Christie's Online Magazine No.286

From: Christie's - Saturday Nov 20, 2021 04:15 pm

Christie’s

Celebrating Françoise Gilot, The Einstein-Besso Manuscript, Michael Jordan sneakers, Persian art, 150-year-old champagne, Linen sculptures, and more |

View in browser

Why Life International put this 2,500-year-old treasure from Persia on its cover in July 1963

‘I never tire of painting’ — Françoise Gilot, the woman who walked out on Picasso, nears 100

‘

Meet Sergio Roger, the Spanish artist who recreates classical sculpture… using antique linen

Einstein and Besso: how two geniuses described a new picture of the universe in just 54 pages

Oscar Wilde’s tipple of choice: an 1874 Perrier-Jouët that has not left this cellar in 150 years

The last dance — the sneakers worn by Michael Jordan as he secured his 10th scoring title

Editor’s picks

Roy Lichtenstein drew on art history as well as popular culture for inspiration, and his 1993 print Les Nymphéas pays homage to Claude Monet. The great Impressionist’s water lilies are conjured up by the Pop artist in his trademark style, with bold colours, heavy outlines and a striped and spotted background

Estimate: €25,000-35,000
until 25 November, Online

This Empire throne chair was part of a 96-piece suite of furniture made for Napoleon’s uncle, Cardinal Joseph Fesch, around 1806. Thought to be the work of Lorenzo and Dionisio Santi of Rome, the set was dispersed later in the 19th century, with one chair ending up in the White House

Estimate: €8,000-12,000
23 November, Paris

Named after Louis ‘Ludo’ Arpels, this Van Cleef & Arpels ‘Ludo Hexagone’ bracelet dates from around 1940. Sparkling with single-cut and circular diamonds, it is based on a design first produced in 1934, with a mosaic-style arrangement of gold hexagonal links and a clasp made to resemble a buckle

Estimate: £40,000-60,000
until 26 November, Online

The Song dynasty saw the ceramic arts reach a peak of simple perfection, with subtle glazes and pared-back forms. So this rare vase from the Southern Song period (1127-1279) is an unusually elaborate piece, with a bold flourish in the form of a dragon coiled around its neck

Estimate: HK$180,000-250,000
3 December, Hong Kong

© Christie’s 2021 | Web version | Privacy policy | Unsubscribe from Online Magazine

Françoise Gilot in her Manhattan atelier, 2011 (detail). Photo: © Piotr Redlinski. Artwork: © Françoise Gilot // Albert Einstein in his office at the University of Berlin, c. 1920 (detail). Photo: Alpha Historica / Alamy Stock Photo