With Sotheby's Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art auctions just days away, now is the time to visit our New York galleries to experience these impressive works in person. Or, explore below to discover our specially curated selection of some of the most storied and valuable lots on offer. Whether it’s Monet’s Matinée sur la Seine, where Impressionism meets Abstract Expressionism, or Lichtenstein’s Still Life with Head in Landscape, which fuses Pop art and Surrealism, these daring and genre-bending works reflect the genius of their trailblazing and fearless creators.
Nu couché is not only the largest work from Amedeo Modigliani's career, it is also the greatest painting from the artist's legendary series of nudes, which reinvented the nude for the Modern era. Upon their debut in 1917, these striking and sensual images stopped traffic and prompted the police to close the show.
Discover more about Amedeo Modigliani.
The Brilliance and Symbolism of Basquiat’s 'Flesh and Spirit'
Inspired by a host of influences including Robert Farris Thompson’s seminal 'Flash of the Spirit,’ 'Gray’s Anatomy' and the anatomical drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, Basquiat’s monumental Flesh and Spirit takes on science and religion in his own strikingly unique visual language.
Discover more about Jean-Michel Basquiat.
This lush, painterly portrait of Picasso’s golden muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, captures the rapturous desire of the artist at the apex of his practice.
Discover more about Pablo Picasso.
Jackson Pollock’s pouring and dripping technique redefined what the world understood painting to be art. Number 32, 1949 is a fully covered and luminous painting executed at the crescendo of the artist’s career.
Discover more about Abstract Expressionism.
With its loose brushstrokes reducing nature’s forms to their essence as the morning sunlight bleeds into the dark foliage, this work establishes Monet not only as an influence on the abstract movements of the 20th century, but also as an abstract painter in his own right.
Discover more about Claude Monet.
By dropping his blonde bombshell into a Surrealist landscape, Lichtenstein takes on an entire artistic movement, reimagining symbols like Rene Magritte’s apple and Savlador Dalí’s lone tree.
Discover more about Roy Lichtenstein.
Witness the scale and brilliance of Miró’s Femme Oiseau, offered in our sale of the Collection of Morton and Barbara Mandel in New York. This exceptional work, which stayed in the artist's personal collection until his death, is a striking synthesis of his own style and the absraction of his peers.
Discover more about Joan Miró.
Painted shortly before the artist’s death, Untitled, 1969 showcases the unmistakable abstract brilliance that came to define an artistic movement.
Discover more about Mark Rothko.
The Visionary Artists Behind The Studio Museum’s Expansion
To benefit the campaign for the construction of The Studio Museum's new home, 42 prominent artists, including Kehinde Wiley, Julie Mehretu and Stanley Whitney, have donated works to be offered in Sotheby’s New York 16–17 May Contemporary Art sales.
Discover more about The Studio Museum’s partnership with Sotheby’s.
