Thursday, April 30, 2015

Georges Rouault



 Sotheby's 2013




Georges Rouault
Estimate 80,000120,000 USD


Christie's 2015




Christie's 2014




Christie's 2013





Christie's 2012








Christie's 2011










Christie's 2010







Christie's 2008








Christie's 2004



Christie's 2000





Christie's 1999



National Gallery of Art

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

New Neighbours II: Alte Pinakothek


50 works of French, Spanish, Italian, Flemish, Dutch and German Baroque painting can now be seen as ‘new neighbours’ in dynamic constellations. Masterpieces by Rubens, Rembrandt and other Baroque masters are being made accessible to the general public once again in this way following the closure of several rooms in the Alte Pinakothek for renovation.

The exhibition addresses four different themes through the juxtaposition of these masterpieces: ‘Nature and Mythology’, ‘Portraits’, ‘Art in Rome around 1600’ and ‘Caravaggism’. One element linking the topics is the pictorial mise-en-scène of the human figure.


An additional common motif shared by the paintings in the first part of the exhibition is the landscape. Whether in the idealised Classical mood of Claude Lorrain or inspired by the pastoral Mediterranean way of life, as in the case of the Dutch who visited Italy, thoroughly different facets found expression in depictions of nature. The countryside and landscapes may also serve as a backdrop: for lovers, biblical and mythological scenes as well as chivalrous Rococo festivities. 





Nicolas Poussin | Apollo and Daphne, c. 1627
© Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek Munich

Daphne, saved from Apollo’s clasp by turning into a laurel tree, renders the close relationship between mythology and nature visible in Poussin’s painting. 

In portraits, landscapes laid out as a garden of love, underline marriage intentions and emotional ties. Connections between utterly different genres can similarly evolve through the inclusion of nature: 





Bartolomé Esteban Murillo | The Pastry Eaters, c. 1675/82
© Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek Munich

Murillo’s street urchins represent genre painting but the fruit they are hawking is equally well to be found in Dutch pronk still lifes too.

In the second part of the exhibition, the focus is on the true-to-life portrayals of expressive faces by Rembrandt and his pupils.





Rembrandt van Rijn | Self-Portrait, 1629
© Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek Munich

Rembrandt was preoccupied with capturing his own likeness in the most varied of media and did not even shirk from depicting himself as one of the helpers in 



‘The Raising of the Cross’.

 His pupils aspired to equal him: they repeatedly made close studies of the human physiognomy, as in the case here of Ferdinand Bol, Carel Fabritius and Nicolaes Maes.

The third part concentrates on one centre of art: Italy – and Rome in particular – attracted the most varied of painters over the centuries. 





Bartholomeus Spranger | Angelica and Medoro, 1580
© Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek Munich

Artists such as Bartholomeus Spranger 



 Adam Elsheimer | The Flight into Egypt, 1609
© Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek Munich

and Adam Elsheimer 

from the Netherlands and Germany respectively traveled to Italy even before 1600 and examined works from Antiquity as well as contemporary developments. 

Two contrary movements emerged around 1600 in Rome. Those artists following on from Caravaggio upheld a naturalist understanding of art, transforming mythological, religious but also secular subjects into powerful figures far removed from the everyday world, immersing these in a spotlight-like brilliance. The ideal of classical beauty in a balanced composition was propagated by another movement, with Guido Reni as one of its protagonists. The legacy of Ancient Rome influenced some artists their whole life – 






Peter Paul Rubens | The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus, 1618

© Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek Munich





Peter Paul Rubens | Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower, c. 1609/10

© Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek Munich

even in the late works of Peter Paul Rubens reminders of Antiquity can still be found.





Gerard van Honthorst | The Debauched Student, 1625

© Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek Munich














JEAN DUBUFFET at Auction

May 11, 2015  Christie's
  • JEAN DUBUFFET,  PARIS POLKA

     On May 11, Christie's dedicated Evening Auction Looking Forward to the Past will present a major painting by Jean Dubuffet from the celebrated Paris Circus series. Executed in 1961 at the height of his creative development, this major work can be seen in both its scale and ambition as its epitome of his signature style from the 1960s. This highly chromatic and vibrant work has been featured prominently in every major museum exhibitions devoted to the artist. Estimated in the region of $25 million, Paris Polka is the ultimate masterpiece still in private hand to be offered at auction and will likely break the previous auction record of $7.4 million which was achieved last November in New York. Paris Polka is undoubtedly the best work by Dubuffet and amongst the four largest in scale from the series, the other ones are in museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Detroit Art institute.

 Sotheby's 2015



Jean Dubuffet
LOT SOLD. 640,000 USD

 Sotheby's 2014

CITÉ FANTOCHE
LOT SOLD. 7,445,000 US



Jean Dubuffet
LOT SOLD. 81,250 USD

Christie's



Le gai savoir
PRICE REALIZED
£4,002,500




Bédouin sur l’âne (Bedouin on a donkey)
PRICE REALIZED
£2,658,500



L'heure de la hâte (The Hour of Anticipation)
PRICE REALIZED
£2,434,500



Vue de Paris, quartiers résidentiels (Vue de Paris: les boutiques)
PRICE REALIZED
$3,666,500



Contrepoint aux outils
PRICE REALIZED
£1,189,250





La Chaise
PRICE REALIZED
$1,762,500




La Congratule
PRICE REALIZED
$1,684,100





Liqueurs, musique, chemiserie (avec sept voitures)
PRICE REALIZED
€1,185,000




Casino la colle
PRICE REALIZED
£946,675















 National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC


     

The Museum of Modern Art



Building Facades

Jean Dubuffet (French, 1901–1985)

Date: July 1946
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 51 3/4 x 63 7/8" (130.5 x 162.3 cm)
Credit Line: Nina and Gordon Bunshaft Bequest

The Metropolitan Museum of Art




Apartment Houses, Paris

Artist: Jean Dubuffet (French, Le Havre 1901–1985 Paris)
Date: 1946
Medium: Oil with sand and charcoal on canvas
Dimensions: 45 × 57 5/8 in. (114.3 × 146.4 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn, 1995
Accession Number: 1996.403.15
Rights and Reproduction: © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York