European Art | Lots 1-53

EUROPEAN ART

LOTS 1-53

OPPOSITE Lot 7

1 Bernard Buffet

(French, 1928-1999) Scarabée, 1963 oil on canvasboard signed B. Buffet (upper center) 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches.

The authenticity of this lot has been confirmed by the Galerie Maurice Garnier and is accompanied by a photocertificate.

Provenance: Wally Findlay Galleries Acquired from the above by the present owner, October 24, 1964

$10,000 - 15,000

2 Jacques Martin-Ferrières

(French, 1891-1972) Dahlias sur bouillotte en marbre, 1955 oil on canvas signed Martin Ferrières (lower left); dated (lower right) 13 x 16 1/4 inches. Property from the Carmen S. Holeman Trust, Indianapolis, Indiana

This lot is accompanied by an attestation of inclusion in the archives of the artist, in order to be included in the Catalogue Raisonné of Jacques Martin-Ferrières being prepared by Anne-Marie Destrebecq-Martin. It is registered in Jacques Martin-Ferrières’ manuscript list as 148 FL.

Provenance: The Artist Findlay Galleries, Palm Beach, Florida, December 1965, acquired from the Artist

$3,000 - 5,000

3 Lê Phổ

(French/Vietnamese, 1907–2001) Les Dahlias Blanches, 1974 oil on canvas signed Le Pho and with Chinese characters (lower right); titled and dated (stretcher) 45 3/4 x 32 inches. Property from the Estate of Celestia B. Smithgall, Atlanta and Gainesville, Georgia

This lot has been authenticated by the Findlay Institute and will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Le Pho, currently underway.

Provenance: The Artist’s studio, Paris, 1974 Findlay Galleries, October 1984 Acquired from the above, October 1987

4 Lê Phổ

(French/Vietnamese, 1907–2001) Composition (Fleurs), 1970 oil on canvas signed Le Pho and with Chinese characters (lower right); titled (stretcher) 39 1/2 x 29 inches.

This lot has been authenticated by the Findlay Institute and will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Le Pho, currently underway.

Provenance: The Artist’s studio, Paris, 1970 Findlay Galleries, January 1971 Acquired from the above, June 1971

$40,000 - 60,000

5 Lê Phổ

(French/Vietnamese, 1907–2001) Fleurs oil on canvas signed Le Pho and with Chinese characters (lower right) 18 1/4 x 10 3/4 inches.

This lot has been authenticated by the Findlay Institute and will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Le Pho, currently underway.

Provenance: The Artist’s studio, Paris Findlay Galleries, September 1973 Acquired from the above, August 1974

6 Vũ Cao Đàm

(French/Vietnamese, 1908-2000) La Rencontre, 1969 oil on canvas signed Vu Cao Dam and with Chinese characters, dated, and titled (verso) 13 x 16 inches.

This lot has been authenticated by the Findlay Institute and will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Vũ Cao Đàm, currently underway.

Provenance: The Artist’s studio, Paris Findlay Galleries, September 1969 Acquired from the above, June 19, 1971

$20,000 - 30,000

7 Raoul Dufy

(French, 1877-1953) Bouquet d’Anémones et de Marguerites, c. 1942 gouache on paper signed Raoul Dufy (lower right); inscribed (verso) 19 x 24 inches.

Fanny Guillon-Laffaille has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work, which will be included in her forthcoming supplement to the catalogue raisonné of Watercolors, Gouaches and Pastels currently in preparation, as no. As-1763.

Provenance: The Artist Carstairs Galleries, New York, acquired from the Artist Private Collection, acquired from the above Thence by descent

$20,000 - 30,000

8 Raoul Dufy

(French, 1877-1953) Marché à Nice, 1938 gouache and crayon on paper signed Raoul Dufy, dated, and inscribed Nice (lower center); inscribed (verso) 19 x 24 inches.

Fanny Guillon-Laffaille has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work, which will be included in her forthcoming supplement to the catalogue raisonné of Watercolors, Gouaches and Pastels currently in preparation, as no. As-1764.

Provenance: The Artist Carstairs Galleries, New York, acquired from the Artist, c. 1939 Private Collection, acquired from the above Thence by descent

$20,000 - 30,000

9 Raoul Dufy

(French, 1877-1953) Château de Chambord, 1937 watercolor on paper signed Raoul Dufy and titled (lower center); titled and inscribed (verso) 18 x 24 1/2 inches.

Fanny Guillon-Laffaille has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work, which will be included in her forthcoming supplement to the catalogue raisonné of Watercolors, Gouaches and Pastels currently in preparation, as no. As-1762.

Provenance: The Artist Carstairs Galleries, New York, acquired from the Artist, c. 1939 Private Collection, acquired from the above Thence by descent

$20,000 - 30,000

10 Pierre-Auguste Renoir

(French, 1841-1919) La Baie de Villefranche-sur-Mer, 1899 oil on canvas signed Renoir (lower left) 18 x 21 3/4 inches. Property from the Collection of Richard D. Simmons, Alexandria, Virginia

This lot will be included in the forthcoming Renoir Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc. It is also accompanied by a copy of a photo-certificate issued by François Daulte, dated July 24, 1984.

Provenance: The Artist Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, acquired from the Artist, October 26, 1901 (stock no. 6753) Paul Cassirer, Berlin, acquired from the above, July 7, 1911 Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, acquired from the above Eddie Duchin, New York, acquired from the above, c. 1930 Private Collection, by descent from above, 1951 Robert H. Everitt, Madrid, by descent from above, as of 1980 Sold: Hôtel Président, Geneva, May 7, 1984, Lot 127 Daniel Varenne, Geneva, acquired at the above sale Island Weiss Gallery, New York Acquired from the above by the present owner, June 21, 2001

Exhibited: Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Tableaux par A. Renoir, June 1902, no. 4 (as Villefranche) Dresden, Kunstsalon Ernst Arnold, Ausstellung von Gemälden französischer Künstler, September 5 - 30, 1902, no. 29 (as Blick auf Villa Franca)

$400,000 - 600,000 Renoir first traveled to the south of France in 1882, to visit fellow artist and friend Paul Cézanne in Aix-en-Provence. His discovery of the region and its surroundings – including further south towards the French Riviera – bathed in sunlight, had a strong impact on the artist’s palette, offering him a whole new range of luminous color tones. Renoir frequently returned to the area and began to make extended stays in 1898/99, partly to alleviate his rheumatoid arthritis, but also because the vibrant landscape presented an opportunity to further develop his integration of Classicism and Impressionism. The Arcadian views provided an infinite source of inspiration for the artist in his final years.

In these later years, Renoir devoted himself increasingly to landscapes. Though he usually painted inside houses and their grounds, the artist often ventured out to the surrounding countryside. These informal landscapes offered Renoir the freedom to improvise and experiment outside the constraints of conventional notions of composition and finish. Speaking on the south of France more generally, and the feeling it evoked within him, Renoir reported that, “In this marvelous country, it seems as if misfortune cannot befall one; one is cosseted by the atmosphere” (Renoir, Hayward Gallery, London, 1985-86, p. 268).

With its expressive brushstrokes and sparkling color, La Baie de Villefranche-sur-Mer, 1899, is suggestive of the artist’s feelings of the region. Directly to the east of Nice, in the Côte d’Azur, the town of Villefranche-sur-Mer is set at the foot of a natural amphitheater of hills. Renoir depicts the town and bay from a point somewhere to the southeast. The jut of land, occupied by an impressive white home, may be Pointe du Rubé, though the structure itself no longer seems to exist. The sun-washed view is woven loosely together with variegated brushstrokes to form a colorful pattern, in which the clustered dwellings are overwhelmed by the sweeping sky and exuberant, untamed vegetation. The warm tone and radiant light beautifully capture the lush, serene environment. The present view is an evocative example of Renoir’s landscapes of the French Riviera and demonstrates Renoir’s mastery at capturing the subtleties of natural light, a central tenet of Impressionism.

11 Alfred Sisley

(French, 1839-1899) La Seine à Saint-Mammès, c. 1886-90 pastel on paper signed Sisley (lower right) 11 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches. Property from the Collection of Richard D. Simmons, Alexandria, Virginia

Provenance: Galerie Durand Ruel, Paris (stock no. 6874, as Les Bords du Loing à Moret) Galerie Schmit, Paris Mme Dodanthun, 1964 Sold: Hôtel des ventes, Marseille, November 25, 1972 Private Collection, Marseille Galerie Daniel Malingue, Paris, Galerie Étienne Sassi, Vallauris et Galerie Hopkins-Thomas, Paris, by 1989 Sold: Hôtel des ventes, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, December 11, 1994, Lot 87 Private Collection Hollis Taggart Galleries, Washington, DC Acquired from the above by the present owner, May 1995

Exhibited: Paris, Galerie Schmit, Les Impressionistes et leurs précurseurs, May 17 - June 17, 1972, p. 90, no. 71, illus. (as Le Loing à Moret)

Literature: Sylvie Brame and François Lorenceau, Alfred Sisley: catalogue critique des peintures et des pastels, Paris, 2021, pp. 390; 510, no. P 33

$50,000 - 70,000 The son of English parents, Alfred Sisley grew up in Paris but was sent to London for business school to follow in his merchant father’s footsteps. However, Sisley spent more time studying Turner and Constable in the London museums. He eventually returned to Paris in 1861, where he entered the studio of Charles Gleyre and attended the Swiss Academy. He trained alongside Frédéric Bazille, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, meeting to discuss the Impressionist style at the Café Guerbois. In 1874, he displayed his work at the first independent Impressionist exhibition. Consequently, even though his style and color palette are more subdued than Monet and Renoir, Sisley is considered a founding member of Impressionism.

Alfred Sisley’s La Seine à Saint-Mammès depicts a favorite Impressionist subject—the river Seine and the villages that border it. In 1880, Sisley and his family moved to Veneux-Nadon, where he commenced to paint numerous views of the bridges, riverbank, and quaysides of the surrounding villages. The area, with its gentle landscape and constantly shifting light, became his last home and a constant source of inspiration for his later work. Painted circa 1886-90, the present pastel is of the surrounding quay and buildings of the small town of Saint Mammès, situated at the confluence of the rivers Seine and Loing, just north of Moretsur-Loing. The subtle luminosity of the overcast day in La Seine à Saint-Mammès captures the ephemeral effects of light, water, and weather on the surrounding landscape. The soft tones of the pastel are counterbalanced by the strong horizontals of the sky, land, and village buildings, and further enlivened by the diagonals cut by the paths and river.

Like Monet, “Sisley worked in all seasons and weathers along this beautiful and still unspoilt bank of the Seine. Its topography gave him new configurations of space in which far horizons combined with plunging views below; the horizontals of skyline, riverbank and receding path are overlaid by emphatic verticals and diagonals to produce densely structured surfaces…With more subtlety than before, he determines the exact relation of the sky to the silhouette of the land. He knows how to differentiate its planes, order its clouds, diminish or enlarge its scope to produce a harmony inseparable from the landscape below” (Richard Shone, Sisley, London, 1992, p. 135). With its nuanced luminosity, La Seine à Saint-Mammès is an outstanding example of Sisley’s dexterity with all mediums, including that of pastel.

12 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

(French, 1864 - 1901) Femme au lit - Au petit lever (study for the lithograph for the eighth plate of “Elles” (Woman in Bed Greeted by her Mother)), 1896 lightly applied lithographic crayon, or gray crayon, or very soft graphite on cream Japanese translucent paper laid down on Japanese Kozo paper 17 x 20 inches. Property from the Collection of Janice and Philip Beck, Winnetka, Illinois

Provenance: Emmanuel Tapié de Céleyran M. Chappe M. Knoedler & Co. Marcel Guiot, Paris Sold: Sotheby’s, London, May 6, 1959, Lot 59 Eric Estorick (spelled Estorich in Dortu), acquired from the above sale Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London Art Properties Incorporated (Jean-Paul Getty Collection), California, 1959-1971, acquired from the above J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California, given to the Museum in 1971 Sold: Christie’s, London, July 1, 1980, Lot 106 Dr. Anton C.R. Dreesman, acquired at the above sale Sold: Christie’s, London, King Street, April 9, 2002, Lot 41 Colletti Gallery, Chicago Private Collection, acquired from the above by the present owner

Exhibited: Paris, Museé de l’Orangerie, Toulouse-Lautrec cinquantenaire, May-Aug. 1951, no. 108

Literature: M.G. Dortu, Toulouse-Lautrec et son oeuvre, vol. VI, New York, 1971, pp. 754-755, no. D.4.280, illus. Burton B. Frederickson, Catalogue of the Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum, volume 1, Malibu, Calfornia, 1972, p. 108, no. 160, illus. (as Young Girl in Bed Greeted by Her Mother (Au petit lever))

$15,000 - 20,000 From vaudeville performers and cabaret dancers to the “grandes cocottes,” Toulouse-Lautrec’s oeuvre candidly mirrors the entertainment world of Paris at the turn of the 20th century. The artist sought to portray the Belle Epoque society by chasing and conveying fleeting gestures and moments rather than solidifying his subjects into inert and uniform archetypes. This evocative character reveals the intrinsic drawing quality that imbues Toulouse-Lautrec’s work, notably through his expert use of line, especially within his favored mediums of lithography and painting.

The present drawing, Femme au Lit – Au Petit Lever (study for the lithograph for the eighth plate of “Elles” (Woman in Bed Greeted by her Mother)), especially demonstrates Toulouse-Lautrec’s distinctive style and subject matter. It depicts Madame Juliette Baron and her daughter, Mademoiselle Popo. Baron ran a brothel on Rue des Moulins, where, between 1892 and 1895, Toulouse-Lautrec spent weeks at a time, in addition to other “maisons closes” located on Rue d’Amboise and Rue Joubert. A year later, in 1896, his successive stays among the prostitutes of Paris yielded the lithographic series Elles (comprising 10 plates, a frontispiece and a cover), a pictorial account of these spaces at the periphery of society.

Toulouse-Lautrec’s gaze and renditions affirm no moral stand and offer a rather prosaic vision of prostitution, devoid of overt vice and eroticism. The women in Elles are shown in everyday situations, bathing, combing their hair, sleeping, or awakening, as in Femme au Lit – Au Petit Lever. These depictions align them with a somewhat universal vision of womanhood, also conveyed by the broad-meaning title Elles. Still, the subtle, decent, and ordinary character of Toulouse-Lautrec’s portrayals did not withstand the harsh judgment of bourgeois morality: of the 100 portfolios published by Gustave Pellet, only a few sold at the time, compelling him to break them up and sell prints individually.

(See Wittrock, Wolfgang. Toulouse-Lautrec: the complete prints. London: for Sotheby’s Publications by P. Wilson Publishers; New York, USAL Distributed by Harper & Row Publishers, 1985 and Gotz, Adriani. Toulouse-Lautrec: the complete graphic works: a catalogue raisonne: the Gerstenberg Collection. London: Thames and Hudson, 1988 for more detailed information on the Elles series).

13 Gustave Camille Gaston Cariot

(French, 1872-1950) Le jardin de Périgny, Yonne, 1906 oil on canvas signed G. Cariot and dated (lower left) 29 x 36 1/4 inches.

Provenance: Private Collection, France Private Collection, acquired from the above Sold: Sotheby’s, New York, May 15, 2018, Lot 251 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$60,000 - 80,000

14 Gustave Camille Gaston Cariot

(French, 1872-1950) Meules de foin, 1925 oil on canvas signed G. Cariot and dated (lower right) 23 1/2 x 32 inches.

Provenance: Sold: Ader Nordmann, Paris, April 10, 2019, Lot 33 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$20,000 - 30,000

15 Paul-Émile Pissarro

(French, 1884-1972) Pommiers et genêts en fleurs oil on canvas signed Paulémile Pissarro (lower left); signed and titled (verso) 18 x 24 inches.

Lélia Pissarro has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work.

Provenance: Sold: Matsart Auctioneers & Appraisers, Jerusalem, April 13, 2016, Lot 64 Sold: Matsart Auctioneers & Appraisers, Jerusalem, November 10, 2016, Lot 33 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$7,000 - 9,000

16 Paul-Émile Pissarro

(French, 1884-1972) La maison du père Olivier à Clécy oil on canvas signed Paulémile Pissarro (lower right) 15 1/4 x 21 3/4 inches.

Lélia Pissarro has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work.

$4,000 - 6,000

17 Paul-Émile Pissarro

(French, 1884-1972) La Lavandière, 1928 oil on canvas signed Paulémile Pissarro and dated (lower left) 18 1/4 x 22 inches.

Lélia Pissarro has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work.

Provenance: Sold: Éric Pillon Enchères, Versailles, June 30, 2019, Lot 98 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$4,000 - 6,000

18 Narcisse Guilbert

(French, 1878-1942) Le port en Normandie oil on canvas signed Guilbert (lower left) 21 1/4 x 28 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Sold: Millon & Associés, March 21, 2018, Lot 67 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$6,000 - 8,000

19 Albert Lebourg

(French, 1849-1928) Les bords de l’Allier à Pont-du-Château, Auvergne oil on canvas signed A. Lebourg and inscribed (lower left) 18 1/4 x 30 inches.

Provenance: Sold: Christie’s, Paris, May 24, 2005, Lot 23

$5,000 - 7,000

20 Henri Jean Guillaume Martin

(French, 1860-1943) Barques aux environs de Collioure, c. 1910 oil on panel signed Henri Martin (lower left) 14 3/4 x 18 1/4 inches.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the late Cyrille Martin.

Provenance: Maison Toussaint, Paris Private Collection, France Sold: Sotheby’s, London, June 23, 2011, Lot 103 Private Collection, acquired at the above sale Sold: Sotheby’s, New York, May 15, 2018, Lot 386 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$60,000 - 80,000

21 Henri Jean Guillaume Martin

(French, 1860-1943) Jeune femme nue oil on canvas signed Henri Martin (lower left) 51 1/2 x 32 inches.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the late Cyrille Martin.

Provenance: Galerie Brame et Lorenceau, Paris Private Collection, Italy Sold: Christie’s, London, June 26, 2001, Lot 186 Private Collection, acquired at the above sale Sold: Christie’s, New York, May 16, 2018, Lot 345 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

22 Frédérique Vallet-Bisson

(French, 1862-1949) The Red Ball Gown oil on canvas signed Frédérique Vallet (lower left) 76 1/2 x 36 1/2 inches.

Provenance: Butterfield & Butterfield, San Francisco & Los Angeles, November 8, 1995, Lot 828

$4,000 - 6,000

23 Jean Jacques Henner

(French, 1829-1905) Portrait of a Woman in Red oil on panel signed JJ Henner (upper left) 13 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches. Property from the Estate of Norma and David McIntyre, Los Angeles, California

$3,000 - 5,000

24 Roger Muhl

(French, 1929-2008) L’Esterel le matin oil on canvas signed Muhl (lower center); titled and inscribed CD-92 (verso) 50 x 47 1/4 inches. Property from the Estate of R. Lawrence Dunworth, Palm Beach, Florida

Provenance: A. B. Closson Co., Cincinnati, Ohio

$6,000 - 8,000

25 Roger Muhl

(French, 1929-2008) Paysage d’Été oil on canvas signed Muhl (lower center) 20 3/4 x 19 1/2 inches. Property from the Estate of R. Lawrence Dunworth, Palm Beach, Florida

$2,000 - 4,000

26 Henri Hecht Maïk

(French, 1922–1993) Les Amoureux, 1971 oil on canvas signed Maïk and dated (lower right); signed, titled, and inscribed (verso) 6 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Wally Findlay Galleries, Chicago

$2,000 - 4,000

27 Jean Jansem

(French, 1920-2013) Les Bas Rouges oil on canvas signed Jansem (upper right) 13 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches.

Provenance: Wally Findlay Galleries, Chicago Acquired from the above by the present owner, May 21, 1966

28 Paul Augustin Aïzpiri

(French, 1919-2016) Tête d’homme, 1959 oil on canvas signed Aïzpiri (lower right) 18 1/4 x 15 inches. Property from the Collection of Marie Battaglini-Levy, Washington, DC

Provenance: Sold: Ader Normann, Paris, March 3, 2020, Lot 1 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$5,000 - 7,000

29 Paul Augustin Aïzpiri

(French, 1919-2016) Le jeune clown oil on canvas signed Aïzpiri (lower right) 13 x 9 inches. Property from the Collection of Marie Battaglini-Levy, Washington, DC

Provenance: Sold: Rémy Le Fur & Associés, Paris, July 3, 2020, Lot 95 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$4,000 - 6,000

30 Moise Kisling

(French/Polish, 1891-1953) Fleurs, 1928 oil on canvas signed Kisling (lower left) 25 1/2 x 21 1/4 inches.

This lot will be included in Volume IV et Additifs aux Tomes I, II et III of the Moïse Kisling catalogue raisonné, currently being prepared by Marc Ottavi. It is accompanied by a photo-certificate issued by André Pacitti, dated June 10, 1966.

Provenance: Wally Findlay Galleries, Chicago Acquired from the above by the present owner

$70,000 - 90,000

31 Albert André

(French, 1869-1954) La table de déjeuner devant la treille, c. 1930-1940 oil on canvas signed Albert André (lower right) 14 1/4 x 37 3/4 inches. Property from the Miriam B. Swanson Trust, Chicago, Illinois

This lot will be included in the catalogue raisonné of the paintings by Albert André, currently in preparation by Béatrice Roche, Alain Girard, and Flavie Durand-Ruel.

Provenance: Galleries Maurice Sternberg, Chicago Acquired from the above, December 1971

$6,000 - 8,000

32 Victor Charreton

(French, 1864-1937) Verger en fleurs dans un village oil on canvas signed Victor Charreton (lower right) 29 x 36 1/4 inches.

Literature: Robert and Bertrand Chatin, Victor Charreton: Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 2007, vol. 1, p. 502, no. 1040, illus.

$8,000 - 10,000

33 Marcel Mouly

(French, 1918-2008) Göteborg la nuit (Gothenburg at night), 1952 oil on canvas signed M. Mouly and dated (lower right); signed, dated, titled, and inscribed (verso) 19 3/4 x 39 1/2 inches. Property from the Collection of G. Gordon Schulmeyer

Provenance: Sold: Bukowski, Stockholm, April 27-30, 2009, Lot 254 (as Goteburg Lanuit)

$2,000 - 4,000

34 Paul Klee

(German, 1879-1940) Genien, 1937 graphite on paper laid to folded cardboard signed Klee (upper left); dated and numbered T4 (lower left); titled (lower right); inscribed einf. Blatt (on the upper left of the folded half of the cardboard mount) [Please note that the protective cardboard was cut away and is now in the Paul Klee Foundation, Bern, Switzerland.] 12 3/4 x 19 inches.

Provenance: Hermann and Margrit Rupf, Bern, Switzerland, until 1953 Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne, Switzerland (19531955) Leigh B. and Mary Block, Chicago, by 1955

Literature: Richard Verdi, “Musical Influences on the Art of Paul Klee,” Museum Studies, vol. 3, Chicago, 1968, pp. 93-94, fig. 11, illus. The Paul Klee Foundation (ed.), Paul Klee. Catalogue raisonné, Volume 7, 1934-38, Bern, 2004, p. 301, no. 7120, illus.

$50,000 - 70,000 Genien, 1937, reveals Paul Klee’s avid enthusiasm for mythology and folklore, as well as his search to translate the temporal qualities of music into visual form. As a child, Klee had been a musical prodigy, but gave up the violin to study art in Munich in 1898. There he became influenced by the Jugendstil’s ideas of higher spiritual realities beyond the visible world that he would develop into his own complex artistic theories. In his 1920 essay, “Creative Confession,” the artist compared the creation of a work of art to a journey through space and thereby time, concluding, “The pictorial work sprang from movement, it is itself fixed movement and it is grasped by movement (eye muscles).” (Paul Klee, “Schöpferische Konfession,” Tribüne der Kunst und Zeit, Berlin, 1920, pp. 34-35)

Especially in the last decade of his life, Klee executed a series of paintings in which fragmentary linear patterns are combined with planar areas of multiple colors, to create structural rhythms. The present work is likely a preliminary study for Sextett der Genien, a pastel also made in 1937. The study reveals that the artist first planned the linear configuration of the design by combining and re-combining a few basic motifs. The subject of Genien, or genies in English, are known in folklore as shapeshifting supernatural creatures. At times described as malevolent, mischievous, or benevolent, genies could take on many forms, including the wind. The artist has appropriated this subject matter and composed it into his own distinctive artistic language. The calligraphic lines, both curved and straight, have a distinct sense of movement and energy that convey the shifting presence of the genies. The varied strokes transmit a lively tempo that leads the eye around the composition. The artist’s playful sense of humor can also be seen in the abstract faces of each fabled figure that peer out of the maze-like lines. The result is as unpredictable as it is ingenious and creates a powerful cadence to the magical scene.

The present work was first held in the collection of Hermann and Margrit Rupf of Bern, Switzerland. The couple were early proponents of avant-garde art in Switzerland and generous patrons and advocates of contemporary artists. The Rupfs established the first major collection of Cubist and abstract art in Bern, alongside an important collection of contemporary Swiss art, which they bequeathed to the city’s Kunstmuseum in 1954. As a result of their collecting activities, the Rupfs became close friends with Paul and Lily Klee and after 1913 they regularly acquired works from the artist. They may very well have acquired Genien directly from Klee. The drawing was also formerly in the collection of Leigh B. and Mary Block, who purchased it from the Galerie Rosengart in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1955. The Blocks were life-long residents of Chicago and owned one of the prime private art collections in the United States, including Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889 (Private Collection). In 1980, the couple donated funds to Northwestern University to establish what is now the Block Museum, an important institution in the art and cultural scene of Chicago. The provenance of this lively artwork highlights its importance within the artist’s oeuvre.

35 Franz Sedlacek

(Austrian, 1891-1944) Landschaft mit Jäger, 1926 oil on board initialed FS and dated (lower left); signed, dated, titled, and inscribed Wien (verso) 26 x 21 1/2 inches. Property from the Estate of Jost Hermand, Madison, Wisconsin; Sold to Benefit the University of Wisconsin Foundation

Provenance: The Artist’s family, Bad Gastein, Austria, c. 1930 Galerie Hasfurther, Vienna, 1978-85 Sold: Wiener Secession und Galerie Hassfurther, Vienna, May 26, 1979, Lot 247 Sold: Hassfurther Auktionen, Vienna, March 31, 1984, Lot 117 Acquired at the above by the present owner

Exhibited: Linz, Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Landesgalerie, Neo-Romanticism and New Objectivity in Upper Austria, Christmas exhibition of the Upper Austrian State Museum, 1929, cat. no. 57 Linz, Wolfgang-Gurlitt-Museum, Neue Galerie der Stadt, Franz Sedlacek, 1952, cat. no. 6 Galerie Hassfurther, Vienna, 1978 Vienna, Weiner Secession und Galerie Hassfurther, Austrian Art 1880-1945, 1979

Literature: Hermann Ubell, “Franz Sedlacek, the Neoromantic,” Bilderwoche der Tagespost, 27, November, 1932, p. 1f Elisabeth Hintner-Weinlich, The Painter and Graphic Artist Dr. Franz Sedlacek, PhD diss., Innsbruck, 1987, p. 226, no. 24 Elisabeth Hintner, Franz Sedlacek. Work and Life 1891-1945, 2. Vienna, 1990, p. 39, fig. 7 Gabriele Spindler and Andreas Strohhammer, Franz Sedlacek 1891-1945: Monografie mit Verzeichnis der Gemälde, Vienna, 2011, p. 163, WV 31, illus.

$60,000 - 80,000

36 Peder Mørk Mønsted

(Danish, 1859-1941) Spring day with a horse carriage on the road near Jyllinge, 1921 oil on canvas signed PMønsted, dated, and inscribed Jyllinge (lower left) 27 3/4 x 41 inches.

Provenance: Sold: Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen, March 5, 2018, Lot 3 Sold: Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen, February 26, 2019, Lot 54 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$10,000 - 15,000

37 Peder Mørk Mønsted

(Danish, 1859-1941) Winter landscape with a milkman in Høje Taastrup, 1929 oil on canvas signed PMønsted, dated, and inscribed Høje Taastrup (lower right) 20 x 27 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Sold: Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen, February 13, 2017, Lot 1 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$10,000 - 15,000

38 Peder Mørk Mønsted

(Danish, 1859-1941) Summer in Varenna, Italy, 1921 oil on canvas signed PMønsted, dated, and inscribed Varenna (lower right) 15 x 23 inches.

Provenance: Georg Kleis Kunsthandel, Copenhagen (label verso) Sold: Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen, November 19, 2008, Lot 270 Private Collection, acquired circa 2016

$6,000 - 8,000

39 Peter Vilhelm Ilsted

(Danish, 1861–1933) Interior Fra Liselund, 1917 oil on canvas signed monogram and dated (lower right) 20 1/4 x 17 1/2 inches.

Provenance: Pickwick Antiques, Montgomery, Alabama Acquired from the above, August 1998

$6,000 - 8,000

40 Bruno Liljefors

(Swedish, 1860–1939) Red Grouse in the Snow, 1909 oil on canvas signed Bruno Liljefors and dated (lower left) 27 3/4 x 39 1/2 inches.

Provenance: Sold: Bukowski’s, Stockholm, May 29, 2000, Lot 125 Sold: Christie’s, London, March 30, 2001, Lot 13 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$40,000 - 60,000

41 Grigory Gluckmann

(Russian, 1898–1973) November in Venice oil on board signed Gluckmann (lower right) 15 1/4 x 22 inches.

Provenance: Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, California (label verso) Sold: Sotheby’s, Chicago, April 11, 1999, Lot 139 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

$3,000 - 5,000

42 Leonid Osipovich Pasternak

(Ukrainian, 1862–1945) Portrait of Mikhael Itzhakovich Press, 1922 black chalk on paper signed Leonid Pasternak and inscribed in Russian (lower edge); dated November 12, 1922 (upper left) 10 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches. Property from the Collection of Anne Gurewich Gordon, Bethesda, Maryland

43 Wright Barker

(British, 1864-1941) Startled, 1896 oil on canvas signed Wright Barker and dated (lower left) 38 1/2 x 56 1/2 inches.

$5,000 - 7,000

44 John Collier

(British, 1850–1934) The Lute Player, 1884 oil on canvas signed John Collier and dated (lower left); titled (stretcher) 60 x 45 inches.

Literature: (Possibly) W. H. Pollock, The Art of The Hon. John Collier, special edition of The Art Annual, 1914, p. 25 (dated 1885)

45 John Atkinson Grimshaw

(British, 1836-1893) A Scene of Act II of ‘Jane Shore’, 1876 oil on canvas signed Atkinson Grimshaw and dated (lower right) 24 x 36 inches.

Provenance: Wilson Barrett Collection, England Thence by descent Sold: Bonhams, Knightsbridge, March 20, 2018, Lot 79 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Exhibited: Leeds, England, Leeds City Art Galleries, Atkinson Grimshaw 1836-1893, October 13 - November 10, 1979, no. 67 (also travelled to Southampton Art Gallery, November 24 - December 29, 1979 and Liverpool Walker Art Gallery, January 12 - February 9, 1980) Harrogate, England, The Mercer Art Gallery, Atkinson Grimshaw, Painter of Moonlight, April 16 - September 4, 2011 (also travelled to London, Guildhall Art Gallery, September 19, 2011 - January 15, 2012)

$30,000 - 50,000 The present lot depicts a scene from Act II of Jane Shore. Written by W.G. Wills, the play was produced at the Leeds Amphitheatre in 1875 and 1876. The parts of Henry Shore and his errant wife Jane were played by Wilson Barrett and his wife Caroline Heath. The actress, as Jane Shore, is depicted in the painting on her return home after her affair with King Edward IV, only to find that her own child has perished in her absence.

The Barretts were close friends of the Grimshaws, who introduced them to many other actors. The artist and his wife frequently entertained actors at their home in Leeds, Knostrop Hall. Around the mid-1870s, Grimshaw produced aesthetic interiors featuring fashionable women at home, similar to those of artists James Tissot and Lawrence AlmaTadema. His work also appeared in London exhibitions at the Agnew’s Bond Street gallery, which further enhanced his reputation. In 1878 Barrett became the actor manager of the newly opened Grand Theatre in Leeds.

In a 1917 letter to her brother-in-law, the artist’s daughter Enid stated that the room set from the play had been recreated in the Barretts’ own home in Beech Grove, Leeds. However, it is not clear why Grimshaw painted it, with three of his own children recently dead from diphtheria. Perhaps the artist’s new interest in depicting richly appointed and elegantly furnished rooms, as well as the commission from Barrett, was an attraction. Barrett had the painting hung at the Grand Theatre for many years.

Grimshaw favored experimenting with different light sources in both landscapes and interiors. Here, Jane Shore is lit by moonlight streaming through the stained glass windows, while the firelight outlines the figure of her husband and the maid. As in other paintings by the artist, the central figure is over-life size; perhaps to emphasize her importance in the scene. The result is a mysterious scene within an interior redolent of comfort and home, very much as the Grimshaws themselves tried to create in their manorial setting at Knostrop.

46 Heywood Hardy

(British, 1842–1933) A Parting Lord, 1901 oil on canvas signed Heywood Hardy and dated (lower left) 31 1/4 x 24 inches. Property from the Estate of Celestia B. Smithgall, Atlanta and Gainesville, Georgia

Provenance: Richard Green Gallery, London (label verso)

$6,000 - 8,000

47 Daniel O’Neill

(Irish, 1920-1974) Homage to Gaston Debureau, 1945 oil on board signed D. O’Neill and dated (upper left); inscribed with title (verso) 14 x 9 3/4 inches.

We are grateful to Karen Reihill for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present lot.

Exhibited: Dublin, National Gallery of Art, Irish Exhibition of Living Art, August 21 - September 2, 1945, cat no. 95

48 Patrick Hennessey

(Irish, 1915-1980) Cathedrals oil on canvas with an image of a seated nude (verso) 24 x 18 inches.

Literature: Time, March 10, 1947, p. 49, illus. Sean Kissane (ed.), Patrick Hennessy: De Profundis, Dublin, 2016, pp. 21-22 (reproduction from Time illustrated)

$3,000 - 5,000

49 Gwen John

(Welsh, 1876-1939) Two Houses in a Landscape, late 1920s gouache and graphite on brown paper stamped Gwen John (lower left) 6 3/8 x 4 7/8 inches.

Provenance: Estate of the Artist Davis & Langdale Company, New York Private Collection, New York

$3,000 - 4,000

50 Montague Dawson

(British, 1890–1973) Onward-The Norman Court oil on canvas signed Montague Dawson (lower left) 40 x 50 inches. Property from the Collection of James and Patrice Schoonmaker, Naples, Florida

Provenance: Frost & Reed, Ltd., London Acquired from the above, November 11, 1963 Thence by descent to the present owner

$50,000 - 70,000

51 Montague Dawson

(British, 1890–1973) The Surrender oil on canvas signed Montague Dawson (lower left) 20 x 30 inches. Property from the Collection of James and Patrice Schoonmaker, Naples, Florida

Provenance: Frost & Reed, Ltd., London Acquired from the above, October 16, 1963 Thence by descent to the present owner

$40,000 - 60,000

52 Montague Dawson

(British, 1890-1973) Downwind Breeze oil on canvas signed Montague Dawson (lower left) 24 1/3 x 36 inches.

Provenance: Quester Gallery, Stonington, Connecticut (label verso)

$30,000 - 50,000

53 Montague Dawson

(British, 1890–1973) Foochow oil on canvasboard signed Montague Dawson (lower left); inscribed China Clippers (verso) 14 x 18 inches. Property from the Collection of James and Patrice Schoonmaker, Naples, Florida

$20,000 - 30,000