Avant-Garde(s) Including Thinking Italian – Christie’s, Paris

Paris – This 20^th of October, following the success of last year’s 66.7-million euro auction, Christie’s will present the exceptional Avant-garde(s) including Thinking Italian sale – a tribute to the greatest artists of the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

Headlined by the extraordinary Peintures (Femmes, lune, étoiles) (1949) by Joan Miró from La Colombe d’Or, the sale will feature a variety of museum-quality works by Yves Klein, Marcel Duchamp, Jean Paul Riopelle, Pablo Picasso, Zao Wou Ki and François-Xavier Lalanne. Other highlights will be works with rare and prestigious provenances, such as an Yves Tanguy work from the Matisse family collection and a large Dorothea Tanning painting, formerly the property of Alain Jouffroy. For the second consecutive year, Christie’s Paris will also feature a curated selection of works by the 20th century’s greatest Italian masters. The Thinking Italian section will include an exceptional canvas by Lucio Fontana, a major painting by Domenico Gnoli, and works by Mario Schifano and Alighiero Boetti.

This sale of around forty lots will take place the same week as Paris+ by Art Basel, building on the series of unmissable events dedicated to modern, postwar and contemporary art.

An edition of one of Man Ray’s signature photographs, Le Violon d’Ingres (estimate: €200,000 – 300,000) will also be for sale. There are only two existing old prints of what is undoubtedly one of the 20^th century’s most defining artworks. One, purchased by André Breton, is now in the Musée National d’Art Moderne Centre Pompidou’s collection, while the other – the Jacobs’ collection print – was sold for 12,300,000 dollars in New York last May. The edition presented in the Avant-Garde (s) sale is one of eight prints – along with three artist proof prints – Man Ray made in 1971 from the negatives

This Avant-Garde(s) sale on 20 October will also showcase a selection of design pieces, such as Au navigateur, a rare variation of a significant Carcasse table by Diego Giacometti (estimate: €300,000 – 500,000). Also featured will be three iconic François- Xavier Lalanne sculptures in epoxy concrete and bronze: Bélier, Brebis and Agneau, part of his Nouveaux Moutons series, are each estimated at €250,000 – 350,000.

From 11 to 24 October, Christie’s will also present the Art Moderne Online Sale bringing together around 150 lots. Highlights include a painting by Marc Chagall emblematic of his Circus series, and many sought-after and rare compositions by André Lhote and Jean Metzinger embodying the Section d’Or at its finest. Works from many particularly prestigious collections are at the heart of this sale, each the epitome of a refined, unique taste for collecting impressionist and modern art. Other highlights of the sale include impressive works by Pablo Picasso, Victor Brauner and Albert Marquet, and many others.