Every year, Paris, being one of the world's major art markets, hosts various sales, fairs, and exhibitions. Sotheby's is not an exception, which just held its Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Auction, which predominantly featured artists from France and around Europe.
The top lots of the sale were dominated by famous French artists, including Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Gustave Caillebotte, and Zao Wou-Ki. With 37 lots in total, the auction on 10 April pulled in a sale total of just under €19 million (around US$22.7 million) with a sell rate of around 94.6%.
Henri Matisse’s Nu sur la chaise longue led the sale, selling for €1.7 million (around US$1.9 million). This was followed by Paul Cézanne's La Partie de campagne or Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe and the Impressionist painter Gustave Caillebotte's Marronnier rose, plaine d'Argenteuil.
Lot 112 | Henri Matisse (1869-1954) | Nu sur la chaise longue, Oil on canvas
Executed in Issy-les-Moulineaux in 1920
73.1 x 92 cm
Provenance:
- The artist's estate
- Lumley-Cazalet, London (acquired from the above by October 1985)
- Acquavella Galleries, Inc., New York, (acquired from the above)
- Private collection (acquired from the above on 28 August 1986)
- Christie's London, 27 February 2019, lot 16 (consigned by the above)
- Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Estimate: €2,000,000-3,000,000
Hammer Price: €1,400,000
Sold: €1,750,500 (around US$1.9 million)
This painting was painted in 1920 and came at a crossroads during Matisse’s career. Best known for his paintings as part of the Fauvism movement, he was originally a post-Impressionist painter who moved away from that field into more abstract creations with bright, aggressive usages of color, the key theme within all Fauvist works, which in turn would develop into Cubism.
The main Fauvist era, between 1900 and 1910, burned brightly but didn’t last long. This didn’t adversely impact Matisse’s work, but post-1910, he began evolving his work in different directions while still drawing from his background. His works, while he lived in Paris, were still abstract and rich with Fauvist-style usages of color, but his Impressionist background meant that, compared to his similar juniors like Picasso, who worked from his imagination, Matisse still painted his environment.
Even with this evolution, Matisse still felt a need for change in his work, partially inspired by a look towards modernity but also the familiarity of the past. Part of this shift had to do with the emergence of Europe out of the First World War and how various artists sought to deal with the horrors of the conflict on the canvas. Matisse would converse with some of these artists, such as Monet, but it was his interactions with Renoir that set the stage for this painting and Matisse’s next evolution in painting.
What Matisse took away from the work of Renoir was a focus on the sensuality of the human form, not necessarily in the details, but in the person’s positioning, posing, and how color interacted with this. Renoir also influenced Matisse’s technique, adding a touch of freedom to it and a lightened brushstroke.
Henri Matisse | Game of Bowls (1908) | Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Henri Matisse | Studio, Quad Saint Michel (1916) | The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C., USA
One of the most standout parts of this painting, in showcasing the change in Matisse’s work, is how he portrays the nude female figure. His previous nudes, of which there weren’t many to begin with, lacked sensuality, as seen in the two above works. The first work, Game of Bowls, totally lacks sensuality as it showcases three women playing bowls in a field in an extremely vague way that lacks definition. Studio, Quad Saint Michel shows a bit more sensuality, but in the sterile context of a studio.
Quoting the art historian Jack Flam, “Matisse was not yet known as a painter of sensual nudes… and most of those he had done were not notably erotic… Renoir gave him the impetus to make new contact with his own sensuality… Matisse, in his late forties, seems to have wanted to learn how to be young again.”
Interestingly, while looking for his “youth,” this painting stands out as being painted in the Issy-les-Moulineaux suburb of Paris instead of Nice, where many of his works would be created. This was a very stripped-down and barebones studio, as seen through the simple decorations such as the vase with flowers and tablecloth that adorned the painting’s background. This is a precursor to future Matisse works such as Odalisque à la culotte rouge (1921), which included more motifs and ornaments.
As for the model, it is presumed to be Antoinette Arnoux, a model that Matisse employed in the late 1910s who appears in various works by the artist. Unlike prior subjects that Matisse used in his work, Arnoux was not a family member but instead a professional whose emotional distance from him adds a different feel to this work, including this one, which is far more intimate even compared to prior works Arnoux appeared in, as Matisse paid special attention to her posture, lighting, and skin tone.
Lot 104 | Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) | La Partie de campagne or Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Oil on canvas
Executed 1876-1877
16.1 x 24.5 cm
Provenance:
- Ambroise Vollard, Paris
- Octave Mirbeau, Paris (acquired from the above)
- Alice Regnault, Paris (by descent from the above)
- Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Vente Madame Octave Mirbeau, 6 June 1932, lot 1 (consigned by the above)
- Eugène Rehns, Paris (acquired at the above sale)
- Private collection, Geneva
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: €1,000,000-1,500,000
Hammer Price: €1,400,000
Sold: €1,750,500 (around US$1.9 million)
In one of the most exciting bidding sessions of the night, the bidding was opened at €650,000. It was quickly driven up by increments of €50,000 as a total of 15 bids were made for the Paul Cézanne work. Both bidders in the room and clients represented by Sotheby’s staff on the phone bid for the painting, and it was eventually Director of Sales Benjamin Arnaud who won the lot for his client with a hammer price of €1.4 million, €1.7 million (around US$1.9 million) after fees.
Like the Matisse work above, this was another painting that showcased changes in the artist's style and presented a point in their evolution as a painter. Created between 1876 and 1877, the work lets go of many established conventions and traditions, opting instead to be bold through an almost fragmented pictorial organization of the scene, sacrificing clarity and accuracy for strong colors and volume.
While echoing the themes and composition of works such as Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863), the deliberate loss of detail in the Cézanne work doesn’t change the fact that the paintings come from the same pastoral traditions, with this one utilizing a bold color palette to add vibrancy, which he gained from his own practice of painting outdoors.
In a quote to his frequent collaborator Émile Zola, he wrote that “You know that painting done indoors, in the studio, will never be as good as that done outdoors. By depicting outdoor scenes, the contrasts between figures and the ground are striking, and the landscape is magnificent. I see wonderful things, and I must resolve to paint outdoors.”
One of the rare photos of Cézanne working and painting outdoors, taken in late October of 1906
Édouard Manet (1832-1883) | Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863) | Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France
The obscurity and lack of identification with the subjects and other objects are meant to be an intentional disruption of traditional uses of space and distance to create this greater interplay of color and composition, where everything blends seamlessly. There’s a logic to the array of colors and strokes where the dominant green gives way to blues, whites, and other colors in a way where nothing feels broken apart; instead, the colors build from each other.
In doing so, instead of capturing a single moment or group of people, Cézanne captures a more metaphysical or universal emotion associated with a moment in a park with associates, rather than a solitary truth to one situation. The way the colors and subjects are organized means that the space where they exist is a subtle tension before something can be truly made out for what it is, an intentional part of Cézanne’s pictorial evolution.
This work is also an important part of Cézanne’s development that foreshadowed his landscape works of his birthplace in Aix-en-Provence. In particular, his meshing of structure with the synthesis of color and brushwork would become an important part of his work later on, as well as the equal importance of the setting’s natural elements and the people existing within it.
Lot 126 | Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) | Marronnier rose, plaine d'Argenteuil, Oil on canvas
Executed circa 1883
65.4 x 54.4 cm
Provenance:
- Georges Caillebotte, Paris
- Albert Chardeau, Paris
- Vernadeau, Paris (acquired in 1948)
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: €350,000-450,000
Hammer Price: €1,250,000
Sold: €1,567,500 (around US$1.8 million)
Born in Paris in 1848, Gustave Caillebotte was originally a lawyer, then an engineer, before being conscripted to fight in the Franco-Prussian War. Following his time in the military, Caillebotte went on to embrace a career as a painter, studying at the École des Beaux-Arts before becoming engrossed in the world of Impressionism, attending the first Impressionist exhibit, and then participating in the second.
This lot came a bit after he participated in the second exhibition, was painted in the early 1880s, and displays his style within Impressionism. While many painters had these vast landscapes with various subjects and objects in their work, this Caillebotte painting is singular in its focus on this blooming chestnut tree. In keeping with the idea of painting how he saw reality, he reduced the theoretical aspects and painted in a highly literal, almost photographic sense.
The sole focus on the tree allows the painting to evoke a certain freshness seen through the enhancement of all the details, such as the crisp leaves and bright bloom of the flowers. The focus on the grass and the brushstrokes that comprise it makes it seem as if they’re waving in the wind. The whole work, through its precision and realism, makes it feel more modern than it actually was and of the early 20th century, not unlike Gustav Klimt’s tree paintings.
This work was created in Paris but in actuality pulled inspiration from the countryside, a contrast to his other works, which focus far more on the urban side of France and, in some cases, the nature in these urban spaces. Instead, the Parc Monceau in Paris, the Parisian suburb of Yerres, and the Norman countryside were where he’d draw inspiration for works that emphasized nature like this. Even in the late 1880s, he would dabble in horticulture, showcasing that there was an urban and rural side to Caillebotte.
Other Highlighted Lots:
Lot 103 | René Magritte (1898-1967) | Le Séducteur, Gouache on paper laid down on card
Executed in 1952
14.8 x 17.4 cm
Provenance:
- Mr van Hoof, Belgium (acquired directly from the artist)
- André Aerts, Belgium (acquired as a gift from the above)
- Private Collection, Belgium
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: €800,000-1,200,000
Hammer Price: €760,000
Sold: €965,200 (around US$1.1 million)
Lot 105 | Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013) | 14.5.86, Oil on canvas
Executed in 1986
95.3 x 105 cm
Provenance:
- Fondation Veranneman, Kruishoutem
- Private Collection, Belgium (acquired from the above circa 1988)
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: €800,000-1,200,000
Hammer Price: €700,000
Sold: €889,000 (around US$1 million)
Lot 122 | Nicolas de Staël (1914-1955) | Composition en noir et blanc (Les pavés), Oil on canvas
Executed in 1951
50 x 100 cm
Provenance:
- Collection Jacques Dubourg, Paris
- Collection Maurice Coutot, Paris
- Private Collection, Paris
- Christie's, Paris, 7 June 2018, Lot 38
- Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Estimate: €800,000-1,000,000
Hammer Price: €700,000
Sold: €889,000 (around US$1 million)
Auction Details:
Auction House: Sotheby's Paris
Sale: Art Moderne et Contemporain Evening Auction
Date: 10 April 2025
Number of Lots: 37
Sold: 35
Unsold: 2
Sell Rate: 94.6%
Sale Total: €18,985,160 million (around US$22.7 million)