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 Christie's estimated that those works and others to be sold
in four auctions on February 4-5 and a fifth on February 7 in
London could raise between 156.7 million and 228.3 million
pounds ($260 million-$376 million).
The Picasso, entitled "Femme au costume turc dans un fauteuil"
(Woman in a Turkish costume seated in a chair), 1955, is valued
at 15-20 million pounds and is on sale for the first time in 55
years, Christie's said in a press release.
The painting is one of a small group of portraits by Pablo
Picasso showing Roque in the costume of an "odalisque", a woman
of the harem. It is "a colorful, sexually charged celebration of
Jacqueline, whom Picasso would marry six years later and who
would become one of the most important muses of the artist's
life", the release said.
Magritte's "Les chasseurs au bord de la nuit" (The hunters at
the edge of night), 1928, was part of an exhibition of the
painter's works at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and has
an estimated value of 6-9 million pounds, Christie's said.
The Picasso is the centerpiece of an Impressionist and Modern
Art Evening Auction on February 4 while the Magritte is in The
Art of The Surreal Auction on the same day.
"This stellar sale presents international collectors and
institutions with rare opportunities to acquire exceptional
works with illustrious provenance by key impressionist and
modern masters," Jay Vincze, Christie's International Director
and head of its Impressionist and Modern Art Department, said in
the release.
"The global market for this category continues to expand and
deepen year on year, underpinned by passion for the beauty of
the period and an increasingly far-reaching appreciation and
understanding of the importance of late 19th century and early
20th century art movements."
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 The surrealist auction is comprised of 54 lots. In addition
to the Magritte it features Joan Miro's "Femmes et oiseaux"
(Women and Birds), 1968, estimated to be worth 4-7 million
pounds, and Carlo Carra's "Solitudine" (Solitude), with an
estimated value of 2.5-3.5 million pounds. Also up for grabs is Magritte's "Le regard interieur" (The
inner gaze), from the collection of the late Valerie Eliot,
widow of poet T.S. Eliot, with an estimated value of
500,000-700,000 pounds.
"Twenty-five years on from holding the inaugural standalone Dada
and Surrealism sale and 14 years since Christie's established
its annual auction in the field, the global demand for this
pioneering movement continues to go from strength to strength,"
Olivier Camu, Christie's deputy chairman for Impressionist and
Modern Art, said in the release.
The impressionist auction features works from collections
including Modern Masters: Works from an Important Private Swiss
Collection. It includes Juan Gris's "Nature morte à la nappe à
carreaux" (Still life with checquered tablecloth), 1915, valued at
12-18 million pounds, and Piet Mondrian's "Composition No. 2 with
Blue and Yellow", 1930, estimated at 8-12 million pounds.
Other works in the sale include Alberto Giacometti's "Trois hommes
qui marchent I" (Three men walking I), 1948-1950, valued at 6.2-8
million pounds; "Les cylindres colores" (The colored cylinders),
1918, by Fernand Léger, formerly in the collection of Louis Carre,
the dealer who was closely associated with the artist, estimated at
5-7 million pounds; and Claude Monet's "L'Eglise de Varengeville;
soleil couchant" (The Church of Varengeville; at sunset) 1882,
estimated at 4-7 million.
($1 = 0.6066 British pounds)
(Editing by Elizabeth Piper)
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