Auctions in Paris: only the successful bidder learns the secret

AThe big auctions of the first half of the year with modern and contemporary art also take place in Paris at the beginning of June. Sotheby’s kicked things off on June 5th with 48 lots in the evening auction, followed by a day auction with 170 works on June 7th, with an expectation of between 16 and 24 million euros. An early Anthropometrie by Yves Klein is called up as topless. In 1960, the Nouveau Réalisme artist revolutionized nude painting by having his female models painted with a specially developed blue paint and then having their bodies imprinted on large sheets of paper in front of an audience. “My models are my brushes,” Klein explained at the time – without batting an eyelash at the objectification of women. In 2015, the work “ANT 9” that is now on offer went under the hammer at Sotheby’s and brought in 4.2 million pounds with the premium, at that time around 5.6 million euros. The estimate is now 3 to 5 million euros.

Among the well-known French artists of post-war modernism, paintings by Pierre Soulages and Jean Dubuffet are for sale. They do not belong to the extraordinary works from the early work that can achieve several million euros. Estimates range from 950,000 to 1.35 million euros for a 1970 brown and black Soulages and between 500,000 and 700,000 euros for a 1965 Jean Dubuffet ‘Château de bouteilles’. Noteworthy is the painting “Silver Rain” by the American Mark Tobey, which literally causes chalk-white heads to tear up in tempera on cardboard (estimate 120,000 to 180,000 euros). The Chinese artist Zao Wou-Ki contributes an atmospherically dense color impression. “24.3.63” should bring in 1.3 to 2.3 million euros.

At Christie’s, the post-war modern and contemporary art auctions will take place on June 7th and 8th. 13 to 19 million euros are expected for a total of 120 lots. A gold-leaf covered canvas by Yves Klein entitled Monogold, Âge d’Or (MG36), which has remained in the same Swedish collection for decades, is valued at between €1 million and €1.5 million. There is a landscape format by Pierre Soulages in the glossy black “outrenoir” from 1990 (1/1.5 million).

Works by Joan Mitchell are called up less frequently in Paris. A small work “Untitled” from 1955, once bought directly from the American artist, could bring in up to 1.5 million euros. Paintings by the Colombian Fernando Botero are rare on the market. His ironic “Madame Ingres”, in her smug corpulence wearing fox fur and holding a French flag, has always remained in the same Swiss family (250,000/350,000).

The results for some still undervalued artists are awaited with excitement: Two medium-sized works by the Norwegian Anna-Eva Bergman are estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 and 25,000 to 35,000 euros respectively. Like Sotheby’s, Christie’s is also offering a work by Swiss artist Miriam Cahn. A “face” in oil on canvas gets the conservative estimate of 12,000 to 18,000 euros. A small painting by Etel Adnan is now estimated at 60,000 to 80,000 euros.

On June 7th and 8th, Artcurial offers auctions ranging from Impressionism to the present day. 350 lots could bring in up to twelve million euros. “Le port de Cassis” by the late impressionist and fauvist Charles Camoin impresses with wonderful violet and dark pink tones (60,000/80,000). An ensemble of nine paintings by Charles Lacoste, who has long been forgotten, also deserves attention: the landscapes and views of Paris are estimated at up to 12,000 euros. One of the top lots is a painting by Marc Chagall, “Jeune femme au bouquet de fleurs” from 1928, which is expected to sell for between 550,000 and 650,000 euros. A gouache on paper by René Magritte is the highlight of the evening auction: the hammer could go for 800,000 to 1.2 million euros. “La saveur des larmes” from 1946 is part of a series and shows a plant whose caterpillar-eaten leaves mutate surreally into bird heads.

The French sculptor Germaine Richier was made better known to a wide audience this spring with an overview show at the Center Pompidou. As a contemporary of Alberto Giacometti, she was equal to him and left behind an immense body of work. An almost 90 centimeter high bronze cast of her hesitant “L’Homme qui marche” from the end of the war in 1945 – Giacometti created his first version of a “Homme qui marche” in 1947 – is estimated at 120,000 to 180,000 euros.

Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat are almost never auctioned in the French capital. Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr has a large-format drawing by the American artist for 800,000 to 1.2 million euros, in line with the current exhibition at the Fondation Vuitton. A small painting by Nicolas de Staël from the series that the painter painted in 1952 under the impression of a football match at the Parc des Princes stadium is being auctioned at Piasa (500,000/700,000). Finally, in the Drouot, the most unusual auction takes place, organized by Giquello with an eclectic program entitled “Tentation”.

A portrait of Amedeo Modigliani is called up alongside a dinosaur skeleton and a prototype racing car. ‘La Bourguignonne’ from 1918 could be the most expensive lot of this busy week, valued at around seven million euros. At Giquello, the most poetic work is also up for auction: a word breathed into the buyer’s ear by the Italian artist Alberto Sorbelli that must never be revealed. In this way, the immaterial becomes a work of art that the owner carries within himself. According to the catalogue, the rate remains “secret”.