An outstanding collection of art that has been out of sight for 30 years is to lead an auction at Knightsbridge, London at the end of the month.
The Goldberg Collection of impressionist and modern art features an array of works from some of the most original artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Paintings, drawings and sculptures from the likes of Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Gustav Klimt and Fernand Léger will go under the hammer on October 30th at the Bonhams sale.
The brilliant collection was brought together by the prominent Cape Town industrialist Dr Hyman Goldberg, whose enthusiasm for modern European art resulted in him being an active member of the London auction scene.
As the lot of the upcoming sale reveals, Dr Goldberg had a refined taste for art, collecting works that reflected the innate brilliance of artists, regardless of their limited repute in history.
It is expected that three distinct sketches of women by the great Austrian symbolist Gustav Klimt will be keenly contested over. Reclining Female Nude With Sleeping Child in Swaddling Clothes (1904-1908) in particular is predicted to be the most popular, and has been priced at £30,000 to £50,000.
“The sketch uses elegant and deft lines and includes the barest of details to capture the scene,” Bonhams described.
“Far from being a simple sketch, however, it is imbued with overtones representing a sense of unease typical to men of the artist’s time, where conventional stereotypes of women were challenged. While the woman in the drawing is depicted as sexually provocative, she is also shown as protective of her child.”
Dali is, as ever, expected to do well, with three typically winsome works of art showcasing the artist at his most subversive and playful. The latter is most evident n Autoportrait, dédié à Federico García Lorca (1928), which is estimated at £5,000 to £7,000. The sketch was a response to Lorca’s ode, penned two years earlier.
With La Vierge et le Rhinocéros, we see a different Dali, though still at his allegorical best. Anticipated to sell for £15,000 to £20,000, this was a preliminary sketch of sorts for a stained glass window at Teatro-Museo Dali (the so-called largest surrealist object in the world).
Featured in the work are a rhinoceros and a young woman, rendered in simple lines and bold colours. Though it lacks the technical detail that Dali is most famous for, it is still awash with metaphorical meaning.
The sale will also include works of art by George Grosz, Enrico Donati, Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso.
Cadogan Tate is one of the most respected fine art transport companies in the world, specialising in shipping artwork in a safe and secure way.