LONDON.- Christie’s announced that they will present a curated, public exhibition from 14 to 17 June 2010 showcasing the leading highlights from the richest and most exciting summer auction season in a generation. Juxtaposed: Masterpieces through the Ages will present paintings by renowned artists including van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Rubens, Warhol, Matisse, van Dyck and Hirst alongside exceptional furniture, works of art and medieval manuscripts.

The exhibition will present over 80 works of museum quality arranged according to themes, independent of their age and category – the themes are Power, Patronage, Women in Art, En Plein Air, Contemplation / Devotion, Zoomorphism and East / West.

Leading highlights of the exhibition include Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto, 1903, a Blue Period masterpiece by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) (estimate: £30 million to £40 million), which is being offered by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation; Nymphéas, 1906, an exceptional water-lily painting by Claude Monet (1840-1926) (estimate: £30 million to £40 million); and A Commander being armed for Battle, a highly important portrait by Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) which is offered from the Spencer Collections and sold by order of the Trustees (estimate: £8 million to £12 million).

Jussi Pylkkänen, President of Christie’s, Europe: “As we look forward to what is one of the richest and most exciting auction seasons for a generation here in London – and certainly in all my 24 years at Christie’s – we are thrilled to be able to present a truly exceptional public exhibition showcasing highlights representing art throughout the ages; from Chinese archaic bronzes made in the 13th century B.C., to portraits by Rubens, van Dyck, Warhol and Picasso, and from medieval manuscripts to a devotional representation by Damien Hirst. We have brought together a team of Christie’s most senior specialists who have curated the exhibition together by themes, allowing us to juxtapose the art and create an original and extremely inspiring show. Many of the works on view have been sourced from private collections and may be bought by private collectors, so this is a chance to capture what may be a rare glimpse of some historically significant works of art.

The summer auction season offers an extraordinary wealth of art across the board as we have gone out and gathered an exceptionally strong series of sales. The healthy prices seen all around the world at auctions over the last year have illustrated to vendors that the global appetite is fierce and diverse; a fact made most apparent in New York in May when Picasso’s ‘Nude, Green Leaves and Bust’ sold for $106.5 million – a world record price for an artwork sold at auction – after a bidding battle that involved Asian and Russian collectors, as well as a number from America and Europe. We are honoured to be looking after such a selection of art, and we look forward to what should be an historic season of sales.”

Power
This section will include Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto, 1903, a Blue Period masterpiece by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) (estimate: £30 million to £40 million); A Commander being armed for Battle, a highly important portrait by Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) (estimate: £8 million to £12 million); Mao, 1996, by Yan Pei-Ming (b. 1960), a portrait of the former leader of the People’s Republic of China who was one of the most influential figures in modern history (estimate: £250,000 to £350,000); and Portrait of Sigismund Baldinger by Georg Pencz (circa 1500–1550), an extremely rare work depicting the power of the mercantiles of 16th century Germany (estimate: £5 million to £8 million).

En Plein Air
This section will include Nymphéas, 1906, an exceptional water-lily painting by Claude Monet (1840-1926) (estimate: £30 million to £40 million); Parc de l'hopital Saint-Paul, 1889, by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) which was painted during the artist’s voluntary confinement at the asylum of Saint-Paulde- Mausole (estimate: £8 million to £12 million); and Dalí- Christ by Glenn Brown (b.1966), an iconic work of Young British Art (estimate: £700,000 to £1,000,000).

Patronage
This section will include a selection of works of art from Althorp – the ancestral home of the Spencer Family, and Spencer House, their London town house until 1924 (which is still owned by the family, but is leased to tenants) including King David by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Il Guercino (1591-1666) (estimate: £5 million to £8 million), a monumental painting measuring over 2 metres in height which was acquired in Rome through the Scottish painter and dealer Gavin Hamilton by John, 1st Earl Spencer in 1768; and a magnificent suite of Louis XVI furniture executed by Claude-Charles Saunier and decorated with Japanese lacquer panels which was acquired by the 2nd Earl Spencer – brother of the ‘Duchess’ Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (estimate: £2.5 million to £4 million). Also included in this section is Mappa, 1989, by Alighiero Boetti (1940-1994), an exceptional work of art from the celebrated series which predicted the power of globalization, and for which the artist patronised Afghan weavers (estimate: £900,000 to £1,200,000).

Women in Art
This section will include Silver Liz by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) which is one of only 2 paintings by the artist to depict the celebrated actress and Hollywood icon with her legendary violet eyes (estimate: £6 million to £8 million); the full-length Portrait of Anne Sophia, Countess of Carnarvon (d. 1695) by Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), a significant, historical portrait by the celebrated Flemish master (estimate: £1.5 million to £2 million); and Nu à la chaise longue, 1923, an important and colourful work by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) which has been unseen in public since the year after it was painted (estimate: £5.5 million to £8.5 million).

Contemplation / Devotion
This section will include the rarely-seen The Madonna and Child in a landscape by Giovanni Bellini (1431/6-1516), one of the most celebrated of Italian Renaissance artists (estimate: £2.5 million to £3.5 million); Devotion, 2003, by Damien Hirst (b. 1965), a stained glass window made of butterflies (estimate: £700,000 to £1,000,000) and highlights from The Arcana Collection, a highly important collection of illuminated manuscripts, including a manuscript Bible produced in Italy in the middle of the 13th century with extensive and exquisite painted illustrations (estimate: £2.5 million to £3.5 million).

East / West
This section will include Frauenbildnis (Portrait of Ria Munk III), one of the last great female portraits painted by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) whose decoration draws from his passion for Eastern art and iconography of which he was an avid collector (estimate: £14 million to £18 million); Bondage, an epic Orientalist masterpiece by Ernest Normand (British, 1857-1923) which measures 184 x 307 cm and which will be offered in its original, purpose-built frame (estimate: £2 million to £3 million); and Pyongyang II, 2007, by Andreas Gursky (b.1955), a diptych photograph showing the festival celebrations surrounding the birthday of Kim Jong-Il, the leader of North Korea (estimate: £900,000 to £1,200,000).

Zoomrophism
This section will include Two Fish Tales, 1975, by Alexander Calder (1898-1976), a monumental spectacle of movement and form over two and a half meters at its widest point (estimate: £1.2 million to £1.8 million); Lion and lionne de Nubie, circa 1909-1910, by Rembrandt Bugatti (1885-1916), a magnificent study of a lion and lioness (estimate: £2 million to £3 million); and selected highlights from the unrivalled personal collection of important Chinese archaic bronze vessels assembled by Anthony Hardy, including the striking li, a ritual tripod vessel for cooking grains or meat, from the late Shang dynasty, 12th century BC, which is cast with three startling taotie animal masks (to be offered at Christie’s New York in September 2010 - estimate: on request).