NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s spring sale of modern and contemporary Prints will take place on 29 and 30 April and will offer collectors a broad selection of modern and contemporary works spanning the 20th century. Prior to the two-day auction, the sale will be on public exhibition at Sotheby’s New York galleries beginning 25 April.
Featured among the modern highlights of the sale are several important private collections, including a single-owner offering of American prints from The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Flower, which comprises the first 68 lots of the sale. The selection is led by Edward Hopper’s 1923 etching, "The Locomotive" (est. $40/60,000) and Stuart Davis’ 1931 lithograph "Two Figures and El" (est. $25/35,000). The collection also includes a nearly comprehensive offering of Martin Lewis’ etchings.
The sale will also be highlighted by Masterworks by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec from the S. Joel Schur Collection, comprising a selection of the artist’s best known lithographic posters depicting 1890s café society in Paris, and the very rare three-sheet "Moulin Rouge, La Goulue" (est. $250/350,000).
Other highlights of the sale include Picasso’s first and most complex linoleum cut, "Buste de Femme d'après Cranach le jeune" (B. 859; Ba. 1053) (est. $350/500,000); and Max Beckmann’s powerful self-portrait from 1921, "Self-Portrait with Bowler Hat" (est. $150/200,000).
Featured within the Contemporary offerings is a single-owner collection of eight etchings completed between 1988 and 1993 by the masterful draftsmen Lucian Freud, including "Head and Shoulders of a Girl" (H. 41) (est. $25/35,000), "Large Head" (H. 47II) (est. $25/35,000) and "Head of a Man" (H. 46) (est. $15/20,000).
Other top works include Richard Diebenkorn’s "Large Bright Blue", an etching and aquatint from 1980 (est. $100/150,000); "The Nude with Blue Hair" (C. 286), a 1994 relief print from Roy Lichtenstein’s "Nudes series" (est. $150/250,000); and Warhol’s iconic "Mao" (F. & S. II.90-99) set of 10 screenprints from 1972 (est. $300/400,000).
