Sotheby’s New York Highlights Release September - December 2009 FINE CHINESE FURNITURE, WORKS OF ART AND CARPETS FROM THE ARTHUR M. SACKLER COLLECTIONS Exhibition opens: 11 September 16 September 2009 17
RAREST WINES FEATURING WINES DIRECT FROM BODEGAS VEGA SICILIA 14 November 2009
This fall Aulden Cellars-Sotheby’s will sell a collection of wines direct from the legendary Spanish winemaker Bodegas Vega Sicilia owned by the Alvarez family. Following upon the tremendous success of Sotheby’s June 2009 sale in London featuring wines direct from the Cellars of Château Cheval Blanc, Sotheby’s once again brings collectors an unprecedented opportunity to acquire wines directly from one of the world’s greatest and most revered wineries. The section will comprise 214 lots estimated at more than $350,000, with highlights including 436 bottles of the vineyard’s signature wine Vega Sicilia Único from 1921 to 1999 and five vertical selections, including a vertical collection of 41 bottles from 1921-1999, all signed by the winery’s general director Pablo Alvarez (est. $15/25,000). Another highlight is the magnum collection of David Alvarez, which comprises a complete vertical of magnum #1 for each vintage of Vega Sicilia Único from 1960 to 1995, with the exception of 1968, which David enjoyed in celebration of his 80th birthday (magnum #1482 will be included from the 1968 vintage) (est. $12/20,000). Sotheby’s sale will include not only wines from Bodegas Vega Sicilia, but also all of the wines from Grupo Vega Sicilia, which is led by Pablo Alvarez and includes Bodegas Alión, Bodegas Pintia, both in Spain, and Tokaj Oremus in Hungary.
LATIN AMERICAN ART Exhibition opens: 14 November 18-19 November 2009
Among the highlights of the fall 2009 sale of Latin American Art is Fernando Botero’s El Picador from the collection of Mary Schiller Myers and Louis S. Myers, noted collectors and arts benefactors from Akron, Ohio (est. $400/600,000, pictured here). Bullfighting is a theme that has captured the imagination of artists for hundreds of years. Botero was exposed to bullfighting during his childhood in Medellín and it soon became one of his favorite pastimes. He once said, “My first passion was the bulls…In 1983 after attending a bullfight in Medellín, I retraced by steps along the road on which I had started, I thought to myself: ‘This is a worthy subject with a long tradition…’” The present work, painted in 1984, is part of a series completed in the 1980s that the artist devoted to every aspect of the sport – from portraits of matadors and picadors to the various stages of the fights. Also from the Myers collection is a wonderful example of Rufino Tamayo’s universal couples, Pareja en gris, from 1983 (est. $400/600,000).
FRENCH FURNITURE , INCLUDING CERAMICS AND CARPETS Exhibition opens: 18 November 23 November 2009
The autumn sale of Important French Furniture, Including Ceramics and Carpets will feature property from several important private collections. Highlights from the sale include a Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Vernis Martin Commode Stamped I Dubois JME, circa 1745 (est. $120/180,000); A Louis XIV Ormolu-Mounted and Brass-Inlaid, Tortoiseshell-Veneered and Ebonized Commode in the manner of Noel Gerard (est. $30/50,000); and a Louis XIV Embroidered Silk Table Carpet (est. $200/300,000). Among the porcelain highlights will be an Impressive
