souren Melikian

Here, it was Alberto Giacometti’s bronze sculpture that proved irresistible with its lanky, linear, rugged figures mostly patinated in blackish colors.

Desperate to secure the Brody hoard, the auction house had resorted to giving “guarantees” (the procedure commits the auction house to pay consignors a specified amount whether the works sell or not).

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

The small picture on board laid on panel, offers a startling anticipation of Fauvism a decade later.

Only a few years ago, the opening lot, a self-portrait by Édouard Vuillard, would not have sold easily.

Here, it was Alberto Giacometti’s bronze sculpture that proved irresistible with its lanky, linear, rugged figures mostly patinated in blackish colors.

Desperate to secure the Brody hoard, the auction house had resorted to giving “guarantees” (the procedure commits the auction house to pay consignors a specified amount whether the works sell or not).

Here, it was Alberto Giacometti’s bronze sculpture that proved irresistible with its lanky, linear, rugged figures mostly patinated in blackish colors.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

A livid white plaster head on a pedestal ambiguously leering out of the corner of its eye gives the composition extra eeriness.

Immediately after, Georges Braque’s “La Treille” was greeted with equally unexpected enthusiasm on a considerably larger scale.

That search for expressiveness is the fundamental reason accounting for the extraordinary rise of the one-day cartoon-like portraits that Picasso, full of contempt for the bourgeois establishment, dashed off in a derisive mood.

This week, ecstatic bidders sent the self-portrait flying to $2.65 million.

Immediately after, Georges Braque’s “La Treille” was greeted with equally unexpected enthusiasm on a considerably larger scale.

Only a few years ago, the opening lot, a self-portrait by Édouard Vuillard, would not have sold easily.

Only a few years ago, the opening lot, a self-portrait by Édouard Vuillard, would not have sold easily.

Camille Pissarro’s splendid close-up view of “The Garden of Octave Mirbeau at Damps (Eure)” realized $2.65 million, topping the high estimate by more than a third, and Claude Monet’s summertime landscape (titled “Effet de Printemps à Giverny” despite the haystacks visible in the distance) climbed to $15.2 million.

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

Around 1936, when the legendary New York dealer Paul Rosenberg acquired it from Picasso, such pictures were seen as prankish creations, which made them virtually unsalable.

Around 1936, when the legendary New York dealer Paul Rosenberg acquired it from Picasso, such pictures were seen as prankish creations, which made them virtually unsalable.

Blog ArtsBeat The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more.

Yet this pales by comparison with the performance of one of Giacometti’s bronze busts in which those who knew Diego Giacometti can recognize the features of Alberto’s brother with his bushy eyebrows and perennial turtleneck sweater underneath the distortion.

But of Impressionism there was no trace on the catalog covers.

These require an ability to contemplate, incompatible with the short attention span of the age.

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

Modigliani’s portrait of his companion “Jeanne Hébuterne With a Necklace,” which displayed the artist’s typical distortion of the human body, went up to $13.8 million.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

One of Salvador Dalí’s best early Surrealist works, an imaginary landscape of 1935, also sold for that price.

Kandinsky’s “Deepened Impulse,” with its floating intersecting colored discs, sold for $5.68 million, matching a rather generous middle estimate.

A livid white plaster head on a pedestal ambiguously leering out of the corner of its eye gives the composition extra eeriness.

On Tuesday, a section of that collection was the hard core of Christie’s sale.

Their experts excel at singing the merits of their goods to potential buyers.

In 1932, the Paris school master developed a very specific style characterized by broad curving outlines and a resurgence of the Fauve colors of the early 1900s.

Utterly uncharacteristic of the Nabi artist’s manner, it is painted in violently contrasted colors.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

Painted around 1953-1954, the picture is a throwback to the artist’s pre-World War I days, when Braque, remembering Fauvism, indulged in clearly defined contours and strong colors.

All 27 works billed as “property from the collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody” sold in an Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere adding up to a huge $225.17 million.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

The search for expressiveness extended to three-dimensional modern art, propelling some works to previously unimaginable levels.

Interestingly, the sale included two outstanding Impressionist paintings which performed better than expected.

Utterly uncharacteristic of the Nabi artist’s manner, it is painted in violently contrasted colors.

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

At $53.28 million, the commercial ascent of “Grande tête mince” was every bit as astounding, and culturally significant, as the record-breaking Picasso.

Camille Pissarro’s splendid close-up view of “The Garden of Octave Mirbeau at Damps (Eure)” realized $2.65 million, topping the high estimate by more than a third, and Claude Monet’s summertime landscape (titled “Effet de Printemps à Giverny” despite the haystacks visible in the distance) climbed to $15.2 million.

Kandinsky’s “Deepened Impulse,” with its floating intersecting colored discs, sold for $5.68 million, matching a rather generous middle estimate.

The search for expressiveness extended to three-dimensional modern art, propelling some works to previously unimaginable levels.

One of Salvador Dalí’s best early Surrealist works, an imaginary landscape of 1935, also sold for that price.

One of Salvador Dalí’s best early Surrealist works, an imaginary landscape of 1935, also sold for that price.

A livid white plaster head on a pedestal ambiguously leering out of the corner of its eye gives the composition extra eeriness.

Camille Pissarro’s splendid close-up view of “The Garden of Octave Mirbeau at Damps (Eure)” realized $2.65 million, topping the high estimate by more than a third, and Claude Monet’s summertime landscape (titled “Effet de Printemps à Giverny” despite the haystacks visible in the distance) climbed to $15.2 million.

Here, it was Alberto Giacometti’s bronze sculpture that proved irresistible with its lanky, linear, rugged figures mostly patinated in blackish colors.

Over half a century ago, a Los Angeles couple, Frances and Sidney Brody, began to buy modern art with that rare insight and did so throughout their life.

Camille Pissarro’s splendid close-up view of “The Garden of Octave Mirbeau at Damps (Eure)” realized $2.65 million, topping the high estimate by more than a third, and Claude Monet’s summertime landscape (titled “Effet de Printemps à Giverny” despite the haystacks visible in the distance) climbed to $15.2 million.

The managers then felt it prudent to fend off a potentially catastrophic loss by getting a third party to shoulder the entire burden of the guarantee.

The search for expressiveness extended to three-dimensional modern art, propelling some works to previously unimaginable levels.

Mrs. Sidney Brody’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” painted on March 8, 1932 is the ultimate in Picasso’s 1932 style.

The search for expressiveness extended to three-dimensional modern art, propelling some works to previously unimaginable levels.

All 27 works billed as “property from the collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody” sold in an Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere adding up to a huge $225.17 million.

All 27 works billed as “property from the collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody” sold in an Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere adding up to a huge $225.17 million.

That search for expressiveness is the fundamental reason accounting for the extraordinary rise of the one-day cartoon-like portraits that Picasso, full of contempt for the bourgeois establishment, dashed off in a derisive mood.

At best, it might have matched the $3-million lower end of the estimate.

Utterly uncharacteristic of the Nabi artist’s manner, it is painted in violently contrasted colors.

Abstraction, if carried by the same strong contrasting colors and clear-cut motifs, did just as well when the quality of the works warranted high prices.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

All 27 works billed as “property from the collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody” sold in an Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere adding up to a huge $225.17 million.

Camille Pissarro’s splendid close-up view of “The Garden of Octave Mirbeau at Damps (Eure)” realized $2.65 million, topping the high estimate by more than a third, and Claude Monet’s summertime landscape (titled “Effet de Printemps à Giverny” despite the haystacks visible in the distance) climbed to $15.2 million.

This transforms the auction into a dealer-style transaction spiced with a gamble — any amount on top of the guarantee is shared between the consignor and the auction house.

On Wednesday night, Sotheby’s sale confirmed that expressive art, with strong outlines easily recognized and an impact that does not require sustained attention, fascinates present-day bidders.

This transforms the auction into a dealer-style transaction spiced with a gamble — any amount on top of the guarantee is shared between the consignor and the auction house.

At $53.28 million, the commercial ascent of “Grande tête mince” was every bit as astounding, and culturally significant, as the record-breaking Picasso.

Desperate to secure the Brody hoard, the auction house had resorted to giving “guarantees” (the procedure commits the auction house to pay consignors a specified amount whether the works sell or not).

Utterly uncharacteristic of the Nabi artist’s manner, it is painted in violently contrasted colors.

The small picture on board laid on panel, offers a startling anticipation of Fauvism a decade later.

In 1932, the Paris school master developed a very specific style characterized by broad curving outlines and a resurgence of the Fauve colors of the early 1900s.

Yet this pales by comparison with the performance of one of Giacometti’s bronze busts in which those who knew Diego Giacometti can recognize the features of Alberto’s brother with his bushy eyebrows and perennial turtleneck sweater underneath the distortion.

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

Kandinsky’s “Deepened Impulse,” with its floating intersecting colored discs, sold for $5.68 million, matching a rather generous middle estimate.

At $20.8 million, the animal, cast in an edition of eight, somehow exceeded, if only very slightly, an estimate that had seemed absurdly ambitious.

Expressiveness is their common denominator, and expressiveness is what buyers now run after.

Yet this pales by comparison with the performance of one of Giacometti’s bronze busts in which those who knew Diego Giacometti can recognize the features of Alberto’s brother with his bushy eyebrows and perennial turtleneck sweater underneath the distortion.

Modigliani’s portrait of his companion “Jeanne Hébuterne With a Necklace,” which displayed the artist’s typical distortion of the human body, went up to $13.8 million.

Blog ArtsBeat The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more.

Camille Pissarro’s splendid close-up view of “The Garden of Octave Mirbeau at Damps (Eure)” realized $2.65 million, topping the high estimate by more than a third, and Claude Monet’s summertime landscape (titled “Effet de Printemps à Giverny” despite the haystacks visible in the distance) climbed to $15.2 million.

Although no longer truly Fauve, the contrasting colors, and broadly painted composition, make the picture easily legible from the other end of the room.

A magnificent charcoal portrait of a woman by Matisse, “Souty (Premier État)” that leaped off the wall at the viewing multiplied the high estimate more than three times as it climbed to $2.32 million.

Desperate to secure the Brody hoard, the auction house had resorted to giving “guarantees” (the procedure commits the auction house to pay consignors a specified amount whether the works sell or not).

One of Salvador Dalí’s best early Surrealist works, an imaginary landscape of 1935, also sold for that price.

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

Kandinsky’s “Deepened Impulse,” with its floating intersecting colored discs, sold for $5.68 million, matching a rather generous middle estimate.

A magnificent charcoal portrait of a woman by Matisse, “Souty (Premier État)” that leaped off the wall at the viewing multiplied the high estimate more than three times as it climbed to $2.32 million.

It says everything about the culture of our time that such a picture should now be the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction.

“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” stayed with the dealer for 15 years until the Brodys bought it on Jan. 2, 1951, no doubt for well under $100,000.

At best, it might have matched the $3-million lower end of the estimate.

That search for expressiveness is the fundamental reason accounting for the extraordinary rise of the one-day cartoon-like portraits that Picasso, full of contempt for the bourgeois establishment, dashed off in a derisive mood.

Mrs. Sidney Brody’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” painted on March 8, 1932 is the ultimate in Picasso’s 1932 style.

A magnificent charcoal portrait of a woman by Matisse, “Souty (Premier État)” that leaped off the wall at the viewing multiplied the high estimate more than three times as it climbed to $2.32 million.

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

Modigliani’s portrait of his companion “Jeanne Hébuterne With a Necklace,” which displayed the artist’s typical distortion of the human body, went up to $13.8 million.

Painted around 1953-1954, the picture is a throwback to the artist’s pre-World War I days, when Braque, remembering Fauvism, indulged in clearly defined contours and strong colors.

Utterly uncharacteristic of the Nabi artist’s manner, it is painted in violently contrasted colors.

“Undine” brought $4.22 million, more than four times the high estimate.

Blog ArtsBeat The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

Yet this pales by comparison with the performance of one of Giacometti’s bronze busts in which those who knew Diego Giacometti can recognize the features of Alberto’s brother with his bushy eyebrows and perennial turtleneck sweater underneath the distortion.

The great success story of the session was a beautiful “Bouquet of Flowers for the 14th of July,” painted by Matisse in 1919.

In breaking the magic $100-million barrier, Christie’s made art market history.

A livid white plaster head on a pedestal ambiguously leering out of the corner of its eye gives the composition extra eeriness.

Only a few years ago, the opening lot, a self-portrait by Édouard Vuillard, would not have sold easily.

Yet this pales by comparison with the performance of one of Giacometti’s bronze busts in which those who knew Diego Giacometti can recognize the features of Alberto’s brother with his bushy eyebrows and perennial turtleneck sweater underneath the distortion.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

The search for expressiveness extended to three-dimensional modern art, propelling some works to previously unimaginable levels.

But just as there are still readers capable of being tempted by literature, so do some find bliss in the subtle harmonies of coloristic shades and light effects.

Painted around 1953-1954, the picture is a throwback to the artist’s pre-World War I days, when Braque, remembering Fauvism, indulged in clearly defined contours and strong colors.

Add Giacometti’s bronze arm (“La Main”), cast in 1948 and sold for $25.84, nearly 50 percent above the high estimate, and there can be little doubt that expressiveness, no matter how simplistic, has become the winning card at auction.

Kandinsky’s “Deepened Impulse,” with its floating intersecting colored discs, sold for $5.68 million, matching a rather generous middle estimate.

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

From the moment Christopher Burge, Christie’s preeminent auctioneer, ascended the podium, electricity was in the air.

The Picasso brought $106.5 million at the end of an eight-minute-long contest in which four contenders were still taking part in the fray by the time bidding rose above $87 million.

This year, Christie’s put on the Picasso a $70 million to $90 million estimate, plus the sale charge, presumably in order to persuade the consignor to part with the picture.

The estimate, $1.2 to $1.8 million, plus the sale charge, would have killed it until recently.

Neither work is about nuances.

The Picasso brought $106.5 million at the end of an eight-minute-long contest in which four contenders were still taking part in the fray by the time bidding rose above $87 million.

A magnificent charcoal portrait of a woman by Matisse, “Souty (Premier État)” that leaped off the wall at the viewing multiplied the high estimate more than three times as it climbed to $2.32 million.

As at Christie’s, paintings, drawings or sculpture with a punch effective from ten yards away often shot high above the upper end of the estimate.

In 1932, the Paris school master developed a very specific style characterized by broad curving outlines and a resurgence of the Fauve colors of the early 1900s.

Immediately after, Georges Braque’s “La Treille” was greeted with equally unexpected enthusiasm on a considerably larger scale.

Painted around 1953-1954, the picture is a throwback to the artist’s pre-World War I days, when Braque, remembering Fauvism, indulged in clearly defined contours and strong colors.

On Wednesday night, Sotheby’s sale confirmed that expressive art, with strong outlines easily recognized and an impact that does not require sustained attention, fascinates present-day bidders.

Utterly uncharacteristic of the Nabi artist’s manner, it is painted in violently contrasted colors.

As at Christie’s, paintings, drawings or sculpture with a punch effective from ten yards away often shot high above the upper end of the estimate.

On Tuesday, a section of that collection was the hard core of Christie’s sale.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

That search for expressiveness is the fundamental reason accounting for the extraordinary rise of the one-day cartoon-like portraits that Picasso, full of contempt for the bourgeois establishment, dashed off in a derisive mood.

The managers then felt it prudent to fend off a potentially catastrophic loss by getting a third party to shoulder the entire burden of the guarantee.

Immediately after, Georges Braque’s “La Treille” was greeted with equally unexpected enthusiasm on a considerably larger scale.

Kandinsky’s “Deepened Impulse,” with its floating intersecting colored discs, sold for $5.68 million, matching a rather generous middle estimate.

“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” stayed with the dealer for 15 years until the Brodys bought it on Jan. 2, 1951, no doubt for well under $100,000.

This transforms the auction into a dealer-style transaction spiced with a gamble — any amount on top of the guarantee is shared between the consignor and the auction house.

The dominant trend of our time is undoubtedly to turn away from nuances.

At best, it might have matched the $3-million lower end of the estimate.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

Here, it was Alberto Giacometti’s bronze sculpture that proved irresistible with its lanky, linear, rugged figures mostly patinated in blackish colors.

A magnificent charcoal portrait of a woman by Matisse, “Souty (Premier État)” that leaped off the wall at the viewing multiplied the high estimate more than three times as it climbed to $2.32 million.

“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” stayed with the dealer for 15 years until the Brodys bought it on Jan. 2, 1951, no doubt for well under $100,000.

On Wednesday night, Sotheby’s sale confirmed that expressive art, with strong outlines easily recognized and an impact that does not require sustained attention, fascinates present-day bidders.

Like the $106.5-million Picasso, “Grande tête mince” (Big Thin Head), as catalogs call the model, had induced Christie’s bosses, presumably scared by their bold $25- to $35-million estimate, to negotiate a full third-party guarantee.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

Painted around 1953-1954, the picture is a throwback to the artist’s pre-World War I days, when Braque, remembering Fauvism, indulged in clearly defined contours and strong colors.

From the moment Christopher Burge, Christie’s preeminent auctioneer, ascended the podium, electricity was in the air.

Abstraction, if carried by the same strong contrasting colors and clear-cut motifs, did just as well when the quality of the works warranted high prices.

Add Giacometti’s bronze arm (“La Main”), cast in 1948 and sold for $25.84, nearly 50 percent above the high estimate, and there can be little doubt that expressiveness, no matter how simplistic, has become the winning card at auction.

A livid white plaster head on a pedestal ambiguously leering out of the corner of its eye gives the composition extra eeriness.

In breaking the magic $100-million barrier, Christie’s made art market history.

That search for expressiveness is the fundamental reason accounting for the extraordinary rise of the one-day cartoon-like portraits that Picasso, full of contempt for the bourgeois establishment, dashed off in a derisive mood.

Painted around 1953-1954, the picture is a throwback to the artist’s pre-World War I days, when Braque, remembering Fauvism, indulged in clearly defined contours and strong colors.

The Picasso brought $106.5 million at the end of an eight-minute-long contest in which four contenders were still taking part in the fray by the time bidding rose above $87 million.

Like the $106.5-million Picasso, “Grande tête mince” (Big Thin Head), as catalogs call the model, had induced Christie’s bosses, presumably scared by their bold $25- to $35-million estimate, to negotiate a full third-party guarantee.

Over half a century ago, a Los Angeles couple, Frances and Sidney Brody, began to buy modern art with that rare insight and did so throughout their life.

The Picasso brought $106.5 million at the end of an eight-minute-long contest in which four contenders were still taking part in the fray by the time bidding rose above $87 million.

Blog ArtsBeat The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more.

Camille Pissarro’s splendid close-up view of “The Garden of Octave Mirbeau at Damps (Eure)” realized $2.65 million, topping the high estimate by more than a third, and Claude Monet’s summertime landscape (titled “Effet de Printemps à Giverny” despite the haystacks visible in the distance) climbed to $15.2 million.

Over half a century ago, a Los Angeles couple, Frances and Sidney Brody, began to buy modern art with that rare insight and did so throughout their life.

Interestingly, the sale included two outstanding Impressionist paintings which performed better than expected.

Abstraction, if carried by the same strong contrasting colors and clear-cut motifs, did just as well when the quality of the works warranted high prices.

Was it the less common green and brown patination or the rare animal subject that sent a mangy-looking cat into the stratosphere?

The estimate, $1.2 to $1.8 million, plus the sale charge, would have killed it until recently.

Here, it was Alberto Giacometti’s bronze sculpture that proved irresistible with its lanky, linear, rugged figures mostly patinated in blackish colors.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

Kandinsky’s “Deepened Impulse,” with its floating intersecting colored discs, sold for $5.68 million, matching a rather generous middle estimate.

At $20.8 million, the animal, cast in an edition of eight, somehow exceeded, if only very slightly, an estimate that had seemed absurdly ambitious.

The search for expressiveness extended to three-dimensional modern art, propelling some works to previously unimaginable levels.

A magnificent charcoal portrait of a woman by Matisse, “Souty (Premier État)” that leaped off the wall at the viewing multiplied the high estimate more than three times as it climbed to $2.32 million.

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

Immediately after, Georges Braque’s “La Treille” was greeted with equally unexpected enthusiasm on a considerably larger scale.

Only a few years ago, the opening lot, a self-portrait by Édouard Vuillard, would not have sold easily.

This week, bidders responding to the expressiveness of the beautiful picture set a world auction record for Braque at $10.16 million.

This transforms the auction into a dealer-style transaction spiced with a gamble — any amount on top of the guarantee is shared between the consignor and the auction house.

This year, Christie’s put on the Picasso a $70 million to $90 million estimate, plus the sale charge, presumably in order to persuade the consignor to part with the picture.

On Wednesday night, Sotheby’s sale confirmed that expressive art, with strong outlines easily recognized and an impact that does not require sustained attention, fascinates present-day bidders.

At $20.8 million, the animal, cast in an edition of eight, somehow exceeded, if only very slightly, an estimate that had seemed absurdly ambitious.

In 1932, the Paris school master developed a very specific style characterized by broad curving outlines and a resurgence of the Fauve colors of the early 1900s.

Add Giacometti’s bronze arm (“La Main”), cast in 1948 and sold for $25.84, nearly 50 percent above the high estimate, and there can be little doubt that expressiveness, no matter how simplistic, has become the winning card at auction.

Their experts excel at singing the merits of their goods to potential buyers.

Was it the less common green and brown patination or the rare animal subject that sent a mangy-looking cat into the stratosphere?

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

Modigliani’s portrait of his companion “Jeanne Hébuterne With a Necklace,” which displayed the artist’s typical distortion of the human body, went up to $13.8 million.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

Camille Pissarro’s splendid close-up view of “The Garden of Octave Mirbeau at Damps (Eure)” realized $2.65 million, topping the high estimate by more than a third, and Claude Monet’s summertime landscape (titled “Effet de Printemps à Giverny” despite the haystacks visible in the distance) climbed to $15.2 million.

This week, ecstatic bidders sent the self-portrait flying to $2.65 million.

Over half a century ago, a Los Angeles couple, Frances and Sidney Brody, began to buy modern art with that rare insight and did so throughout their life.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

All 27 works billed as “property from the collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody” sold in an Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere adding up to a huge $225.17 million.

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

Although no longer truly Fauve, the contrasting colors, and broadly painted composition, make the picture easily legible from the other end of the room.

A magnificent charcoal portrait of a woman by Matisse, “Souty (Premier État)” that leaped off the wall at the viewing multiplied the high estimate more than three times as it climbed to $2.32 million.

The small picture on board laid on panel, offers a startling anticipation of Fauvism a decade later.

Immediately after, Georges Braque’s “La Treille” was greeted with equally unexpected enthusiasm on a considerably larger scale.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

All 27 works billed as “property from the collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody” sold in an Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere adding up to a huge $225.17 million.

Painted around 1953-1954, the picture is a throwback to the artist’s pre-World War I days, when Braque, remembering Fauvism, indulged in clearly defined contours and strong colors.

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

This week, ecstatic bidders sent the self-portrait flying to $2.65 million.

The great success story of the session was a beautiful “Bouquet of Flowers for the 14th of July,” painted by Matisse in 1919.

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

That search for expressiveness is the fundamental reason accounting for the extraordinary rise of the one-day cartoon-like portraits that Picasso, full of contempt for the bourgeois establishment, dashed off in a derisive mood.

It says everything about the culture of our time that such a picture should now be the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction.

A magnificent charcoal portrait of a woman by Matisse, “Souty (Premier État)” that leaped off the wall at the viewing multiplied the high estimate more than three times as it climbed to $2.32 million.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

Only a few years ago, the opening lot, a self-portrait by Édouard Vuillard, would not have sold easily.

Mrs. Sidney Brody’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” painted on March 8, 1932 is the ultimate in Picasso’s 1932 style.

Utterly different, it too hit the eye across the room.

As at Christie’s, paintings, drawings or sculpture with a punch effective from ten yards away often shot high above the upper end of the estimate.

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

* More Arts News This week, Christie’s and Sotheby’s were holding their mid-spring sales of “Impressionist and Modern art.”

That search for expressiveness is the fundamental reason accounting for the extraordinary rise of the one-day cartoon-like portraits that Picasso, full of contempt for the bourgeois establishment, dashed off in a derisive mood.

Was it the less common green and brown patination or the rare animal subject that sent a mangy-looking cat into the stratosphere?

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” stayed with the dealer for 15 years until the Brodys bought it on Jan. 2, 1951, no doubt for well under $100,000.

But just as there are still readers capable of being tempted by literature, so do some find bliss in the subtle harmonies of coloristic shades and light effects.

An equally significant cultural landmark attracted less attention.

Around 1936, when the legendary New York dealer Paul Rosenberg acquired it from Picasso, such pictures were seen as prankish creations, which made them virtually unsalable.

In breaking the magic $100-million barrier, Christie’s made art market history.

Desperate to secure the Brody hoard, the auction house had resorted to giving “guarantees” (the procedure commits the auction house to pay consignors a specified amount whether the works sell or not).

At best, it might have matched the $3-million lower end of the estimate.

Add Giacometti’s bronze arm (“La Main”), cast in 1948 and sold for $25.84, nearly 50 percent above the high estimate, and there can be little doubt that expressiveness, no matter how simplistic, has become the winning card at auction.

The Picasso brought $106.5 million at the end of an eight-minute-long contest in which four contenders were still taking part in the fray by the time bidding rose above $87 million.

That search for expressiveness is the fundamental reason accounting for the extraordinary rise of the one-day cartoon-like portraits that Picasso, full of contempt for the bourgeois establishment, dashed off in a derisive mood.

All 27 works billed as “property from the collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody” sold in an Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere adding up to a huge $225.17 million.

The managers then felt it prudent to fend off a potentially catastrophic loss by getting a third party to shoulder the entire burden of the guarantee.

Although no longer truly Fauve, the contrasting colors, and broadly painted composition, make the picture easily legible from the other end of the room.

Two lots down, Isamu Noguchi’s “Undine (Nadja),” a Manneristic bronze cast in 1927 in a style that could have been that of French sculptors working in the 1880s, but striking enough with its flowing movement as if the woman were swirling on her toes, drove bidders nuts.

This week, ecstatic bidders sent the self-portrait flying to $2.65 million.

Was it the less common green and brown patination or the rare animal subject that sent a mangy-looking cat into the stratosphere?

Christie’s ran the detail of an early painting by Edvard Munch who would later become a leading Expressionist and Sotheby’s reproduced a Matisse still life retaining a faint whiff of the master’s Fauve period.

Desperate to secure the Brody hoard, the auction house had resorted to giving “guarantees” (the procedure commits the auction house to pay consignors a specified amount whether the works sell or not).

At $53.28 million, the commercial ascent of “Grande tête mince” was every bit as astounding, and culturally significant, as the record-breaking Picasso.

Although no longer truly Fauve, the contrasting colors, and broadly painted composition, make the picture easily legible from the other end of the room.

At best, it might have matched the $3-million lower end of the estimate.

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“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” stayed with the dealer for 15 years until the Brodys bought it on Jan. 2, 1951, no doubt for well under $100,000.

The Winning Card at Auction: Expressiveness By SOUREN MELIKIAN Published: May 7, 2010 If you want to find out in which direction Western culture is headed, watch the auction scene.

Camille Pissarro’s splendid close-up view of “The Garden of Octave Mirbeau at Damps (Eure)” realized $2.65 million, topping the high estimate by more than a third, and Claude Monet’s summertime landscape (titled “Effet de Printemps à Giverny” despite the haystacks visible in the distance) climbed to $15.2 million.

The managers then felt it prudent to fend off a potentially catastrophic loss by getting a third party to shoulder the entire burden of the guarantee.

Kandinsky’s “Deepened Impulse,” with its floating intersecting colored discs, sold for $5.68 million, matching a rather generous middle estimate.

As at Christie’s, paintings, drawings or sculpture with a punch effective from ten yards away often shot high above the upper end of the estimate.

The great success story of the session was a beautiful “Bouquet of Flowers for the 14th of July,” painted by Matisse in 1919.

A very few privileged collectors have an astonishing aptitude at anticipating future trends, sometimes by decades.

In 1932, the Paris school master developed a very specific style characterized by broad curving outlines and a resurgence of the Fauve colors of the early 1900s.

At $53.28 million, the commercial ascent of “Grande tête mince” was every bit as astounding, and culturally significant, as the record-breaking Picasso.

The small picture on board laid on panel, offers a startling anticipation of Fauvism a decade later.