NEW YORK.- Christie’s spring sale of Impressionist and Modern art will bring to the market an excellent selection of paintings and sculpture by Degas, Caillebotte, Giacometti, Magritte, Monet, Picasso, Vuillard and other masters of Impressionist and Modern art.  Among the works to be offered in the May 7 evening sale are an extraordinary bronze by Constantin Brancusi and an early work by Pablo Picasso that never before have been offered at auction. 



The cover lot of the evening sale, Brancusi’s Danaïde, circa 1913 (estimate: $8,000,000-10,000,000), is an extraordinary bronze portrait based on his favorite muse, Margit Pogany.  It was purchased by the family of the present owner circa 1914 directly from Alfred Stieglitz’s famed gallery, 291, and has never before appeared at auction.  Brancusi was arguably the most revolutionary and influential sculptor of the 20th century, and the present work, which is in excellent condition, is noteworthy for its rich, dark brown patina and rare gilded surface.  In its formal purity, radical simplicity, and physical radiance, it embodies the most important characteristics of his art.  This is the only piece from the series in a private collection; the other six bronze casts of Danaïde are in such prestigious museums as the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Kunstverein, Winterthur, Switzerland; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Tate Gallery, London.



Between 1948 and 1950, Alberto Giacometti executed a series of multi-figure compositions that comprise some of the undisputed masterpieces of his career.  From this series is La forêt, 1950 (estimate: $7,000,000-9,000,000), an assemblage of seven female figures and a bust in painted bronze.  One of the last multi-figure compositions of the artist’s career, it appeared in Giacometti’s second solo exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York shortly after it was cast.  Of the six bronze casts of La forêt, only two, including the present work, remain in private hands; the others are housed in major museum collections around the world. 

Completely fresh to the market, René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières, (estimate: $5,000,000-7,000,000), from a series of oils and gouaches based on the contrast between daylight and darkness, was commissioned from the artist by Dominique and Jean de Menil in 1952.  The de Menils had donated the second completed version of this painting – one of Magritte’s most popular images – to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1950 before commissioning the present work, which is actually the fourth completed and the largest version from the series.



Another important painting making its first appearance at auction is Pablo Picasso’s Les courses, 1901 (Estimate: $4,500,000-6,500,000), a scene of elegantly dressed Parisian women at a racetrack who are perhaps a continuation of the extravagantly costumed courtesans that the young artist had painted in Madrid.  A rare example of the artist’s early period in Paris, Les courses was likely included in Picasso’s first exhibition, at the Galerie Ambroise Vollard. 



Vétheuil au soleil (estimate: $4,000,000-6,000,000), a large-scale sweeping view of the rolling hills of the French village painted by Claude Monet in 1880, is an excellent example of Monet’s plein air painting.  Monet tirelessly explored the surrounding villages and countryside of Vétheuil, painting views in all four seasons. 



Christie’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art also will include a number of important works by Gustave Caillebotte, whose L’Homme au balcon, boulevard Haussmann sold for a record $14.3 million at Christie’s in 2000.  Le bassin d’Argenteuil, 1882 (estimate: $4,000,000-6,000,000), reflects the artist’s interest in yachting, as it exquisitely captures the shimmering light on boats idling in gently rippling water.  Caillebotte’s use of intense colors, even in tranquil landscapes like the present one, set him apart from other Impressionists, who preferred more subdued tones in order to capture the effects of light.  Un soldat, 1881 (estimate: $2,500,000-3,500,000), is a striking image of a French infantryman that dates from the height of Caillebotte’s participation in the Impressionist movement.  For this full-length portrait of an ordinary soldier against a visually indistinct background, the artist used a format usually reserved for exalted heroes of the age, emphasizing the new place in art for everyday subjects and people.  Until recently, Un Soldat could be seen at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it had been on long-term loan since 1983. 



Edouard Vuillard’s La soirée familiale, 1894-95 (estimate: $2,500,000-3,500,000) is a masterful example of the intimate and enigmatic interiors that Vuillard painted during the 1890s, the period of his association with the Nabis circle.  The painting depicts the artist’s sister and her husband, the fellow painter Ker-Xavier Roussel, with Madame Vuillard, the artist’s mother, in a poignant and melancholy scene.  The emphasis on the decorative nature of painting is evident, with specific attention paid to the colorful patterned interior and the silhouetted figures.



Paul Signac spent the summer of 1888 painting in Portrieux, a seaside village along the English Channel in northern Brittany, where he produced a celebrated series of paintings.  Among the most illustrious is the seascape Les mâts. Portrieux. Opus 182, 1888 (estimate: $2,500,000-3,500,000), for which the artist amplified the interplay of water and light to create a canvas that exemplifies the height of his achievement in the Pointillist movement. 



Edgar Degas’ Le tub, conceived circa 1886 and cast in an edition of 22 between circa 1919 and 1921, (estimate: $1,200,000-1,800,000) is widely regarded as the most innovative and important work of the artist’s entire sculpted oeuvre.  Among its pioneering features is its unusual vantage point: it is perhaps the only piece of 19th-century sculpture intended to be viewed from above, an innovation that anticipates the concerns and conventions of 20th-century artists.