Auction Watch: Impressionist and Modern Week, New York (Nov. 2nd - Nov. 4th)

So it is that time again! New York Fall = warm coasts, boots, and... ART AUCTIONS! Impressionist and Modern Auction Week is almost upon us and I thought it would be a bit fun to go through and pick out some of my favorites and share them with you. I also wanted to share the online catalogues with you so that you could find your own favorites and follow them as they either reach new records for artists or fall miserably below the low estimate (the horror!). I would love to hear what works are catching your eye! Let me know in comments or emails what works you will be watching/drooling over! I am going to be picking a few from each evening sale and a few from each day sale that I would love to take home if I had an extra $100 million or so lying around. I will also be following up this post with a auction watch for the Prints Sales because, well... that's what I actually collect.

A little background for those new to the game:

The Evening Sale, each auction house has one Evening and one Day sale, is the big-time players. This is where the huge numbers you hear about in the New York Times come from. When Francis Bacon's Triptych sold for millions? Evening sale. When Picasso smashed the highest price paid for a work at auction? Evening sale. I think you get my point. This sale is a social event. Beginning at night, people dress to the nines and watch art less than 1% of the world can afford go for prices that would feed a small country for a good amount of time. It is a SPECTACLE.

The Day Sale, always the day after the Evening sale, is for works that are also usually high quality but lack the rareness factor or star power that goes into the works shown at the ES. These works are just as beautiful, often by the same artists selling the night before but may be from a less desirable time period or a drawing instead of a painting. Often these works are just as good as those in the Evening Sale but can stand out more against works in this sale or go thematically with something already in this sale.


Christie's, Evening Sale (Nov. 3rd)
"http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=22589#action=refine&intSaleID=22589&sid=ff871b1c-cb0d-4d9d-be8b-cd5f361cfa62">Online Catalogue



Lot 22 Egon Schiele (1890-1918)
Mann und Frau (Umarmung)
signed and dated 'Egon Schiele 1917' (lower center)
gouache and black crayon on paper
19¼ x 11 3/8 in. (48.9 x 28.9 cm.)
Executed in 1917
$4,000,000 - $6,000,000


Lot 23 Juan Gris (1887-1927)
Violon et guitare
signed, inscribed and dated 'Juan Gris, Céret. 9-13' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
39½ x 25¾ in. (100.3 x 65.4 cm.)
Painted in Céret, September 1913
$18,000,000 - $25,000,000



Lot 80 Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968)
Portrait de Mme Jasmy
signed 'van Dongen' (lower center)
oil on canvas
51 x 38 in. (129.5 x 96.5 cm.)
Painted in 1916



Christie's Day Sale (Nov. 4th)
"http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=22590#action=refine&intSaleID=22590&sid=e5e61f51-61e7-423a-9ecc-5577eb55a767">Online Catalogue


Lot 125 Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
Femme assise
signed and dated 'Henri Matisse 10/42' (lower left); signed and dated again and indistinctly dedicated 'H Matisse 11 May 1945 En hommage à Madame M' (lower right)
pen and India ink on paper
20¾ x 16 in. (52.7 x 40.6 cm.)
Drawn in October 1942
$400,000 - $600,000


Lot 140 Egon Schiele (1890-1918)
Mädchen mit rotem Haar
signed with initials 'ES' (lower right)
colored pencils and pencil on buff paper
11¾ x 12½ in. (29.9 x 31.8 cm.)
Drawn in 1909
$60,000 - $80,000


Sotheby's, Evening Sale (Nov. 2nd)
To see pictures of these objects head over to Sotheby's online catalogue...
"http://www.sothebys.com/app/ecatalogue/fhtml/index.jsp?event_id=29933#/r=index-fhtml.jsp?event_id=29933|r.main=event.jsp?event_id=29933/">Here


I'm going with the masses on this one...


Lot 7 Amedeo Modigliani
Nu Assis Sur Un Divan (La Belle Romaine)
Signed Modigliani
Oil on canvas
39 3/8 x 25 5/8 in.
Painted in 1917
Estimate thought to be somewhere around $40 million

Lot 14 Amedeo Modigliani
Jeanne Hebuterne (Au Chapeau)
Signed Modigliani (lower right)
Oil on panel
26 3/8 x 20 1/4 in.
Painted in 1917
$9,000,000 - 12,000,000

Lot 22 Chaim Soutine
La Dinde Pendue
Signed Soutine (lower right)
Oil on canvas
36 x 28 1/2 in.
Painted circa 1925
$1,5000,000 - 2,000,000

Lot 61 Oskar Kokoschka
Orpheus und Eurydike (Orpheus and Eurydice)
Signed OK (upper left)
Oil on canvas
27 3/4 x 20 in.
Painted in 1917
$600,000 - 800,000



Sotheby's Day Sale, Session 1 (Nov. 3rd)
"http://www.sothebys.com/app/ecatalogue/fhtml/index.jsp?event_id=29934#/r=index-fhtml.jsp?event_id=29934|r.main=event.jsp?event_id=29934/">Online Catalogue

Lot 147 Pablo Picasso
Le Peintre Carlos Casagemas
Signed Picasso (upper left)
watercolor and ink on paper
7 3/4 x 5 7/8 in.
Executed circa 1900
$70,000 - 90,000


Sotheby's Day Sale, Session 2 (Nov. 3rd)

Lot 321 Kurt Seligman
L'impasse Pivote
Signed K. Seligman and dated 1938 (lower right)
Pen and ink on paper
25 1/2 x 19 in.
Executed in 1938
$10,000 - 15,000

Lot 352 Egon Schiele
Die Vision Des Heiligen Hubertus (The Vision of Saint Hubert)
Signed Egon Schiele and dated 1916 (lower right)
Oil on panel
11 5/8 x 18 1/8 in.
Painted 1916
$200,000 - 300,000