Gustave Caillebotte, Capucines (1892, estimate: £900,000-1,400,000)
Monumental Pale Pink Sandstone Stele of Dancing Ganesha, India, Madhya Pradesh, 10th-11th Century (estimate: £600,000-900,000)
London – Presented as a series of auctions across Christie’s London and Paris salerooms, The Sam Josefowitz Collection will showcase the incredible breadth of one of the most carefully assembled and revered collections of the last half century, ranging from Antiquities to Post-Impressionism, and from Rembrandt to Les Nabis and Giacometti furniture. Masterpieces from The Collection of Sam Josefowitz: A Lifetime of Discovery and Scholarship, an Evening Sale taking place in London on 13 October, will be comprised of 38 lots that represent the unrivalled scale and breadth of Sam’s scholarship and passions. Following an international tour of highlights, the works will be on view in London from 6 to 13 October.
Félix Vallotton: A New Benchmark at Auction for the Artist
Sam Josefowitz was a renowned collector of Vallotton’s works, and four works by the artist will be offered between London and Paris. Last seen as a highlight of the Royal Academy’s Vallotton exhibition in 2019, Cinq heures depicts a couple in close embrace, entwined together on a red armchair, and is one of only two of the iconic series Intérieurs avec figures remaining in private hands. The lot is estimated at £3,000,000-5,000,000 and is poised to set a new auction record for the artist. Painted in the last year of the artist’s life, Paysage à Marcillac (1925, estimate: £600,000-900,000) is a testament to Vallotton’s singular vision that is at once a poetic elegy and a dreamlike expanse. Un soir sur la Loire (1923, estimate: £600,000-900,000) completes the group of works by the artist being offered in London.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Rare Oil by Finnish Modernist Poised to Set New Artist Auction Record
One of the most recognisable works from the National Gallery’s 1900: Art at the Crossroads exhibition in 2000, Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Autumn - Five Crosses: A preliminary work for the fresco in the Jusélius Mausoleum (1902, estimate: £800,000-1,200,000, illustrated above) is a masterpiece that combines Art Nouveau with Symbolism, and was acquired by Sam Josefowitz from Christie’s in 1985. Previously owned by the Wittgenstein family for over 80 years, the rare landscape is expected to set a new benchmark for the artist at auction. The large-scale oil is an example of how Gallen-Kallela transferred landscape into a monumental form and was commissioned for Jusélius Mausoleum, a neo-gothic octagonal building that was built in the graveyard of Käppärä, in Pori, between 1898 and 1903.
Kees van Dongen: An Exceptional Grouping
The Josefowitz family were close friends of Kees van Dongen, and the artist was commissioned to paint several members of the family. An exceptional grouping of works by the artist is led by his monumental La Quiétude (1918, estimate: £3,000,000-5,000,000). Against a steel-grey ground, two figures lie entwined, their bright bodies painted midnight blue and siren red. Around them is an entire menagerie including twinned songbirds, a drowsy dog and a monkey. Nuages, ou Guus van Dongen et sa Fille Dolly portées aux Nues (1905, estimate: £900,000-1,400,000) is a striking and rare scene of domestic intimacy from the artist’s Fauve period, the landscape towards the lower edge clearly a homage to fellow Dutch artist Van Gogh. Composed of large daubs of vibrant pigment, here Van Dongen painted his wife with their new-born daughter at her breast. La Porte Dauphine (circa 1923, estimate: £600,000-900,000) captures the bon ton of the French capital, shown in their finest fashions strolling along the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, today known as the Avenue Foch.
Paul Gauguin: An Intimate Portrait
Painted in 1884, Clovis endormi (estimate: £3,000,00-5,000,000) is a transformative portrait of the artist’s son. Foreshadowing the radical course Paul Gauguin had started to chart, moving away from the en plein air landscapes that had thus far dominated his œuvre, Gauguin began to explore the nascent threads of what would later be termed Symbolism. This work has been widely exhibited since the late 1880s due to its pioneering nature and personal subject matter, and was most recently seen in London in the Gauguin: Portraits exhibition at the National Gallery in 2019.
Aristide Maillol: A Museum Quality Rarity
Sam Josefowitz was always drawn to the combination of incredible quality with absolute rarity. This is demonstrated by Aristide Maillol’s life-size Portrait de Mademoiselle Jeanne Faraill (1888-89, estimate: £800,000-1,200,000, illustrated far below, right). Very few oils were painted by the artist before he chose to focus on his sculptural practice. Acquired by Sam in 1962, and most recently exhibited in the Musée D’Orsay’s retrospective of the artist in 2022, the work is deservedly positioned to set a new auction record for a painting by the artist.
Diego Giacometti: Personal Commissions and Rare Models in an Outstanding Presentation
Several members of the Josefowitz family knew Diego Giacometti personally and visited his studio, spending hours chatting and looking at various pieces, often accompanied by a glass of wine. The auctions include several rare models, including Grande table basse à deux plateaux aux grenouilles (conceived circa 1978; this example cast circa 1983, estimate: £900,000-1,400,000), a low table commissioned for the family home in Lausanne. La console ‘Hommage à Böcklin’ (conceived circa 1978; this example cast in 1980, estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000, illustrated below, left) showcases Diego’s mastery of composition and narrative, conjuring a poetic scene within the elegant lines of a console table through a select grouping of simple, refined elements. These exquisite examples are presented alongside La paire de fauteuils pommeaux de canne (conceived circa 1969, estimate: £300,000-500,000), La table carcasse (conceived circa 1978; this example cast the same year, estimate: £250,000-400,000), Table aux caryatides (conceived circa 1976; this example cast circa 1980, estimate £300,000-500,000) and La table berceau aux renards (conceived circa 1975; this example cast in the early 1980s, estimate: £400,000-600,000). A group of works by the artist of this quality and rarity has not been seen at auction since the sale of the collection of Hubert de Givenchy at Christie’s Paris in 2017.
Gustave Caillebotte: Five Magnificent Paintings
Sam Josefowitz was one of the first collectors to appreciate the unique genius of Caillebotte, and at one point owned 20 works by the artist. The breadth of the artist’s oeuvre is represented by five paintings. Gustave Caillebotte’s Portrait d’Eugène Daufresne lisant (1878, estimate: £1,000,000-1,500,000), included in the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition, captures the artist’s evolving politics of social representation. Capucines (1892, estimate: £900,000-1,400,000, illustrated top left) reimagines the landscape genre, here, there is no earth or sky, but rather simply a lattice of greenery. The composition recalls his close friend Claude Monet’s depictions of his garden at Giverny and was included in the Royal Academy’s 2016 exhibition Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse. Three further paintings are presented: Trouville, la plage et les villas (1882, estimate: £700,000-900,000), Verger aux pommiers en fleurs, Colombes (1883, estimate: £550,000-800,00) and a charming portrait of his brother’s pet greyhound Le chien ‘Paul’ (circa 1886, estimate: £400,000-600,000).
Asian Artworks: The Eye of an Inveterate Traveller
Sam Josefowitz was an inveterate traveller, and those travels would often lead to prestigious local galleries, or museums, that then cultivated an interest in the rarest works of art from the cultures of those regions. The Assyrian sculptures are among the most remarkable antiquities surviving from ancient Western Asia. Acquired at auction by Sam in London in 1968, An Assyrian Gypsum Relief of a Winged Genius Reign of Ashurnasirpal II, Circa 883-859 B.C. (estimate: £2,500,000-4,000,000, illustrated above, centre) depicts a winged Apkallu before the Sacred Tree, and was originally positioned in the Eastern suite of The Northwest Palace of King Ashurnasirpal in Room I. A Wood Sculpture of a Standing Jizo Bosatsu (Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha) Japan, Kamakura Period (13th Century), Dated 24th Day of the Ninth Month of the Fourth Year of the Shoo Era (1291), signed Hogen Intan (estimate: £2,000,000-4,000,000, illustrated above right) was acquired by Sam on a business trip to Japan in 1962, and was most recently on long term loan at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. That the name of its sculptor, Intan, is identified underscores its clear art historical significance, marking it as one of the most noteworthy early Japanese sculptures to come to auction in a generation. Once owned by the important Japanese artist Umehara Ryuzaburo and also recently on long-term loan at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, A Wood Sculpture of a Standing Female Shinto Deity, Japan, Late Heian Period (11th-12th Century) (estimate: £400,000-600,000) is one of the most compelling Shinto sculptures to come to auction. Formerly owned by the New York-based Abstract Expressionist collector Sam Heller, a Monumental Pale Pink Sandstone Stele of Dancing Ganesha, India, Madhya Pradesh, 10th-11th Century (estimate: £600,000-900,000, illustrated page one, right) is impressively carved with large areas in openwork, and portrays the Hindu god, Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles and India’s most beloved deity. A Monumental Gilt-Bronze Figure of Buddha, Thailand, u-thong style, 14th-15th century (estimate: £150,000-250,000) is a monumental image of Buddha. Larger than life-sized, it is a paragon of Southeast Asian metal-casting and an exemplary example of the rare and elegant U-Thong corpus of Thai Buddhist images.
Rembrandt: A Remarkable Private Collection
The name Sam Josefowitz is synonymous with collecting the very rarest and finest prints by Rembrandt, and he would obsessively assemble one of the most comprehensive collections of the 20th century. The sale of the collection will deservedly start with the iconic Self-Portrait etching at a Window (1648, estimate: £80,000-120,000, illustrated above, left) described by the Rembrandt scholar Christopher White as ‘undoubtedly the greatest and most searching’ of Rembrandt’s self-portraits. Further Rembrandt prints will be offered in London in December 2023.
The Sam Josefowitz Collection: Schedule of Key Sales in 2023
- Masterpieces from the Collection of Sam Josefowitz: A Lifetime of Discovery and Scholarship, London, 13 October 2023
- La Collection Sam Josefowitz: Vente du Soir, Paris, 20 October 2023
- La Collection Sam Josefowitz: de l’Ecole de Pont-Aven jusqu’à l’Art Moderne, Paris, 21 October 2023
- La Collection Sam Josefowitz: Dessins et Gravures de l’Ecole de Pont-Aven Online, Paris, 12 to 25 October 2023
- Old Masters Evening Sale, London, 7 December 2023
- The Sam Josefowitz Collection: Graphic Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn, London, 7 December 2023
For further information about The Sam Josefowitz Collection, please read Christie’s online features
- ‘Félix Vallotton: playwright, novelist, art critic, printmaker and ‘painter of disquiet’’
