6 octobre 2008

Lucian Freud, Portrait of a Man, 1954. Oil on canvas, 14.5 x 10.25 inches. © Lucian Freud LONDON.- A major loan exhibition of early works by Lucian Freud (born 1922) will be held at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert, 38 Bury Street, St James’s, London SW1 from 9 October – 12 December 2008. The earliest paintings, from 1939, were completed when the artist was only 16. Many of the paintings in the exhibition are from private collections and not normally available to be seen by the public. With the support of the artist, the exhibition will... [Lire la suite]

A rare Mughal mould-blown glass spittoon (Pikdan), India, early 18th century. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's the colourless glass body of squat globular form with a wide flanged rim, the exterior body moulded with vertical ribs - 27.7cm. diam. 10.3cm. height - Estimate : 20,000—30,000 GBP NOTE: Glass spittoons are extremely rare and would have been highly prized by the Mughal court. This piece is an example from the first half of the eighteenth century with its globular base and large splayed upper section. A spittoon of similar... [Lire la suite]

Edvard Munch, Das Gsechrei (The Scream). Est. $2/3 million. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s fall Print auction will take place on October 30 and 31, 2008. The approximately 560 works being offered in the sale will be on view in Sotheby’s New York galleries beginning on October 26. Of significant importance is Edvard Munch’s masterpiece, Das Geschrei (The Scream) offered at $2/3 million. The lithograph is one of only a handful of prints of the subject and offers collectors a rare opportunity to acquire one of... [Lire la suite]

A Mughal sapphire bead, India, 17th century. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's of oval form and clear blue colour with minor inclusions, drilled from two ends with a manual bow drill and incised with channels and ridges around the body - 4cm - Estimate : 18,000—25,000 GBP NOTE: It was customary in Mughal India to produce beads and stone pendants such as this. A similar bead can be found in the al-Sabah Collection and is illustrated in Manuel Keene's Treasury of the World, London, 2001, p.130, cat.11.4. Sotheby's. Arts of the... [Lire la suite]

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652), Self-portrait as the Allegory of painting, 1638-39. Photo: The Royal Collection © 2008, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. LONDON.- The drama of the Baroque comes to Edinburgh in part two of The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection. The 31 paintings and 43 drawings selected for the exhibition reflect the great stylistic diversity of the period, which gave birth to the powerful realism of Caravaggio, the revolutionary naturalism of the Carracci and the cool classicism of Poussin and Domenichino.... [Lire la suite]

A Fatimid carved rock crystal ewer. Egypt, last quarter 10th or first quarter 11th century, mounted by Jean-Valentin Morel, Sèvres, early 1854 ad. Photo: Courtesy Christie's The body of tapering slightly rounded conical form on short central spreading foot, each side carved in relief with a seated cheetah held on a link chain, together flanking a central panel of interlaced arabesques with palmette terminals, a meandering band of leafy vine forming a border around the composition, the back with the base of a handle drilled and... [Lire la suite]

Cai Guo-Qiang. Siwa Series: Man, Eagle and Eye in the Sky. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's signed and dated 2004, framed under glass; together with the original stencil; a wood box signed in pinyin, titled in Chinese and dated 2003; and hardback catalogue ed. Sharmini Pereira, Cai Guo-Qiang, Man, Eagle and Eye in the Sky, Albion Gallery, London, 2004, front cover with gunpowder painting, signed in pinyin - gunpowder and ink on paper - 63.5 by 77.9cm.; 25 by 30 5/8 in. - Lot Sold : 400,000 HKD PROVENANCE : Albion Gallery,... [Lire la suite]

A safavid blue and white moulded soft paste porcelain bottle. Iran, 17th century. Photo: Courtesy Christie's On short vertical foot, the body of drop shape rising to tapering tubular neck, the white ground decorated with in two tones of blue with a repeating design of hovering and sitting birds surrounded by floral motifs, above a register of cobalt quatrefoil motifs and vertical bands containing repeated scrolling motifs, the underside with makers mark, the neck broken and replaced with Qajar mount - 11¼in. (28.6cm.)... [Lire la suite]

Cai Guo-Qiang. Money Net - Project for Royal Academy of Art. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's signed in pinyin, titled in English and dated 2002.9.12 - gunpowder and ink on paper - 300 by 400cm.; 118 1/8 by 157 1/2 in. - Lot Sold : 4,820,000 HKD LITERATURE AND REFERENCES : Cai Guo-Qiang, On Black Fireworks, Institut Valencia d'Art Modern, 2005, pp. 179-180 NOTE : Cai Guo-Qiang created the gunpowder drawing Money Net (Red Del dinero) (Lot 416) in 2002 as a lasting work of art associated with the ephemeral Project No. 51 –... [Lire la suite]

Fancy yellow diamond and diamond ring. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's Set with a radiant-cut fancy yellow diamond weighing 7.06 carats, surrounded by brilliant-cut diamond, flanked on each side with a half moon-shaped diamonds, supported by a basket pavé-set with brilliant-cut diamonds extending to the shanks, the diamonds together weighing approximately 3.20 carats, mounted in 18 karat white and yellow gold - Estimate : 700,000—950,000 HKD Accompanied by GIA report numbered 11989804, dated 26 April 2002, stating that the 7.06... [Lire la suite]