Among the top lots include the work of Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti and Tamara de Lempitski

5 May in New York held an evening auction of Sotheby's, which are works of the Impressionists and modernists. At the auction 36 lots on display. Some Moscow audience had the opportunity to see live on pre-show in Moscow on 1-2 April 2009 .

the auction catalog cover adorns the work of Pablo Picasso (Pablo Picasso), entitled «The daughter of an artist at the age of two and a half years, holding toy boat» ( estimeyt 16-24 million dollars ). This painting depicts the Maya - the daughter of Picasso and his mistress Marie-Therese Walter (Marie-Thérèse Walter). Maya was born in 1935, when the artist was still married to the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova. A portrait of the girl was written in 1938, when Picasso had already met with a vengeance beauty Doroy MAARIV (Dora Maar), but is often visited by Marie-Thérèse, mainly to play with a daughter. Portrait of Maya is executed in delicate, joyful tone that brings to mind the images of her mother. The artist met Marie-Thérèse, when she was only seventeen years old, and her portraits tried to emphasize her youth and sensuality.

In addition to Maya, the Picasso was still three children: Paul (Paulo), Claude and Paloma. When they were small, the artist depicted them constantly on their pictures. His charmed world of childhood, and in his work he tried to express the inner freedom that can only feel the kids. Interestingly, almost no Picasso painted portraits of other people's children, but the images of their offspring, he has created a great variety. However, this does not mean that between the artist and his children had any special emotional closeness - Picasso was absorbed in his art.

portrait of Maya, exposed at Sotheby's, is held in collections by Picasso until his death. In 1973, after the death of the master, the painting passed his granddaughter Marina - daughter of his eldest son, Paulo.

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Another top lot auction - an unusual bronze sculpture «cat», performed by Alberto Giacometti (Alberto Giacometti). It is also estimated at 16-24 million dollars. Gypsum version of this work appeared in 1951, a bronze sculpture was cast in the 1959-m. Those who saw last fall Giacometti exhibition at the Pushkin Museum of AS Pushkin , «Cat» certainly recall the same toschuyu «dog», created in the same 1951. However, the sculpture is much more abstract cats. It is similar to thin as twigs, pieces of people, through which Giacometti was famous throughout the world. One of the most striking examples of this sculpture is «Standing woman» . Like the «people» Giacometti, his «Cat» extremely exhausted, but stands firmly on the ground - which is a metaphor for the world, suffered shocks the twentieth century, but continues to live and fight. Sculptor admired the incredible flexibility and grace of cats, their lightness and agility.

Plaster option «Cats» used at the first exhibition of Giacometti, which took place in 1951 in the gallery Aimé Meta (Aimé Maeght). The exhibition has brought the artist a huge success. After four years in New York's Guggenheim Museum held a retrospective of his.

There are eight copies of the bronze sculpture «cat». The one that appears in the May auction, is from a private European collection. The owners bought it at Sotheby's auction in 1975. The work cost him 130 thousand dollars. Other copies are in distinguished public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Fund and Margarita Meta Aimé in Saint-Paul-de-Vans, the Museum Berggruen in Berlin, and Alberto Giacometti Foundation in Zurich.

At Sotheby's also will be four first-class paintings by the artist of Polish origin, Tamara de Lempitski (Tamara de Lempicka). Three of them come from the collection of German designer Wolfgang Yoopa (Wolfgang Joop), founder of brand Joop! Yoop is one of the most important collectors in the world of work Lempitski , and often gives them to the exhibitions in various museums. «Stars» upcoming auction will no doubt be two paintings - «Portrait of the Duchess de La Sall» and «Portrait of Marjorie Ferry». The works have the same estimeyt: 4-6 million dollars. They are among the most famous works Lempitski, their reproduction is, perhaps, in every book on the artist's creativity.

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Tamara de Lempitska is one of the main representatives of al-deco style in painting and is one of the major art-ÄÉ× twentieth century. Before the Revolution, she lived in St. Petersburg with her husband - a brilliant secular handsome Tadeusz Lempitskim. After coming to power, the Bolsheviks Lempitskie were forced to flee to Paris, where on their small family threatened by poverty. Tadeusz accustomed to an idle life, do not want to work, and Tamara has decided to provide the family alone. However, one should not think that it plans to become a part of podvizhnitsey, has brought himself as a sacrifice for the good of her husband and children - quite the opposite: a young woman set out to at all is to win the Paris «Higher Society». Tamara from childhood draw well, so it was a natural choice to study painting. One of her mentors was the artist Andre Lot (André Lhote), the inventor of a special form of synthetic cubism, «reconciled» radicalism Picasso (Pablo Picasso) and marriage (Georges Braque) c «academic» figurative. Lempitska has the style to adopt, and not progadala - secured its bourgeois slightly modernized classic came to mind. Soon the artist acquired a large number of acquaintances in the higher strata of society and zazhila, as they say, «a full roll». Her party, dresses, and novels (Lempitska and met with men and women) have acquired legendary status.

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Tamara de Lempitska was one of the first artists portray in their paintings of strong, modern women. An example of this is the «Portrait of the Duchess de La Sall», which we see a calm, self-confident secular lioness with a short haircut and dressed for riding. The figure of the Duchess and the interior, in which it depicts, much more realistic than the urban landscape outside the window - this combination is a hallmark of Synthetic Cubism Lempitski. The artist is very fond of the portrait of De La Sall: he even hung it over the bed.

English cabaret singer Marjorie Ferry (Marjorie Ferry), shown in another picture Lempitski looks much more feminine than the Duchess de La Sall. However, this does not mean that it can be described as soft and pliable - Ferry looks at the viewer with the same calm confidence, as much as to say that in any situation, it will be mistress of the situation. The painting Lempitski it appears in the image of the Greek goddesses in white drapery, on a background of Doric columns. The cold beauty of the singer recalls the silent film stars of the time, which is not surprising: Hollywood has been one of the main instigators Lempitski. She copied the style of American actress and loved to tell how it once took for Greta Garbo (Greta Garbo).

little girl in the painting «Portrait of Mademoiselle PIP Rashu», estimated at 1,8-2,5 million dollars, also recalls ancient goddess. Portraying her cold and impassive as the adult models Lempitska seeks providet features a strong, sexual, and independent woman, whom the girl may be, will in the future. The theme of the work of another artist, «Arlette Boucard and calla» ( 0,8-1,2 million dollars ), - wake up feeling. Like its sovremennitsa O'Kif Georgia (Georgia O'Keeffe), Lempitska used flowers as a metaphor for female sexuality. Bouquet of Cullen, who stands next to a photograph a young daughter, patron of the artist Pierre Boucard (Pierre Boucard), a symbol of both purity and temptation.

upcoming auction might be a record for Lempitski, to date the most expensive of its work is the «Portrait of Mrs. Bush», sold in 2004 at Christie's for 4.1 million dollars.

Another work that has received high estimeyt, - «Still Life» Pablo Picasso. This picture, written in April of 1944 in occupied Paris, estimated at 5-7 million dollars. In spring of that year, the artist often create still lifes with a coffee pot and a candle. It became a habit to work in the dark - either at night or with svetomaskirovkoy tightly zadernuv all the blinds. During the war years was a favorite genre of still life by Picasso, which made his often criticized by contemporaries who wished to see in art protest. Some researchers still lifes of 1944 compared with the vanitas - symbolic compositions created to remind the audience about the frailty of human existence.

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Among the top lots are also «Composition in black and white, with double lines» Piet Mondrian (Piet Mondrian) ( 3-5 million dollars ) and «Women and bird in the night »Joan Miro (Joan Miró) ( 3-4 million dollars ). The first work, written in 1934, is one of the most «minimalistichnyh» creations Mondrian. It comes from the collection of the architect Eugene Lux (Eugene Lux) and his wife Zhizelly (Gisella Lux). There is a canvas for the first time. Miro painting, with its «firm» surreal figures of women and birds, was established in 1946. In 1990 it was sold at New York's Christie's over 800 thousand dollars.

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At the tender will also appear several works by Russian artists: picture «Paris juggler» Marc Chagall (Marc Chagall) ( 2-3 million dollars ) and two kubisticheskie sculpture - «gondolier» Alexandra Arkhipenko ( 500-700 thousand dollars ) and« Harlequin with clarinet » Jacques Lipschitz ( 700-900 thousand dollars ).

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Material prepared Yulia Maksimova

Sources: sothebys.com , artprice.com , artinvestment.ru