On Sunday, November 11, the traditional series of art auctions from impressionism to the present day started in New York, organized by Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips (in terms of contemporary art). Although works by Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh of the 1880s are on sale, as well as works created in the 2000s, the main auctions of the fall have recently been called the “20th century art week in New York”, since the main events in the coming days will really be connected with the works of Vasily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, Jackson Pollock, Jean-Michel Basquiat and other masters of the last century; It is here that we should expect new records and high-profile sales..

The first to enter the auction race was Christie's, which on Sunday evening, November 11, earned $ 279.2 million at the auction of impressionism and modernism. The most expensive was the painting "Pond with water lilies" by Claude Monet, which was sold for $ 31.8 million with estimeyte $ 30-50 million. Three times higher than the estimate - for $ 15.5 million - the new owner acquired Monet’s large winter landscape “The Snow Effect at Giverny”. Another top lot of the auction - “Lamp” by Pablo Picasso, tentatively valued at $ 25–35 million, left for $ 29.5 million. In this picture of 1931, his then still secret love is depicted - Maria Theresa Walter, and in general the works of the artist at these auctions sold nearly $ 90 million..

Part of the collection of owners of the successful business of selling clothes and sewing machines Herbert and Adel Klapper, collecting old masters and impressionists, brought Christie's more than $ 40 million. Rare in quality museum-level sculpture "The Inclined Figure" by Henry Moore (estimate: $ 8–12 million), owned by A. Gerald Perenico, a billionaire and owner of the largest US Hispanic broadcaster, acquired for $ 9.3 million.

The main intrigue of the Sunday auction, associated with the canvas of Vincent van Gogh "The Corner of the Garden and Butterflies" (1887), so it remained. At the picture, which was called the most expensive work of the artist of the Parisian period from ever put up for auction, there was no buyer.

On the evening of November 12, the Impressionists and Modernists will sell Sotheby's, where, in addition to the already familiar set of names in the catalog (Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore), we will find among top lots avant-garde works by Wassily Kandinsky, Fauvist Maurice de Vlaminck and the largest representative of Austrian expressionism Oscar Kokoschka. The improvisation of Wassily Kandinsky to the plot of the “Last Judgment” is exhibited with an estimate of $ 22–35 million, a portrait of the famous collector of surrealism by Edward Jones, written by Rene Magritte, is tentatively estimated at $ 15–20 million, and monumental pastel of Joan Miro - at $ 7–10 million. Finally, a special section of the auction titled “Beautiful and Damned: The Radical Art of the Great War” was dedicated to the curators of the auction house on the 100th anniversary of the end of hostilities of the First World War.. This collection includes works by American Marsden Hartley and German expressionist Ludwig Meidner, who can set new price records for these artists, unless Sotheby's experts have lost touch with reality, setting such high estimates for these works.. Thus, a preliminary estimate of Hartley's painting "Pre-War Carnival" (1913) is about $ 30 million, although the previous sale of the artist of the same Berlin period at Shristie's is only $ 6.3 million in 2008. Julian Dawes, senior vice president and head of evening sales, notes that “outside the museum collections of works by these artists of the same level there simply isn’t, and probably there’s never another opportunity to acquire them.

The master of post-war art will take over the baton from the Impressionist and Modernists, whose works will be sold on November 13-15 at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips. The culmination of the week will be the sale of the Barney A collection.. Ebsworth at Christie's, which during the promo tour of Europe, Asia, Great Britain and the United States has already been called "the most outstanding collection of American art of the twentieth century in the entire auction history". Among the top lots of the evening auction at Christie's on November 13 under the name "American Convent" (An American Place - there the collector himself named his mansion in Seattle) - works by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell and Georgia O'Keefe. The pearl of the collection is Edward Hopper's 1929 “Stew in Chinese” (preliminary estimate of about $ 70 million). In 2012–2013, the picture was included in the list of Hopper’s retrospective exhibits in the Paris Grand Palais. Guided by the principle of "quality, quality and quality again", the entrepreneur managed to assemble an outstanding collection of American modernism, many of the works of the collection during the life of the owner were repeatedly exhibited in major museums. Work of Willem de Kooning "Woman and Landscape" (1955) put up for auction with a preliminary estimate of about $ 60 million. Today, when de Kooning’s most significant creations are in museum collections, the appearance of such work at auction is a unique opportunity for collectors to purchase one of the artist’s iconic works. "Composition with red strokes" was created by Jackson Pollock in 1950, at the peak of his creative activity (estimate about $ 50 million), in innovative artistic technique. Other works of the series are currently in collections of the MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum and the National Gallery of Art..

On Wednesday, November 14, Sotheby's auction of contemporary art will take place, the organizers of which intend to raise about $ 30 million for Abstract Painting (1987) by Gerhard Richter, despite the fact that just a month ago, at the London auction of Christie's in October, his picture was not sold even for $ 12 million. It should be noted, and several works of Jean-Michel Basquiat from an anonymous collection. The most expensive picture from this collection - “Untitled (Fried Chicken)” of 1982 - is estimated at $ 25 million, and the cost of the entire collection is about $ 40 million. It’s hard to think of a better time to sell than now, when the artist’s retrospective is held in the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. One of the most interesting works at auction is the painting “Taxi, corner of the 45th and Broadway”, the result of the joint work of Basquiat and Andy Warhol from the collection of Gianni Versace. The spectacular picture with a beautiful history and provenance is carefully valued at $ 6–8 million.

Phillips (17:00) and Christie's evening auctions (19:00) end the series of trades in New York on Thursday, November 15. A selection of the art auction of the twentieth century and modern works of Phillips are headed by works by Joan Miro (estimate 12–18 million), Alberto Burri ($ 10–15 million) and Jean-Michel Basquiat ($ 9–12 million). However, the main pride of the auction house at this time - the famous work of Jackson Pollock "Number 16" (1950), first put up for auction. In 1950, it was acquired by Nelson A.. Rockefeller for only $ 306.

The picture was included in the fourth monographic exhibition of Pollock in the gallery Betty Parsons along with his other most famous paintings, which were bought by major museums around the world. "Number 16" was donated by Rockefeller to the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio de Janeiro in 1952, where it was located until now, when the museum decided to sell the painting to close the budget deficit. It is expected that for a first-class product will be able to gain from $ 18 to 25 million.