Miro's 'The Caress of a Bird' to go under the hammer, expected to fetch nearly $7 mn

PARIS: More than 40 monumental sculptures by artistic giants including Miro, Rodin and Calder - which have not seen in decades - will go under the hammer in Paris in October, Christie's said Thursday.

The Catalan master's colourful painted bronze 'The Caress of a Bird' is expected to go for between four and six million euros ($6.9 million) while a mosaic by the Franco-Chinese artist Zao Wou-Ki could reach two million euros, the auction house said.

"In my 40-year career I have had very few sales of this size," said Christie's director of collections Lionel Gosset.


All the sculptures come from the collection of the late French art dealer Paul Haim.

He kept the work at his estate in the Basque country of southwest France along with sculptures by Leger, Maillol, Niki de Saint Phalle and Antoine Bourdelle.

Even before Haim's death in 2006, they were kept away from prying eyes.

But those being sold off will be brought out of their reclusion for a week before the sale on October 22 and will be shown at the 17th-century former Paris hospital that now houses the headquarters of fashion giant Kering.

Other highlights of the sale are a large bronze nude by Auguste Rodin and work by the American sculptor Alexander Calder, famous for his mobiles.