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.
![Image result for Adam et Eve , 1911 by Francis 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.
![Image result for Marc Chagall ’s work , Le Cirque mauve]()
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 .
![Image result for sotheby's leger Les deux sœurs]()
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 .