This fall’s art season centers on two major geographic hubs—Paris and New York—through a series of auctions and art fairs that highlight works with unique trajectories. From the late-career introspection of a master of the École de Paris to the technical precision of Chinese imperial porcelain, September 2026 paints a diverse collecting landscape, where compressed steel stands alongside nocturnal landscapes captured en plein air.
Marc Chagall: A Twilight View of Paris
In the heart of the Nef at the Grand Palais, the Fine Arts Paris fair—now known by the acronym FAB Paris—will showcase, from September 19 to 23, 2026, a work that attests to Marc Chagall’s creative longevity. Presented at booth C10 by Galerie Larock-Granoff, *The Painter in Paris* is a self-portrait created around 1978. At that time, the artist was already in his 90s. The work will not be auctioned but will be sold by private agreement at a fixed price of €600,000.
This painting offers a glimpse into the psyche of a man who witnessed modernity unfold before his eyes. Here, Chagall contemplates the French capital, his adopted city since settling in 1910 at La Ruche. This artists’ residence in Montparnasse, where he rubbed shoulders with Fernand Léger and Amedeo Modigliani, remains the anchor of his imagination. Before coming to the Grand Palais, this painting was first unveiled to the public in 2025 during an exhibition at the Musée Jean Couty in Lyon. It now returns to the market as a testament to the artist’s final period, marked by a profound reflection on his own journey within the city that brought him to prominence.
The Instability of Copper Red: An Imperial Challenge at Christie’s
In New York, on September 17, 2026, Christie’s will auction a private North American collection of Chinese art, among which a Qing Dynasty vase stands out. Dating from the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736–1795), this piece features the so-called “garlic-mouth” form. Its decoration features three Buddhist lions playing with embroidered balls, a classic motif executed using a particularly complex technique.
The vase’s aesthetic draws inspiration from ancient bronzes, but it is the use of pigments that captures the attention of experts. The decoration is executed in underglaze blue and copper red. The latter pigment is known for its extreme instability during firing, requiring complete control of the kiln atmosphere to achieve the desired hue. The object bears an unusual imperial seal mark, which experts attribute to Tang Ying (1682–1756), the director of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. This attribution underscores the historical significance of the vase, which is estimated to be worth between $500,000 and $800,000—approximately €448,000 to €717,000 at current exchange rates.
John Chamberlain and the Poetry of Compressed Steel
On September 26, 2026, Phillips will offer an imposing work by John Chamberlain titled SMILE CODE at its “Modern & Contemporary Art” auction in New York. Created in 2003, this three-dimensional sculpture measuring 125.7 x 94.0 x 94.0 cm belongs to the final phase of the American artist’s career; he passed away in 2011.
Chamberlain built his reputation on his ability to transform salvaged auto body parts into sculptural compositions. SMILE CODE uses painted and chrome-plated steel to create a play of compressed volumes where the color and sheen of the metal interact with the suggested raw power of the material. The piece is attracting even more attention from collectors because it has appeared on the auction market only once before. Its estimate is set between $200,000 and $300,000, which would represent an indicative value of between €179,000 and €269,000.
Lois Dodd: A Night Scene Painted at Age 99
Also at Phillips on September 26, a painting by Lois Dodd brings a more subdued tone to the New York auctions. *View from Van Loonen’s at Night*, painted in 1995, is a nocturnal landscape created en plein air. This work comes from the estate of Lee Beltzer, a professor at Brooklyn College and a close friend of the artist. Lois Dodd, a legendary figure in the New York art scene and co-founder of the Tanager Gallery in the 1950s, is now 99 years old.
Although its estimate is more accessible—between $10,000 and $15,000, or approximately €8,960 to €13,440 — the work is benefiting from renewed institutional interest in the artist, marked in particular by a major exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag in early 2026. This landscape attests to the persistence of her vision of nature and light, captured directly from life, far from the artifice of the studio.