ZURICH.- The Impressionist & Modern Art auction on 1 December will be led by a magnificent landscape by Camille Pissarro, 'Prairies à Gisors', which was one of the paintings the artist kept for himself until the end of his life, and it remained in Pissarro's family until the 1950s (lot 3211, CHF 1.1 / 1.6 million). Another outstanding Neo-Impressionist painting is 'Impression de gelée, le matin au soleil levant' by Gustave Loiseau (lot 3206, CHF 100 000 / 150 000). Works by German Expressionists include a view of houses among dunes, painted by Hermann Max Pechstein at the artist's colony in Nidden, Pomerania (lot 3235, CHF 100 000 / 150 000), and Emil Nolde's watercolour 'Mountain Lake', which he made during his last trip to Switzerland in 1948 (lot 3226, CHF 80 000 / 120 000). A snow-covered Tyrolian mountain landscape by Austrian painter Alfons Walde will be offered for CHF 250 000 / 350 000 (lot 3242).

Swiss Art on 1 December features a fascinating sunset landscape from 1918 by Félix Vallotton (lot 3029, CHF 750 000 / 1 000 000), in which he employs planes of colour and contrasts between light and shadow to create a strikingly modern work. Several paintings by Giovanni Giacometti from the Karl Balsiger collection - one of the artist's most fervent collectors - will be offered, including 'The Apple Tree', a Fauvist work from 1912 (lot 3032, CHF 250 000 / 400 000), and 'Mare di Nebbia' a magical composition showing the peaks of the Alps showing above a sea of fog (lot 3019, CHF 250 000 / 350 000). Several works by Albert Anker are in the auction, such as a charming depiction of a school child in a snowy landscape (lot 3014, CHF 350 000 / 650 000).

The PostWar & Contemporary auction on 30 November includes a marble sculpture of a surveillance camera by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, which underlines the tension between technology and personal freedom (lot 3465, CHF 150 000 / 250 000). A monumental work by Jannis Kounellis is part of the artist's explorations of representing our world through non-traditional artistic means (lot 3428, CHF 180 000 / 280 000). Works by Mark Tobey (lot 3420, CHF 160 000 / 240 000), Jesús Rafael Soto (lot 3431, CHF 100 000 / 200 000), Victor Vasarely (lot 3408, CHF 70 000 / 90 000) and Ian Davenport (lot 3433, CHF 60 000 / 80 000) round out the contemporary art on offer.

Over 400 lots will be offered in the Jewellery auction on 29 November, including several unmounted stones that of outstanding quality and size, such as a Paraiba tourmaline of over 22 ct. (lot 2347, CHF 280 000 / 380 000), and a cabochon emerald of an impressive 176.24 ct. (lot 2133, CHF 250 000 / 350 000). The Watches auction on 27 November features a Patek Philippe platinum men's wristwatch from 1944 that may well be the only one of its kind ever made (lot 2861, CHF 120 000 / 180 000). And for the first time, Koller will offer a private Swiss collection of luxury writing instruments in a special sale entitled 'Fountain Pen Fascination'. Among the over 200 lots in the 27 November auction are rare examples from Dunhill-Namiki (lot 1185, CHF 20 000 / 30 000) and Montblanc (lot 1132, CHF 30 000 / 50 000).

And the third edition of 'Out of This World' on 4 December will include the impressive skull of a juvenile Triceratops (lot 873, CHF 300 000 / 500 000).