Christie’s Offers Preview of Megabuck N.Y. Auction : Art: Multimillon-dollar Impressionist, modern and contemporary work, including Van Gogh’s ‘Portrait of a Young Man in a Cap,’ will be displayed in Los Angeles.

Stirring up interest in a bumper crop of New York art auctions--which promise to deliver the art market’s biggest season by far since the late 1980s--Christie’s is presenting a preview exhibition in Los Angeles of some of the top items to be offered for sale in May.

Multimillion-dollar works by major Impressionist, modern and contemporary artists will be displayed on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Regency Club Penthouse in Westwood.

Prime among the highlights is Vincent van Gogh’s “Portrait of a Young Man in a Cap,” painted in Arles in 1888, two years before the artist’s death. The painting has been in a European private collection since 1947 but widely exhibited. It is billed by the auction house as the most important Van Gogh portrait to come on the market since May, 1990, when the Dutch master’s “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” was sold for $82.5 million, the highest auction price ever paid for an artwork.

Leaving its options open, as it often does with particularly valuable artwork, Christie’s has not issued an estimated selling price, but art dealers say the painting is expected to command $35 million to $50 million.

Impressionist and modern works consigned to Christie’s by Pamela Harriman, U.S. Ambassador to France, also will be exhibited. They include Pablo Picasso’s “Mother and Child,” a 1922 painting of the artist’s wife, Olga, and infant son. Christie’s has not revealed the painting’s estimated value, but an earlier rendition of the same subject was sold in 1989 for $24.7 million.

Among other Harriman collection pieces on view are Pierre Auguste Renoir’s “Portrait of Mademoiselle Demarsy,” an 1882 portrayal of a fashionable actress ($5 million to $7 million), and Henri Matisse’s 1944 painting, “The Blue Hat,” depicting a seated model in a hat and flowing white gown ($2.5 million to $3.5 million).

Other works, such as Amedeo Modigliani’s painting, “Seated Nude With Necklace” ($7 million to $10 million), and Joan Miro’s abstract composition, “The Poetess” ($2 million to $3 million), come from the collection of the late Ralph F. Colin, who founded the Art Dealers Assn. of America.

Among contemporary pieces on view are Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s “Kiss II” ($2.5 million to $3 million) and Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock’s drip painting, “Eyes in the Heat II” ($1.2 million to $1.8 million).

Public viewing hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at 10900 Wilshire Blvd.