This May, Sotheby’s is pleased to present the Modern Day Auction, which will include a variety of works by artists ranging from the birth of Impressionism in France to Surrealism in Mexico to the dawn of Abstract Expressionism in New York. This sale will illustrate the critical developments of the late 19th and early 20th century through the new dialogue of the Modern Auction context. The evolution of art in the modern era was shaped by movements, counter-movements and cross-currents that defy narrow categorizations by continent or medium. Sotheby’s team of Fine Arts specialists look forward to opening up new avenues for collectors by presenting major works by O’Keeffe, Guston, Motherwell, de Kooning, Davis, Botero, Matta and Tamayo alongside highlights by Chagall, Miro, Picasso and forerunners of the modern movement, Rodin, Degas, Renoir and Morisot. This sale will feature works from The Collection of Marcia and Stanley Gumberg, featuring Modern Masterworks on Paper, alongside property from The Collection of Paul Yeou Chichong and Property Sold to Benefit the O’Donnell Foundation, amongst other established collections. This sale strives to be provocative, daring and revolutionary: it is this persistent urge of successive generations of artists across the world to challenge established norms and preconceptions, and to reimagine what art might achieve, that has paved the way to the contemporary era.
Hans Hofmann (1880 – 1966) ‘The Hand (Red Painting) [the Blue Hand]’ 1948 oil on panel 113.3×87.9 cm.
Philip Guston (1913 – 1980) ‘Grove II’ 1959 oil on paperboard mounted on canvas 79.1×81 cm.
Josef Albers (1888 – 1976) ‘Orange Façade’ 1959–65 oil on Masonite 61.3×70.5 cm
Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973) ‘Guitare et partition sur guéridon’ 1920 gouache on paper 21.6×27 cm
Joan Miró (1893 – 1983) ‘Femme et oiseau devant le soleil’ 1968 gouache, wax crayon and brush and ink on paper 98 × 70 cm.
Marc Chagall (1887—1985) ‘L’arc ou Acrobate au cheval rouge (Cirque Vollard)’ 1927 gouache, watercolor, pastel and India ink on paper laid down on canvas 66.7×52.7 cm.
Berthe Morisot (1841 – 1895) ‘La Jatte de lait’ 1890 oil on canvas 55.3×56.5 cm.
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887 – 1986) ‘Feather with Bird’s Bone’ 1942 oil on canvas 50.8×30.5 cm.
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887 – 1986) ‘Waterfall, No. 2, Īao Valley’ 1939 oil on canvas 61×50.8 cm.
Joseph Stella (1877 – 1946) ‘The Creche (The Holy Manger)’ 1929–32 oil on canvas 154.9×195.6 cm.
Source: Sotheby’s
