On
16 October 2019 , the same week as the International Contemporary Art Fair (FIAC),
the third Modernités sale is the promise of a first - class evening event: a select
number of outstanding works of modern and contemporary art reflect ing the greatest
moments in 20 th
- century art. Auction
highlights include a superb Transparence by Picabia, a major Cirque from Chagall,
two Fontana paintings and a large Dubuffet shaped canvas works . Also being sold
are works by Magritte, Fernand Léger, Pierre Soulages and Hans Hartung, along with
bronzes from Julio Gonzalez, Hans Arp, Germaine Richier and Bernar Venet
Médéa (estimate : €1,500,000 - € 2 ,000,000 ) by Francis Picabia .
Now
being sold for the first time in more than forty years, it is one of the most advanced
and sophisticated examples of the legendary Transparences series. The year Médéa
was painted, 1929 , marked the start of the second, increasingly refined phase of
Transparences . It depicts a celebrated, ancient myth, that of Jason and Medea ,
and is rife with nods to Sandro Botticelli. This composition of exceptional complexity
is a superb representation of the surrealist, dream - like world of Picabia.
Another
Francis Picabia work from an especially historic collection is Adam et Eve , 1911
( estimate: € 600 ,000 - € 800 ,000 ), the artist ’s first work depicting nude
figures, as well as the first to address sexuality and a biblical theme. Eve, represented
here with the face of Gabrielle, whom he married in 1909, is positioned above her
companion, Adam. The scene ’s poetic ambiance is shaped by the progressive simplification
of the forms, the landscape and the human figure , an early indicator of a shift
towards the abstract.
The
quintessence of the finest period in Marc Chagall ’s work , Le Cirque mauve ( estimate:
€3,000,000 - € 5 ,000,000 ) is a large painting executed in 1966 , the year Chagall
definitively established his studio in Vence. In this newfound serenity and the
glowing sun of the South of France, the emblematic themes of his repertoire and
the colours of his palette exuded fresh, searing intensity . Le Cirque Mauve is
a brightly coloured, animated résumé of his artistic expression of ceremony and
celebration. Every character is present : the artist in the foreground in a sensitive
self - portrait (Chagall always saw himself as an actor, magician and acrobat),
the musicians of religious scenes and wedding processions, even the animals f rom
his enchanted bestiary , sharing space with horsewomen, trapeze artists, clowns
and acrobats .
Les
deux sœurs , painted in 1932 ( estimate: € 1 , 2 00,000 - € 1 , 8 00,000 ) is from
a pivotal period in the life of Fernand Léger : several years earlier, the painter
had abandoned the abstract, mechanical vocabulary displayed in the first few decades
of his work to focus on the human figure . Signalling a more serene, peaceful painting
style , the archetypal female figures of Les deux sœurs are the perfect embodiment
of modern classicism .
