Sotheby’s annual spring auction of European Art will be held in New York on 24 May 2017. The sale offers more than 80 paintings and sculptures that exemplify the diversity of the 19th to early 20th centuries, led by exquisite works by Jean Béraud, Jean-Léon Gérôme and William Bouguereau. Many of the pieces on offer have emerged after decades spent in private collections, including newly-rediscovered paintings by John William Godward, Jean-Francois Millet and Sir Alfred James Munnings. SIR ALFRED JAMES MUNNINGS: PORTRAITS OF AMERICAN SOCIETY The May sale includes a varied selection of paintings by Sir Alfred James Munnings. In 1924, Munnings left England for his only trip to the United States – a whirlwind six-month itinerary of painting and parties. The artist first visited New York, Washington and Pittsburgh, and later joined Frederick Prince and his family on their estate in Massachusetts, where he expanded his portrait commissions to their fellow members of South Hamilton’s Myopia H