Wassily Kandinsky, Improvisation 10 (1910), via Fondation Beyeler

In terms of the various rejections of painterly convention that defined the early decades of the 20th Century, few schools of thought left the same lasting imprint on the act of painting as “Der Blaue Reiter” (The Blue Rider).  The internationally distributed group of artists, Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc chief among them, were early entries in the varied schools of thought and practice that sought to change the aesthetic and political energies of their craft through a combination of dynamic invention in their craft, and iconoclastic, ideological fervor in their writing and organization.  Making the case for a practice divorced from rote representation, the pair of artists instead relied on color and line themselves, affording these essential elements a much broader range of expressive capacity and spiritual evocativeness that would ultimately pave the way for much of the century’s adventures into abstraction.

Wassily Kandinsky, Murnau—Obermarkt with Mountains (1908), via Fondation Beyeler

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Claude Monet’s ‘Au Parc Monceau’ sold for £6.3 million, well above its high estimate of £4.5 million, via Christie’s

Yesterday’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Christie’s in London realized £37.2 million, falling shy of estimates of £37.8-51.7 million, including buyer’s premium. 30 of the 44 lots offered sold, with a rate of 68% sold by lot and 84% by value. The highlight of the sale was Monet’s ‘Au Parc Monceau,’ which sold for £6.3 million, far above its high estimate of £4.5 million. Joan Miró’s ‘Peinture (Femme se poudrant)’ also attracted spirited bidding, selling for just under £4 million, against estimates of £2.2-2.8 million. The star lot, a Picasso Musketeer painting, ‘Man with sword,’ sold for £5.8 million, in the lower end of estimates of £5-7 million. Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale takes places tonight in London.

Christie’s Impressionist/Modern Evening Sale Results [Christie’s]
Only a Few Hills in the Valley of Christie’s Season-Opening Art Auction [NY Times]
£1.5m Pissarro painting looted by Nazis withdrawn from auction [Telegraph]
Christie’s London sale falls short of low estimate [Reuters]
Buyers Focus on Works Worth the Fight [NY Times]
Monet, Picasso Fetch $20 Million; Auction Shrinks 74% [Bloomberg]
Christie’s Auction of Impressionist and Modern Art in London Realises $60.4 Million [Artdaily]
Christie’s misfires on £37m Impressionist and Modern art sale [Wealth Bulletin]
Christie’s Kicks Off London Season With Modest Imp/Mod Sale [Artinfo]
Family wrangle halts sale of £1.5m Pissarro stolen by the Gestapo [TimesUK]
Family Dispute Halts Sale of Pissarro Stolen by Nazis [Artinfo]
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