Sotheby’s New York Highlights Release FINE EUROPEAN FURNITURE Exhibition opens: 27 March INCLUDING TAPESTRIES, SILVER, CERAMICS AND CARPETS 1 April 2010
most wonderful pictures in the world” by famed art critic John Ruskin. John William Godward will be represented in the sale by Dolce Far Niente (est. $500/700,000), depicting a beautiful woman reclining horizontally, gazing up at an exquisite green parrot perched on her finger.
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MRS. CHARLES WRIGHTSMAN: Exhibition opens: 23 April
THE LONDON RESIDENCE
28 April 2010
This spring, Sotheby’s will have the pleasure of offering Property from the Collection of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman’s London Residence. Mrs. Wrightsman’s incomparable taste and elegance are rivaled only by her commitment to charitable works including the fostering of many distinguished cultural institutions such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art. For her London home in St. James’ Place overlooking Green Park, she collaborated with legendary French decorator Henri Samuel and filled it with splendid French and English furniture, rugs, porcelain, silver and fine art acquired mainly from notable dealers over the course of several decades. Among the highlights of the single owner sale is a fine offering of French furniture including a set of four Louis XV giltwood fauteuils à la reine, circa 1755, one stamped Tilliard (est. $120/180,000), with Louis XV Tapestry Upholstery and a pair of Louis XVI ormolu-mounted mahogany armoires, circa 1780, attributed to J. H. Riesener (est. 120/180,000). Among the English works on offer is a fine Regency leather-lined mahogany writing table, first quarter 19th century (est. $80/120,000) and a selection of vases incorporating Blue John, such as a Regency ormolu-mounted Blue John two-handled vase, circa 1805 (est. $30/50,000). The porcelain and silver from Mrs. Wrightsman’s residence is comprised of both table services as well as individual pieces, such as a Régence silver-mounted famille verte écuelle and cover, the
bowl late 17th century, the mounts Paris, circa 1715 (est. $20/30,000). A group of paintings, drawings and prints features 19th century works including Ernest-Ange Duez’s snapshot of Belle Epoque Paris, Au Restaurant Le Doyen (est. $60/80,000).
PRINTS
Exhibition opens: 25 April
29 & 30 April 2010
Featured among the modern highlights of the spring Prints sale are several important private collections, including a single-owner offering of American prints from The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Flower, led by Edward Hopper’s 1923 etching, The Locomotive at $40/60,000 and Stuart Davis’ 1931 lithograph Two Figures and El at $25/35,000. The collection also includes a nearly comprehensive offering of Martin Lewis’ etchings.
The sale will also be highlighted by Masterworks by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec from the S. Joel Schur Collection, comprising a selection of the artist’s best known lithographic posters depicting 1890s café society in Paris, and the very rare three-sheet Moulin Rouge, La Goulue (est. $250/350,000). Other highlights of the sale include Picasso’s first and most complex linoleum cut, Buste de Femme d'après Cranach le jeune (B. 859; Ba. 1053) (est. $350/500,000); and Max Beckmann’s powerful self-portrait from 1921, Self-Portrait with Bowler Hat (est. $150/200,000). Featured within the Contemporary offerings is a single-owner collection of eight etchings by the masterful draftsmen Lucian Freud, including Head and Shoulders
