Christie’s Announces 20/21 Marquee Week Day Sales May 13- 16

Christie’s has announced the Spring Marquee Week Day Sales taking place this May in New York. The Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale and The Collection of Thomas and Doris Ammann will lead the series on Friday, 13 May. This will be followed by the Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper and Day Sale and The Surrealist World Of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs And Melvin Jacobs taking place on Saturday, 14 May. The Picasso Ceramics online sale, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of Picasso’s collaboration with the Madoura studio, will close out the week on Monday, 16 May. The sales will showcase significant works from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries from a number of important private collections, as well as feature a range of groupings with proceeds generously benefiting charitable initiatives.

Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale and The Collection of Thomas and Doris Ammann Day Sale | 13 May

The Post War and Contemporary Art Day sale will be led by Wayne Thiebaud’s Three Ice Cream Cones ($2,500,000-3,500,000) from the private collection of Nina Van Rensselaer. The work was acquired by Van Rensselaer directly from the artist and has been passed down in the same private collection for six decades. Highlights also include Helen Frankenthaler’s Crete ($1,500,000-2,000,000) and works from contemporary artists including Shara Hughes, Weeping Blur ($400,000-600,000).

The sale highlights several significant private collections including The Collection of Margo Leavin, led by Jasper Johns, 0 through 9 ($1,000,000-1,500,000), and Property from the Estate of Sondra Gilman. LA Cool: Property from the Collection of Laura Lee Stearns includes works from important West Coast artists of the 1960s: Ed Ruscha, Vija Celmins, Ken Price and Larry Bell. Stearns was a lifelong environmentalist, and proceeds from the collection will continue to honor her legacy and will benefit several archeological and nature conservancies.

The Collection of Thomas and Doris Ammann Day Sale, the second live sale dedicated to the monumental collection, will divide the two sessions of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale. The sale showcases the depth and breadth of the Ammann’s collecting vision with exemplary works of Pop Art of the 1960s to Neo-Expressionism of the 1980s. Proceeds from the collection will benefit the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation, a newly established organization dedicated to improving the lives of children worldwide.

Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper and Day Sale | 14 May

The Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper and Day Sale will be led by a notable work by Claude Monet, Soleil couchant, temps brumeux, Pourville ($2,500,000-3,500,000). With an impressive provenance and exhibition history, this work was painted in 1882, the same year as the seventh Impressionist exhibition in Paris. It demonstrates the increasingly bold and provocative style at a critical phase of Monet’s career. A second highlight from the Collection of Salvador and Christina Lang Assaël is Nu au fauteuil by Pierre-Auguste Renoir ($800,000-1,200,000), an incredibly large-scale and fully worked pastel.

Among the many Impressionist and Modern masterworks included in the sale are Joan Miró’s Femme, oiseau, étoiles ($600,000-800,000) and Marc Chagall’s Le Peintre ($700,000-1,000,000). 

The sale will also feature works by Latin American artists significant to the Impressionist and Modern Art movements, including Joaquín Torres-García’s Estructura con formas trabadas ($800,000-1,200,000) and Wifredo Lam’s La réunion III ($700,000-900,000).

Coming from The Collection of Alma and Alfred Hitchcock are three lots with intimate ties to the filmmaker’s cinematic legacy. The collection includes two works by Paul Klee, widely known to be Hitchcock’s favorite artist, as well as La Sainte Face, dit aussi “Le Saint Suaire” by Georges Rouault ($20,000-30,000). Klee’s works had a profound influence on Hitchcock as an artist; his works Odysseisch (estimate $120,000-180,000) and Maske mit Sense (estimate $120,000-180,000) showcase elements that are reflected in Hitchcock’s own artistic output. These examples of Klee’s work gleefully mix lightness and darkness, comedy and the macabre, suspense and humor in innovative and illuminating ways.

Picasso Ceramics Online | 2 May – 16 May

The Picasso Ceramics online sale will be open for bidding from 2 May – 16 May. Known to be a highly experimental medium of creation for Picasso, his ceramics are consistently a source of whimsy and draw from both traditional and modern influences. With estimates starting at just $1,000, the Picasso Ceramics sale features artworks for emerging and seasoned collectors alike.

The sale comes at a significant moment in the history of Picasso’s ceramics. This year marks the 75th anniversary of Picasso’s partnership with Madoura, a collaboration that would last for close to 25 years. This fruitful union brought forth over 600 different editioned designs, alongside many more unique works of all shapes, subjects and sizes. Among these are highlights from this sale, including Personnages et têtes (A.R. 242) ($80,000-$120,000). The design for the ceramic was conceived of in 1954, only a few years after Picasso started his partnership with Madoura. Later designs highlighted in the sale are the Vase aztèque aux quatre visages (A.R. 401) conceived in 1957 ($60,000-80,000) and Visage aux yeux rieurs (A.R. 608) conceived on 9 January 1969 ($35,000-55,000).