Sotheby’s to hold autumn Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art on November 6

KOLKATA: Sotheby’s autumn Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art will be held on 6 November 2013 in New York. The auction features a number of extraordinary pieces that span 100 years of artistic achievement, including: a spectacular winter view of the Seine by Claude Monet; a private collection of 14 museum-quality works created between 1910 and 1930 by the European avant-garde; a radiant portrait by Pablo Picasso of his golden muse Marie-Thérèse Walter; and a sculptural masterpiece by Alberto Giacometti that depicts two radically different views of his brother, Diego. The sale will be on exhibition in Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries beginning 1 November.

A selection of seven works by Pablo Picasso on offer in the Evening Sale features an image from his celebrated series depicting Marie-Thérèse Walter, his young lover and muse. Tête de femme (estimate $20-30 million) is one of the most vibrant examples of these euphoric and fantastical pictures from the 1930s, which rank among the most instantly recognizable works of 20th century art. Painted in March of 1935, the work is distinguished as perhaps the last major canvas that Picasso completed before taking a year-long break from painting, during the time of his contentious divorce from Olga Khokhlova as well as Marie-Thérèse’s pregnancy with their child, Maya.