Christie’s 2/8/2020

Because Valentine’s is coming and love is in the air, 14 artworks that make our hearts beat faster



The quiet life and uncanny paintings of Ganesh Pyne, one of India’s foremost modernists



What does a fine wine taste like after 150 years? A special report from an extraordinary dinner



Why the presenter of Britain’s Lost Masterpieces wants these works by four emerging artists



He fought to liberate France, but painting was this artist’s truest expression of freedom



The director of the National Gallery of Canada on imaginary creatures, Kandinsky and canoes


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Editor’s picks





Believe it or not, Chuck Close’s Lorna (2006) is a tapestry. ‘The black wool for the background absorbs so much light that it makes the tapestry almost like a holograph,’ Close explains of the piece, which stands more than 8ft high. His subject is the artist Lorna Simpson

Estimate: £15,000-20,000
7-18 February, Online






Shipbreaking #9b, Chittagong, Bangladesh 2000 was inspired by a radio programme about the decommissioning of single-hulled ships in the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. ‘Most of the dismantling was happening in India and Bangladesh,’ explains Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, ‘so that’s where I went’

Estimate: £6,000-8,000
7-18 February, Online






Untitled (1990) by Günther Förgcomprises 22 panels executed in acrylic on lead on wood, each approximately 60 cm x 40 cm. Another 22-panel work, Untitled(1991), is held by the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, where it was a highlight of the retrospective Günther Förg: A Fragile Beauty in 2018

Estimate: £1,000,000-1,500,000
12 February, London






In November 1970 the industrialists and collectors Luigi and Peppino Agrati witnessed Christo wrapping the statues of Vittorio Emanuele II and Leonardo da Vinci in Milan. They contacted the Bulgarian artist, who produced this sketch for a project designed for the garden of Peppino’s home

Estimate: £20,000-30,000
13 February, London






This small flambé-glazed vase, less than 6 inches high, dates to the Yongzheng Period (1723-1735). ‘Flambé glazes are the result of copper or other metallic materials breaking up on the surface of the very runny glaze,’ explains specialist Jessica Chang. ‘It is impossible to find two identical pieces’

Estimate: £3,000-5,000
13-20 February, Online


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