By Carter B. Horsley

The kick-off to the Fall 2004 art auction season begins with this evening auction of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie's November 3, 2004, which is highlighted by a great painting by Joan Miró (1893-1983), an impressive river scene by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), a good version of the Houses of Parliament in London and a wonderful sunset riverscape by Claude Monet (1840-1926), an impressive "Four Seasons" suite of paintings by Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), a very lovely small landscape by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), and a delightful painting by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).

Normally, such a cache would be most impressive, but this year it pales a bit in comparison with the offering the next night at Sotheby's, which has several blockbusters with very high estimates.

Of course, connoisseurs know that high estimates are not a guarantee of excellence, to say nothing of a collector's particular passions.

The Miró, Lot 11, "La Caresse des étoiles," is as good a Miró as one can imagine for its size, richly colorful and dynamically full of energy. An oil on canvas that measures 22 ½ by 28 ½ inches, it was executed in 1938 and has been consigned from the Collection of Nathan L. Halpern.

The auction house claims that it is "a discovery of remarkable importance," adding that "The painting is the most significant addition to the artist's oeuvre in recent years, painted when the artist was at the peak of his powers." "It is moreover a 20th Century masterwork in the fullest sense, one that offer the most profound insights into the crucible of modern history in which it was created….The painting has remained out of sight since it was painted in 1938. During the Occupation of Paris, it was hidden away by Pierre Loeb, Miró's dealer, to save it from confiscation by the Nazis. While stationed in Paris, Halpern acquired this painting from Loeb and after he returned with it to New York in 1945, the Miró became one of the few works in the collection that Halpern did not exhibit, and so has remained unpublished."

The catalogue entry continues :"La caresse des étoiles had its genesis in the Spanish Civil War, which began in July 1936, when General Francisco Franco led an uprising of fascist and other right-wing elements against the nation's left-wing government."

It sold for $11,767,500 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.

The sale was quite successful with 81 percent of the 58 offered lots selling for a total of $128,222,150, which was, according to Christopher Burge, the evening's auctioneer, "comfortably" within the pre-sale total estimates of $111,700,000 to $157,900,000.

A less vibrant but still marvelous Miró, Lot 43, "Personnage, oiseau, étoiles," a pastel, watercolor and black chalk on paper, had an estimate of $700,000 to $900,000 and sold for $1,071,500. Executed in 1942, it measures 24 3/4 by 18 1/4 inches.

Lot 41, "Le Pont de Trinquetaille," is a strong riverscape scene by Vincent van Gogh that sold at Christie's November 8, 1999 for $15,402,500. It had been acquired by Akram Ojjeh, a Syrian-born financier who died in 1990 at Sotheby's in October, 1980 for $1,500,000 and was consigned to this auction by Wafic Said. At this auction, the estimate was $12,000,000 to $18,000,000. It sold for $11,207,500 to Joseph Hackmey. Given its size and condition and that fact that it had not been offered at auction all that recently, this price was quite a bargain for the buyer, especially given its strong composition, only somewhat offset by the seemingly inconsistent treatment of the boardwalk in the lower left corner.

Lot 24, "Londres, le Parlement, effet de soleil dans le brouillard," is a 31 7/8-by-36 1/4-inch oil on canvas by Claude Monet. Executed in 1904, it has an estimate of $12,000,000 to $18,000,000. It sold for $20,167,500, the highest auction price for a London scene by Monet. Monet's views of the Houses of Parliament are among his most successful and lyrical series. This is a bit pasty and not one of the best in the series.

Lot 13, "L'Aiguille, à travers la Porte d'Aval," is one of Monet's series of paintings of the very dramatic coastline at Etretat. An oil on canvas, it measures 25 7/8 by 36 3/8 inches and was executed in 1885-6. It has an estimate of $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. It sold for $1,463,500.

The most beautiful, or at least the most impressionist, Monet in this auction was Lot 36, "Coucher de soleil à Lavacourt," a 21 1/4-by-31 7/8-inch oil on canvas. Executed in 1880, it has an estimate of $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. It sold for $2,247,500. It had sold for $1,872,500 at Christie's, November 8, 1999 when it had an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000.

Lot 33, "The Four Seasons," by Camille Pissarro, consisted of four oils on canvas, each 21 5/8 by 51 1/2 inches. Executed in 1872, they have an estimate of $8,000,000 to $12,000,000 and sold for $8,967,500. They were consigned by Wafic Said who had acquired them at Christie's in 1991 for about $7,100,000.

Lot 4, "Vaches au bord de la mer," is a pleasant coastal scene with cows by Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). An oil on canvas that measures 29 1/2 by 44 inches, it was executed in 1886. It has an estimate of and was consigned by the Henryk de Kwiatkowski Family Collection. It sold for $2,359,500. "The present picture," the catalogue entry noted, "is one of the largest and most complex paintings that Gauguin made during his first trip to Brittany in the summer of 1886, a watershed moment in his career."

A remarkably lovely and rather atypical landscape by Paul Cézanne, Lot 16, "Vue d'Auvers-sur-Oise," was executed in 1873. An oil on canvas that measures 18 by 14 7/8, it was once in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ittleson Jr. It has an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000 and sold for $1,855,500. According to the catalogue, the painting "is a vibrant example of the artist's Impressionist period when he was working with Pissarro...in the area around Pontoise....Working directly from nature beside his friend and mentor, Camille Pissarro..., Cézanne abandoned the dark tonalities and rough facture of his earlier canvases and adopted the light, varied palette and fleet, vibratory touch of Impressionism."

A less appealing and rather dour "Portrait de femme" by Cézanne, Lot 29, has an estimate of $9,000,000 to $12,000,000 and sold for $10,087,500. An oil on canvas that measures 25 5/8 by 21 1/4 inches, it was executed circa 1900 and was consigned by Stephen A. Wynn, the casino owner.According to the catalogue, Cézanne "made at least two other portraits that appear to depict the same sitter."

Another work from the Halpern collection is Lot 20, "Scène de 'Le malade imaginaire,' by Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940), a pen and ink and watercolor on paper laid down on panel. Executed in 1891, this very lively and strong work measures 9 1/2 by 19 inches and has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $298,700.

Another fine Vuillard from the Halpern collection is Lot 14, "Femme au col de fourrure," anoil on canvas that measures 8 1/4 by 5 5/8 inches. Executed circa 1890-1, it has an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. A severely cropped portrait of a woman with a fur collar, it is quite abstract and quite Japanese in spirit. It sold for $343,500.

Lot 31, "Femme à a la voilette (Mme Lucienne Dupuy de Frenelle," is a very, very beautiful oil on canvas by Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947). It measures 27 by 23 7/8 inches and was executed circa 1917. It has an estimate of $700,000 to $900,000 and sold for $993,100.

Lot 48 is a large and impressive cityscape by Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956) that is entitled "Benz VI." An oil on canvas, it measures 39 2/8 by 49 1/4 inches and was executed in 1914. It has an estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,500,000. It sold for $3,703,500.

Lot 46, "Mousquetaire à la pipe," is a strong oil on canvas by Pablo Picasso. It measures 57 5/8 by 35 1/8 inches and was executed in 1968. It has an estimate of $4,000,000 to $6,000,000 and it sold for $7,175,500. "Picasso's view of the musketeers is invariably comic and mock-heroic; these soldiers of deering-do are often ridiculous and overblown in their grandiose self-confidence. But at the same time Picasso must have lamented in the contemporary world a growing absence of the recklessly individual spirit, the man of purposeful idea and action, a world -transforming genius, as he had been in his youthful career," the catalogue noted.

Lot 50, "Femme fatale," is an early and quite garish oil on canvas by Kees van Dongen (1877-1968). It measures 32 1/4 by 24 inches and was executed circa 1905. It was once in the collection of Ingrid Bergman and has an estimate of $3,500,000 to $4,500,000. It sold for $5,943,500, a world auction record for the artist.

The catalogue provided the following commentary:

"The painting demonstrates in uncompromising fashion the artist's penchant for exploiting shock value, here taken to an unprecedented extreme. He has fused blant eroticism with his recent discovery of jarring and electrifying color to create of portrait of startling and unforgettable physological intensity....Van Dongen employed jewel-like colors in the present portrait to emphasize the flamboyant and tawdry character of his sitter...."