WINDSOR, CONN. — Nadeau’s Auction Gallery’s annual New Year’s Day auction of 714 lots included 113 lots of artwork, some of the best that has ever come through its doors to include John Singer Sargent, Jane Peterson, Raoul Dufy, Alfred Maurer, Christo and Jeanne-Claude. In the winner’s circle was Raoul Dufy’s (1877-1953) “Araut La Course: Epsom,” a watercolor and gouache on paper depicting a scene from the famed race course in Surrey, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The painting met its low estimate and then some, selling for $125,000, including buyer’s premium, to an online bidder. Painter, draftsman, textile artist and printmaker, Dufy is remembered for his colorful, playful paintings of landscapes, interiors and scenes of leisure — at the regatta, opera and races — along the French Riviera. Though he experimented with other styles, he was a devoted follower of Fauvism. This work was signed lower left and titled lower left “Epsom,” written on cardboard backing in pencil, “Mr Furse 925 Park 7C.” Paper size was 19-7/16 by 26-1/16 inches, and accompanying the piece was a certificate of authenticity from Fanny Guillan-Laffaille, which stated that this piece is now in the “Catalogue raisonné des Aquarelles gouaches et pastels de Raoul por Fanny Guillan-Laffaille.”

A full review of this sale will follow.