NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s announces the spring season of Latin American Art with the live auction taking place May 24-25 and an online auction running May 19-31. Combined, the sales include nearly 250 lots and are expected to realize in excess of $22 million. Featured are notable private collections including The Tuttleman Collection; CUBA MODERNA: Masterworks from a Private Collection; The Collection of Dr. Jerome and Mrs. Evelyn Oremland; The Juan María Altgelt Collection; and A Distinguished Family Collection. Works from the live auction will be on view May 20-24, with the online sale preview open through May 31.

Leading the sale is an iconic canvas by Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991), Músicos, painted in 1934 (estimate: $2,000,000-3,000,000). A gifted musician, music preoccupied Tamayo throughout his life and career. The artist featured guitars prominently throughout his numerous still-lifes of the 1930s. This figural grouping of 1934 showcases three guitar players who frontally rest their instruments as if presenting them to the viewer.

Other top lots include two large-scale outdoor sculptures from The Tuttleman Collection; Fernando Botero (b. 1932), Woman with an Umbrella and Man with a Cane, a masterpiece of the late 1970s (estimate: $1,500,000-2,500,000); and Francisco Zúñiga (1912-1998), Grupo de cuatro mujeres de pie, executed in 1974 (estimate: $1,500,000-2,500,000).

Following the successful results of the selection offered in November 2016, the May sales include additional works from CUBA MODERNA: Masterworks from a Private Collection, the unprecedented single-owner collection of modern and contemporary Cuban art. Included in this season’s offering is Mariano Rodríguez (1912-1990), Guajiro con gallo, painted in 1943 (estimate: $500,000-700,000); Amelia Peláez (1897-1968), Naturaleza muerta en un interior, painted in 1948 (estimate: $450,000-650,000); and Carlos Enríquez (1900-1957), Tetas de Madruga, painted in 1943 (estimate: $300,000-400,000).

Fernando Botero (b. 1932) has strong representation with over 15 works across various multi-media with many from notable private collections including the large-scale canvas The Bedroom, painted in 1979 (estimate: $800,000-1,200,000); the monumental bronze sculpture, Rape of Europa, executed in 1995 (estimate: $250,000-350,000); and the unique white marble stele, Les danseurs (estimate: $350,000-450,000).

Highlighting the contemporary section is Beatriz Milhazes (B. 1960), O Egoísta, painted in 1999 (estimate: $800,000-1,200,000); Carmen Herrera (B. 1915), Verticals, one of the artist’s early black-and-white abstractions painted in Paris during the 1950s (estimate: $350,000-450,000); and Carlos Cruz-Diez (b. 1923), Physichromie No. 588, executed in 1972 (estimate: $200,000-300,000). Also included are three exceptional canvases by Claudio Bravo (1936-2011), featuring Purple and Beige Paper, painted in 2006 (estimate: $500,000-700,000); and multiple offerings by Tomás Sánchez (B. 1948), including Aguas ocultas en la selva, painted in 1990 (estimate: $400-600,000).