In 1969, a year before his premature death, the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York organised the artist’s first solo exhibition in the US, a show that met with critical success.
Unbuttoned button, the 5ft 7in x 4ft 3in (1.7 x 1.3m) painting to offered by Millon, was painted for the occasion and is one of a series of works that helped to secure the artist’s international popularity. It is executed in acrylic and sand on canvas and signed, dated and titled on the reverse and is an example of the hyper-realistic, large-scale images focusing on a small detail that are characteristic of the artist at this time.
After the Sidney Janis Gallery show the painting was in the Galerie Krugier in Geneva then the Galerie des Grands Augustins in Paris and a Swiss private collection.
It has an estimate of €1m-1.5m.
