A rarely-seen Whistler portrait and a sculpture inspired by quantum physics: our pick of the September sales

Courtesy of Bonhams
James McNeill Whistler, Portrait of Lucas Alexander Ionides (1859)
19th Century and British Impressionist Art, Bonhams, London, 25 September
Estimate: £80,000-£120,000
The sitter of this painting, Luke Iondies, was a friend of Whistler and came from a London-based Greek family of wealthy art patrons. Ionides had “at least four Whistler ‘nocturnes’ in his collection, works that it seems he purchased at times when Whistler was especially in need”, according to Bonhams’s catalogue notes. He wrote of their friendship in his memoirs, which are included alongside the present lot: “Throughout all the years that I knew Whistler, we never had any disagreement… I have always thought that his quarrels were connected with matters of art, not personal matters. I always found him quite easy to get on with, and quite free from the touchiness one so often hears imputed to him.” This work is one of the earliest examples of portraiture by Whistler, and comes from a period in which French painters, particularly Courbet, influenced his painting style. This painting remained in Ionides’s family for four generations, until 1968 when it was sold by Hugo Meynell Ionides to Michael Carruthers, in whose family’s collection it has remained. It was included in an Arts Council exhibition in London in 1960, which was subsequently shown in New York, but it has not been exhibited in public since then.
Courtesy of Christie’s
Antony Gormley, Quantum Cloud XI (2000)
Gen One: Innovations from the Paul G. Allen Collection, Christie’s, New York, 10 September
Estimate: $250,000-$350,000
While the highlights from the collection of the late Microsoft executive Paul G. Allen have already hit the block at Christie’s in New York, netting the auction house a slew of records including the highest evening sale total, further works are still surfacing. They include this sculpture by Antony Gormley from his Quantum Cloud series (1999-2007) based on a “composition of fractal parts simultaneously converging and exploding, realising human form through mathematical structure and quantum physics”. In particular, this series borrows from the ideas of quantum potential as articulated by physicist Basil Hiley, according to the catalogue notes. The content of the sculpture has particular resonance with Allen due to his background and keen interest in the sciences. One work from the Quantum Cloud series, executed in 1999 and standing next to London’s O2 Arena, is Gormley’s tallest sculpture, measuring nearly 30m and eclipsing his famous Angel of the North (1998) in Gateshead.
Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Ben Enwonwu, The Emir in Council (1945-59)
Modern and Contemporary African art, Sotheby’s, London, 27 September
Estimate: £70,000-£90,000
This painting by the Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu was rediscovered after being bought by an art historian working at a Lisbon gallery. It was one of three works the gallery acquired from a local antiquarian. This newly discovered Enwonwu piece had remained anonymous since the 1990s, during which time it was part of a private Belgian collection. Around a year after acquiring the lot, the art historian at the gallery conducted a historical and stylistic analysis, according to Sotheby’s. This work was begun during the artist’s studies at The Slade, and completed on the eve of Nigerian Independence. It depicts the Emir of Kano, one of the most powerful emirates in Northern Nigeria, in council with his advisers and surrounded by colonial guards.
Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Sayed Haider Raza,Terra Amata (1984)
Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, Sotheby’s, London, 26 September
Estimate: £2m-£4m
The collection of Chester and Davida Herwitz was one of the most comprehensive and well known in the field of Indian Modern art. A portion of their collection came to auction at Sotheby’s New York in 2000, following Chester’s death in 1999. The sale is considered a landmark moment for the Indian art market. It was in this sale that Raza’s Terra Amata was last sold, when it was bought for $55,375. The painting has been exhibited numerous times, including in a major Raza show at Halles de l’Île in Geneva in 1987. It will appear in a revised edition of the artist’s catalogue raisonné. Sotheby’s made the auction record for Raza in March 2024, when it sold Kallisté (1959) for $5.6m against an estimate of $2m-$3m.

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