Sotheby's
- Dara Caponigro, Geoffrey Bradfield, Iris Apfel, John Roselli, Life and Style, Sotheby's, The Weekender
The Weekender: Style and Grace
Geoffrey Bradfield Launched “A 21st Century Palace”at The Waldorf AstoriaInterior designer, Geoffrey Bradfield celebrated the launch of his new book, A 21st Century Palace, at a hotel that is as iconic as the designer himself. It was an evening to remember. Geoffrey’s latest publication is about a Mexican palace, and it is the first in a series of books about some of the marvelous homes that he designed worldwide.Pictured: Geoffrey Bradfield
Invited guests were welcomed to an opulent setting where he presided over a 18th century French court where models wore beautiful garbs, and some of the most intricate, and wondrous body paint by make up artists, The Parker Twins. Some of his distinguished guests included Michelle Gerber Klein, Sheikh Abdullah Rahman, Baroness Gabriella von Langendorff, to name a few.
Grace Meigher, Geoffrey Bradfield
Zev Eisenberg, Lara Bjork, Craig Dix, Harish Perkari
Chiu-Ti Jansen
Dominique
Michele Gerber Klein
Angela Chen
Kathleen Giordano, Joy Marks, Victor de Souza, Dr Penny Grant
Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno
Atmosphere
Roric Tobin, and Geoffrey Bradfield
Miles Pimental, Brandon Collins, Eric Knoff, Steve Torrisi, Tommie Cross, Constantine Grosse, Chris Brooke, David Anderson, Daniel Allen, Alex Nagel, David Spence, Andrew SullivanPhotos courtesy Patrick McMullanA LIFETIME OF GRACE…And with elegance, she carried it off! Iris Apfel and Dara Caponigro were together at Sotheby’s this week for an evening of Style and Design. The VERANDA Magazine Editor-in-Chief delved into what is style and how do you carry it off and make it work for you. No one was better suited to answer those questions than the veteran fashion icon Iris Apfel. Her work had and continues to have a major impact in fashion and interior design. Although we only had one hour with the grande dame herself, I felt as if we’ve spent the entire evening with her. There was so much to be said and much more to talk about, and I’m so pleased to have been part of the experience. One of the things that stood out was Iris explaining that it’s alright to grow old gracefully, be different, and create your individual flair without caring too much about what others think. Because at the end of the day, life must go on – with style.
Dara Caponigro and Iris Apfel
Iris Apfel and Veranda Editor in Chief, Dara Caponigro
Iris Apfel
Dara Caponigro, John Roselli, and Iris ApfelPhoto courtesy Annie Watt -
Fernand Léger: The Original Granddaddy of Pop Art
3 of 3 on our series of the legendary paintings of Fernand LégerThis is the last installment of my three part series on the legendary paintings of an extraordinary artist. Although I am certain that this won’t be the last time that his name or work will come up on this blog. I thought it was interesting that Fernand Léger joined the Communist party once he returned to France in 1945 after living in the US. During that time, he made a rather large mosaic for the church of Assy between 1945-1949. Léger did the decor for the ballet Le pas d’acier, in Paris in 1948, and continued to produced several book illustrations.Fernand Léger, La Joie De Vivre, 1955Signed F. Leger (lower right) Oil on canvasPhoto courtesy High End Weekly™
Fernand Léger, La Femme Au Mirror, 1920Signed F. Leger and dated, Oil On CanvasPhoto courtesy High End Weekly™
Fernand Léger
After a design by Fernand Léger, La Femme Au PerroquetBearing the signature F. Léger (lower right), Mosaic executed by Heidi Melanoafter an original work by Fernand LégerPhoto courtesy High End Weekly™
Fernand Léger, Visage aux 2 mains
Fernand Léger, The Tree, 1925Image via Anticipated StrangerIn 1949, he made designs for ceramics executed at Biot in my all-time favorite place – The South of France. It was there that he established his ceramic workshop. In 1960 a Léger museum was created in Biot in honor of his vast contribution to the art world. During the later part of his life, he made several designs for a number of stained glass windows, and painted murals for the assembly hall of the United Nations. I am attracted to the fact that Fernad Léger could of painted a number or top officials, and high society folks, but instead directed his body of work towards honoring the life of ordinary people.
Vyna St Phard next to design after Fernand Léger
La Femme au Perroquet, Sotheby’s, NY
Photo courtesy High End Weekly™NOTE: Please notify us directly, if you believe that certain images on this post are alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others, according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Thank you.
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Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale
Salvador Dali’s Printemps nécrophilique will be part of Sotheby’s evening sale this coming Wednesday evening. It has not appeared on the market in nearly 15 years. This work was painted by the master at the height of his most creative years in Paris. The canvas exemplifies Dali’s unique aesthetic at its most refined and sensational.Legends & Icons – Vyna’s Top Picks
ProlificAndy Warhol, Double Elvis [Ferus Type], 1963Estimation: $30/50 MillionThis is the first Double Elvis to appear on the market since 1995. This is a seminal piece from the iconic series devoted to the singer and actor that was first seen at the Ferus gallery in Los Angeles that very same year. The celebrities of Warhol’s portraits – Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, among others – were presented as glamorous and powerful icons whose image was imprinted on the public consciousness.
Iconic BeautyRoy Lichenstein, Sleeping Girl, 1964, Oil and Magna on canvas, Painted between 1961 and 1965Signed and DatedEstimated $30/40 MillionThe beautiful women of Roy Lichenstein’s comic book series are not only one of the most instantly recognizable icons of the Pop Art movement but continue the long, rich tradition of artists’ celebrations of the sleeping female form. Paintings from this series are featured in teh collections of major institutions throughout the world such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Sleeping Girl has not appeared in the market since 1964.
Honoré Daumier, Ratapoil, Bronzeconceived in 1850, and cast circa 1892Daumier was a prolific draftsman who produced well over 100 sculptures, and thousands of other paintings, lithographs, drawings and engravings. He was perhaps best known for his caricatures of political figures and satires on the behavior of his French countrymen.
Francis Bacon, Self Portrait, and Alexander Calder White Discs on a PyramidPainted metal and wire standing mobile, Executed in 1965Sotheby’s will auction off Francis Bacon’s Figure Writing Reflected In Mirror (which will talk about later on this blog). I particular liked this self portrait of his (pictured in the left). Along with the Figure Writing Reflected In Reflected Mirror, this one was also included in the legendary 1977 exhibition at Galerie Claude Bernard, in Paris.Collections sometimes reflect the collectors in some way. The work that they choose to put around them show the power, reflection, the confidence that they themselves manifest in their lives. Surrealism is an area which is very hot in the current market right now. It’s probably the last of the great ism of 20th century art that is truly appreciated. Maybe it’s because it crosses over very effectively from the beginning to the end of the 20th century. The great painters, René Magritte and Salvador Dali are two artists that are incredibly desirable. Dali’s best work is from his prime period – the late 1920s to the 1930s. The Printemps Nécrophilique is a rare find for any auction house. It will take a long post to talk about all of the beautiful art that is up on the auction block at Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Day and Evening Sale this coming Wednesday, May 2nd, but for the sake of brevity, I will only talk about one of Dali’s masterpiece. Look for other posts regarding the sale, at a later time on this blog.
Marc Chagall, Le Peintre en Jaune, circa 1978
Pastel, gouache, watercolor and oil on paperStamped with Signature Marc ChagallRussian-French artist Marc Chagall was best known for several major artistic styles, was one of the most successful artists of the 20th century. His avant-garde paintings set him apart as an early modernist.
Willem De Kooning, Seated Woman, Executed 1969/1980De Kooning was part of a group of artists that came to be known as the New York School. Other painters in this group included Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Adolph Gottlieb, Robert Motherwell, Philip Guston and Clyfford Still. The Seated Woman is one of his most extraordinary sculpture. A similar work, Seated Woman on a Bench, from 1972 (cast 1976), is at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
René Magritte, oil on canvasMargritte was a Surrealist giant. His body of work challenged observers’ preconditioned perceptions of reality. His work displayed a collection of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things. Regarding the way he arranged seemingly unrelated objects together in juxtaposition, he once said “It is a union that suggests the essential mystery of the world. Art for me is not an end in itself, but a means of evoking that mystery.”Alexander Calder Sculptures
Roy Lichenstein, Sailboats III, Oil and Magna on canvasExecuted in 1974
Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale
After a design by Fernand Léger (1881-1955), La Femme au Perroquet
Mosaic executed by Heidi Melano after an original work by Fernand LégerProperty Of A Royal Collection
Diego Giacometti, Man Bust
Diego Giacometti (1902-1985)
Bronze, Tabouret en x a pair,Each stamped Diego and with the artist’s monogram
Salvador Dali, Printemps Nécrophilique, 1936
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), ELLES, Executed in 1896
Signed on the cover, each with the publisher’s stamp.Property from the Estate of Theodore J. ForstmannPhotos courtesy High End Weekly™All rights reservedPrintemps Nécrophilique is from 1936, and it is one of the finest paintings on the market today. This piece doesn’t have some of the disturbing elements that you often get from Dali’s paintings. It is a beautiful image of a woman whose head is adorned in flowers, and the young boy on her side is a self portrait alter ego of Dali. They seem to be separated by this cypress tree, which is another element from Dali’s recurring paintings. The scale of the picture is unusual, perhaps because to find one that is quite as large from the 1930s is extremely rare. Salvador Dali is unbelievably brave in his use of space. Only the great Dali could say that I am going to paint this in a minimalistic, porcelain-like way, and leave the right part of this painting totally empty. Only Dali could do such a thing. During the press conference for this sale, one of the curators explained how the first owner of this work was a very interesting individual. She was an Italian couturier called Elsa Schiaparelli – the subject of an upcoming show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Elsa was an important figure in the 1920s and 1930s in Paris who collaborated with Dali quite allot. She made a version of this dress which represented what is fabric and what is flesh merged together as one. Printemps Nécrophilique is estimated between $8-10 Million. -
Why does Tamara de Lempicka still matters?
Her avant-garde paintings have been collected by celebrities like Madonna, and Barbara Streisand. It could be because both of these alpha females are well known for their progressive thinking, and at times, been viewed as feminists. Tamara de Lempicka was certainly a pioneering artist whom such women (and men) would be attracted to. Her work occupied an important position in the “Roaring Twenties” Paris. Her aesthetic embodied the spirit of the Art Deco era and its sense of style and modernity. When she completed the Nu adossé I in 1925, she was just establishing herself as a painter of serious consideration. On the evening of May 2nd 2012, Sotheby’s New York will be auctioning Nu adossé I, a work which most art historians have thought to be lost since the 1920s. The last time anyone have seen this painting in public was more than 85 years ago!Striking BeautyTamara de Lempicka, Nu adossé I, Painted in 1925Est. $3/5 million
Photo of 1925 ExhibitionAlain Blondel, Tamara de Lempicka, Catalogue raisonné 1921-1979, Lausanne, 1999,no. 73, illustrated p. 26Photos courtesy Sotheby’sIt is a classic example of the artist’s elegant and sensuous aesthetic and was included in her groundbreaking solo exhibition at Milan’s Bottega di Poesia gallery in 1925, the same year it was painted. Following that exhibition, the painting effectively disappeared from view until Sotheby’s was contacted by the owner late last year. The work will be shown in London, prior to exhibition and sale in New York this spring. The whereabouts of Nu adossé I have been unknown for most of its recorded history. The catalogue raisonné for the artist, published in 1999, included an image of the present work (pictured above) taken at the Milan exhibition in 1925, and listed it as “location unknown.” In an era of modernity, de Lempicka still matters, and Nu adossé I was an exciting discovery, which fills an important art historical gap in the artist’s work. -
Contemporary Art Sales at Sotheby’s, New York
Iconic Post-War American ArtRoy Lichtenstein’s Sleeping Girl, 196436″ x 36″Estimate: $30 – $40 Million“Sleeping Girl is one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century, counting iconic depictions of women by Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brancusi and Amedeo Modigliani among its peers,” commented Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art.Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #21Estimate: $150,000 – $200,000Untitled Film Still #21 is perhaps one of the most profound images that grew out of the second wave of the feminist movement. The 1950’s working girl has been transformed into a confident 1970’s businesswoman ready to assert herself upon the metropolis that surrounds her. Throughout the Untitled Film Stills series Sherman charts the evolution of the role of women from damsels in distress to women in control of their destiny. Nowhere is this transformation more clearly felt than in Untitled Film Still #21.
Gerhard RichterThe Cindy Sherman Film Still will lead Sotheby’s Mid-Season Contemporary Art Sale which is scheduled for Friday, March 9th. The celebrated series sees the artist cast herself as a modern 1970s businesswoman surrounded by the urban jungle. Sherman is widely recognized as one of the most important female artists of her generation and Untitled Film Still #21 appears at Sotheby’s as a major retrospective of the artist’s work that will go on view at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. All works in the sale go on view at the auction house this Saturday, March 3.On Wednesday, May 9th, Sotheby’s will hold another important evening sale, which will highlight one of my favorites Roy Lichtenstein’s work – Sleeping Girl from 1964. The sexy blonde women of the comic book series are not only one of the most instantly recognizable icons of the Pop Art movement but continue the long, rich tradition of artists’ celebrations of the sleeping female form. Paintings from this series are featured in the collections of major institutions throughout the world such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York and this work has remained in private hands for the past 48 years. Like Picasso, Lichtenstein was fascinated by women but in contrast to the modern master, works like Sleeping Girl are a vehicle for his innovation and contribution to 20th century art history, rather than homage to specific women.
