Mondrian and Restituted Kandinsky Lead Christie's October Auctions; Roman Torso at Sotheby's

Christie's London Evening Sale on 14 October will feature Piet Mondrian's Composition III (1920), making its auction debut with an estimate of £20m-£30m—the highest for a Mondrian in Europe since 2009. The painting, unseen publicly for 25 years, is one of eight major works from 1920, five of which are in museums such as Tate, MoMA, and the Stedelijk. Previously owned by architect Armand P. Bartos and his wife Celeste, it exemplifies Mondrian's Neo-Plasticism. Also at Christie's, Wassily Kandinsky's Das bunte Leben (1907) returns to market after restitution in June 2023 to heirs of Emanuel Albert Lewenstein and Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann, who lost it during the Holocaust. Acquired by the couple in 1927, the painting was removed from the Stedelijk Museum and sold in October 1940, later bought by Salomon B. Slijper, then Bayerische Landesbank in 1972, and loaned to Lenbachhaus from 1973. The heirs sued in 2017 and secured restitution. Its estimate exceeds $30m. Sotheby's New York Magnum Opus Evening Auction on 21 October offers a Roman marble torso (first half of first century AD), estimated at $8m-$12m, from an anonymous collection of over 900 works. Possibly depicting Augustus, Tiberius, or Claudius, it wears armour with Sol and Victories, last sold in 2010 for $7.36m. Another highlight is an Augustan marble portrait head of a girl (27BC-AD14), estimated at $2.5m-$3.5m, likely based on Livia, from the House of Schwarzenberg, sold in 2014 for $2.2m.