Miró's Peinture Etoile Bleue auctions tonight with $33.3m estimate

Mir's Peinture Etoile Bleue auctions tonight with $33.3m estimate

Joan Mir's Peinture Etoile Bleue headlines Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale

Joan Mir's Peinture (Etoile Bleue) will auction in London tonight (June 19) with a 20m high estimate, in a sale that is anticipated to confirm the considerable strength of the Impressionist and Modern market.

The 1927 abstract is expected to comfortably surpass the 11.6m (9.3m) figure it achieved in a Paris auction in 2007. Indeed the work could well set a new record for Miro, such is the buoyancy of the scene for the Spanish artist- the record is currently held by his 1925 Painting-Poem, which made 16.8m in February.

Will Etoile Bleue set a new Miro record?

Picasso's 9m-valued Homme Assis is the anticipated second top lot at the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, while Pierre Bonard's 1931 Nu Debout will appear with a 5.5m valuation. It is the first time either piece hascome to auction.

Kees Van Dongen's striking 1908 avant-garde paintingLailla will also appear, with a 5m estimate. It last sold at Christie's in June 2006 for 3.4m (2.7m).

Tonight's auctionis followed by a similar sale of Impressionist and Modern piecesat Christie'stomorrow, where Renoir's1888 work Baigneuse will appear with a 18m valuation.

According to the Mei Moses art index, Impressionist and Modern works have risen in value by 5.75% pa during the past 25 years.

Hector Paterson, a London-based art adviser, recently told Bloomberg that despite a migration to Contemporary works by many collectors, "Impressionist and Modern art is still a good place to park money".

We will bring you full results of both sales. You can view Paul Fraser Collectibles' investment-grade art portfolio here.