31/01/2002

Christie's sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings is to be held in London on the 4th of February with important works by Cézanne, Manet, Monet, Renoir, and Vlaminck. The top lot is the French Impressionist Claude Monet's Prairie de Limetz estimated at $ 2.8-3.2 million (€ 3.2-4.8 million) showing a row of poplar trees on the banks of the River Epte at Limetz, near Giverny. The work is completely fresh on the market having not been seen for 100 years. Another Monet in the sale is Golfe d'Antibes, painted in 1888, with a price tag of $ 2.6-3.1 million (€ 2.9-3.5 million) while Paul Cézanne’s oil on canvas Maisons à Valhermeil vues en direction d’Auver-sur-Oise, estimated at $ 4-5 million (€ 4.5-5.6 million) is a further major highlight of the sale. Finally Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s is Le Premier Pas estimated at $ 5.7-8.6 million (€ 6.4-9.7 million), is a depiction of Nini Lopez, one of Renoir’s favourite models who posed for many figurative paintings for the artist in the 1870’s. The modernist section of the sale is led by German Blaue Reiter painter Franz Marc and his Zwei Pferde, quoted at $ 1.5-2.1 million (€ 1.6-2.4 million). (Andrew Moore)