Sotheby’s Press Call

I was at Sotheby’s yesterday morning for yet another press call. This one was “to mark the start of £500 million selling season”. Modern, Impressionist, and Contemporary works were all on display. The Impressionist & Modern evening sale will be 25 June at 7 pm and the Contemporary evening sale is scheduled for 1 July at 7 pm.

Some of the highlights of the exhibition:

-Gormley’s life size maquette of Angel of the North (est£600,000 – £800,000) was the darling of the photographers. An edition of 5, it seems all are in the hands of private owners.

-Severini’s Danseuse takes the front cover of the Imps&Mods catalogue in all its pastel glory. It has a strong geometric presence and looks like it owes much to German expressionism. However, I just can’t get over the fact that it looks like it should be hanging in a five year old girl’s room. As a girl who always had pink walls in her bedroom, I should know. Plus, I think the estimate is a little high at £7m-£10m.

-A few Giacometti sculptures – maybe hoping for Abramovich wannabes?

-There’s a Monet beach-scene up that Sotheby’s is really promoting. It’s a nice work, but it was recently bought-in in New York and it’s by no means outstanding. Sad considering Christie’s has a lovely Monet for their Imps&Mods sale that I’m really looking forward to seeing.

-Raoul Dufy’s Le Havre -14 Juillet was by far my favorite piece of the Imps&Mods followed closely by Kandinsky’s Park von St. Cloud – mit reiter. Both lovely pieces.

-The band U2 is selling a Basquiat that they bought collectively in 1989. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Basquiat (probably because I’m not actually old enough to remember his work being new and exciting), but this painting is a fabulous one. According to Alex Branczik, deputy director of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Department, the band bought the painting together in 1989 as a sort of “insurance policy” (though, as Alex said, after Joshua Tree they didn’t really need it). Apparently Adam Clayton is the collector of the group and the one who convinced the other three to invest in the painting. Well done, Adam.

-Three Murakamis are in the contemporary sale – a DOB Flower and a Mushrooms paintings. and also a Kiki sculpture. Not overly exciting, but nice to see my golden man back in the evening sales.

-The lovely Study for the Head of George Dyer is in the sale. It was a joy to be able to see it again. Such a fantastic painting. I’ve never been a huge Bacon fan (not that I don’t love his compositions/style/colors, but they really just don’t do much for me aesthetically) but this portrait is absolutely gorgeous. While the estimate is upon request, it seems Sotheby’s is banking on £8m-£10m. There’s another Bacon in the sale as well, Figure Turning. Not nearly as nice as the portrait, but a really great composition of movement and very Bacon.

Image courtesy of Sothebys.com.

-Some older Gilbert and George silver prints. Really lovely ones, none of their recent “we’re obviously doing this to try and shock you, aren’t you so shocked?” work.

Basically, they have some really great works lined up for the Contemporary sale, and a few strong ones in the smaller Impressionist & Modern sale. I’m looking forward to being in the saleroom those nights.