From antiquity to the present: the best of TEFAF New York

A look at the highlights of the eighth edition of TEFAF New York, open until 10 May 2022.

By G. Fernández · theartwolf.com ·· Images: Marc Chagall, “Self-Portrait with Palette” (1917). Courtesy of David Tunick, Inc. ·· Fernand Léger, “Les Femmes à la Toilette” (1920). Courtesy Helly Nahmad.

Marc Chagall, “Self-Portrait with Palette” (1917). David Tunick Gallery. An enormously prolific and long-lived painter, the saturation of Chagall’s works on the market is remarkable. However, the vast majority of them are late works of arguably little or no importance.  “Self-Portrait with Palette” is, at first glance, an undisputed masterpiece. Painted in 1917, at the height of the Russian Revolution, the work is priced, according to artnet.com, at “eight figures“, which does not seem unreasonable in view of other recent Chagall sales, such as the $28.5 million paid in 2017 for “Les Amoureux“. However, the painting raises some doubts in my mind. It is, I understand, the same work acquired by Michael Steinhardt for $6 million in 2003, eight years after the work failed to reach its minimum price at Sotheby’s New York, amid some doubts about the work’s authenticity.

Fernand Léger, “Les Femmes à la Toilette” (1920). Helly Nahmad Gallery. The painting is an old acquaintance of the art market, having sold at Christie’s for $10.1 million in 2008 and for $3.4 million in 2002, a fact that may detract from its interest to collectors. It is, however, a fine painting by Léger, both in terms of appeal, date and size.

Francis Bacon, “Pope” (c.1958). Helly Nahmad Gallery. Speaking of old art market acquaintances: this “Pope” by Francis Bacon was auctioned just over two years ago for $6.6 million at Sotheby’s New York, a price that seems rather modest considering the importance of Bacon’s “Popes”. On the other hand, there seems to be some oversupply of similar works on the market, as in less than two weeks Sotheby’s New York will auction “Study of Red Pope 1962, 2nd version 1971“, and just six months ago Phillips sold “Pope with Owls” (also painted in 1958) for some $33 million.

Jean Dubuffet, “Conjectures” (1964). Thomas Gibson Gallery. Sold in 2019 by Sotheby’s New York for just over $1 million, the painting was then described in the auction catalogue as “a jubilant fusion of form and movement“. Three years later, the work reappears at TEFAF, where it is described as… “a jubilant fusion of form and movement“. OK, noted.

Aphrodite (Venus Genetrix) (1st century AD). Galerie Chenel. One of the stars of the ancient art section. The Galerie Chenel has published an extensive and frankly interesting document detailing the provenance of the work, pointing out that it belonged to the great Pamphilij collection in Rome and, after its sale in 1910 to Georges Charbonneaux, has remained in the same private collection ever since.