LONDON.- A drawing by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), on the market for the first time in over 70 years, is among the highlights of the 10th edition of Lyon & Turnbull’s MODERN MADE sale. The carefully curated April 25-26 auction, displayed at The Mall Galleries, London, features works from some of the most progressive art movements of the 20th and 21 centuries.

A Hallmark Modigliani

With its sinuous curves and mask-like face, Modigliani’s delicate pencil drawing of a female nude has all the hallmarks of his style and a blue-chip provenance. Measuring 44cm x 32cm, Nu Accroupi, was sketched c. 1916-17, around the time of Modigliani’s great breakthrough series of nudes, painted as he struggled to make ends meet in low-rent studios in Montparnasse and Montmartre. A tiny pinhole to the top centre of the drawing references the circumstances of its making and place it amongst the many such drawings that Modigliani would attach to his bare studio walls, in search of inspiration and in the hope of sales.

Twenty-seven years after the artist’s death in 1920, the drawing was shown at the Leicester Galleries’ August 1947 exhibition of ‘Artists of Fame and of Promise’ where it was bought by Roland, Browse & Delbanco, then a relatively new London dealership carving out a niche as purveyors of the best in continental modernism. It was acquired from the gallery by the father of the present owner around 1950. Bidding is expected to reach £25,000-35,000.

Prime Period Works by Zao Wou-Ki

The sale includes two prime period oils by the Chinese/French artist Zao Wou-Ki (1921-2013) that were acquired by the owner shortly after they were painted in 1967. They are estimated at £150,000-250,000 each.

The artist, the subject of a recent retrospective at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou (September 2023- February 2024) occupies a unique position within the history of post-war art. While trained in traditional Chinese aesthetics, he joined the heady international mix of artists resident in post-war Paris and experienced American Expressionism first hand in New York in 1957. The titles of these two 22cm x 35cm works fusing Eastern and Western artistic traditions, 25.1.67 and 1.3.67, reference the date on which they were completed, 35 days apart. Both were bought by the vendor from Galerie Gerald Cramer, Geneva, in December 1967. They are both illustrated in the second volume of Zao Wou-Ki’s catalogue raisonné.

This year’s MODERN MADE sale adopts a two-part format: a 51-lot Evening Session on Thursday, April 25 followed by a Day Session on Friday numbering an additional 429 lots.

The Steve Allison Collection

Sold across both days are works from the collection of the photographer and graphic designer Steve Allison (b.1948).

Co-Head of Sale Simon Hucker describes these rich and varied holdings of modern and contemporary art and design as “an exemplar of how to acquire fantastic things on a relatively modest budget, by following your eye and your passions”.

Allison - an integral part of Cardiff’s theatre, dance and music scene for decades – acquired exemplary works by some of the most important British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. They include the 1972 print Coloured Greys 1 by Bridget Riley (b.1931), one of ten artist's proofs aside from the edition of 125 (estimate £6000-8000) and Tracey Emin’s I Think of You, signed, dated 2014 and numbered 13/100 in pencil, (estimate £3000-5000).

During his 15 years with the Welsh National Opera, Allison worked with the writer Antony Peattie, the partner of Howard Hodgkin. However, it was not until well after the painter’s death that he mentioned to Peattie that he collected Hodgkin’s work.

Chosen for sale are Venice Morning (From Venetian Views), 1995 and Frost 2000-02, two prints published by the Alan Cristea Gallery, London. Both are characteristic of Hodgkin’s printmaking oeuvre from this period, made with the input of master printmaker Jack Shirreff using the lift-ground aquatint technique and a novel approach to hand colouring. Venice Morning, initialled, dated and numbered 4/60 is estimated at £5000-7000 while Frost 2000-02 initialled, dated MMI and numbered 10/50 in pencil, has an estimate of £10,000-15,000.

A core element of the Steve Allison collection is the work of Italian architect, artist and designer Gaetano Pesce (1939-2024). His archive, considered one of the most significant of its type in the UK, is being offered in two tranches: 58 lots this April and a similar selection to be sold in the October 2024 edition of MODERN MADE.