Bonhams Impressionist & Modern Art auction on 7th February 2012 made a total of £2,657,700 with a Picasso, a Modigliani, a Renoir and a Chagall amongst the top lots sold were:
A stunning painting of ‘Notre Dame de Paris’by Pablo Picasso sold for £864,450. Here Picasso has taken a subject he knows well, via his walks to, and the view from, his studio, but he chooses to challenge the truth in order to explore artistic aims other than realism.
Dated 1954, it is one of his later landscapes, but it shows the influence of his earlier experiments with Cubism. By October 1954, when it was completed, the artist was falling in love with a woman who would later become his wife – Jacqueline Roque. At the time of painting Notre Dame de Paris, they were in the springtime of their passion, and Picasso’s happiness at the time of working on this painting is evident.
Another highlight of the sale was ‘Jeune fille aux cheveux noirs’by the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) which made £825,250. Modigliani is renowned for his enigmatic portraits of women with their elongated features and deep gazes. They have been described as ‘the works by which the artist has earned his place in the history of art’ and this fine example is no exception. It came to the market from the Laurance S. Rockefeller Fund.
Further highlights of the auction were Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919),Femme en rouge lisant, painted in 1895, which made £97,250; and La musique au village by Marc Chagall (1887-1995) which sold for £73,250.
Deborah Allan, of Bonhams Impressionist and Modern Art Department comments, “We were thrilled with the 81% sold by value, result of this sale in which we offered an excellent selection of works by some of the most pre-eminent artists of the 20th Century. The sale drew interest from clients across the world. Building on the success of this sale we look forward to our next sale on 19th of June, 2012.”