In addition to the usual for March trades in art of the XX-XXI centuries with the masterpieces of Rene Magritte, Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud and Jean-Michel Basquiat, a special place in the calendar is reserved for interior and design. Outstanding examples of European and Asian furniture and interior items will be offered by all auction houses without exception.
Art of Japan and Korea
March 23, New York | Bonhams
In terms of demand, Asian art has long gone beyond the boundaries of its region, especially its antique segment. These are the things that will be included in the Bonhams New York sale. The list of top lots includes engravings by Katsushika Hokusai from the famous series “36 Views of Mount Fuji” with variable estimates of $30-200 thousand and mystical circulation items by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (from $20 thousand), furniture, ceramics, glass and interior items from the end of the Edo period.
Home, garden and natural history
March 29-30, Billingshurst | Summers Place Auctions
After Christie’s auction in South Kensington closed in 2017, Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, UK, confidently took over the niche for sales of “curiosity cabinets”. In the first set of trading this year, they promise a traditional exotic selection, from minerals to Hollywood movie props. Among the highlights is the Empire-style office decor. Seventeen mahogany panels with gilded bronze decorations were made for a French aristocrat in the 1880s (£60,000-100,000).
House and interior
March 30, London | Bonhams
European furniture and decor items of the 17th-19th centuries, from cabinets, armchairs and dining tables to glass, bronze and mirrors, will become the protagonists of the popular Bonhams interior auctions – things here are of high quality and quite affordable prices. Thus, a baroque Venetian console with a cupid made of gilded wood is estimated at £3-5 thousand, a massive mahogany chest of drawers with a marble top in the Louis Philippe style, decorated with marquetry, at £4-6 thousand, and a pair of bronze empire candelabra with gilding – £ 6-8 thousand.
Shards of Paradise: works by Lyn Vautrin
March 8, Paris | Christie’s
Through the efforts of gallery owner David Gill and Christie’s, who was not afraid to hold a mono-auction of works by Lyn Vautrin in 2015, the name of this French designer of the middle of the last century has taken a worthy place in history. The new auction included her no less outstanding things, some of which are entering the market for the first time, such as the Boudoir mirror in a fantasy frame made from Talosel material invented by Vautrin (€80,000-120,000).
