CHICAGO, IL.- This month, masterworks of European art from the impressive Indianapolis estate, Linden House, will anchor Hindman’s May 18th European Art auction. Highlighting the offering will be exquisite paintings by Charles Amable Lenoir, Gustave Loiseau, and Louis Valtat, among others. Overall, the auction will feature work by a wide range of artists, from Dutch Old Masters to 19th century Academic painters, to Impressionists, post-Impressionists, and European Modernists.

Linden House Collection

Built by Christel DeHaan, a collector, businesswoman, and philanthropist, Linden House is the culmination of her lifelong passion for the arts. Designed by Bunny Williams and David Ellison, the 41,000 square foot house is located on a private 35-acre lake at the site of what was formerly a Benedictine monastery. The property sold for $14.5 million, a record for the highest selling residential property in Indiana’s history, in September 2022. RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) is planning to open their newest gallery there.

Highlighting the collection is Charles Amable Lenoir’s life-size Pandora (lot 18; estimate: $60,000 - 80,000), a virtuoso homage to his teacher, William Bouguereau. Lenoir masterfully employed, his technical skill and the academic values of accurate drawing, contour and smooth surfaces, resulting in one of his most accomplished works. In Lenoir’s version, Pandora appears less threatening than mysteriously beguiling as she looks forthrightly at the viewer.

Gustave Loiseau’s 1905 oil on canvas Le quai du Pothuis à Pontoise (lot 23; estimate: $80,000 - 120,000) is another outstanding work from the DeHaan collection. Loiseau is viewed as one of the foremost post-Impressionist painters, and the present work is a superb example of the artist’s study of gently diffusive light as it reflects off the flowing water.

Luigi Bechi’s La lezione di treccia (lot 22; estimate: $20,000 - 30,000) is another highlight from this accomplished collection, illustrating the charms of a bygone era of 19th century Italy.

“We were delighted to discover the quality and breadth of the DeHaan collection, as the house opened its doors to us. Every object and painting had been carefully selected to represent its category and genre, as it is evident in the paintings included in this sale,” commented Madalina Lazen, Hindman Director & Senior Specialist of European Art.

Seminal Works by Paul Klee & Bernard Buffet

Hindman will offer an exceptional work on paper by Paul Klee, Spreng-Holz (Explosive Wood) (lot 64; estimate: $150,000 - 200,000). The pastel is a quintessential example of Klee’s irrepressible spontaneity and vigor as he channeled his immense creativity near the end of his life, which proved to be an incredibly productive time for him. Through the use of multiple areas of colors, Klee has created structural rhythms that lead the eye continuously around the composition.

Additional noteworthy works include:

• Lot 60 | Bernard Buffet’s Rue de village, 1997 | Estimate: $60,000 - 80,000

• Lot 58 | Jean Dufy (French, 1888–1964) La moissonneuse-batteuse, c. 1948-50 | Estimate: $70,000 - 100,000

• Lot 69 | Vu Cao Dam, L'anneau de jade, 1978 | estimate: $50,000 - 70,000

• Lot 70 | Lê Phổ (French/Vietnamese, 1907–2001) | Fleurs | Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000

Women Artists

The auction will also feature a group of works by British and French women artists:

• Lot 39 | Dorothea Sharpe (British, 1874–1955), At the Beach | Estimate: $30,000 - 50,000

• Lot 40 | Dorothea Sharp (British, 1874–1955), Children at the Beach and On the Rocky Shore (a double-sided work) | Estimate: $15,000 - $0,000

• Lot 50 | Françoise Gilot (French, b. 1921), Suntan, 1973 | Estimate:

• Lot 56 | Vanessa Bell, Curtain Design for "High Yellow," 1932 | Estimate: $5,000 - 7,000