Cumeagle

Biography JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER  was born on Maiden Lane in Covent Garden, London, in 1775 (the actual day is uncertain, but Turner maintained it was Saint George's Day, 23 April), the only son of William Turner and Mary Marshall. His mother, who was mentally unstable, was committed to Bethlem asylum for the insane in 1800, and died in 1804. During his only sister's fatal illness (she died in 1786) Turner was sent to live with his mother's brother in Brentford and attended Brentford Free School; this was his only formal education. His early artistic talent was encouraged by his father, who exhibited his drawings in his shop window (the father remained a devoted supporter and, later, was his son's studio assistant and general factotum until his death in 1829). In 1789, the year of his first extant sketchbook from nature, Turner entered the Royal Academy Schools, also working at about this time in the studio of the architectural draftsman an...

  Sotheby’s 2016  France Kees van Dongen Lilas et tulipes (circa1925) Estimate: £400,000-600,000  Vibrantly coloured and executed on an impressive scale, Lilas et tulipes e xemplifies both Van Dongen’sremarkable mastery of colour and his innovative approach to the still-life form. Juxtaposing the slender stems of the lilac blossoms with the sensuous heads of the tulips, Van Dongen imbues the composition with a remarkable dynamism and his expressive use of thickly applied colour reflects the enduring influence of an association with the Fauves.     Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art in New York November 7 & 8, 2007 The evening sale featured fifteen works from an important European collection highlighted by a spectacular offering of works by Kees van Dongen. The artist’s Femme à la Cigarette, was painted circa 1905-08 (est. $4/6 million) and is a steamy portrait of a bare-shouldered woman which dates from the height of van Dongen’s involvement wi...