LUDWIG MEIDNER’S APOCALYPTIC LANDSCAPE
Executed in 1912 near the brink of the Great War, Ludwig Meidner’s Apokalyptische Landschaft (Apocalyptic Landscape) is a cataclysmic and arresting urban scene that reflects the social, political, emotional and artistic upheaval in Germany at the time (estimate $12/18 million). The city under the night sky is illuminated by two volcanic explosions of red and orange flames, while buildings collapse under the tremors of an apocalyptic earthquake – anticipating the destruction of Europe and the recurrent conflict that was to blemish the future course of the 20th century. Apokalyptische Landschaft is one of approximately 15 paintings from Meidner’s series of apocalyptic landscapes executed between 1912 and 1916, with important examples residing in international institutions including the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, the Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (LACMA). Separate release available

CLASSIC IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS BY MONET & PISSARRO
The November sale offers exquisite examples of classic Impressionism, highlighted by Claude Monet’s energetic Bouquet de glaïeuls, lis et marguerites, a rare still life painted in 1878 (estimate $7/10 million). Having temporarily abandoned the still-life motif during his years at Argenteuil earlier in the decade, Monet embraced the subject again in Vétheuil, where he lived from the summer of 1878 until late 1881, often setting up his easel in his own garden to paint the fecund vegetation that surrounded him. Two captivating works by Camille Pissarro – Prairie avec vaches, brume, soleil couchant à Éragny from 1891, and Primrose Hill, Londres from 1890-92 (estimates $2/3 million each) – illustrate his individualized approach to pointillism through staccato brushstrokes. Acquired directly from Pissarro by his dealer Durand-Ruel in 1892, Primrose Hill remained with the family until 1921, when it entered the collection of Gabrielle Oppenheim-Errera. Gabrielle married businessman and philosopher of science Paul Oppenheim in 1912, and relocated from Frankfurt to the United States in the 1930s. At their home in Princeton, New Jersey, Gabrielle and Paul often hosted their close friend, Albert Einstein. The work, which remained in their collection for over 75 years, is on offer along with four other paintings from a Distinguished American Collection, with proceeds benefitting charitable causes.

MASTERPIECES OF MEXICAN MODERNISM
Major works of Modern Latin American art are topped by the finest landscape by Rufino Tamayo ever to appear at auction. Paisaje del Paricutín (Volcán en Erupción) (Landscape of el Paricutín) was painted in 1947, following an enigmatic volcanic eruption in Michoacán, Mexico four years earlier that captured the attention of citizens and tourists alike (estimate $1.3/1.8 million). The recollections of onlookers who witnessed the explosion influenced Tamayo’s vision of the natural event: mountains of ash accumulate around brilliant bursts of orange and red flames, while the sky clouds with smoke above. The artist’s depiction of the natural phenomenon also relates to a series of works that Tamayo produced during the war years, in which he began to integrate allusions to the cosmos and the atomic age.