New York / Berlin, January 28, 2010 – artnet Auctions offers continuous online auctions of Modern and Contemporary art. From January 28 – February 9, artnet Auctions will feature a special sale of Modern Art by renowned artists including Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso. This special online auction will include over 50 works of art by 40 of the most influential modern artists of the 19th-20th centuries representing virtually every important Modern Art movement.
Edgar Degas
Danseuse regardant la plante de son pied droit (quatrième étude), 1895/1988
Valsuani cast with brown patina
Estimate: US$275,000-$375,000
Leading the sale is an exquisite bronze sculpture by Edgar Degas, Danseuse regardant la plante de son pied droit, 1895/1988 (estimate: $275,000-$375,000). Casts of this sculpture have seldom appeared at auction. Also from the French School is Portrait of Mrs. Paley, 1936, by Henri Matisse. This masterful ink on paper drawing was executed in preparation for the portrait commissioned by CBS executive William Paley of his wife (estimate: $225,000-$325,000).
Other highlights include works by groundbreaking Dadaist artists Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray. Included in this section is Duchamp’s La boîte verte (The Green Box), 1914/1934, a green velvet box containing 93 notes, drawings and photos relating to the artist’s seminal work, The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors Even (The Large Glass). This highly sought after limited edition is signed and numbered by the artist (estimate: $55,000-$75,000).
Marcel Duchamp
La mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires, même (La boîte verte), 1914/1934
Green-flocked cardboard box, color plate, 93 notes, drawings, photographs
Estimate: US$55,000-$75,000
Also, in the tradition of the Surrealist movement are works by Joseph Beuys, Joseph Cornell and Kurt Seligmann. Untitled (Die Plastische Haut), 1957-1978, is a work of automatist poetry by Joseph Beuys in pencil on paper (estimate: $35,000-$45,000). Also offered in this section is Blue Sand Box, 1950, by Joseph Cornell constructed of blue colored sand and a metal spring sealed in a glass box (estimate: $200,000-$300,000). This work is a rare example from the artist’s celebrated “time machines” series.
John Grillo
Untitled, 1954
Oil on canvas
Estimate: US$25,000-$45,000
Early Abstract Expressionism is represented with two vibrant paintings by John Grillo and Paul Jenkins. Grillo’s Untitled, 1954 is a bold abstraction with gestural brushwork characteristic of the New York School (estimate: $25,000-$45,000), while Jenkins’ brilliant Cherokee Strip, 1958 is a tour de force of monumental scale (65 x 60 inches) (estimate: $185,000-$285,000).
Mid-century Modern works reflect diverse styles from two Mondrian inspired paintings by Charmion von Wiegand to Reginald Marsh’s gritty social realist painting, Outside Strokey’s Bar, 1945 (estimate: $175,000-$275,000). A prime example of the American Social Realist movement, this work has never before been offered at auction.
Pablo Picasso
La Pique, 1959
Linocut print
Estimate: US$45,000-$55,000
Rounding out the sale are Late Modern works by Pablo Picasso, Ilya Bolotowsky and Alexander Archipenko. La Pique, 1959, a linocut by Picasso, is a complex composition with calligraphic gestures depicting one of the artist’s favorite subjects, the bullfight (estimate: $45,000-$55,000). Three Yellows Vertical, 1970 by Russian-born artist Ilya Bolotowsky reflects both the artist’s Constructivist background and signature use of color tonalities within geometric divisions (estimate: $15,500-$18,500).
