Auction introduction: The Modern Day Auction draws together a century of paintings, drawings and sculpture from across Europe and the Americas to showcase the best of Impressionism through to Abstract Expressionism. The evolution of art in the modern era was shaped by movements, counter-movements and cross-currents that defy narrow categorizations by continent or medium. Provocative, daring and revolutionary: it is this persistent urge of successive generations of artists across the world to challenge established norms and preconceptions, and to reimagine what art might achieve, that has paved the way to the contemporary era.