Auction introduction: On the occasion of celebrating five decades in Asia, Sotheby’s Hong Kong 50th Anniversary Modern Evening Auction will feature artworks that capture the multifaceted, creative spirit of artists working around the world during the 20th century, pioneers who broke past the boundaries of established norms to create a vision of modern and post-war art. Leading the sale, and in commemoration of 50 years after the artist’s passing, will be Pablo Picasso’s Femme dans un fauteuil, a glorious portrait of his muse, lover and partner of a decade – the French painter Françoise Gilot. Completed on Christmas Day of 1948, Picasso attributes Gilot with a regal quality, seated in an armchair that bears a resemblance to a throne. Alongside Picasso’s Femme dans un fauteuil, is Joan Miró’s untitled painting from 1947 which was painted in New York, where enthusiasm for the Spanish titan of modern art was at fever pitch following two shows of the Constellations series organised by his dealer Pierre Matisse in 1945. Other highlights include to discover include Zao Wou-Ki’s 25.03.85, Vietnamese modern master Le Pho’s La famille dans le jardin, Belgian painter and self-declared Impressionist Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès’s Balinese garden with ladies, among many others – each representing the encapsulation of century-defining ideas. This auction will be a wonderful opportunity for collectors to engage in creative encounters with the most significant names from the modern era.