Sotheby’s Preview to Show Off Stralem Collection

The last installment in a round of local exhibitions previewing New York’s big spring auctions opens today at Sotheby’s Beverly Hills showroom. Cutting a wide swath through art history, the three-day show presents highlights from May sales of Impressionist and modern, 19th-Century European, American and contemporary art.

Stars of the preview--at least in terms of dollar value--are Impressionist and modern paintings from the estate of New York collectors Donald and Jean Stralem, to be auctioned on May 8. The prize piece is Pablo Picasso’s melancholy portrait of his artist friend, Angel Fernandez de Soto, painted in Barcelona in 1903. Although Sotheby’s hasn’t published an official estimate of the painting’s value--as is often the case with unusual works that could go through the roof if affluent suitors compete for them--experts say the Blue Period portrait is likely to bring up to $20 million.

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Also on view from the Stralem collection are two 1920s paintings of women in colorful interiors by Henri Matisse, “The Hindu Pose,” valued at $8 million to $10 million, and “Girl at the Piano” ($6 million to $8 million), plus works by Georges Rouault, Odilon Redon and Edgar Degas.

Another big-ticket item visiting the Southland is Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s “In Bed: The Embrace,” consigned by Parisian auctioneer and author Maurice Rheims. Valued at about $5 million, the 1892 oil-on-cardboard painting depicts a pair of prostitutes as lesbian lovers.

New York’s upcoming auction season offers the best array of Impressionist and modern works to go on the block since the art market peaked and abruptly collapsed in 1990. But the sales also offer a strong reminder that corporate collecting is largely a thing of the past. The IBM International Foundation, once an aggressive acquisitor, is selling most of its art collection this spring. Selections in the preview include Willem de Kooning’s 1977 Abstract Expressionist painting “Untitled XVII” ($500,000 to $700,000), to be sold on May 2 in a contemporary art auction.

IBM’s holdings of American art will be offered for sale on May 25. Among the choicest items on view are Albert Bierstadt’s classic landscape “Rocky Mountains”; Frank Benson’s Impressionist-style painting of his two daughters “The Sisters”; Winslow Homer’s nautical watercolor “Diamond Shoal,” and Maurice Prendergast’s painting of women at the beach “On the Shore.” Each work is expected to command a price of around $1 million.

Those who missed Sotheby’s recent exhibition of contemporary art from the estate of Los Angeles collector and art patron Betty Asher will have a second chance in this week’s preview. Among Asher highlights being held over are Roy Lichtenstein’s stainless steel and plexiglass “Modern Sculpture” and Claes Oldenburg’s painted plaster “Coffee Cup.”

* The exhibition, at 308 N. Rodeo Drive, is open today through Thursday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (310) 274-0430.