The art collection of the late Stanford Z Rothschild Jr, a prominent investment banker, is heading to auction at Christie’s.
Rothschild was a passionate art collector all his life.
His son David told the Baltimore Sun: "He would have people come to the house to talk about the art.
"He loved to give tours and talk about the art. It was not about the beauty — it was about the purpose or the political meaning or the intent. It was beyond the aesthetic."
The headline lot is Monet’s La Pointe du Petit Ailly (1897), a woozy view of a bluff near the village of Pourville on the Normandy coast.
Monet had fond memories of the Normany coast
Monet spent six months in the region during the 1880s. He decided to return in 1897 following a long stay in the city, writing: “I needed to see the sea again... to gain strength from the sea air.”
He was delighted to find that nothing had really changed in his absence. However, Monet himself certainly had.
While his works from 15 years before were rooted in realism, this work moves towards a pure abstraction – focused solely on colour and light.
It’s expected to make $6m-8m.
There’s also a rare sketch by Vincent van Gogh, valued at $500,000-700,000.
The piece is a profile of a fisherman dressed in oilskins and would have been drawn from life. It dates to 1883, when Van Gogh was living in the Dutch city of Nuenen and developing his skills as an artist.
The collection will sell in the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening sale in New York on November 13.
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