed dish with flat bottom, China, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), 16.8 cm (6 5/8 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.187.

Conical Bowl, China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Ceramic, Longquan ware, 16 x 42 cm (6 5/16 x 16 9/16 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.188.

Meiping Vase with Dragon Motif, 1300s, China, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Bluish-white qingbai ware with carved decoration, 27.9 cm (11 in.), Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.189.

PARIS - Chaque année, le Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle propose une exposition temporaire d’envergure au sein de la Grande Galerie de l’Evolution. En 2020, c’est en collaboration avec Van Cleef & Arpels que le Muséum prépare cet événement. L’exposition « Pierres Précieuses », qui ouvre le 3 avril 2020, propose une immersion dans plusieurs univers intimement liés : la minéralogie, la gemmologie et la joaillerie.

Pierres Précieuses brosse en premier lieu une histoire de la Terre et des savoir-faire, explorant la formation originelle des minéraux et leur emploi par l’Homme dont le geste habile se perfectionne au fil du temps.

Suivant un parcours à la fois chronologique et thématique, bâti en trois sections, Pierres précieuses brosse en premier lieu une histoire  de la Terre et des savoir-faire, explorant la formation originelle des minéraux et leur emploi par l’Homme dont le geste habile se perfectionne au fil du temps.

Puis une deuxième partie — des minéraux aux bijoux — explique les phénomènes naturels que subissent pierres, roches et cristaux, dans les profondeurs de la Terre, avant que la main de l’Homme ne les métamorphose en joyaux. Leur transformation est mise en lumière grâce à une quarantaine de vitrines-écrins, accompagnées de stèles thématiques, de dispositifs audio-visuels et tactiles, qui ponctuent la visite et présentent chaque espèce — diamants, topazes, saphirs, aigues-marines… — sous trois aspects : minéraux bruts, gemmes façonnées et bijoux de haute joaillerie, offrant ainsi une constante mise en perspective de la nature à l’oeuvre.

Rubis sur marbre, environ 30 millions d’années - Mogok, Myanmar © MNHN / F. Farges

Clip Fuchsia, 1968. Platine, or jaune, Serti Mystérieux rubis, diamants. © Van Cleef & Arpels SA

Dans sa troisième partie, l’exposition rappelle l’importance historique, scientifique et artistique que tient Paris, lieu de savoirs, dans l’avancée et la diffusion des connaissances en minéralogie dont se sont emparés esthètes et artistes jusqu’à nos jours.

Suscitant une déambulation immersive et un dialogue constant entre science et création, Pierres précieuses met en regard quelque 500 minéraux, gemmes et objets d’art issus de la prestigieuse collection du Muséum et plus de 200 créations joaillières puisées dans la collection patrimoniale de la Maison Van Cleef & Arpels.

L'exposition "Pierres Précieuses" réunit des pièces d’exception présentées pour la première fois en France :

Collections du Muséum
- l’or natif « Occitane de Sabine », trouvaille exceptionnelle dans le massif de la montagne Noire
- des saphirs du Puy-de-Dôme, les deux plus gros jamais trouvés en Europe
- un coquillage percé datant de 90 000 ans, considéré comme l’un plus anciens bijoux au monde
- la Grande Table des Orsini, chef-d’œuvre de marqueterie ayant appartenu au cardinal Mazarin
- des gemmes provenant des joyaux de la Couronne de France (améthystes, turquoises et perles)
- « Le Château » de Roger Caillois ainsi que d’autres « pierres à images » célèbres.

Pépite d’or natif (937,2 g) - Mananjary, Madagascar © MNHN / F. Farges

Saphirs (93,5 et 31,6 ct), découverts en 2018 - Puy-de-Dôme, France © Hervé Jacquand

Améthystes des joyaux de la couronne (77,1 ct), parure d’améthystes de l’impératrice Marie-Louise d’Autriche (1791-1847)© MNHN / F. Farges.

Les corindons de Louis XVIII : saphirs et rubis naturels et taillés (ensemble 75,8 ct) - Sri Lanka. Fin XVIIIe-début XIXe siècle © MNHN / F. Farges

  « Le Château », calcaire à dendrites décrit par Roger Caillois (L’écriture des pierres, 1970)© MNHN / F. Farges.

Collection patrimoniale Van Cleef & Arpels
- le collier en platine et diamants porté par Sa Majesté la reine Nazli d’Égypte en 1939
- la parure Trèfles (1966) en or jaune, turquoises et diamants
- le clip Bouquet de bleuets (1938) en or jaune, rubis et calcédoine
- le nécessaire d'inspiration médiévale (1925)
- la collerette Cravate (1954), en platine, saphirs et diamants
- la broche Gladiateur (1956), imaginée à partir d'une perle baroque
- le nécessaire des années 1920, qui mêle des inspirations chinoise et Art déco.

Collerette, 1939 - platine, diamants. Ancienne collection de Sa Majesté la reine Nazli d’Égypte. Collection Van Cleef & Arpels. Patrick Gries © Van Cleef & Arpels SA.

Clip Bouquet de bleuets, 1938. Or jaune, rubis, calcédoine. Collection Van Cleef & Arpels, © Van Cleef & Arpels SA

Collerette Cravate, 1954. Platine, saphirs, diamants - Collection Van Cleef & Arpels. Patrick Gries © Van Cleef & Arpels SA.

L’exposition « Pierres précieuses » sera accompagnée d’une programmation variée avec rencontres, ateliers, livres, conférences, projections... 

John Frederick Lewis, The Bezestein Bazaar of El Khan Khalil, 1872, 115x88cm. Estimate: £3,000,000-5,000,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

London – Christie’s London dedicated auction of Orientalist Art on 18 June 2020 will be led by John Frederick Lewis’ (1805-1876) masterpiece The Bezestein Bazaar of El Khan Khalil, Cairo (estimate £3 – 5 million). One of the last few important works by the artist remaining in private hands it depicts Cairo’s most desired Bazaar. The painting will be unveiled during Christie’s Islamic Art Week at the end of March and sold along with approximately 40 Orientalist works during Luxury Week in June in London.

Arne Everwijn, Christie’s Senior Specialist European Art: “The Bezestein Bazaar of El Khan Khalil, Cairo is one of the largest paintings by John Frederick Lewis to come to auction as well as one of the last of this calibre remaining in private hands. Christie’s is the undisputed market leader for paintings by Lewis, holding the world record price for the artist at auction, as well as six of the top ten prices for the artist at auction. We are thrilled to be presenting this important work to the international market.”

Orientalist Art or Orientalism
Orientalism is the vision of the East by artists of the West. European painters of the 19^th century — from England, France and Germany especially — visited the areas we now know as the Near East, Middle East and North Africa, and depicted what they saw in wide-eyed admiration. Their paintings and works on paper tapped into a growing fascination with travel and far-off, exotic lands, which had previously been beyond the comprehension of the average Londoner or Parisian.

The painter
John Frederick Lewis (London 14 July 1804-15 August 1876) was an English Orientalist painter. Yet unlike his other artistic contemporaries who made the traditional Orientalist pilgrimage, Lewis spent a decade in Egypt. The years spanning 1840-51 found the artist firmly entrenched in Arab life. Dressed in native garb and at ease with the language, he easily disappeared into the crowd to observe and sketch for hours, later building up his oil compositions in his studio. His very careful and loving representation of Islamic architecture, furnishings, screens, and costumes set new standards of realism, which influenced other artists.

The painting
The Bezestein Bazaar of El Khan Khalil, Cairo was painted in 1872 in Lewis’ studio in Walton-on-Thames, close to Hampton Court Palace in Surrey. This celebrated composition - a stunning visual spectacle of a traditional Egyptian souk or marketplace - stands as a sort of artistic memoir of a life-long passion for Egypt, based on numerous sketches of people and places he encountered.

John Frederick Lewis, The Bezestein Bazaar of El Khan Khalil, 1872, 115x88cm. Estimate: £3,000,000-5,000,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The painting
The Bezestein Bazaar of El Khan Khalil, Cairo was painted in 1872 in Lewis’ studio in Walton-on-Thames, close to Hampton Court Palace in Surrey. This celebrated composition - a stunning visual spectacle of a traditional Egyptian souk or marketplace - stands as a sort of artistic memoir of a life-long passion for Egypt, based on numerous sketches of people and places he encountered.

LONDON.- Sotheby’s Orientalist Sale, now in its ninth season and held during Islamic week, brings together paintings representing the landscapes, people, and customs of North Africa, Egypt, Arabia, the Levant, Persia, and the Ottoman world during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Comprising 57 lots, the sale provides a unique window into a realm that has forever changed, capturing in technicolour detail every aspect of life in the region. The auction will take place in London on 31 March at 3pm GMT, to be followed by Important Works from the Najd Collection, Part II, at 5pm.

Persia
The sale includes a rare group of four drawings by Jules Laurens that are as striking for their documentary importance as for the story of their survival of one of the most extraordinary and dangerous expeditions ever undertaken by a European artist-traveller.

In the spring of 1846, the thirty-three-year-old artist was given the break of a lifetime: the chance to join a geographical expedition to Persia led by Hommaire de Hell, a renowned geographer and engineer. Their journey was long and arduous – they spent up to fourteen hours a day in the saddle, overnighted in uncomfortable conditions, and battled cholera, fever, freezing temperatures, and snow blindness. Despite all these impediments, Laurens assiduously recorded his impressions in his sketchbook at every stop.

In February 1848 the two explorers reached Tehran where they were greeted by the French envoy to Persia who introduced them to the court of King Mohammad Shah Qajar. Early the following month, the pair left Tehran on foot for Isfahan on what became their last journey together, on which they walked by night to escape the inescapable heat. Upon their arrival, Hommaire de Hell’s health deteriorated; he died on 30 August and was buried in present day Azerbaijan.

Of the hundreds of sketches Laurens made during his three-year journey, many were turned into lithographs on his return, for printing in popular magazines and publications. A portion of the original watercolours and drawings were given to the library of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The appearance on the market of these four works from a private collection, marks the first time such an exceptional group has come to auction at the same moment.

Lot 17. Jules Laurens (French 1825-1901), Mercantile caravenserai in Tabriz, Persia, titled in French lower left, watercolour and gouache over pencil on paper, 31 by 45cm. Estimate £30,000-50,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

 Lot 18. Jules Laurens (French 1825-1901), The Central Square, Tehran, titled in French lower right, watercolour over pencil on paper, 29 by 46cm. Estimate £30,000-50,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

 Lot 19. Jules Laurens (French 1825-1901), Tehran, from the Quazvin road, signed Jules Laurens lower right and titled in French lower left, watercolour over pencil on paper, 30.5 by 45.5cm. Estimate £20,000-30,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

Lot 20. Jules Laurens (French 1825-1901), The Blue Mosque in Tabriz, Persia, titled in French lower left, watercolour and gouache over pencil on paper, 29 by 41cm. Estimate £30,000-50,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

Egypt

Lot 3. Raphael von Ambros (Austrian, 1845-1895), Awaiting the Prayer in the Mosque of Sultan Qalawun, signed, inscribed and dated R. Ambros PARIS 87 upper left, oil on panel, 49 by 31.5cm. Estimate £80,000-120,000 ($105,000-157,000). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Captured in minute photographic detail, this tranquil scene shows a Nubian guard awaiting the hour of prayer outside a Cairene mosque. Seated on an Ottoman mother-of-pearl inlaid calligrapher’s chest, and with a flintlock gun in hand, the guard’s iridescent green silt gown mirrors the jade green incense holder beneath the large copper incense burner. 

Lot 9. Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824-1904), Seated Arnaut, signed and dated J.L. GEROME/ 1857. lower left, oil on panel, 21 by 15cm. Estimate £60,000-80,000 ($78,500-105,000). Courtesy Sotheby's.

The subject of Arnauts – the mercenaries employed by the Ottoman army – was of particular interest to Gérôme, pervading his work from the late 1850s onwards. In this painting, last offered at auction fifty years ago, the Arnaut is glimpsed off guard in a moment of reflection. 

Lot 26. Charles Wilda (Austrian,1854-1907), A Game of Chess, Cairo, signed and dated C.H. WILDA. 1888. lower right, oil on panel, 1888, 44 by 55cm. Estimate £80,000-120,000 ($105,000-157,000). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Like many of his fellow Orientalist painters, Wilda travelled to Egypt in the early 1880s and set up a studio in Cairo where he developed a keen interest for the depiction of everyday Egyptian life.

Turkey

Lot 12. Henriette Browne (French, 1829-1901), A Visit: A Harem Interior, signed H.^tte Browne lower left, oil on canvas, 29.5 by 41cm. Estimate £50,000-70,000 ($65,500-91,500). Courtesy Sotheby's.

This rare and important painting is by one of the few female Orientalist painters active in the nineteenth century. The harem was a sophisticated social space inaccessible to male eyes, and therefore so often the subject of hackneyed, voyeuristic, depictions. By virtue of being painted by a woman, the picture provides a greater understanding of the workings of the harem. Henriette Browne, the English professional pseudonym of Sophie De Saux, accompanied her diplomat husband to Constantinople for a fortnight in 1860. Set in a minimalist interior, Browne’s painting depicts the visit of one harem to another.

Lot 13. Fausto Zonaro (Italian, 1854-1929), On the Galata Bridge, Constantinople, signed F. Zonaro lower right, oil on canvas, 71 by 65cm. Estimate £200,000-300,000 ($261,000-392,000). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Zonaro’s view across the Galata Bridge spanning the Golden Horn, with the dome and minarets of the New Mosque beyond, has the qualities of a photographic snapshot of Constantinople’s bustling street life. The artist had moved to the city in 1891, and the last Ottoman sultan, Abdül Hamid II, appointed him painter to his court. Thanks to the sultan’s patronage, Zonaro was able to explore every corner of the city undisturbed, including religious festivals that would have otherwise been forbidden to him.

Lot 16. Théodore Gudin (French, 1802-1880), The Golden Horn, signed and dated T Gudin 1851 lower right, oil on canvas, 76 by 120cm. Estimate £80,000-120,000 ($105,000-157,000). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Gudin’s painting of the Golden Horn predates the building of the Galata bridge, and takes in the majestic skyline of the Old City, including the New Mosque and the Süleymaniye Mosque in the distance. 

North Africa

 Lot 35. Georges Bretagnier (French, 1860-1892), The Hour of Prayer, Tangier, signed G. Bretegnier / 1892 lower left, oil on canvas, 97.5 by 69.5cm. Estimate £80,000-120,000 ($105,000-157,000). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Bretagnier first visited North Africa at the end of 1884 where he remained until the following summer. Hugely influenced by what he found, he took to dressing in the local costume in order to mix more easily with the locals, sporting a djellaba and travelling by donkey. In this work, an Imam wearing an emerald green gown leads a group of men in prayer in the mosque of El-Kasbah in Tangier.

Lot 51. Jacques Majorelle (French, 1886-1962), Moussem in Moula Dourein, Essaouira (Morocco), signed j. majorelle / moula Dourein lower right, tempera on canvas, 69 by 85cm. Estimate £100,000-150,000 (est. $131,000-196,000). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Lot 46. Jacques Majorelle (French, 1886-1962), Procession before a Kasbah, signed J. majorelle / marrakech lower left; inscribed La Fimaa on the reverse, tempera on canvas, 105.5 by 80.5cm. Estimate £50,000-70,000 ($59,500-83,000). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Majorelle produced modern, rich, and colourful works which revolutionised the Orientalist tradition. Painted in 1940, this is one of seven works by Majorelle depicting the moussem (festival) in the port of Moula Dourein. The setting for Procession before a Kasbah appears to be Anemiter (or Anmiter) in the High Atlas mountains.

Lot 47. Lucian Lévy-Dhurmer (French,1865-1953), Rabat, signed and dated L Lévy-Dhurmer / 1931 lower right, oil on canvas, 75 by 92cm. Estimate £40,000-60,000 ($52,500-78,500). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Lot 48. Lucian Lévy-Dhurmer (French,1865-1953), Les Roses d’Ispahan, signed Lévy-Dhurmer lower right; signed and titled on the reverse, oil on canvas, 160 by 210cm. Estimate £40,000-60,000 ($52,500-78,500).  Courtesy Sotheby's.

As a native of Algiers, North Africa held a special place in Lévy-Dhurmer’s heart and was the source of inspiration for breath-taking views of which these two works are prime examples.

Valérie Belin, Sans titre (Modèles II), 2006. Gelatin silver print, 102,5 x 107,5 cm (40 11/32 x 42 5/16 in.). Edition of 6 + 3 AP. 

BRUSSELS.- Galerie Nathalie Obadia is presenting an exhibition dedicated to portraits in its Brussels base. For the first time, the exhibition opens a dialogue between classic and contemporary artworks from the 17th century up until today. In that context, the gallery invited its artists to make proposals in relationship with a unique selection of portraits from private collections especially gathered for the occasion. Photographic, pictorial and graphic works by Valérie Belin, Guillaume Bresson, Luc Delahaye, Youssef Nabil, Mickalene Thomas, Andres Serrano, Agnès Varda and Jérôme Zonder are being presented alongside historic artists like Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Jacques-Louis David, Edgar Degas, Hyacinthe Rigaud and Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. This exhibition also includes portraits by emblematic figures like Elizabeth Peyton, Cindy Sherman, Xavier Veilhan and Kehinde Wiley.

Through a scenography that underlines similarities, variations and tributes, the exhibition aims at giving an overview of a both universal and historical practice of portrait. While classical portrait, like historical painting, follows a set of explicit and contextual conventions and symbols, its canonical representations seem to have given rise to an entire visual culture and provided a breeding ground for many generations of artists. 

Known for her various series of photographic portraits playing on the notion of “liveliness”, Valérie Belin continuously probes the ambiguous relationships between realism and illusion through object-subject models, thus questioning the fundamental ambivalence of “being”. Here, she presents a work from her 2006 Models II series, a three-quarter bust on a black background. The model sharp definition and unreal perfect skin contrast with the sensual rendering and shades of brown hues of the magnificent Bust of a woman by Edgar Degas depicted in a similar posture. A reflection around the ways in which the photographic medium seizes, captures and blurs, whereas painting outlines, touches, expands and unfolds in subtle interplays.

Going against the principles of realism and alikeness traditionally associated with portrait, the question of illusion is also an essential part of the work of conceptual American photographer Cindy Sherman. Using herself as the model of her own photographs, she dresses up to play various fictitious characters, questioning the notions of identity, appearance and gender in our contemporary society. The representation of women and gender-related social mechanisms hold a central place in her work.

The pictorial work of Belgian artist Sophie Kuijken also elaborates around the notion of model. In fact, she rather takes distance with it, trading live models for images collected on Internet from which she composes disturbing portraits of imaginary people, both human and chimeric, in a classical Flemish style. Her original approach is worth the emphasis: “I really love painting people. I love reading in them simply by looking at them and penetrating their entire essence. But it’s very intimate and private, so I don’t do that with strangers, neither with friends nor acquaintances. I try to make up these experiences instead.” Next to her portrait, the majestic 18th century magistrate depicted by Nicolas de Largillierre based on the standards of his time and profession exudes a sort of arbitrary strangeness.

Sophie Kuijken, P.W., 2020. Oil and acrylic on chipboard panel, 122 x 90 x 1,8 cm (48 1/32 x 35 7/16 x 0 23/32 in.).

The theatrical staging of these legal men echoes Agnès Varda’s photographs, analog shots from the 50s showing Jeanne Moreau, Christiane Minazzoli, Gérard Philipe and Maria Casarès playing leading roles in period costumes. These mythical and very elegant portraits make evident Agnès Varda’s major contribution to photography starting in the 50s, a media she discovered as a photographer for the Festival d’Avignon and the Théâtre National Populaire at the beginning of her cinematographic career. 

Agnès Varda, Le cinéaste documentariste Goutam Ghose, Golpark, Kolkata sud, 2014. Gelatin silver bromide print, 2015, 87 x 84 x 3,5 cm (34 1/4 x 33 1/8 x 1 3/8 in.). Edition of 2 + 1 AP.

Agnès Varda, Krishti Kumar dans un taxi, Kolkata, 2014. Gelatin silver bromide print, 2015, 73,5 x 74 x 3,5 cm (28 7/8 x 29 1/8 x 1 3/8 in.). Edition of 2 + 1 AP.

Illustrious portrait artist of Bamako between 1948 and 1962, Malian photographer Seydou Keïta produced a considerable body of individual and group portraits staged according to classical representational codes and bourgeois lifestyle standards. Heir of a tradition of portrait conceived as a marker of social status, and witness of the modern and western aspirations of his contemporaries, Seydou Keïta paid a special attention to the objects, apparels and postures of his models, thus giving them a symbolical access to privileges and status then reserved to white people. The two works presented here harmoniously blend with Portrait of the Philosopher and Encyclopedist Baron d’Holbach by Alexandre Roslin as well as Portrait of Madeleine Le Roux, wife of Manzeray de Courvaudon, President of the ‘Parlement’by Nicolas de Largillierre: all embody a certain vision of portrait and speak the same tongue yet in different times and cultures.

Seydou Keïta, Sans titre/ Untitled (00859-MA.KE.129), 1956-1957. Posthumous Gelatin black and white silver print on cartoline paper 280g back-mounted on Aluminium 1mm, Plexiglass framed, 179 x 139 x 4,7 cm (70 15/32 x 54 23/32 x 1 27/32 in.). Edition of 5 + 2 AP.

Seydou Keïta - Sans titre, 1958-1959. Courtesy: CAAC – The Pigozzi Collection & Galerie Nathalie Obadia Paris/Bruxelles.  Copyright: ©Seydou Keïta/SKPEAC

Guillaume Bresson has also drawn from art history, especially Renaissance and French classicism, to build a pictorial language through which he raises marginalized individuals and social groups to the status of “subject”. Here, the artist presents a beautiful pencil on paper self-portrait along with the portrait of a queer New York activist borrowing to the codes of Flemish painting (for the balustrade, black background and three-quarter) and evocative of clergyman portraits for his posture. The artist will also exhibit two tondi, a format that became commonplace in the 18th century. All the more striking, his back view of a black woman looking downward stands in stark contrast with stereotyped 17th and 18th century beauties with pale skin, blond hairs, gracious elegance and ethereal eyes. 

Guillaume Bresson, Sans titre, 2019. Oil painting on canvas, 22,5 x 30 cm (8 27/32 x 11 13/16 in.).

Become a topic of representational controversy, black women and their body hold a prominent place in the work of American artist Mickalene Thomas, as a social, historic and phantasmatic projection at the crossroad of multiple symbols and sources of inspiration. Both a tribute and a twist to the famous 19th century avant-garde portraits that have marked the history of painting and the evolution of society, her work appropriates the erotic and sulfurous potential of La Grande Odalisque of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the Olympia and The Luncheon on the Grass of Édouard Manet, thus questioning canons of beauty throughout history. 

The work of Kehinde Wiley, a major figure of the American art scene, originates in a similar desire to glorify those in the fringes of power and history of art. His works stage the flamboyant encounter between a representational system inherited from great classical portraits, a colorful Afro-American culture and an eroticized virility. His boys are staged on lavish flowery backgrounds in triumphal postures: a powerful representation of black men that proposes a much-needed twist of the genre. 

American artist Andres Serrano has also been exploring the social and political dimension of portrait and revealing its tremendous power: many of his series explicitly tackle societal issues like racism, poverty and marginalization. Become master in the appropriation and detournement of symbols, especially religious, the artist often resorts to subversive associations, imbuing his portraits with a great allegoric load: here, a young girl wearing a thorn crown is maliciously looking at the camera, while standing next to her is a neoclassic vestal virgin painted by Jacques-Louis David right before the French Revolution, her ecstatic genuineness and chastity appearing even more salient. 

On the occasion of this exhibition and through his work entitled Jeune Veuve (2000-2017), Luc Delahaye explains his relationship to portrait, and more specifically to the face, toward which many of his representational issues converge: “It’s the detail of a contact print from a reportage I have done during the second Intifada in Palestine, back in October 2000. This woman in profile (it’s therefore not a portrait) is the wife of a young man killed by the Israeli forces in a small West Bank village. (…) After three small books published in the 90s*, I haven’t worked much on portrait as such, but I have been haunted by the question of portrait in my images. Or rather the question of the face. In a photographic painting representing an action or a situation with bodies and objects, faces are a vortex. Because of their affective load and meaning, they irresistibly grab the viewer’s attention to the detriment of what is around. They weigh on the composition of the image. I have often tried to avoid this problem by using three-quarter back views, faces looking down and partly hidden etc. It was also a way to contain the lyrical content of the image, to create a colder atmosphere. But the removal of the face also goes with a loss of humanity, and although it is an interesting motive in itself, I don’t relate to it. I always feel attracted back to the face, as if it was the only thing that could bring my picture to life.” 

Trained as a painter, Patrick Faigenbaum took his first photographs at the beginning of the 70s and quickly turned to portrait, which became one of his specialties. Here, the artist is exhibiting two works from his Kolkatta series made in India thanks to the prestigious Henri Cartier-Bresson Prize he received in 2013. Through a subtle work on - here transversal- lighting as well as the balance of blacks and whites, Patrick Faigenbaum seems to capture his models - looking away from the camera lens – in an intimate moment of their life or absorbed in contemplation: although similar, their natural, relaxed and even slack postures contrast with the rigor of the composed and stiff portrait by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot representing his young nephew, as well as The Vestal by Jacques-Louis David. 

Skilled in the art of photographic portrait and self-portrait, which has become one of his signatures, Youssef Nabil has also chosen to exhibit next to these two paintings. Influenced by the golden age of Egyptian cinema in the 40s-50s, the artist is here using the old Technicolor process. His analog hand-colored portraits express the melancholy of an eastern “belle époque” and invite us to take an introspective look, as is evidenced in his Self-portrait with an Angel, Paris 2007. Shyly looking down and overlooked by an angel, it is a magnificent visual and spiritual echo to Jacques-Louis David’s Vestal. His masculine nude entitled Amin Standing, Paris 2001 also highlights the juvenile and androgynous beauty of the handsome man depicted by Jean- Baptiste Camille Corot. 

Youssef Nabil, Amin Standing, Paris 2001, 2001. Hand colored gelatin silver print, 57 x 44 x 3,5 cm (22 7/16 x 17 5/16 x 1 3/8 in.). Edition of 10.

Considered one of the most influential international figurative painters today, American artist Elizabeth Peyton has been dedicating herself to portrait since the 90s, representing her friends and acquaintances as well as historic figures in an intimate and delicate style. With colorful shimmering touches reminiscent of the impressionist movement, and a real sense for stylization, the artist has managed to capture the evanescent -and also androgynous- grace of her models. Here, her work is exhibited next to a portrait much more official and hieratic, that of the Marquis Paul François de L’Hospital by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis. Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun also inspired the artist a work on Marie-Antoinette in the 90s. This late portrait by an artist who -yet with great freedom- became the ultimate court painter of the Old Regime reveals a less baroque and frivolous style than her famous pre-revolutionary portraits, but as delicate and subtle.

Jérôme Zonder also falls into a “romantic” tradition of portraits looking to probe the soul and reveal the interiority of its models. Using the specific means of his favorite media, graphite and charcoal drawing, the artist opens his research to an ontological dimension, looking to represent subjects with the very material they are made of: carbon, one of the main molecular components of the human body. Jérôme Zonder especially focuses on adolescence, the very age of metamorphose, which works together with the maturation of his graphic creations. Here, Marthe Meurier, the sleeping muse of Maurice Denis, represented in oil, chalk and wood charcoal, enters in dialogue with Zonder’s portrait of an adolescent with his face down, over which the artist has projected a vague and dreamlike inner world. In both cases, a moment of absence and vulnerability is delicately captured, reminding us that “all portraits are at the confluence of dream and reality” (Georges Perec). 

Jérôme Zonder, Portrait de Garance #54, 2017. Graphite and charcoal on paper, 164,5 x 164,5 cm, encadré (64 3/4 x 64 3/4 in.).

Jérôme Zonder, Portait de Pierre-François #5,  2020. Graphite on paper, 96 x 65,3 x 3,5 cm (37 25/32 x 25 23/32 x 1 3/8 in.).

Yet portrait can also be tackled in more abstract ways: like in the works of the great northern painter Eugène Leroy. Silhouettes and faces emerge from his many layers of paint, acquiring maturity, volume and depth through the artist’s impastos. Enlivened by a subtle play of light, their burying brings a quote by Blaise Pascal to mind: “A portrait conveys absence and presence, pleasure and pain”. 

Eugène Leroy, Portrait d’homme, 1970-1990. Oil on canvas, 93 x 60 cm (36 5/8 x 23 5/8 in.).

On the opposite side of this elusive figuration, Xavier Veilhan resorts to geometrical shapes to capture physical presence. Through works that combines sculpture, painting, installation, video, performance and photography, the artist has been revisiting the genre of portrait since the 80s, as well as classic statuary through the means of contemporary digital technologies. He creates his anthropomorphic sculptures become a real signature using a 3D technique that generates digital copies of his models based on a cloud of dots identified by the scanner. They therefore prolong the paradigm of portrait in a postmodern way. The work featured in this exhibition is closely related to the history of the genre for it is a painting-sculpture bas-relief. Standing out of the pictorial background in a frontal and solemn way, this polygonal bust responds to the noble, majestic and slightly frightening posture of the man holding a letter painted by Phillippe de Champaigne in 1650-1655. 

This collection of portraits reveals the pervasive influence of a classic repertoire, which transposed or appropriated rhetoric continues to appear relevant and impactful. But mostly, this confrontation underlines the fact that the art of portrait, renewed by the contribution of photography, conceptual art, abstraction and greater experimental freedom, is more topical than ever -especially for its ability to strike the viewer’s mind through its sociological dimension. A permanence of the genre that can easily be put in perspective: we should recall that in the founding myths of the history of art, the origin of portrait has always been associated with the birth of the first images.

Jeune veuve, 2000-2007. Detail of scanned contact sheet, inkjet print, 38 x 36,5 cm (14 31/32 x 14 3/8 in.). Edition of 3 + 1 AP.

Lot 181. Masques d’esprits, Chine, Dynastie Qi du Nord (550-577). Terre cuite. 20 x 23 cm chacun. Estimation: €2,200 - €2,800. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr. 

Lot 182. Peigne, Chine, Dynastie Tang (618-907). Argent partiellement doré. 9,3 x 13,5 cm. Estimation: €1,000 - €1,500. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr. 

Lot 186. Aiguière, Chine, Période des Royaumes Combattants (475-221 BCE). Terre cuite et alliage cuivreux. H. 22,5 cm. Estimation: €1,200 - €1,800. © Cornette de Saint-Cyr.