Modern Masters Before the Sale

The Spring auctions of Impressionist and Modern Art, which go on view this Friday at Christie's and Sotheby's and under the hammer next week, are a rare treat. A healthy art market brings good work into public view; an explosive market brings out extraordinary work by familiar artists and new consideration for overlooked painters.

Sotheby's featured painting is by the German Expressionist Lyonel Feininger. "Jesuits III" (1915), estimated between $7 million and $9 million, shows the influence of Picasso and Braque and echoes the relationship between Expressionism and Impressionism.

Christie's takes the matter differently by featuring an example of each movement. For the Impressionists, it is Paul Signac's "Arrière du Tub" (1888), estimated between $6 million and $8 million. On the Expressionist side of the equation, there is Ludwig Kirchner's "Dodo mit grossem Fächer" (1910), estimated between $12 million and $18 million, which is expected to draw a great deal of interest.

The rivalry of the auction business means that each house often has similar works by the same artist with a particularly strong market. This season Sotheby's and Christie's have competing Cézannes, Picassos, Matisses, Modiglianis and Giacomettis.

Sotheby's has a clutch of Cezanne watercolors, but the star is "Nature Morte au Melon Vert" (1902-06), estimated between $14 million and $18 million, which is a shimmering still life dominated by a green melon. Christie's offering "Feuilles dans un pot vert" (1890-92), estimated between $1.2 million and $1.8 million, is a less striking piece but valued for its rare subject matter: flowers. Unlike so many other Impressionists, Cézanne didn't paint a lot of them.

Picasso dominates the sales, at least in terms of lots. Sotheby's is selling "Tête D'arlequin" (1905), estimated between $14 million and $18 million, as well as another piece from the same period. Christie's has an early painting in striking Fauvist colors called "La jupe rouge" (1902), estimated between $2 million and $3 million, as well as the Neo-Classical "Tête et Main de Femme" (1921), estimated between $14 million and $18 million. An interesting work from an earlier period but similar to the Neo-Classical head is Sotheby's "Tête de Fernande" (1906), estimated between $5 million and $7 million.

Both houses have fine examples of his work in the 1930s and '40s: "Nature morte à la Cafetière" (1944), estimated between $3 million and $4 million, for Christie's, and "Les Amants" (1944), estimated between $10 million and $15 million, at Sotheby's.

Matisse is well represented with Sotheby's reclining nude "Odalisque Grise et Jaune" (1925), estimated between $15 million and $20 million. The less important nude at Christie's "Torse de Jeune Fille" (1918), estimated between $1.5 million and $2 million, is still a very compelling painting and a fresh look at the artist. The auction house also has a significant portrait in "Jeune femme assise en robe grise aux bandes violettes" (1942), which is estimated between $6 million and $8 million.

Rising prices for Modigliani put "Portrait de Jeanne Hébuterne" (1918), estimated between $8 million and $10 million, on the market at Sotheby's, which is also selling "Jeune Fille Assise, Les Cheveux Dénoués" (1919), estimated between $12 million and $15 million. Christie's returns fire with "La Femme au Collier vert" (1918), estimated between $12 million and $16 million, which is an extraordinarily balanced example of the Italian painter's work.

The Giacometti show at MoMA several years ago seems to have given his market a turbo charge. This season, both houses are selling a number of works but each has an example of the iconic Giacometti figure and a bust. Sotheby's has "Homme traversant une place par un matin de soleil" (1950), estimated between $4 million and $6 million, and "Tête de Diego" (1955), estimated between $3 million and $4 million. Christie's has "Buste de femme aux bras croisés, Madame Télé" (1964), estimated between $1.8 million and $2.4 million, and "L'homme qui chavire" (1950), estimated between $6.5 million and $8.5 million. Christie's also has "Femme de Venise I" (1957), estimated between $3.5 million and $4.5 million, which marked the halfway point in his mature work.

There are numerous other beautiful and important paintings by Chagall, Renoir, Seurat, Vlaminck, Pisarro, Schiele, Gris, Léger, Miró and even Mondrian in the sales. Some of these works have been in the possession of a single collector for decades. Others will disappear into collections for years to come.