Sotheby’s Consigns Works from the Collection of Matthew Bucksbaum and Carolyn Bucksbaum

Sotheby’s will sell ten works from the collection of Matthew and Carolyn Bucksbaum, including six works by René Magritte, Jean Dubuffet, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró and Paul Klee, in its major fall sale on November 20 Part of the Japanese Modern Evening Sale.

“A masterpiece like this is amazing [rare]”Only death can separate the owner from something so special,” said Julian Dawes, Sotheby’s senior vice president, deputy chairman and head of Impressionist and Modern art. art news. “There’s no way they can find it.”

The six works in the evening sale have a combined estimate of $18 million to $24 million, led by Magritte Jockey Mystery (1942) Estimated at $9 million to $12 million, Dubuffet’s Restaurants and cafes (1961) estimated at $6 million to $8 million.

dawes also known as Jockey Mystery (1942) “Perfect” and “an extremely important painting” because of the same subject matter as the 1926 work that Magritte called his first Surrealist painting, The Lost Jockey (Le jockey perdu).

“The way he executed the painting was slightly different, but he was returning to the theme, which is, fundamentally, a bit of chaos and chaos,” Dawes said. He noted that this is the only oil version of the theme and the artist’s work Light Empire(1954) sold last November for $121 million. “We often see paintings of this scale, even of lower quality, selling for between $10 million and $20 million, so this is a sweet spot for Magritte and I think there’s a large audience for it.”

The painting was also previously in the collection of William Copley, an artist and an important and trend-setting early collector of Surrealist art. “Over the years, Copley has amassed some of the most important and celebrated works of Surrealist art,” Dawes said. “This work was even taken in his home in the 1960s.”

Jockey Mystery The work was also on display in Abu Dhabi last week as part of the most expensive art show the auction house has ever staged in the Middle East.

Dubuffet Restaurants and cafes Paris Circus (1961), from the artist’s popular Paris Circus series, depicts a joyous scene in the city after World War II, with people out having fun and spending time with friends and family. Notably, this work is one of three paintings depicting the iconic restaurant on Avenue Montparnasse. Drawn by my sister Restaurants and cafes (1961) now belongs to the Fondation Dubuffet in Paris and remained the artist’s possession throughout his life.

Dawes called Restaurants and cafes It is “one of the rarest and most important things” Sotheby’s has produced “on a purely analytical basis” in decades.

“It’s truly unique,” ​​Grégoire Billault, Sotheby’s executive vice president and chairman of contemporary art, told us art newswho noted that the third version belongs to one of Europe’s top collectors and that it may be the last version available for public purchase.

“We’ve seen prices for the Cirque de Paris series go up to $25 million, and a picture isn’t much bigger or more interesting than this one,” Biot said. “This is truly one of the best Jean Dubuffet pieces that has ever come to auction, and I don’t use those words lightly. So, yes, I think it will be an amazing test of the market.”

“It’s a picture that you can’t believe will come out one day,” Bülow added. “I’ve been working at Sotheby’s for 25 years; I’ve never seen anything like this.”

when art news When asked how the estimate was calculated, Dawes emphasized the rarity of both Jockey Mystery and Restaurants and cafesDemand from private collectors and institutions, as well as the “excellent condition” of two works that have been on display for decades in the Bucksbaums’ purpose-built Chicago home.

The Bucksbaum family also purchased Dubuffet’s Restaurants and cafes In the early 1980s, Magritte’s Jockey Mystery It was back in the early 1990s that these artists gained momentum to where they are today. “They’re not following any trends,” Dawes told art news. “It was obviously guided by such passion and instinct. So it’s amazing that we’ve arrived at this moment where each piece represents some of the most coveted materials on the market today.”

Dali’s characters and characters (c. 1934-38) Estimate: $700,000 to $1,000,000. painting Featuring Dali’s signature pattern, the drawers open from the figures. It was one of four decorative screens commissioned for Cécile Eluard, the daughter of Dali’s wife Gala and her first husband, the poet Paul Eluard. “This work is the only one to have appeared at auction in the past thirty years,” a Sotheby’s press release said.

Other less expensive items in this group are Miró’s Femmes, oiseau, étoiles (1942), estimated at $1.2 million to $1.8 million; Miró’s Sun characters and performances (1939) estimated at $400,000 to $600,000; and Klee’s Kopf (head) Estimated price is $300,000 to $500,000.

Femmes, oiseau, étoiles is on “a very specific flocked paper” with the “velvety” feel the artist chose for the pastels. “It’s a very tactile object, and it’s only when you stand in front of it and get close that you really understand its presence, and there’s a warmth to it that’s unphotographable,” Dawes said. “I think there are a lot of special moments and details in this series that are definitely what make life in this series so meaningful. But you know, other people are now going to have the opportunity to experience that for themselves.”

The couple also commissioned four works that will be sold as part of Sotheby’s Contemporary Day sale on November 19 and Modern Day sale on November 21.

Fernand Léger’s vehicle builder (1950) has a lower estimate of $120,000 to $180,000; Henry Moore’s Sitting shelter figure (1941) Estimated at $300,000 to $500,000; Pablo Picasso’s Introduction to Jacqueline and Follard (Baer 1033) (1955) estimated at $40,000 to $60,000; and Anselm Kiefer’s black gale (circa 1995-1996), estimated at $120,000-$180,000.

A couple who have devoted their lives to art and philanthropy

Matthew “Kay” Bucksbaum and Caroline “Kay” Bucksbaum have been together for more than sixty years. Matthew transforms mom-and-pop grocer into General Growth Properties, America’s second-largest mall operator

The couple also supports many causes in Chicago and Aspen, including donating $42 million to establish the Bucksbaum-Sigler Institute for Clinical Excellence at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and the Bucksbaum Center for Photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The Bucksbaums also built an “extraordinary private collection” of modern art, Old Masters and antiques, which they display in their Chicago home, which was designed by leading architects Stanley Tigerman and Margaret McCurry.

The couple also collaborated with lighting designer Sylvan R. Shemitz (known for his work on New York’s Grand Central Terminal and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.) to illuminate works that, in Shemitz’s own words, “echo the visible sky in the distance and the beaches of Lake Michigan,” according to Sotheby’s.