Christie's Online Magazine No.224

From: Christie's - Saturday Jun 06, 2020 10:32 am

Christie’s

Art stories to feed the mind and soul

When Christie’s met Christo: from fleeing communist Bulgaria to wrapping the Reichstag

This rediscovered Borgianni, plus four other gripping tales of Old Master detective work

Private eye: introducing our new regular roundup of art and objects offered for private sale

‘Love, longing, jealousy and bitter regret’: six exquisite Pahari illustrations of the Rasikapriya

‘Painting should be sexy’: why this man believed art equals uncomplicated pleasure

‘When Heaven and Earth split’: a monumental work that marked a creative peak for Zao Wou-Ki

More stories

Editor’s picks

The Swiss animalier Edouard Marcel Sandoz (1881-1971) is best known for his foxes, rabbits, fish and cats in a variety of media. ‘In art, one has to love everything: nature, science, one’s fellow man,’ he once said. This terracotta Seated Fennec Fox reflects a special fondness for the desert creature — he kept a group of 10 as pets

Estimate: €3,000-5,000
until 19 June, Online

Born in Moscow but based most of his life in Paris, Serge Poliakoff (1900-1969) was one of the masters of post-war, European abstraction. In Composition (1965), he fuses influences as broad as Wassily Kandinsky, the Delaunays, and the Orthodox church icons of his youth, to create a serene symphony of interlocking forms

Estimate: €150,000-200,000
until 18 June, Online

According to The New York Times, ‘Peter Voulkos was a genuine rock star of his medium, a trained potter who went on to violate every rule of pot-making — often before a live audience.’ Untitled was executed in 1956, shortly after Voulkos had founded the art ceramics department at the Los Angeles County Art Institute

Estimate: £8,000-12,000
until 24 June, Online

In the early 20th century Tuscany-born Umberto Brunelleschi was one of the most sought-after illustrators in Paris. He later ventured into costume and set design, working with Josephine Baker and at La Scala in Milan. Self-Portrait with a Puppet and a Mask (1920) alludes to his passionate interest in the masks of commedia dell’arte

Estimate: £30,000-50,000
until 23 June, Online

Christo in his studio with a preparatory drawing for The Mastaba, 2012. Photo: Wolfgang Volz. © 2012 Christo // Orazio Borgianni (c.1575-1616), Saint Christopher Carrying the Infant Christ, c. 1615 (detail). Estimate: $80,000-120,000. Offered in Old Master Paintings and Sculpture, 2-19 June, Online // George Frederic Watts, O.M., R.A., Loch Ness, 1899. £68,000. Offered for private sale at Christie’s // Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), Baiser, 3ème reduction, circa 1901-18. Price on request. Offered for private sale at Christie’s // An illustration to a Rasikapriya series: Krishna Seated with Radha, circa, 1820 (detail). Estimate: £4,000-6,000. Offered in Arts of India: Heavenly Gods and Earthly Pleasures, 4-26 June, Online // Günther Förg. Photo: Estate Günther Förg, Suisse. Artwork: © Estate Günther Förg, Suisse / DACS 2020 // Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji, 1920-2013), 21.10.63, 1963. Estimate: in excess of $10,000,000. Offered in ONE on 10 July at Christie’s in Hong Kong

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Christie's Online Magazine No.224