Press Release June 2017

London | +44 (0) 207 293 6000 | Mitzi Mina mitzi.mina@sothebys.com | Melica Khansari melica.khansari@sothebys.com | Abigail Francis abigail.francis@sothebys.com |

Sotheby's London, 21 June 2017

"Look closely. The beautiful may be small."

- Attributed to Immanuel Kant

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise that they were the big things": Sotheby's 'Actual Size' exhibition and sale will bring together a concentration of superb 'little' things, the power and quality of which by far outstrips their scale. With a range of works spanning the 17th to the 21st centuries, this first-of-its-kind sale includes a broad mix of exceptional paintings, sculptures and works on paper which share one common characteristic - each one is no bigger than the size of the catalogue page on which it is illustrated. Currently hanging together in a single dedicated room at Sotheby's New Bond Street, where they will remain on view to the public until 21st June, each of the 35 works in the sale allows for a uniquely intimate connection with the artist behind it, often providing a fascinating glimpse into their artistic processes and into their personal passions and preoccupations.

Thomas Bompard, Curator of the sale and Head of Impressionist & Modern Art Evening sales in London, said, "The sale chimes with a particular kind of collecting interest that is ever-more pronounced among today's collectors - the evidence of which has been readily apparent in Sotheby's salerooms over recent months, where we have seen small but power-packed works - attract interest and competition almost in direct anti-correlation to their scale.

Sometimes in life, things are perceived to be limited by their size. We've all heard 'It is sublime….but it's small!' or 'He's great, but so short'. However, with the sheer quality of every lot in Actual Size, we expect to hear the cry: 'It's even more brilliant because it's small!' These works are often intense: intensely personal, intensely intimate and intensely powerful. And then there's just the fact that certain artists excel on this scale… There's an earth-shattering intensity to so many of these works - something which speaks to the discreet sophistication of so many collectors."

THE ESSENCE OF CÉZANNE - AND OF MODERN ART - IN JUST A FEW SQUARE INCHES

"We sometimes underestimate the influence of little things"

Charles W. Chessnut

Paul Cézanne

Baigneuses, La Montagne Sainte-Victoire au fond

watercolour and pencil

12.5 by 21.3cm

Executed circa 1902-1906 Estimate: £4,000,000 - 6,000,000

In this extraordinary work, the two themes that preoccupied Cézanne throughout his artistic career come together in just a few square

inches. The subject of bathers and Montagne Sainte-Victoire formed a major part of his artistic legacy, revolutionising the traditional concepts of representation and providing inspiration for the masters of modern art, most importantly Picasso, whose Les Demoiselles d'Avignon owes much to this work.

Dating from the last period of his life, and appearing at auction for the first time in almost three decades, Baigneuses, La Montagne Sainte-Victoire au fond is estimated to bring £4 - 6 million as the cover-lot of the sale. PLEASE SEE THE DEDICATED PRESS RELEASE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS WORK

PABLO PICASSO: INTIMACIES

"And though she be but little, she is fierce"

- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Pablo Picasso

Bague de forme ovale. Portrait de Dora Maar ink and coloured pencil on paper in a yellow- metal composite ring

Executed circa 1936-39

Estimate: £300,000-500,000

This intricate ring unlocks a fascinating episode in the intense yet highly tempestuous relationship between Picasso and Dora Maar - the mesmerising raven-haired French photographer, painter and poet. During a promenade along the Pont Neuf, Maar and Picasso had a bitter

altercation as the artist reproached his mistress for having prevailed on him to give a work of art in exchange for a cabochon ruby ring. In the heat of the moment, Dora took the ring from her finger and threw it into the River Seine to silence her lover. Later regretting her rash actions, Maar haunted the spot while the riverbed was being dredged in hopes of recovering her ring - but it was lost for good. Picasso, ultimately regretting have upset Maar, made a ring designed and crafted by his own hand.

The ring remained in Dora Maar's personal collection until her death in 1997 and will be offered for the first time since the sale of her estate.

PLEASE SEE THE DEDICATED PRESS RELEASE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS WORK

Pablo Picasso

Femme Assise

pen and ink on paper

19.7 by 14cm Executed in 1902

Estimate: £800,000-1,200,000

"A Drop of ink may make a million think"

- Lord Byron

Executed during the height of Picasso's celebrated Blue period, when the young artist created some of his most defining works, Femme Assise embodies the sense of fragility and melancholy synonymous with this phase. With gauntly stylised features, the figure is recognised to be Picasso's lover, Germaine Gargallo.

Pablo Picasso Femme endormie oil on canvas

15.8 by 23.7cm

Painted at Boisgeloup on 28 June 1933 Estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000

Captivated by Marie- Thérèse Walter's youthful, unpredictable spirit as well as by her voluptuous physique, Picasso's renderings of his lover are erotically charged, often showing her in the state of sleep and carefree abandon, as here. The intimacy of the scale of this work

heightens its intensity, but at the same time this intimate painting also sends a strong artistic signal: by incorporating motifs more commonly used by his rival Matisse, Picasso is sending a clear artistic challenge to his peer.

Pablo Picasso

Buste de femme couchée

oil pastel and graphite on paper

22.5 by 27.6cm

Executed on 14 August 1970 Estimate: £700,000-900,000

Painted in 1970, Buste de femme couchée illustrates Picasso's ongoing exploration of the female form. Jacqueline Roque became his principle model and muse in

1954, from which point on he experimented endlessly with ways of representing her. The scale of the composition and the way her body fills the space make this a particularly intimate work, whilst the vibrant colours and the richness of the pastel surface combine to imbue it with a delightful vivacity.

SMALL STILL THINGS: THEN AND NOW

"Just living is not enough…one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower"

- Hans Christian Andersen

Still-lifes show artists at their most private and contemplative. Despite having been painted over 400 years apart, together these two works by Bosschaert and Freud perfectly illustrate how some artists excel on a small scale, and serve as a reminder of just how much Freud was an Old Masters man at heart. Both are painted on copper panel, a material that was hugely popular with the painters of the Dutch Golden Age and that clearly had a distinct appeal for Freud too. His paintings of the 1940s and early 1950s owe an immeasurable debt to the Netherlandish masters of the Northern Renaissance. These early paintings, mostly executed on copper with fine sable brushes, are evocative of the meticulous precision that was achieved by artists like Bosschaert.

Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder

Still Life of Flowers

oil on copper

23.2 by 18cm

Suggested execution circa 1608-10 Estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000

This exquisite depiction of flowers is arguably one of Bosschaert's most perfect and well preserved still-life paintings. The copper panel upon which the flowers - and a few carefully chosen insects - are depicted allows the vibrant oil pigments to shine as vividly today as they did in the first decade of 17th century when this was painted. Bosschaert is the father of still- life painting and was the first artist to establish a career dedicated solely to the genre. Probably executed circa 1608-10,

this stunning modest-scale work captures the artist at the height of his career.

Lucian Freud Strawberries oil on copper

10.2 by 12cm

Painted circa 1950 Estimate: £550,000-750,000

Sotheby's Inc. published this content on 16 June 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 16 June 2017 22:40:14 UTC.

Original documenthttp://investor.shareholder.com/common/download/download.cfm?companyid=BID&fileid=946893&filekey=E025BDEF-BE49-4A2D-AADD-1576AA95623D&filename=Actual_Size_PR.pdf

Public permalinkhttp://www.publicnow.com/view/A731F2400B385B6435CFD279E83484BA112271D9