This market is a duel between two works by titans of the art world—both soon to be up for auction at Christie's.

• NEWELL CONVERS WYETH - I ax yer parding, Mister Phinn

  • Lot 28 at the "Modern American Art" auction on April 18th

• ELISABETH-LOUISE VIGÉE LE BRUN - Portrait of Jeanne-Julie-Louise Le Brun

  • Lot 56 at the "A Park Avenue Collection" auction on April 17th.

Both were given the same initial estimates by Christie's—USD 300,000 – USD 500,000.

This market resolves to the artwork which the Christie's website lists with a higher sale value at their respective auction.

Resolution details:

• Example from a past auction: this painting by Gentileschi has a "price realised" of USD 982,800. This is the number I will use—whatever is displayed by the auction page.

• Edge cases:

  • If one fails to sell for any reason, it resolves to the other.

  • If there's a tie (or they both fail to sell), both resolve at 50%.

  • If any scenarios for resolution are unclear, please ask.

NEWELL CONVERS WYETH - I ax yer parding, Mister Phinn

“I ax yer parding, Mister Phinn—/Jest drap that whisky-skin” epitomizes the unmatched sense of visual narrative that has garnered N.C. Wyeth fame as one of America's foremost illustrators... From a period during which The Saturday Evening Post declared Wyeth's pictures to have “no equal in his field,” compositions like the present work immerse viewers in the ever-popular adventurous narratives of his day. (Lot essay)

ELISABETH-LOUISE VIGÉE LE BRUN - Portrait of Jeanne-Julie-Louise Le Brun

The present portrait of Julie playing the guitar dates from 1797-8, when the artist and her daughter were living in exile in St. Petersburg. Having fled France... in 1789, they arrived in Russia in 1795... Julie sits on a grassy knoll in a wooded glade. She casts her eyes upward for inspiration as she plays the guitar, the musical instrument at which, as her mother noted, she was expert. Her pretty face and the pale skin of her left arm and hand are highlighted by the warm afternoon sun... The portrait also marks the last happy days in Julie Le Brun’s relationship with her mother. (Lot essay)

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