The last 200 years of Russian Art is a true reflection of what was happening in Russia both socially and politically. In this latest episode of Expert Voices, Sotheby’s specialist Reto Barmettler talks about the changes that Russia endured between the 19th and 20th century. Discover how Sotheby’s upcoming Russian Pictures auction (2- 8 June) reflects the breadth of what Russian art has to offer, from 19th century landscapes by Shchedrin and Aivazovsky, post-revolutionary works by Malevich and Puni, Gerasimov’s Soviet era paintings, and more contemporary artworks by Ilya Kabakov and Ivan Chuikov.
Art News
Husband and wife artists Kahn and Mason’s private art collection reflects and celebrates their relationships with other artists, and represents the ‘relationships, themes and eras’ of the second half of the 20th century. American artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason carved out intensely singular paths with their art — and yet they were never alone.
Sotheby’s blended in-person and digital experiences to execute three sales on the evening of May 12 with stunning results including the five-person bid over a star piece, Claude Monet’s Le Bassin aux nymphéas.
The still-life is star for Paul Cézanne, who, while not the first artist to paint a still life, was the first to elevate everyday objects to be the primary subject. Nature morte; pommes et poires, was made in the late 1880s at the height of the artist’s career, when he was living in Provence and creating his most celebrated works. Simple in composition and striking in its modernity, this painting is a beautiful and exciting example of Cezanne doing what he did best– exalting the quotidian and giving the world a new way to examine the natural world.
Ahead of New York’s upcoming Contemporary Art Evening auction, Grégoire Billault, Head of New York’s Contemporary Art Department, and David Galperin, Head of New York’s Contemporary Art Evening Sales, come together to discuss a highlight of the marquee event: Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Versus Medici. Painted in 1982, when the artist was just 22 years old, Versus Medici is among Basquiat’s most forceful visual challenges to the Western art establishment.
One of the finest large-scale Water Lilies paintings by Claude Monet will star in Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 12 May in New York. Ground-breaking in its nearly abstract treatment of the pond water’s surface, Le Bassin aux Nymphéas (1917-1919) is a powerful testament to Monet’s creativity in his mature years and represents an important bridge between Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism.
Last year, a man bought a Chinese bowl for $35 at a yard sale in Connecticut. In March 2021, the very same bowl went for auction at Sotheby’s and was sold for $721,800.
Sotheby’s April 18 Hong Kong sale, ICONS: Masterpieces from across time and space, features—as the name implies—a vast array of items chosen for their ability to inspire and delight viewers.
This 2011 masterpiece by Amy Sherald is a dazzling example of her ability to tell deeply personal stores using her superior portrait painting technique. Sherald's work 'It Made Sense...Mostly In Her Mind,' has the viewer locking eyes with a figure who seems rightfully determined despite the humorous nature of her appearance, as she strives to be recognized within a sport dominated by people unlike herself.
Watch Darius Himes, the International Head of Photographs at Christie’s, discuss Post-War Street Photography, one of the reaches periods of creativity in American history. ‘In the post-war period of the 1950s, many Americans believed they were living in a paradise. As one writer has put it, “It was an era of almost unbelievable abundance, symbolized by rampant consumerism, car culture and suburban sprawl.
