Prior to the forthcoming Impressionist & Modern Art and Surrealist Art Evening Sales to be held in London on 3 February 2016, Sotheby’s is delighted to announce an exhibition of highlights in Hong Kong - including an exceptional painting by Henri Matisse, which has emerged after 85 years in a private collection, and a rare example of Francis Picabia’s machinist compositions. This exhibition follows a record year for Sotheby’s sales of Impressionist & Modern Art worldwide in 2015, which achieved a grand total of US$1.72 billion – the highest annual figure for the company in this category.
Sotheby’s has also been achieving outstanding prices for Surrealist works of art, including many artist records, since its first stand-alone sale 15 years ago – the market for which has continued to go from strength to strength. Highlights on view include exquisite works on paper by René Magritte and a painting by Francis Picabia.
René Magritte
Sotheby’s has also been achieving outstanding prices for Surrealist works of art, including many artist records, since its first stand-alone sale 15 years ago – the market for which has continued to go from strength to strength. Highlights on view include exquisite works on paper by René Magritte and a painting by Francis Picabia.
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Estimate: £1,800,000-2,500,000 / HK$20,800,000-28,900,000
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Francis Picabia
Le Ventilateur
oil on cardboard
Painted in 1917
An exceptional example of Picabia’s rare and profoundly influential
machinist compositions from his Dada period, in this work a
ventilation machine is depicted as analogous with a potent female
sexuality. The use of the mechanical forms and the sensational
associations they evoke were fundamental to the artist’s perception
of art’s role in the modern, industrialised epoch.
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| Estimate: £500,000-700,000 / HK$5,800,000-8,100,000 |
René Magritte
L’usage de la parole
gouache and collage on paper
Executed in 1961
Magritte’s use of paper cut-outs in 1925 began around the same time that he embarked on his first surrealist paintings. This work features a number of the iconic elements and signature objects that he developed at this time, including the silhouette of a bowler-hatted man – which remained the single most iconic motif of his œuvre. The piece is also linked to Magritte’s celebrated body of work known as ‘word- paintings’, and the word representing an abstract notion (knowledge) adds a conceptual dimension to the composition.
gouache and collage on paper
Executed in 1961
Magritte’s use of paper cut-outs in 1925 began around the same time that he embarked on his first surrealist paintings. This work features a number of the iconic elements and signature objects that he developed at this time, including the silhouette of a bowler-hatted man – which remained the single most iconic motif of his œuvre. The piece is also linked to Magritte’s celebrated body of work known as ‘word- paintings’, and the word representing an abstract notion (knowledge) adds a conceptual dimension to the composition.
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Photos supplied from Sotheby's