Globe céleste signé‘Gulielmus Janssonius Blaeu’ et daté 1603, éditéà Amsterdam après 1621. Photo AGUTTES

Globe à douze fuseaux et deux calottes polaires imprimées et colorées (restaurations), monté sur une sphère portée par le méridien en laiton muni d’un cercle horaire au Pole nord (manque l’index).
Troisième état du globe céleste édité par Blaeu en 1599, comme pair de son globe terrestre de la même date, révisé en 1603.
Pied en bois tournéà quatre colonnes portant l’horizon (petits accidents) du XVIIIeme. Diamètre du globe: 34 cm. Estimation : 100 000 - 120 000 €

AGUTTES. JEUDI 16 MAI À 14H15. Lyon - Brotteaux. info@aguttes.com - Expert: cabinet Dillée & Anthony Turner. 

Grand plat en porcelaine bleu-blanc. Photo Loeckx

(dia39) - € 200/300

Loeckx. 14 mai 2013. http://www.veilinghuisloeckx.be

Précieux collier de chevalier de l'ordre du Saint-Esprit par Jean-Charles Cahier. Photo Beaussant Lefèvre

Il est constitué de vingt-neuf maillons à trois motifs alternés unifaces en or ciselé, bruni ou amati et partiellement émaillé. Quinze figurent une fleur de lys; huit un «H»émaillé de blanc, chargé d'une couronne de laurier, reposant sur deux cornes d'abondance et entouré de trois couronnes royales, rappel de la pieuse devise d'Henri III, «Manet ultima caelo» (l'ultime est au ciel); six un trophée d'armes orné d'un heaume émaillé bleu à panache blanc, reposant sur une panoplie composée d'une massue d'Hercule, trompette, drapeau fleurdelisé, arc, flèche, carquois, sabre et lance de tournoi. Chaque maillon est anglé de flammes ondoyantes émaillées de rouge translucide sur fond guilloché. Ils sont reliés entre eux par vingt-huit anneaux cannelés aplatis passant dans deux petits anneaux latéraux émaillés vert. Chaque extrémité du collier se termine par un élément qui, une fois assemblé par un crochet devenu invisible, constitue un élégant fermoir de forme oblongue en or ciselé de rinceaux et de feuilles d'acanthe. Il est frappé de deux poinçons de contrôle à la tête de bélier (petite garantie de Paris en usage entre 1818 et 1838). Le maillon central comporte deux anneaux émaillés vert supplémentaires permettant de passage d'une chaînette à quinze anneaux cannelés soutenant la croix de l'ordre. La croix en or est à huit pointes pommetées, les bras, anglés de fleur de lys, sont bordés d'émaux blancs et ornés de flammes d'émail vert translucide. Le médaillon présente: sur l'avers une colombe la tête vers le bas, les yeux et le bec émaillés rouge, dont le plumage, en relief rehaussé d'or, est délicatement peint à l'émail; sur le revers, découpé sur un fond d'or rose bruni, Saint-Michel terrassant le démon. Bélière feuillagée sommée d'une triple coquille rocaille, anneau de suspension cannelé. Poinçon à la tête de bélier sur la fleur de lys supérieure droite. Longueur totale: 158 cm - Poids: 452 g La croix: Hauteur: 68,4 mm - Largeur: 64 mm

Les maillons présentent des éclats, principalement aux flammes, la croix d'infimes cheveux. Le collier est contenu dans un écrin piriforme en maroquin rouge à grain long dont le couvercle, clos par trois fermoirs en laiton, est orné sur le dessus d'une vaste composition dorée aux fers figurant: au centre les armes de France couronnées avec colliers reposant sur une main de justice et un sceptre fleurdelisé croisés, entourées de rinceaux; environnées de quatre monogrammes couronnés placés en croix de Saint-André, formés du double C fleurdelisé de Charles X; en bas, sur trois lignes la légende «ORDRE / DU / ST ESPRIT»; sur le pourtour, une large frise ornée de cornes d'abondance, feuilles d'acanthe et palmettes, bordée de filets et de roulettes fleurdelisées, cette dernière reprise sur les côtés et les rebords. L'intérieur, garni de soie blanche porte, au-dessus de la charnière, l'étiquette rectangulaire en maroquin vert estampée en lettres d'or sur deux lignes «CAHIER, ORFEVRE DU ROI / R.ST HONORE N°283 Cr-DT AU SINGE VIOLET». Le fond en velours de soie écrue présente des séparations spiralées permettant d'accueillir et de maintenir en place le collier. Le dessous, recouvert de papier maroquiné vert, présente cinq clous à tête sphérique servant de pieds. Il porte sur le haut, inscrit à l'encre noire, le numéro d'inventaire «6» et est orné, à sa base, de deux sceaux armoriés en cire rouge retenant un épais lacet de toile permettant de maintenir clos le fermoir central. Hauteur: 48,5 cm - Largeur: 40 cm (Quelques griffures sur le couvercle, les côtés endommagés avec des déchirures). France, Paris, 1825. Bon état général. Estimation : 40 000 - 60 000 €

Bien que les empreintes des sceaux sous l'écrin soient incomplètes et manquent de netteté, certains indices permettent de les déchiffrer et de les attribuer à un pair de France de la maison de Montmorency: le blason figure des alérions cantonnant une croix, les tenants semblent être des anges, la composition repose sur un manteau de pair de France sommé d'une couronne ducale, et les premiers mots de la devise «DIEU AIDE AU PREMIER B(aron chrétien)» sont parfaitement lisibles. En 1830, l'ordre du Saint-Esprit comptait deux Montmorency parmi ses membres, le duc de Laval et le duc de Luxembourg, tous deux nommés le 30 septembre 1820. Le collier du duc de Luxembourg se trouvant en main privée, il est donc probable que ce collier soit celui qui fut remis au duc de Laval le 25 mai 1828, jour de la Pentecôte, au cours de la cérémonie célébrée dans la chapelle des Tuileries. Anne-Adrien-Pierre de Montmorency (1768-1837), duc de Laval-Montmorency et de San Fernando Luis, chevalier de la Toison d'Or et grand d'Espagne, pair de France, lieutenant général, ambassadeur de France à Madrid (1814), Rome (1823), Vienne (1828) et Londres (1829), rentré en France en juillet 1830 il resta fidèle à Charles X.

Bibliographie indispensable: - Félix Panhard, L'ordre du Saint-Esprit au XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, Paris, Librairie héraldique de J.-B. Dumoulin, 1868. - Hervé Pinoteau, État de l'ordre du Saint-Esprit en 1830 et la survivance des ordre du roi, Nouvelles Éditions Latines, Paris, 1983. - Hervé Pinoteau, Étude sur les ordres de chevalerie du Roi de France, Le Léopard d'Or, Paris, 1995.

ORDRE du SAINT-ESPRIT, un rarissime emblème Le plus illustre des ordres de chevalerie de l'ancienne France fut fondé par Henri III à l'automne 1578. Dans un pays en proie aux soubresauts religieux et aux affres de la guerre civile, le roi souhaitait, par une nouvelle institution, s'attacher l'élite de ses sujets. L'antique ordre de Saint-Michel, fort dévalué par la quantité de ses membres, ne pouvait plus remplir cette fonction. Il créa donc un nouvel ordre, placé sous l'égide du Saint-Esprit auquel il vouait une particulière vénération en mémoire de son élection au trône de Pologne en 1573 et de son accession à la couronne de France en 1574, toutes deux un jour de Pentecôte. L'ordre était statutairement composé du roi, «chef et souverain grand maître» (art.2), et de cent membres catholiques ayant prouvés leur noblesse: neuf ecclésiastiques appelés «commandeurs», quatre cardinaux, quatre évêques et le grand aumônier de France, dispensé de preuve de noblesses; quatre-vingt-sept «chevaliers commandeurs», préalablement reçus chevaliers de l'ordre de Saint-Michel; et quatre «grands officiers commandeurs», le chancelier, le prévôt maître des cérémonies, le grand trésorier et le secrétaire greffier, ces deux derniers également dispensés de preuves de noblesses. Ses membres étaient revêtus de marques distinctives. Lors des cérémonies, ils portaient un somptueux manteau de velours noir brodé de flammes et un collier d'or émaillé. Au quotidien chacun devait porter une croix d'or à huit pointes suspendue à un ruban bleu céleste ainsi qu'une broderie d'argent, reprenant la forme de la croix, cousue sur l'habit. Si, dès sa nomination le nouveau chevalier portait la croix et la broderie, il ne devenait pleinement membre de l'ordre qu'après avoir prêté serment au grand maître et reçu de ses mains le manteau et le collier d'or émaillé. D'un poids de 200 écus, celui-ci lui était remis à titre viager. Ses héritiers devaient à sa mort le rendre au grand trésorier. Le 31 décembre 1578 eut lieu le chapitre fondateur de l'ordre, premier d'une longue série de cérémonies fastueuses qui rythmèrent l'Ancien Régime.

Aboli le 30 juillet 1791 par la Constituante, l'ordre survécut néanmoins modestement en émigration. Il revint en 1814 avec la Restauration et retrouva graduellement son lustre. Louis XVIII, en fin politique, l'estimait peu adaptéà la situation nouvelle, et n'en décorât d'abord que certains souverains étrangers. Après 1820 et l'espoir soulevé par la naissance du duc de Bordeaux, il nomma régulièrement des chevaliers issus des anciennes et nouvelles élites de la France, mais, n'ayant jamais été sacré, il ne put en recevoir aucun. C'est son frère et successeur Charles X qui rendit véritablement sa splendeur à ce corps chevaleresque. Avec en point d'orgue la cérémonie organisée au lendemain de son sacre à Reims le 30 mai 1825. Première fête de l'ordre depuis la Révolution, elle marqua la véritable renaissance de l'ordre et permit la réception des nouveaux chevaliers. Mais l'ordre n'avait plus de colliers disponibles. Ceux de l'Ancien Régime avaient pratiquement tous disparu dans la tourmente révolutionnaire, et la douzaine de colliers fabriqués au début de la Restauration par Coudray, avaient été remis aux membres de la famille royale et aux souverains étrangers. Il fallut donc en fabriquer quatre-vingts. Cinquante furent réalisés par la maison Ouzille et Lemoine et trente par l'orfèvre Jean-Charles Cahier. À vingt-neuf maillons, ces colliers constituaient l'ultime évolution du collier adopté par Henri IV au chapitre de Rouen le 7 janvier 1597 pour remplacer ceux d'Henri III à quarante maillons, dont vingt formés de lettres grecques à la signification jugée trop obscure. Cette évolution tendant à une réduction du nombre de maillons proportionnelle à l'accroissement de leurs dimensions individuelles. Ces nouveaux colliers du même modèle se différenciaient cependant dans le détail, ceux d'Ouizille, plus épais, possédaient des maillons plus carrés aux angles marqués; ceux de Cahier, successeur de l'illustre Biennais étaient moins lourds, mais le graphisme, sans doute plus proche de celui d'Ancien Régime, était plus délié et la colombe plus délicate. Reposant sur une administration efficace, notamment responsable de la gestion du trésor, l'ordre vécut somptueusement au rythme des promotions, des chapitres et des cérémonies de réception jusqu'à la chute de Charles X en juillet 1830. Il disparut alors publiquement. La France ne décernant plus désormais que l'ordre de la Légion d'honneur ces colliers perdirent leur dimension officielle et furent longtemps ignorés par l'État qui, tout en exposant au Musée des Souverains une reproduction en bronze, fit fondre en 1861 dix colliers provenant du trésor de l'ordre. À l'exception de quelques héritiers fidèles qui rendirent statutairement le collier au comte de Chambord (une trentaine environ), les colliers des chevaliers vivant en 1830 furent généralement conservés au sein de leur famille devenant, relique pour les uns, objet de collection pour les autres, ce sont eux qui, exceptionnellement, apparaissent sur le marché.

Beaussant Lefèvre. Mercredi 22 mai à 14h00. Paris - Drouot Richelieu - Salle no 2. 9, rue Drouot, 75009 Paris. Téléphone pendant la vente: 01 48 00 20 02. EMail : contact@beaussant-lefevre.com - Téll. : 01 47 70 40 00

Fauteuil en hêtre mouluré et sculpté. Estampillé Tilliard. Époque Louis XV. Photo Brissonneau & Daguerre

à décor de feuillages entourant un cartouche orné d'un ovale. Dossier plat, accotoirs en coup de fouet, il repose sur des pieds cambrés. (renforts). Soie brochée du XVIIIe siècle. H. 88 L. 66 P. 53 cm. Estimation : 2 000 - 2 500 €

Jean Baptiste Tilliard Ier, reçu maître en 1717.

Vendredi 17 mai à 14h00. Hôtel Drouot - Salle 1. Brissonneau: EMail : brissonneau@wanadoo.fr - Tél. : 01 42 46 00 07. Daguerre: EMail : info@daguerre.fr - Tél. : 01 45 63 02 60

A Wucai‘Chilong and lotus’ baluster jar and cover. Qing dynasty, Shunzhi period - Sothebys

the baluster body rising to a waisted neck, painted to the exterior with chilongclambering amidst undulating lotus scrolls above a band of flames, the shoulder surrounded by pendent ruyi lappets against a diaper ground beneath a keyfret band, encircled by composite floral scrolls at the neck, the domed cover similarly decorated. Quantité: 2 - 36.5cm., 14 3/8 in. Estimation: 7,000 - 9,000 GBP

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. London | 15 mai 2013 www.sothebys.com

Bergère en bois laqué gris à dossier renversé. Estampillé G. Jacob. Époque Directoire. Photo Brissonneau & Daguerre

accotoirs à colonne détachée ornés de feuilles de lotus et bagues, les pieds avant fuselés ornés de dents de scie.  (renforts) H. 32 L. 66 P. 55 cm. Estimation : 1 800 - 2 000 €

Georges Jacob, reçu maître en 1765.

Pour une paire de bergères estampillées, autrefois au Musée Marmottan, voir Musée Marmottan, ABC 1977, p. 50 et 51.

Vendredi 17 mai à 14h00. Hôtel Drouot - Salle 1. Brissonneau: EMail : brissonneau@wanadoo.fr - Tél. : 01 42 46 00 07. Daguerre: EMail : info@daguerre.fr - Tél. : 01 45 63 02 60

A three-piece famille-rose garniture. Qing dynasty, 18th century - Sothebys

comprising: a beaker vase and a pair of baluster vases and covers, each brightly decorated with a butterfly in flight and birds sheltering amongst large blooming peony branches issuing from pierced rocks, all between lappet, ruyi and floral diaper bands. Quantité: 5. The largest: 44.5cm., 17 1/2 in. Estimation: 6,000 - 8,000 GBP

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. London | 15 mai 2013 www.sothebys.com

Canapé en bois mouluré et sculpté.  Estampillé G. Jacob. Époque Louis XVI. Photo Brissonneau & Daguerre

de frises de rubans et chutes de piastres. H. 100 L. 167 P. 57 cm. Estimation : 1 800 - 2 000 €

Georges Jacob, reçu maître en 1765.

Vendredi 17 mai à 14h00. Hôtel Drouot - Salle 1. Brissonneau: EMail : brissonneau@wanadoo.fr - Tél. : 01 42 46 00 07. Daguerre: EMail : info@daguerre.fr - Tél. : 01 45 63 02 60

A rare Famille-verte ‘Bird and flowers’ square vase, Kangxi mark and period - Sothebys

of square section, the tapering body rising to angled shoulders surmounted by a waisted neck, painted to each face with birds amongst leafy floral blooms issuing from rocks, the shoulder with lingzhi sprays, similarly decorated with leafy floral branches and rocks on the neck, the recessed centre on the base inscribed with a six-character mark; 51cm., 20 1/8 in. Estimation: 15,000 - 20,000 GBP

PROVENANCE: Purchased in London in 1909.
A UK Private Collection.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. London | 15 mai 2013 www.sothebys.com

Fauteuil en hêtre mouluré et sculpté. Estampillé Tilliard. Époque Louis XV. Photo Brissonneau & Daguerre

à décor de feuillages, cartouches polylobés. Dossier plat, accotoirs en coup de fouet, il repose sur des pieds cambrés. H. 87 L. 59 P. 50 cm Lampas du XVIIIe siècle. Estimation : 1 200 - 1 500 €

Vendredi 17 mai à 14h00. Hôtel Drouot - Salle 1. Brissonneau: EMail : brissonneau@wanadoo.fr - Tél. : 01 42 46 00 07. Daguerre: EMail : info@daguerre.fr - Tél. : 01 45 63 02 60

Jean Baptiste Tilliard Ier, reçu maître en 1717.

A Chinese Imari shell-shaped ewer and basin. Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period - Sothebys

the ewer of nautilus shell shape, supported on a knopped stepped foot, set with a large scroll handle, the fluted exterior painted with bérainesque and foliate motifs, the scallop-shaped basin raised on three spiral feet and similarly decorated. Quantité: 2. The largest: 36.5cm., 14 3/8 in. Estimation: 20,000 - 30,000 GBP

PROVENANCE: Sotheby’s London, 7th November 2007, lot 345.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. London | 15 mai 2013 www.sothebys.com

Kathleen Gilje, Donna Velata, Restored, 1995. Oil on canvas, 33 ½” x 25 ¼”. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

GREENWICH, CT.- A new exhibition offers an overview of Kathleen Gilje's satirically pointed and technically adroit reincarnations of famous Old Master and nineteenth-century paintings. Through these works she comments on social, political and art historical issues of our day, and often recasts and reincarnates leading lights of the world of art scholarship, criticism and collecting. 

A trained restorer, who began her career working on the great national collections at the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, Gilje brings a sophisticated understanding of the techniques and materials of the older art that she reconfigures, be it a "restored" version of a van Eyck, Raphael, Gentileschi, Manet or Sargent. She often comments on contemporary fashions and manners by inserting anachronistic details into images from the distant past. Here, too, are juxtapositions of contemporary and older art, always with a topical thrust, and satirical send ups of iconic images. 

We recognize individuals, including artists like Louise Bourgeois and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the guise of portraits by Dürer and Velázquez, or the art historians Robert Rosenblum and Linda Nochlin as an Ingres and a Manet, or the New York Times art critic, Michael Kimmelman, as Eakins's The Thinker, all selectively portrayed with painterly aplomb. Even local residents appear among this pantheon, including the collector and President of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Jennifer Stockman, who is reincarnated as a Gustav Klimt figure. 

Gilje’s work offers commentaries on current political, economic and women's rights issues, but sometimes in such subtle forms that the images can only be detected with X-rays. The effect in the aggregate is to render the art of the past at once more whimsically accessible and pertinent to modern lives. 

The exhibition is accompanied by a generously illustrated catalogue, including an interview with the artist. A lecture series will also complement the show.

Kathleen Gilje, Portrait of Lodovico Capponi, Restored, 1993. Oil on wood panel, 48 7/8” x 33 3/4”. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

Kathleen Gilje, Lady with an Ermine, Restored, 1997. Oil on panel, 15 ¾” x 21 7/8”. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

Kathleen Gilje, Portrait of a Young Man, Restored 1996 Oil on panel 37 ½” x 29”. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

Kathleen Gilje, Portrait of Maria Baroncelli Portinari, Restored 1999 Oil on panel 17 3/8 x 13 3/8. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

Kathleen Gilje, Portrait of Tommaso Portinari, Restored 1999 Oil on panel 17 3/8 x 13 3/8”. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

Kathleen Gilje, Portrait of a Lady, Restored 1999 Oil on wood panel 13 7/8” x 18 ¼”. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

Kathleen Gilje, Portrait of Thomas Hamner, Restored 2004 Oil on linen 45 x 34”. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

Kathleen Gilje, Portrait of Louise Bourgeois after Durer’s Portrait of Bernhard von Reesen 2012 Oil on panel 19 x 13 ¼ inches. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

Kathleen Gilje, Basquiat as Velasquez’s Portrait of Juan De Pareja 2011 Oil on linen 40 x 31 ¾ inches. Courtesy of the Artist© Kathleen Gilje 2013.

The Picture Gallery at Sanssouci Park in Potsdam near Berlin. 

POTSDAM.- The Picture Gallery in Sanssouci Park creates a harmonious relationship of figurative decorations, paintings and sculptures.

While the building itself has remained largely unchanged, the inventories of painting and sculpture have experienced serious changes since 1786. These include art theft that took place at Napoleon’s command in 1806, a redistribution of works of art connected to the founding of a Royal museum (Altes Museum) on the Lustgarten in Berlin in 1830, as well as numerous losses suffered toward the end of World War II, in 1945. In spite of extensive returns, to this day the gallery’s history is characterized by a constant attempt to adequately rebalance its losses.

Now, 250 years after the completion of the Picture Gallery, and 184 years after relinquishing many of its paintings and ancient sculptures, the original impression of Frederick the Great’s Picture Gallery can be re-experienced. Loans from both the Classical Antiquities and Sculpture Collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, as well as from the National Museum in Poznan, a visual reconstruction of the Frederician hanging scheme for the paintings (in the display cases), and the dense hanging arrangement of the paintings in the smaller gallery (Cabinet) make this possible.

The extant inventory and installation remain on view, allowing for a trip through time that spans more than 250 years. 

THE PICTURE GALLERY AS A SYNTHESIS OF THE ARTS

The Picture Gallery is more than a magnificent shell for a painting collection. It represents a unique synthesis of the arts in which architecture, painting, sculpture and the decorative arts enter into dialogue with each other, forming a compendium of the arts.

The rich, gilded stucco decorations of the ceilings in the interior present allegories of the arts of painting and sculpture. Diverse variations on these themes were created by Johann Michael Merck (1714–1784) for the gallery to the west, and by Carl Joseph Sartori (1709–1770) for the gallery to the east. Frederick II wanted “absolutely nothing else but ancient marble” for the wall paneling of the galleries and had giallo antico – a very rare, bright yellow marble – procured for it from classical buildings. The diamond shapes used in the floor consist of white Carrara marble and giallo di Siena, or brocatello di Montarrenti, a yellow marble that was found near Siena. The floor was faithfully reconstructed in 1996. The central Domed Hall received a richly ornamented marble floor made of Florentine mosaic by Melchior Kambly (1718–1783) and Nathanael Eppen (died 1786).

The most precious materials and highly-talented craftsmanship created a formidable counterpart to the paintings, frames, encrusted wall tables and sculptures, whose selection and arrangement provide further insights into the mind of Frederick II. In addition to a pleasurable experience and stroll through the Picture Gallery, it was possible for viewers to engage in learned discussions about diverse aspects of art. 

Caravaggio, Doubting Thomas, 1595-1600. The Picture Gallery, Potsdam.

THE WORKS OF ART IN THE ROOM

At first glance, the arrangement of the works of art in the Picture Gallery does not stand out from that of other royal collections from the same period. The paintings were hung in a Baroque style, filling the walls. Sculptures were placed in relation to the architecture and arranged symmetrically or in rows: at the sides of the doors, as supraporte (overdoors), on wall tables or on consoles on the walls. In this manner the works of art were incorporated into each room’s respective interior decoration.

The extraordinary differences can only be read by taking a closer look, which allows the carefully thought out, ingenious underlying concept to be perceived.

Paintings and sculptures have been subjected to an ordering system based on classification, which presupposes a deep understanding of art. The comparison of genres, schools and artists with one another was a central principle. Paintings by different schools were displayed strictly separately for the first time, as is customary in museums today. While major works of 17th century Flemish and Dutch painting filled the western wing and the gallery’s central building, the eastern wing exhibited Italian paintings from the High Renaissance and the Baroque periods.

Antiquity and modern times are juxtaposed in the classical and French sculptures. Human history is presented through the portrait busts, alongside ancient myths that are personified in statues of the gods. The sensuous and playful small statues on the wall tables counterbalance the seriousness of this arrangement. All the works find their echoes in the paintings on the walls. 

Anton van Dyck, "Pentecost", between 1618 and 1620. The Picture Gallery, Potsdam.

CLASSICAL SCULPTURE

As early as 1742, King Frederick II purchased a collection put up for sale that had belonged to a cardinal with an ardent appreciation for art, Cardinal Melchior de Polignac (1661–1741), who had acquired the works in Rome from 1725–32. For the price of 300,000 livres, the young king suddenly owned 300 sculptures, pedestals and tabletops, among which he carefully chose a selection for his newly created palace interiors and for sections of his gardens.

The estate of Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1709–1758) was added in 1758. Frederick’s favorite sister had also acquired numerous ancient and modern sculptures, as well as pieces of marble, during her trip to Italy in 1755, which she bequeathed to her brother. Both siblings had shared an avid interest in classical literature, architecture and in collecting objects, which is reflected in their correspondence.

The sculptures that Frederick chose for the Picture Gallery are placed parallel to their historical installation sites in this exhibition. Their original settings can be easily imagined and reconstructed, making it possible to visually recreate the condition of the gallery during the Frederician era, nearly in its entirety.

MATTHIAS OESTERREICH SCHEMES AND CATALOGUES

In 1757, Frederick II summoned Matthias Oesterreich (1726–1778) to Potsdam from Dresden. The inspector of the Picture Gallery published its first hanging arrangement in 1763. It initially contained only the paintings in the main galleries – the works in the Gallery’s two wings, as well as in the central, Great Salon of the Gallery. In the Picture Gallery’s first catalogue, published in 1764, the paintings exhibited in the Cabinet (a smaller gallery located to the east) had been incorporated as well. Further, enhanced and expanded hanging schemes and catalogues were published in German and French in the years to follow, which allow changes in the inventory to be traced. The sculptures on display were included for the first time in a volume dating from 1773.

A two-volume collection of engravings conceived by Oesterreich, which intended to include engraved reproductions of the paintings, was only realized in part, most likely due to financial reasons and a lack of support from Frederick II. Oesterreich made an effort to pass on the level of knowledge known at that time and he also provided his own assessments. Even if these did not always meet with the approval of his contemporaries, his publications are still a vivid reflection of the history of scholarship, while also providing a basic source on the historic interior design and installations of Frederick II’s palaces and gardens. 

CHANGING TASTES AND PAINTING ACQUISITIONS

Frederick II changed the main emphasis of his collection during the Picture Gallery’s planning stage. Although he had collected works by Watteau’s circle in his youth, he was now interested in large-scale paintings by the Old Masters, and primarily history paintings. His aim was to situate himself at the forefront, alongside the major collectors of his times. Only the most famous artists were to be represented – including Rubens, van Dyck, Raphael, Correggio and Titian. In this case, it was particularly important to the king that he purchased the paintings himself, instead of having inherited them.

Within a very brief period, Frederick had acquired an extensive painting inventory for his gallery. Works of art were bought in Italy, Paris and the Netherlands. The king was supported by agents and art dealers. Purchases were made at auctions of high-caliber European collections. Among other sources, paintings were acquired in 1755 and 1756 from the Parisian collections of Louis Pasquier and Marie Joseph d’Hostun Duc de Tallard, and in 1763 from Willem Lormier’s collection in The Hague. However, sales from German art collectors and art dealers also enriched the inventory of the Picture Gallery. The Berlin merchant and dealer Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky brought together the largest portion of the collection.

The king continued to pursue his aims even in times of crisis during the Seven Years’ War. He defined the gallery’s composition and had fixed ideas about which artists and subjects should be represented. Although he gave instructions not to purchase paintings for very large amounts if possible, high prices were nevertheless paid for individual paintings. For example, he paid more than 21,000 livres (more than 4,800 thalers) for Correggio’s Leda and 20,000 livres (more than 4,600 thalers) for Rubens’ St. Cecilia – the largest sum paid for a painting at its auction. Frederick II invested 20,000 florins in the purchase of three altarpieces by van Dyck from the Abbey Ter Duinen in Bruges. Frederick also paid high prices for small-scale works by Adriaen van der Werff, numerous examples of which the king assembled together for the smaller gallery called the Cabinet. They represented popular collectibles in the 18th century, whose prices even surpassed those for some of Rubens’ paintings. 

THE FRENCH SCULPTURES

Frederick II spared neither money nor effort in order to juxtapose contemporary French sculptures with the classical works chosen for the Picture Gallery. In 1755, he commissioned four statues of Diana, Apollon, Mars and Venus from the sculptors Paul-Amboise (1702–1758) and Michel-Ange Slodtz (1705–1764), Lambert Sigisbert Adam (1700–1759) and Guillaume Coustou the Younger (1716–1777), each of whom were highly regarded in France at that time.

Despite the deaths of the Slodtz Brothers and of Adam, the subject scheme and commissions were continued by other sculptors. A drawing preserved at Berlin’s Museum of Prints and Drawings supplies us with an indication of the conceptual intensity with which this plan was carried out. It shows the design for a version of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne’s statue of Apollo that was never realized. Apparently several drafts were presented to the royal patron and the “assigned” (initialed) drawing went back to the sculptor for the work’s execution.

In the end Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne completed the Apollo, Louis-Claude Vassé (1717–1772) the statue of Diana and Coustou the Younger the statues of Mars and Venus. The transportation and installation of the sculptures first occurred in 1771; and was certainly delayed by the completion of the Apollo.

Journalists preview the exhibition "The Most Beautyful Gallery - Revisiting the Picture Gallery of Frederick the Great" at the Picture Gallery at Sanssouci Park in Potsdam near Berlin. The exhibition running from May 9 to October 31, 2013 is organised on the occasion of the gallery's 250th anniversary. The luxurious gallery building was constructed from 1755 to 1764 to host the art collection of Prussian King Frederick II. In addition to paintings from Frederick's original collection, paintings from other Prussian palaces are also included in the museum's permanent exhibition. Among the highlights are Caravaggio's "Doubting Thomas," Anton van Dyck's "Pentecost" and works by Peter Paul Rubens. AFP PHOTO / OLE SPATA.

Visitors walk past the statue of a muse on display at the exhibition "The Most Beautyful Gallery - Revisiting the Picture Gallery of Frederick the Great" at the Picture Gallery at Sanssouci Park in Potsdam near Berlin. The exhibition running from May 9 to October 31, 2013 is organised on the occasion of the gallery's 250th anniversary. The luxurious gallery building was constructed from 1755 to 1764 to host the art collection of Prussian King Frederick II. In addition to paintings from Frederick's original collection, paintings from other Prussian palaces are also included in the museum's permanent exhibition. Among the highlights are Caravaggio's "Doubting Thomas," Anton van Dyck's "Pentecost" and works by Peter Paul Rubens. AFP PHOTO / OLE SPATA.

Lü Ji (ca. 1429-ca. 1505), Snowy Landscape and Birds. Ming dynasty. Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 169.6 x 90.5 cm.

In this desolate scene after a snowfall, both river and sky appear as dark as ink. Several wild ducks are huddled against the cold, with a few already asleep. Freezing sparrows and cold spotted doves perch on the branches of the drooping willow tree above. Lü Ji has here fully grasped the reality of atmosphere in this scenery, allowing the viewer to feel the cold of a winter's day. The use of brush and ink reveals Lü Ji's uncontrived and natural style. With even greater abbreviation and succinctness, it differs from his other works by adding another layer of archaic simplicity.

Lü Ji (style name Tingzhen, sobriquet Leyu), a native of Ningbo in Zhejiang, was a famous court painter of the middle Ming dynasty. Many details of his life are still unknown, so only through records of related individuals and his promotion at court can we infer that he was probably born in 1429 under the Xuande Emperor and died around 1505 under the Hongzhi Emperor. Lü Ji entered the court late under the Chenghua Emperor (r. 1465-1487) and became highly regarded by the Hongzhi Emperor (r. 1488-1505), serving in the Renzhi Palace and rising to the sinecure post for painters of Commander of the Imperial Bodyguard. At one time when he fell ill, the emperor even continued sending his regards, about which Lü Ji said of himself, "Such great benefaction is difficult to bear." The poet Hang Huai (1462-1538) in a verse entitled "Inscribed on a Painting of 'Apricot Blossoms'" from his Shuangxi Anthology included the line, "In recent times the paintings of Lü Ji are the best."

According to historical records, Lü Ji first studied the painting style of Bian Wenjin (ca. 1356-ca. 1428), an important early Ming court painter of bird-and-flower subjects. Lü also once had the opportunity to view and copy famous paintings of the Tang and Song dynasties at the residence of the Imperial Physiognomist, Yuan Zhongche (1376-1458), who hailed from the same hometown. At court Lü Ji further learned from the famous painter Lin Liang (ca. 1424-after 1500), finally developing a style of his own combining "fine-line" and "sketching-idea" manners as well as splendor and naturalness. Lü Ji excelled at rendering emotive scenes, using mostly centered brushwork rounded and upright with force, his coloring bright and beautiful but not lacking in warmth and solidity.

During his service at court, Lü Ji was often summoned to do paintings, and to meet the large numbers of works required by the court, he might have formed a studio with assistants to help complete these imperial commissions. As a bird-and-flower painter of the court greatly admired by the emperor, his works naturally became models for study, not only influencing bird-and-flower painting of the Ming and Qing dynasties, but even that from as far away as Japan. Among the surviving works to Lü Ji's name, some are collaborative efforts done with other court painters, many are by other artists who appropriated his name, while others are spurious imitations.

The imitations of Lü Ji's works are often on the subject of wild geese and ducks or egrets paired with hibiscus, willow trees, or reeds. Sometimes their style is close to the "fine-line" colorful works of Bian Wenjin, while others are more closely associated with the "sketching-idea" painting in monochrome ink by Lin Liang, revealing the atmosphere of clear beauty or hazy mists often seen in Lü Ji's works. This exhibition not only includes representative examples of Lü Ji's bird-and-flower painting but also several imitations that demonstrate the art and influence of his style. Text and images are provided by National Palace Museum

Zeng Fanzhi, The Tiger. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2013

oil on canvas, 94 7/8 x 137 5/8 in. (241 x 350 cm.). Painted in 2011. Estimate $1,500,000 – $2,500,000

Provenance: Gift of Pinault Collection 

Notes: This lot was not consigned by CCF Community Initiatives Fund to benefit the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Rather this lot was consigned by a seperate consignor who will be donating the entirety of the sale proceeds to CCF Community Initiatives on behalf of The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. A buyer who purchases this lot wil not be eligible for any charitable contribution deduction in relation to such purchase.

One of the most celebrated of contemporary Chinese artists, Zeng Fanzhi has set out on a new frontier in his paintings of personal introspection and emotion, fully revealed in his rendering of The Tiger, 2011. Zeng paints at the pinnacle of a quickly developing art world, challenging himself with each changing tide of his modern environment and the resulting emotions. This, in turn, challenges his audience to react and take part in his artistic dialogue. Zeng has always been strongly influenced by both his emotional and physical surroundings as well as observations of human interaction with the environment. His newest Landscape series, dark and haunting, serves to highlight the figure's vulnerability and frailty of his material existence, a universal connection that allows Zeng to better relate to his viewers. In these recent works, Zeng has eliminated the human figure entirely, featuring solitary animal figures, brooding, mysterious, and spiritual. In the present work, The Tiger Zeng captures the image of a solitary tiger ensnarled in a threatening and violent thicket of branches.

Zeng Fanzhi grew up during the Cultural Revolution and studied at the Hubei Academy of Fine Art.
There, he developed an interest in German Expressionism, which is reflected by many of his works and series throughout his lifetime and into the present. Throughout the political and ideological changes in China, Zeng has maintained a strong personal tone of introspection and private sentiments, feelings shared by humanity at large yet not always so freely and publicly pronounced. He paints with a focus on life at present, encompassed by the modern moment within society and the universe at large, thereby relating to the mindset, experience, and spirituality of his own generation.

In 2008, Zeng introduced animals into his landscapes, signifying all life in relation to nature. Often an endangered species, the animal further symbolizes a feeling of threatened survival, much like humankind's hardships, helplessness, and isolation in the world of nature. In The Tiger, the insurmountable, hostile landscape overtakes the figure, as the tiger's apprehensive eyes pierce the calligraphic lines of the tangled branches. Zeng projects his internalized anxiety and repressed emotion through the haunted landscape, sounding from the tiger's snarl and emanating from the unnerving light. It is as though the animal is a potential threat but also the viewer's spiritual guide through the menacing terrain.The Tiger confronts the audience with a brooding and eerily human expression that is simultaneously haunting yet inviting in its familiarity. The Tiger represents a mature moment in Zeng's career, thoroughly transcending his previous creative phases and permitting an artistic and universal vocabulary to merge all of his work into one continuous conversation. He maintains a dialogue with the past while using tools from the modern present along with his personal style and private emotions in order to reach a universal audience. Zeng's landscape of human experience and his capacity to evoke the sentiments of his viewers as well as a care for an awareness of the environment is unmatched in contemporary art.

Christie's. THE 11TH HOUR. 13 May 2013. New York, Rockefeller Plaza. 

Lü Ji (ca. 1429-ca. 1505), Autumn Shoals and Waterfowl, Ming dynasty.

Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 177.2 x 107.3 cm.

On a hazy and misty autumn evening, a partial bright moon appears suspended in the skies above. Four bean geese rest on a bank with hibiscus and reeds; three have already fallen asleep as another cries out at the moon. The brushwork in painting the birds and flowers in this work is fine but not stiff, while the rendering of the slope is sketchy yet complete. Not only does this work portray geese resting at night, it also shows the habit of one of the geese standing guard over the others. The painting likewise conveys the coolness of an autumn evening while serving as a means for the artist to lodge the various emotions of a certain time and scene. In terms of technique, this work thus demonstrates Lü Ji's ability to fuse fine and sketchy manners, being a representative example of his grasping both mood and atmosphere. Text and images are provided by National Palace Museum

Lü Ji (ca. 1429-ca. 1505), Autumnal Egrets and Hibiscus. Ming dynasty.

Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 192.6 x 111.9 cm

Pink hibiscuses in full bloom on an autumn day appear on the bank of a lily pond as a willow sways in the breeze. With the white egrets, the scene expresses a radiantly beautiful and colorful autumn. In terms of composition, a large waterfowl (white egret) stands on the foreground slope, while the main tree (willow) extends diagonally into the scenery. Perched in the tree are smaller birds (tits), thereby completing a compositional format frequently seen in Lü Ji's paintings. The bird-and-flower motifs in this work are all done with brushwork of even and fluid lines without any stiffness. The brushwork in the tree and rock motifs rises and falls with variation, having both interruption and continuity. The hues are bright and beautifully straightforward, making this a representative example of Lü Ji’s sumptuous court style. Text and images are provided by National Palace Museum

Bharti Kher (b. 1969), The Skin Speaks A Language Not Its Own. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2013

bindis on fibreglass, 55 7/8 x 180 x 76¾ in. (142 x 456.2 x 195 cm.) Executed in 2006. This work is one of three unique variants plus one artist's proof. Estimate $1,800,000 – $2,500,000

Provenance: Collection of the artist
Private collection
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Literature: Bharti Kher--an absence of assignable cause, exh. cat., New York, pp. 30-39 (another example illustrated in color).
Urban Manners. 15 Contemporary Artists from India, exh. cat., Milan, 2007, n.p. (another example illustrated in color).
F. Bousteau, Made by Indians, Paris, 2007, pp. 134-135 (another example illustrated in color).
M, Majumdar, 'Bharti Kher: Transformative vision', Art Asia Pacific, No. 56, 2007, pp. 134-139 (another example illustrated in color).
Bharti Kher, exh. cat., New Delhi, 2007, pp. 60-63 (another example illustrated in color).
Bharti Kher, exh. cat., New Delhi, pp. 60-63 (another example illustrated in color).
J. Neutres, New Dheli New Wave, Bologna, 2007, pp. 70 and 73-76 (another example illustrated in color).
J. Kopolos, 'Bharti Kher,' Art in America, vol. 96, no. 5, 2008, p. 191 (another example illustrated in color).
P. Holmes, 'Bharti Kher,' Art News, vol. 108, no. 4, 2009, pp. 96-101 (another example illustrated in color).
M. Herbert, 'Bharti Kher. It's not about her, it's about you,' Art Review, no. 39, 2010, p. 74 (another example illustrated in color).

Exhibited: Berlin, Haus de Kulturen de Welt, Re-Imagining Asia, March-May 2008, pp. 288-9 (another example exhibited and illustrated in color).
Klosterneuberg, Essl Museum and Tokyo, Mori Art Musuem, Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art, September 2008-March 2009, pp. 136-7(another example exhibited and illustrated in color).
London, Parasol unit foundation for Contemporary Art, Bharti Kher, September-November 2012.

Notes: This lot was not consigned by CCF Community Initiatives Fund to benefit The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Rather this lot was consigned by a separate consignor who will be donating a portion of the sale proceeds to CCF Community Initiatives on behalf of The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. A buyer who purchases this lot will not be eligible for any charitable contribution deduction in relation to such purchase.

In The Skin Speaks a Language Not its Own, the female elephant appears prone and vulnerable, away from her herd, as though subjugated and ready for death. Is she the victim of violence? Or is she being weighed down by the multitudinous bindis swarming on her skin, which themselves recall the crowds of India's largest cities in rush hour immortalised in so many photographs and movies?

The bindis embody much of the change that is occurring in India. While the bindi has long been a facial adornment linked to religion and enlightenment, in a form occurring during Hindu marriage when the groom smears red paint on the hairline of the bride, it has now been subject to a commercial transformation, appearing in shops in a new incarnation as mass-produced stickers, rather than marks made individually by hand. In The Skin Speaks a Language Not its Own, these bindis make up elaborate, decorative patterns on the creature's skin, while also invoking that clash between commerce and culture that is occurring in so many places in the world, which is often considered an advance, and yet which so often comes at great cost as traditions, beliefs and old ways are abandoned. Kher has a distinct perspective when it comes to India, as she is a relatively rare 'reverse migrant'-she left Great Britain, where she was born and educated, in her early 20s, 'returning' to a country with which she was related and yet which she had not visited for almost two decades. Coming from the West to the turbulent maelstrom of booming India, Kher was able to experience and explore the changes that have resulted in so much societal change and upheaval as the Indian economy and its international links have grown. 

While some changes have occurred at a vast pace, others have been slower: cars, computers and mobile phones may proliferate, yet there has been less liberalisation of gender roles than might be expected, as some traditions and traditional views have remained entrenched. The sperm-like appearance of the bindis introduces another level of dialogue regarding the roles of men and women in modern Indian society: perhaps the title implies that, regardless of what the she-elephant desires, sperm and phallocentricity prevail. The crouching pose of the elephant and the anthropomorphic projection that is caused by the viewer's empathy ensure that the animal acts as a substitute for the female body, tapping into the gender dialogue which Kher has explored in many of her works. As a female artist working in India, Kher is acutely aware of the various ambiguities and difficulties being faced on many of the country's fronts. The elephant in The Skin Speaks a Language Not its Own appears to embody the plight of women and also India itself: it is a timeless symbol intrinsically linked to the culture, beliefs and religion of that country.

In India, most of the elephants roam wild, yet many are still feted in festivals, kept in temples, worked in fields. Despite the mechanisation so commonly linked to the process of modernisation, in some places, the elephants continue in their ageless, ancient roles, be it in forests or rituals. They are often associated with Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of Hindu religion whose immense popularity, in part through his role as Lord-and Remover-of Obstacles, has seen his images proliferate throughout Asia and beyond.
Yet to the Western eye, they remain exotic, symbols of the romance of the Subcontinent reminiscent of the age and writings of Rudyard Kipling. They therefore perform a complex function as symbols of India's colonial past - a past to which Kher, as a British-born Indian, is inextricably linked.

Christie's. THE 11TH HOUR. 13 May 2013. New York, Rockefeller Plaza.

Lü Ji (ca. 1429-ca. 1505), Apricot Blossoms and Peacocks. Ming dynasty. 

Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 203.4 x 110.6 cm

In China, the peony is associated with wealth and the peacock with splendor. One of the Chinese characters in "peacock" is also a homonym for "noble rank," so this bird symbolizes the rank and position of a high official. Therefore, all elements conform to the atmosphere at court while suggesting scenery from an imperial garden. The brushwork throughout the painting is steady and fine, and the application of blue-and-green colors with lead-white is not temperamental, giving the work a solemn and quiet feeling very much in the manner of Lü Ji. Despite the repetitiveness of the texturing in the tree and rocks along with the patterned sparrows, it could still be a work that Lü Ji had completed with assistants at his studio and thereby retaining the original appearance of his style. Text and images are provided by National Palace Museum