黑料不打烊

We scoured the auction houses to uncover 10 low-season gems — from Andy Warhol's John Wayne to Renoir's seductive sirens

1. Two Sirens

Collectors with a predilection for Impressionism (and a budget extending to seven figures) should look to Tokyo's Mainichi Auction house, this week offering an oil on canvas by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The artist's beautifully hazy picture of two corpulent sirens is a leading lot in the house's 20 January sale, estimated at $1,780,971-2,671,457.

Though this work leads this weke's sales, previous totals for lots by the artist have shot considerably higher: in 2003, Dans les Roses (madame Leon Clapisson) sold at Sotheby's New York for $23,528,000 while, in 2013, L'ombrelle sold at Christie's in London for $15,140,800.

2. An exceptionally rare oil 

It is exceptionally rare to see work by Juan De Mata Pacheco on the market. This statuesque portrait, entitled Retrato de Doña Dolores Dosal Garcés is a fine example of the Mexican artist's work, and a highlight of the January 16 sale at at Morton Auctions, Monte Athos, estimated at $400,000-600,000.

3. Mexican horses

Mexican artist Ernesto Icaza has a great love of horses, and the animals became the subject of hundreds of his paintings. This example, entitled Arreando a las mulas comes to auction on January 16 at Morton Auctions, Monte Athos, estimated at $450,000-550,000. 

The estimate is around half that of the artist's record to-date — though is high for a single work. In 2014, a group of twelve works by the artist was sold at Christie's New York for $905,000. Two years, later, a group of five paintings came to Sotheby's New York, selling for $125,000 in the auction house's Latin American art sale. 

4. An artist's impression of war

Mexico's landscape and its people continues to be a strong theme in this week's leading lots, with this series of 12 coloured lithographs by Carlos Nebel joining highlights at Morton Auctions' January 16 sale in Monte Athos. Estimated at $300,000-500,000, the works illustrate the war between the United States and Mexico. 

The artist's previous auction highs have similarly been achieved for groups of works: in 2011, Neal Auction sold Nebel's war illustrations for $68,713 — considerably lower than the estimate gievn here. In the same year, a group of four works sold for just $1,346 at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. 

5. An imposing portrait

Francisco Martínez's Retrato de Don García de Legaspi y Velasco is another imposing portrait to form a highlight of Morton Auctions' January 16 sale, distinguished by flowing inscriptions that surround the artist's subject. Estimated at $280,000-400,000, the work is another highlight of Morton Auctions January 16 sale, presenting another rare opportunity to bid for a work by a celebrated Mexican artist. 
 

6. A rare Diego de Cuentas

Yet another highlight of this week's sales comes from Morton Auctions. Like many of the works on offer, this painting is an exceptionally rare opportunity to acquire a work by Diego De Cuentas — a Mexican artist who, though highly-regarded in his own country, has rarely appeared for sale. Entitled Retrato de Don Nicolás Carlos Gomez de Cervantes, this portrait features in Morton Auctions January 16 sale, estimated at $280,000-400,000. 

7. A celebrated "outsider"  

Henry Darger is one of several Outsider artists being offered in Christie's January 19 sale Beyond Imagination: Outsider and Vernacular Art, which celebrates artists whose work was created beyond art's conventional academic or institutional structures. Darger is generally recognised as one of the genre's stars, renowned for creating large-scale, horizontal-format watercolours that chronicle events and scenes from a mythical world of his own creation. 

With an estimate of $200,000-400,000, this work is considerably less than the artist's previous auction high, achieved in 2014 for an untitled work at Christie's in Paris. 

8. An image of North America in the early 19th century 

This wood-engraved illustration by artist Karl Bodmer is another highlight of Sotheby's January 17 Americana sale, using exceptional detail to capture its subject mid-action. The work comes with an estimate of $250,000-350,000 — considerably higher than the artist's all-time record of $37,000, achieved at Sotheby's in 2008.

9. Yellowstone National Park 

Louis Prang's sprawling depitcion of Yellowstone Park looks out onto the mountain ranges of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Utah — the two figures at the center of the work dwarfed by the sheer immensity of the nature around them. The work comes to Sotheby's on January 17 in a sale celebrating all things Americana, and is expected to fetch between $250,000-350,000. 

Similar works by the artist have sold for considerably lower sums — though have been of lesser quality. In 2013, View of the Stone Fleet Which Sailed from New Bedford Nov. 16th, 1861 sold at Eldred's Auction and Appraisal Services for just $224 — followed by the sale of another work in 2014, at just $125. Both figures make Sotheby's estimate look generous. 

10. Andy Warhol's Cowboys and Indians 

Andy Warhol created his Cowboys and Indians series in the 1980s, depicting celebrated heroes including John Wayne, Annie Oakley, and Teddy Roosevelt in an ironic response to a romanticized notion of the American West. Boldly colored, the images in the series jump from white backgrounds. This series of 10 comes to Mainichi Auction Tokyo on January 20, estimated at $222,621-311,670. 

For more on auctions, exhibitions, and current trends, visit our Articles Page