PAUL CÉZANNE (1839-1906)
Joueur de cartes (A Card Player), 1892-1896
Watercolor on laid paper
Property from the Dr. Heinz F. Eichenwald Collection
Estimate: $15,000,000-$20,000,000
Cézanne’s ‘A Card Player’ to be sold at Christie’s A rare watercolor by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) last seen in public in 1953 has re-emerged from a private collection in Texas. The work will be the lead highlight of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on May 1 2012 in New York.]]>
March 28, 2012, source: Christie’s / theartwolf
The full-size work on paper is one of the artist’s preparatory studies for Les joueurs de cartes (Card Players), the seminal five-painting series that Cézanne completed between 1890 and 1896. Meticulously preserved, with fresh and unfaded hues of blue and ochre, this tantalizing view into the painting process of one of modern art’s great masters is estimated to achieve $15 – 20 million. Last year, the only canvas in the “Card Players” series remaining in private hands was sold to Qatar for a reported $250 million, a world record for any work of art. The world auction record for a work on paper is $47.9 million Raphael’s “Head of a Muse”.
As a study in watercolor, “Joueur de cartes” is unusual in that it has been executed without any under-drawing in pencil. The overall effect is of a fully realized work of art, with an assured use of line and a pleasing juxtaposition of painted areas and sections of paper deliberately left untouched.
“The Card Player series is justifiably regarded as one of the most important of the modern era, influencing so many of the painters who sought to follow in Cézanne’s footsteps,” said Sharon Kim, International Director of Impressionist and Modern Art, adding that the sale of this work is “a pivotal moment in the art market“.
Prior to the auction on May 1, Christie’s International will exhibit this work at Christie’s Geneva from April 17-18.
Related content
Cézanne’s ‘Card Players’ at the Courtauld Gallery (exhibition, 2010 – 2011)
Sotheby’s to sell one of the most important watercolor by Paul Cézanne remaining in private hands (news, 2007)
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