Sotheby’s was first out of the gate this week, announcing the highlights for its fall sales of Impressionist and Modern art. The projected sale total – upwards of $208 million for the November auction – is the highest total since the spring of 1990. It reflects an optimistic outlook on the market: People don’t sell their treasures when the market is weak.

Highlights of the sale include a Gauguin and a Modigliani. “Maternite (II)” by Paul Gauguin is estimated to sell for $40 to $50 million. The piece is an 1899 oil painting depicting a nursing mother and two other female attendants. It was inspired by Gaugin’s recent fatherhood – his 17-year-old Polynesian mistress gave birth to a son in April 1899.

Sotheby’s will also sell Amedeo Modigliani’s “Jeanne Hebuterne (Devant une Porte)” from the estate of Wendell Cherry. Sotheby’s has sold many works for the Wendell Cherry estate in the past, but Modigliani’s work has performed unevenly at auction recently. (Though last November one of his nudes sold for $26.8 million at Christie’s, a record for the artist at auction.)

The sale from the collection of Philip and Muriel Berman is well timed to coincide with the recent interest in monumental outdoor sculpture. Two of Henry Moore’s large-scale sculptures, “Reclining Figure: Angles” and “Three-Piece Reclining Figure: Draped,” are estimated to sell for $3 to $4 million and $4 to $6 million. The entire offering is expected to go for $20 to $30 million.

The real coup for Sotheby’s, however, will be works from the collection of Hester Diamond. Ms. Diamond is selling off her modern art to focus on building her collection of Renaissance works. Among the modern art framed in her Central Park West apartment is one of Beastie Boy Mike D.s gold records (he’s her son). But the pieces to look for at Sotheby’s will be a Kandinsky painting that is estimated to sell for more than $20 million. The entire single-owner sale is expected to bring in more than $61 million.