LONDON.- The greatest names in the history of the fine and decorative arts come together ahead of what’s set to be a record-breaking sale season at Sotheby’s in London. Everything from rare works by Cranach and Sansovino, to newly restituted works by Klimt and Malevich, treasures from Castle Howard, major works by Francis Bacon, cockerel candelabra and an 18th-century automaton mouse, are on view in Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries. ‘Masterworks in Dialogue’ is a curated exhibition that creates a conversation between artists of different eras, styles and mediums. Juxtaposed in unexpected ways, around themes such as money, religion, fashion and conflict, the exhibition finds new ways to explore the history of art from the Renaissance to the present day.

Consuming Passions
Collections can be driven by disparate obsessions. This work by Lucian Freud comes from the collection of late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire who owned both the work and the chickens that laid the eggs, while this pair of candelabra once belonged to the 18th century courtesan Madame du Pompadour, for whom cockerels and chickens were a favourite motif.

Conflict and Conflicted
Power, might and majesty recur repeatedly as subjects for artists, but their interpretation has evolved overtime.

This portrait of Henry VIII from the workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger shows a monarch who despite being at the end of his reign still possesses a commanding majesty. In contrast, Francis Bacon’s portrait of the Pope explores the human frailty of the sitter.

Shaping the Landscape
A group of some ten disparate works together explore the different ways in which artists have responded to their surroundings, reflecting their own artistic preoccupations onto the world around them. André Derain’s view of London’s embankment from 1906/7, never-before exhibited in London, will be on show alongside works including Peter Doig’s monumental Pelican, from 2003/4. Scottish artist Doig is renowned for his landscape paintings set in his adopted home of Trinidad in the Caribbean.

Other categories in the exhibition include Wallpower, exploring the visual impact of vibrant abstract works of art, Sovereignty, featuring major ‘Dollar’ paintings by Andy Warhol that reflect a modern veneration of the power of money, and The Model á la Mode, which looks at idealised visions of beauty in art through works including Gustav Klimt’s stunning portrait of Gertrud Loew (est. £12-18m).