Clars – Important Winter Modern + Contemporary Art Auction
February 9 at 10 am
5644 Telegraph Ave. Oakland, CA 94609
www.clars.com
info@clars.com
510-428-0100
Preview: February 8th, 1-5 pm PST

OAKLAND, CALIF. — Clars’ February 9 Modern and contemporary art auction will feature a selection of artwork from an array of international artists.

A featured highlight is a watercolor on paper by German-Swiss artist Paul Klee. This piece, titled “Fragment of a Mural (Fragment einer Wandmalerei)” ($100/150,000), shows an abstract image that is left to the viewer to decipher. Klee is known for the use of geometric forms in his work, often building his arrangements with triangles and rectangles, but here we see an unrecognizable object, made more mysterious by the title identifying it as just one section from a larger composition. Klee is perhaps even better known for his innovative take on color theory. The blending of purple into red into gray tones seen in this work illustrates Klee’s opinion that small sections of color could be unified to create a harmonious visual. Furthermore, during his time as an instructor at the Bauhaus, Klee taught as a master of stained glass, often using smoking techniques to color pieces of glass. The muted tones in this watercolor echo the hazy, blended hues that would result from smoking glass.

Also included in the sale is a work on paper titled “Green Hill” by American artist Mark Tobey. As a founder of the Northwest School in Seattle, Wash., Tobey imbued in his peers an appreciation of East Asian culture, the effects of which are visible in “Green Hill,” with its muted color palette echoing Shan Shui landscapes, and an expressionist style that mimics calligraphy. The misty atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest was a driving influence on Tobey, who used earthy tones to illustrate “Green Hill,” with the green of the hill obscured almost completely by a heavy fog against a sepia sky. “Green Hill” is dated 1957, the year before Tobey became the second American artist to win the International Grand Prize at the 1958 Venice Biennale ($30/50,000).

Another work in the sale is a steel sculpture by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. The piece depicts two figures, likely one male and one female based on their clothing, standing with hands overlapped in an uncomplicated embrace. The stylized figures are reminiscent of the simplified figures seen in well-known Tamayo paintings like “Tres Personajes,” with dominant geometric lines replacing the naturalistic curves of the human body. The sculpture shows the figures’ bodies as rectangles, with semicircle arms and circular hands. The male figure’s legs and female figure’s skirt are triangular, and the base is a narrow rectangular platform. The gray patina of the metallic material is consistent throughout and recalls the stone and clay sculptures of the Zapotec, an Indigenous Pre-Colombian culture from whom Tamayo claimed both heritage and inspiration ($70/100,000).

Next featured is the “Makemono” lithograph scroll by Catalan painter and sculptor Joan Miro, created circa 1956. Considered a major figure in the Surrealist family, Miro uses this color-printed Chanton silk scroll to marry a traditional East Asian medium with his “automatism” technique, a method of revealing an individual’s psyche through spontaneous drawing and painting. “Makemono” presents form and color before narrative, showing abstract human figures interspersed with birds, eyes and nonobjective forms derived purely from the artist’s imagination. From an edition of only 50, the vibrant scroll is anchored by wooden batons on each of the two ends and includes its original carved and painted wood box ($20/30,000).

Also on offer is a work by French Cubist artist Fernand Leger (1881-1955). The watercolor on paper, titled “Deux Personnages” and estimated at $60/90,000, was created in 1947 and hints at Leger’s abstraction and modification of the Cubist form, once coined “Tubism” by critics of his work. As a Cubist painter, he incorporated the movement of machinery, figures and vibrant colors into his compositions, imagery that influenced him during World War I and later World War II, while he lived in America.

Other notable artworks to be offered in the sale include prints by Yayoi Kusama, a ceramic plate by Pablo Picasso and a painting by Guy Anderson.

On February 10, the Asian art department will feature two Chinese jade lots comprising a set of imperial-quality Chinese white jade belt buckle and associated ornaments depicting dragons and cranes from the Eighteenth to Nineteenth Century. The other lot is a Republic period Mughal-style celadon jade vase and linked cover carved in low relief with bamboo, prunus and chrysanthemum and a pair of magpies, along with a pair of openwork peony handles and a finial, all set with a linking chain ($4/6,000).

The furniture and decorative arts department will have a selection of furniture, porcelains, sterling silver and other objets de vertu. A pair of French Napoleonic demilune bronze mounted tables, circa 1850, will be featured ($3/5,000).

The firm’s jewelry and timepiece department will offer a selection of antique diamond, colored gemstone and gold jewelry in the February 10 sale. This sale features a variety of new and old wardrobe staples to build up the foundation of one’s jewelry collection, including a colorful gemstone selection with such selections as an Art Deco star sapphire and diamond ring ($800-$1,200) and a pair of emerald, diamond and 14K bi-color gold earrings ($1,5/2,500).

Bidding is available by phone, absentee bid and live online. Clars Auction Gallery is at 5644 Telegraph Avenue. For more information, 510-428-0100 or www.clars.com.

In Person + Online Bidding
1. Fernand Leger (French, 1881-1955), Deux Personnages, 1947, watercolor, 12.5″ x 16.25″ (32 x 41 cm).
2. Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Visage Masque, 1947, ceramic plate, 12.5″ x 15″ (31.75 x 38.1 cm).
3. Enrico Donati (American/Italian, 1909-2008), Luxor VIII, 1979, oil and sand on canvas, 50″ x 48″ (127 x 122 cm).
4. Paul Klee (German, 1879-1940), Fragment einer Wandmalerei, 1933, gouache, 7.5″ x 9.75″ (19.05 x 24.8 cm).
5. Rufino Tamayo (Mexican, 1899-1991), Untitled (Dos Figuras), 1989, steel sculpture with patina, 16.5″h (41.9 cm).
6. Joan Miro {Spanish, 1893-1983), Makemono, 1956, color lithographic scroll in colors on silk with wooden batons (accompanied with original carved and painted wood box), 16.13″ x 382″ (41 x 970 cm).
7. Mark Tobey (American, 1890-1976), Green Hill, 1957, tempera, 12.25″ x 18″ (30.8 x 45.4 cm).

Clars – Fine & Rare Wines Auction
February 9 at 2 pm
5644 Telegraph Ave. Oakland, CA 94609
www.clarswines.com
info@clars.com
510-428-0100
Preview: February 8th, 1-5 pm PST
In Person + Online Bidding
1. 1964 Chateau Petrus, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France.
2. 1959 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, 1st Growth, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France.
3. 1945 Chateau HautBrion, 1st Growth, Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, France.
4. 1947 Chateau Montrose, 2nd Growth, Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux, France.
5. 1997 Penfolds Grange Bin 95, Australia.