ZURICH.- When Claude Monet painted 'Le bassin d'Argenteuil' in 1875 he was 34 years old, and it was just one year since the first independent exhibition of works by 'Impressionist' artists such as Monet, Degas, Pissarro, Renoir and Manet had been held. Impressionism was thus in its crucial early years of development, and the group often painted in the countryside around the small town of Argenteuil, where Monet had settled. 'Le bassin d'Argenteuil' was once part of the well-known Dresden collection of Oscar Schmitz, and is one of the few works by Monet from this period that is not already in a museum collection (lot 3214, CHF 2/4 million).

In the last months of his life, from November 1917 until his death in May 1918, Ferdinand Hodler painted some of his most important landscape paintings. They all show Lake Geneva with the Mont Blanc. These are works that have gone down in art history, in which Hodler dissolves the structure of the landscape to the point of abstraction.

One of these important works, most of which are in museum collections, will be auctioned on 29 November. 'Lake Geneva with Mont Blanc in the Early Morning, March', 1918, has only had three owners. After Hodler's death, it was acquired by the Galerie Moos in Geneva, which then sold it to the great Swiss collector Arthur Stoll. From his estate, it was sold in the early 1990s to an important Swiss collection, where it has remained to this day. The painting, which was on display at the most important Hodler retrospectives, was last exhibited in New York and at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen. This is one of Ferdinand Hodler's most important works to have come to auction in recent years (lot 3024, CHF 4 / 6 million).

Also featured in the Swiss Art auction on 29 November are several works by Félix Vallotton, including a strikingly modern view, 'Plage au matin, Houlgate', 1913 (lot 3035, CHF 300 000 / 500 000). Marvelous winter landscapes by Cuno Amiet (lot 3049, CHF 160 000 / 240 000) and Gottardo Segantini (lot 3066, CHF 80 000 / 120 000) will be accompanied by a striking portrait of sculptor Helene Zelezny-Scholz by Augusto Giacometti (lot 3027, CHF 150 000 / 250 000).

Alongside the Monet landscape in the Impressionist & Modern Art auction on 29 November is a magnificent Surrealist gouache by René Magritte, 'Moralité du sommeil' (lot 3257, CHF 400 000 / 700 000), which takes its name from a poem by his friend and fellow Surrealist Paul Éluard. A Cagnes landscape by Monet's fellow Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (lot 3230, CHF 220 000 / 320 000), a winter scene by Gustave Loiseau (lot 3209, CHF 150 000 / 250 000), an early work by Paul Signac (lot 3205, CHF 80 000/120 000), and two works by Alfons Walde (lots 3248 and 3241, CHF 100 000 / 180 000 and CHF 70 000 / 100 000) are among the further highlights of this sale.

The PostWar & Contemporary auction on 28 November includes the harmoniously balanced 'standing mobile' by Alexander Calder, 'Three white dots on orange stack' (lot 3433, CHF 450 000 / 600 000), and installations by Roni Horn (Steven's Bouquet, 1991, lot 3406, CHF 120 000 / 180 000) and the artist duo Fischli/Weiss (Untitled, 2001, lot 3473, CHF 70 000 / 100 000). A large-format work by Franz Gertsch from 1993-94 explores the motif of the butterbur plant on Japanese paper (lot 3463, CHF 150 000 / 250 000). Sol Lewitt is represented by a large-format cube in gouache from 1997 (lot 3414, CHF 90 000/150 000).

A magnificent private collection of 19th-century furniture and decorative arts will be sold on 28 November. Presented as a single-owner sale under the title 'Glamour and Sophistication: Luxury in 19th-Century Paris', the collection includes such masterpieces as a pair of Louis XVI-style ormolu andirons by the finest bronze maker of his time, Louis-Auguste-Alfred Beurdeley (lot 1065, CHF 90 000 / 120 000). Assembled over decades by the collector, a fine connoisseur of the period, the auction will be a unique occasion to examine and acquire a curated selection of decorative arts of the finest quality.

Over 300 lots of jewellery will be sold on 27 November, with pieces from famous makers such as Cartier, Bulgari, Lalaounis and Gübelin. The watches auction on 3 December will satisfy collectors with its selection of classic Patek Philippe and Rolex wristwatches. The fifth edition of Out of This World features an original Soviet space suit (lot 4047, CHF 80 000 / 120 000), as well as a space-flown Omega Speedmaster wristwatch (lot 4048, CHF 120 000 / 180 000).