Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Sale Interest: 132 Lots
View Sale How to BuyNew York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Sale Interest: 132 Lots
View Sale How to BuyNew York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
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432 Park Avenue, New York, NY, United States, 10022
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When sending in written bids or making enquiries please refer to this sale as NY010424 or Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session.
Absentee and TAbsenteeTelephelephoneBidsoneBids tel +1 212 940 1228 bidsnewyork@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Department
Annie Dolan Specialist, Head of Sale, Morning Session, New York +1 212 940 1288 adolan@phillips.com
Emmi Whitehorse (Di…
— 18,000
Quick-to-See S…
EstimateEstimate
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Milton Avery
The White Hen and Fantasy Cre…
EstimateEstimate$60,000 — 80,000 112
Milton Avery
Dark Sea, Dark Sky
EstimateEstimate$25,000 — 35,000 113
Wassily Kandinsky
Rapallo-Stürmischer Tag
EstimateEstimate
$120,000 — 180,000
116
Raoul Dufy
La fenêtre aux vitres de couleurs
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
117
André Derain
Les remparts à Montreuil-sur-m…
EstimateEstimate
$300,000 — 500,000
118
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Femme en buste
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 250,000
114
Arshile Gorky
Portrait of the Artist's Wife
EstimateEstimate$25,000 — 35,000
119
Pierre Bonnard
Jardin au bord de la Seine
EstimateEstimate
$200,000 — 300,000
115
Guy Pène du Bois
Conversation - Paris Cafe (Yvon…
EstimateEstimate$12,000 — 18,000
120
Odilon Redon
Fleurs dans un vase
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Henri Matisse
Nu assis ou femme au collier
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000
Pablo Picasso
Tasse et bananes
EstimateEstimate$50,000 — 70,000
EstimateEstimate
$200,000 — 300,000
Fernand Léger
Composition à l'échequier
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000 125
Maschine und Mensch
EstimateEstimate$25,000 — 35,000 126
Lynne Drexler
Small
EstimateEstimate $150,000 — 200,000
— 500,000
— 70,000
Corinne West
EstimateEstimate$25,000 — 35,000
Judith Rothschild
Figure in Space
EstimateEstimate$10,000 — 15,000
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
161
Ed Clark
Ife
EstimateEstimate$50,000 — 70,000
166
Garden Figure (second state) [L…
EstimateEstimate
$300,000 — 400,000
162
Gerhard Richter
Untitled 26.2.89
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
167
Reina Mariana
EstimateEstimate
$300,000 — 500,000
163
Richard Serra
Untitled #21
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000
168
La nymphe aux fleurs
EstimateEstimate
$600,000 — 800,000
164
Lynn Chadwick, R.A.
Maquette, High Wind
EstimateEstimate$50,000 — 70,000
165
Moissey Kogan
Mädchenkopf I (Head of a Girl I)
EstimateEstimate$8,000 — 12,000
169
Édouard Vuillard
Mme Arthur Fontaine au piano
EstimateEstimate
$120,000 — 180,000
170
André Derain
Nus dans un paysage
EstimateEstimate$80,000 — 120,000
Gaston Lachaise Manolo Valdés Aristide MaillolNew York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
171
Louis Valtat
Les deux soeurs assises, Mada…
EstimateEstimate$50,000 — 70,000
176
Alexander Calder
Bow Tie
EstimateEstimate
172
Maurice de Vlaminck
Village et bord de rivière
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
$100,000 — 150,000 177
John Chamberlain Tonk #8
EstimateEstimate $100,000 — 150,000
173
André Derain
Nature morte avec bouteille
EstimateEstimate
$300,000 — 500,000
178
Robert Indiana
Number 0
EstimateEstimate$60,000 — 80,000
174
Jean Metzinger
Femme au perroquet (La fenêtre)
EstimateEstimate$80,000 — 120,000
175
Alexander Calder
Two men, two pyramids
EstimateEstimate $300,000 — 500,000
Robert Rauschenberg Access EstimateEstimate$40,000 — 60,000
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Lawrence Weiner
Stretched As Tightly As Is Possi…
EstimateEstimate$50,000 — 70,000
Richard Estes
Staten
EstimateEstimate$60,000 — 80,000
Neil Jenney Biosphere #3 EstimateEstimate$40,000 — 60,000
Joseph Kosuth 'Word, Sentence, Paragraph (Z. … EstimateEstimate$50,000 — 70,000
Noguchi
— 60,000
Goldstein
— 60,000
McCracken
Richard Pettibone
'Lavender Disaster… EstimateEstimate$25,000 — 35,000
Andy Warhol 'Liz'
EstimateEstimate$30,000 — 50,000
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Gustav Klimt
Frontal stehend, linke Hand an …
EstimateEstimate$25,000 — 35,000 212
Armand Guillaumin
Gelée blanche à Crozant
EstimateEstimate$30,000 — 50,000
Maurice Brazil Prende…
The Beach and Along the Sea wi…
EstimateEstimate$20,000 — 30,000
Maurice Brazil Prende…
Study St. Malo
EstimateEstimate$40,000 — 60,000
Milton Avery
Young Mother and Child
EstimateEstimate$40,000 — 60,000 216
Reginald Marsh
Coney Island (double-sided)
EstimateEstimate$18,000 — 25,000
Willem de Kooning
Reclining Woman
EstimateEstimate$40,000 — 60,000
Willem de Kooning
Reclining Women
EstimateEstimate$40,000 — 60,000
Martín Ramírez
Untitled (Arches)
EstimateEstimate$10,000 — 15,000
Jean Dubuffet
Réchaud-four à Gaz
EstimateEstimate$15,000 — 20,000
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Primavera Inoltrata
EstimateEstimate$15,000 — 20,000 232
Tavola toscana (Post-Sevillane, …
EstimateEstimate$15,000 — 20,000
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Whitehorse (Diné)
Canyon Lake I
signed with the artist's symbol "III" lower right; signed, titled, inscribed and dated "#1285 "Canyon Lake" I July 2001" on the reverse oil pastel on paper mounted to canvas 39 5/8 x 51 in. (100.6 x 129.5 cm) Executed in July 2001.
EstimateEstimate
$12,000 — 18,000
“My work is about, and has always been about, land – about being aware of our surroundings and appreciating the beauty of nature. I am concerned that we are no longer aware of those things. I hope that the calm and beauty in my work serves as a reminder of what is underfoot, of the exchange we make with nature. Light, space, and color are the axis around which my work evolves. The act of making art must stay true to a harmonious balance of beauty, nature, humanity, and the whole universe. This is in accordance with Navajo philosophy.” —Emmi Whitehorse
Emmi Whitehorse is a Diné artist whose artistic practice masterfully blends storytelling traditions with images from the natural world. Her work has been exhibited widely since 1979, recently participating in major exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 2019–2022, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., this year. Whitehorse is one of 333 artists whose work is featured in the main exhibition of the 60th Venice Biennale.
PrProovvenanceenance
Lewallen Contemporary, Santa Fe Private Collection, Maryland
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Eagle Wing
signed "Jaune Smith" lower right; titled and dated "Eagle Wing 85" on the reverse pastel on paper
41 3/4 x 29 5/8 in. (106 x 75.2 cm)
Executed in 1985.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
Quick-to-See Smith (Confederated Salish and Kootenai)
PrProovvenanceenance
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York
Private Corporate Collection
Rago Auctions, Lambertville, November 20, 2004, lot 518
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled
signed and dated "Hedda Sterne HSterne 1955" lower edge; inscribed "8 Venice" on the reverse gouache and ink on paper
13 1/2 x 10 in. (34.3 x 25.4 cm) Executed in 1955.
EstimateEstimate
$10,000 — 15,000
Go to LotPrProovvenanceenance
Clara Sujo, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE TERNER FAMILY COLLECTION, LOS ANGELES
Wolfgang Paalen
Phantoms I signed "Paalen" lower right oil and tempera on paper mounted to cork, in artist's frame
14 1/2 x 20 5/8 in. (36.8 x 52.4 cm) Painted in 1933.
EstimateEstimate
$15,000 — 20,000
PrProovvenanceenance
E. L. T. Mesens, London
The London Gallery, Ltd., London
Sir Roland Penrose, London
Martin and Brigitte Medak, Los Angeles
Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles
Sandra and Jack Terner, Los Angeles (acquired from the above on December 14, 1995)
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Vienna, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, WolfgangPaalen,September 24–November 7, 1993, pp. 41, 94, 192 (illustrated in the artist's studio, pp. 41, 192; illustrated, p. 94)
LiteraturLiteraturee
Andreas Neufert, WolfgangPaalen:ImInnerendesWals,Vienna, 1999, no. 33.18, pp. 42, 53, 282 (illustrated in the artist's studio, p. 42; illustrated, pp. 53, 282)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ROSA AND AARON ESMAN
La belle lurette signed "Magritte" lower left ballpoint pen on paper
6 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (17.1 x 21.6 cm)
Executed circa 1965, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Comité Magritte.
EstimateEstimate
$80,000 — 120,000
“I think a good dealer is also a collector.” —Rosa Esman
Rosa and Aaron Esman assembled an outstanding collection of Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary art over the course of their seventy-year marriage. The collection’s highlights mirror that of Rosa’s career as a gallerist and edition publisher with the strong support of Aaron, a psychoanalyst and passionate collector, with interests in Modernism, Dada, Russian Constructivism, and American Pop Art taking center stage. Rosa beganpublishing portfolios of prints by contemporary artists in the 1960s. Editions such as the NewYorkTenPortfolio,1965, and TenfromLeoCastelli,1967, which featured works by rising contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg, helped pioneer the field of artist’s editions and multiples. Her eponymous gallery exhibited in Manhattan for over twenty years, and she was a founding partner of Ubu Gallery, which is still in operation today.
When asked about her wide artistic tastes in 2009, Rosa emphasized her love of drawing, “the quintessential bit of the art,” which can be seen across the Esman collection, regardless of genre.
Art was one of several passions that Rosa and Aaron shared, even when they began dating in the early 1950s. In 1952, they bought their first artwork together, a drawing by Miró, initiating their shared pursuit of inspired collecting that would continue for the rest of their lives. Rosa recalled: “sometimes we look at something, and I say, ‘Oh, isn’t that marvelous?’ and Aaron would respond, ‘It’s for us.’”i Founded on lifelong love, the Collection of Rosa and Aaron Esman gives a unique vision of the art movements of the 20th century that shaped New York’s art scene.
i Rosa Esman, interviewed by James McElhinney, "Oral History Interview with Rosa Esman," ArchivesofAmericanArt, June 9–16, 2009, online.
PrProovvenanceenance
Jasper Johns benefit for John Cage, 1966
Rosa and Aaron Esman, New York (acquired from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owners
René Magritte, Labellelurette, 1965, Private Collection. Image: Photothèque R. Magritte / Adagp Images, Paris, / SCALA, Florence, Artwork: © 2024 C. Herscovici / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkLiteraturLiteraturee
Patrick Waldberg, RenéMagritte, Brussels, 1965, p. 195 (illustrated; titled Drawing)
Sarah Whitfield and Michael Raeburn, RenéMagritte,CatalogueRaisonné,III:OilPaintings, ObjectsandBronzes1949-1967, London, 1993, fig. a., p. 418 (illustrated on the cover of Rhétorique)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Chico da Silva
Untitled
signed and dated "FD Silva 1975" lower right oil on canvas
26 3/4 x 58 5/8 in. (67.9 x 148.9 cm)
Executed in 1975.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection, São Paulo
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Black Bear
signed "Bill traylor" upper left poster paint and graphite on cardboard 11 1/4 x 15 3/8 in. (28.6 x 39.1 cm) Executed circa 1939–1942.
EstimateEstimate
$30,000 — 40,000
“He was a chronicler. He’s telling a story of his time. And he was also a social critic of African American life, and the works survival keeps that African American world alive as well.” —Jeffrey Wolf
Bill Traylor’s BlackBear, circa 1939–1942, is an exceptional example from the approximately 1,200 extant works of art made by the artist between 1939 and 1942. Using modest materials such as found cardboard to create his bold, sparsely populated compositions, Traylor created a distinctive body of work while sitting on a wooden box on the sidewalk of Monroe Avenue, the center of Montgomery, Alabama’s African American community. One of the only known artists who was enslaved at birth to make a significant body of work, Traylor and hisdrawings have finally been getting the recognition they deserve. In 2018, Traylor was the subject of the first major retrospective exhibition ever organized for an artist born into slavery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.and was most recently the subject of a solo exhibition of David Zwirner, New York, earlier this year. Traylor’s work and life was also the subject of a 2021 documentary, reflecting a resurgence in his groundbreaking drawings and paintings.
“One day Traylor picked up a stub of pencil and a scrap of cardboard and began to draw...He produced hundreds of drawings and paintings that rank among the greatest works of the twentieth century.” —Roberta Smith
Bornaround 1853, Traylor turned to artmaking around 1939, at the age of 86 years old, after witnessing several American historical events, such as the Civil War, Reconstruction and Jim Crow segregation. Never learning to read or write, Traylor developed his own pictorial language, using deceptively simple animals and figures to represent scenes steeped in history and storytelling“he put down this entire oral history in the language that was available to him, which was the language of pictures.”i Depicting a lone, eponymous black bear, the present work reflects a careful attention to space and movement within the composition. The horizon line is slightly askew, angling the bear slightly upwards, as if it were moving across the page towards an unseen goal. The deep black of the bear’s coat contrasts against the taupe of the cardboard, highlighting a distinct ability to capture the essence of the animal in a simple and informative way. Traylor’s artistic style, as noted by Peter Schjeldahl, “has about it both something very old, like prehistoric cave paintings, and something spanking new. Songlike rhythms, evoking the time’s jazz and blues, and a feel for scale, in how the forms relate to the space that contains them, give majestic presence to even the smallest images. Traylor’s pictures stamp themselves on your eye and mind.”ii
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkdi1o7VrLU&t=16s
Official Trailer, BillTraylor:ChasingGhosts, 2021
i Leslie Umberger, quoted in Lisa Wong Macabasco, “’He’s telling a story of his time’: how Bill Traylor, born into slavery, became an art titan,” TheGuardian, April 15, 2021, online
ii Peter Schejldahl, “The Utterly Original Bill Traylor,” TheNewYorker, October 1, 2018, online
PrProovvenanceenance
Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
John Foster, “Accidental Mysteries: 07.15.12,” DesignObserver,July 15, 2012, online (illustrated)
Valérie Rosseau and Debra Purden, BillTraylor,Milan, 2018, pp. 148, 185 (illustrated, p. 148)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF I. DAVID ORR
Untitled (Bullfight Series)
signed with the artist's initials "E. de K." lower right oil on Masonite
18 1/8 x 23 7/8 in. (46 x 60.6 cm)
Painted in 1961.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 200,000
Nestled amongst dynamic brushstrokes of vibrant colors, a bull rendered in rich greens and blues sits firmly in the center of the composition. Depicting either the moment immediately before or right after a bullfight, when the bull is idle, Elaine de Kooning’s Untitled(BullfightSeries), 1961, captures the chaotic and short-tempered energy of the animal through quick, gestural brushstrokes. Bursting with action, the present work was created following the artist’s move from crowded New York City to the open expanses of New Mexico in 1957, the same year that she separated from fellow artist, Willem de Kooning. This move and period would greatly inspire de Kooning’s artistic production, allowing her to experiment with new imagery and colors. As noted by the artist on her time spent in the American Southwest, “I went to Juárez to see the bullfights, which immediately struck me as a heightened image of Southwestern landscape – the panorama of the arena, the heraldic colors…”i
Acquired directly from the artist circa 1961–1962 by collector I. David Orr, who was notably a close friend of artists like Franz Kline,the present example of de Kooning’s groundbreaking Bullfight paintings—which many call the most successful of her career—is entirely fresh to market, residing in the same private collection since its acquisition. The work has not been exhibited publicly since 1970, when it was included in the landmark exhibition ContemporaryWomenArtistshosted by Skidmore College, alongside icons such as Barbara Hepworth, Grace Hartigan, Lee Bontecou, Lee Krasner, and more. Other examples from de Kooning’s Bullfightseries are housed in esteemed public collections like those of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and the Denver Art Museum.
Sketch gifted by the artist to I. David Orr, circa 1961–1962, on the back of a book page.
“I’ve made a great many pastels of bullfights and have begun to make paintings –terrific subject. The fights themselves I find tragic. I’ve met some bullfighters, very small, slight men who are fantastically brave – really, but I still love the bulls –glorious animals, very surprisingly delicate leges and ankles and I’ve never seen such an image of speed.” —Elaine de Kooning in a letter to I. David Orr, dated 1958
Taking a job as a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico in 1957 and living right along the Mexican border, de Kooning would take frequent trips to Ciudad Juárez, watching bullfights almost every weekend. These events would inspire a series of bulls rendered in a variety of media, which represent a turning point for the artist in her life and career. In her depictions of bulls, de Kooning allows the animal to take center stage, abstracting all other indicators of its surroundings in favor of vibrant gestures and colors, which clue the viewer to the momentum and energy of the moment in time. As Lawrence Campbell stated of de Kooning’s revelatory works of the late 1950s and early 1960s, “For others, the bull, the center of the conflict, would be the image of darkness overcome by the forces of light. For [de Kooning], the bull is the hero. And sometimes the bull does win and need never burst, with tiny-ankled feet, into the arena again."ii
Elaine de Kooning, June 1959, inscribed "to David with love, Elaine".
Abandoning the muted hues which characterized her previous portraits, in the bull paintings, de Kooning was undoubtedly inspired by the Southwestern landscape to introduce a warm and fresh color palette. The present work adopts bright and vibrant shades of red, orange, and yellow mingled with deep blues and greens, illustrating both a departure and an elevation of her art from the decade prior. Urgent and confident in her use of line and color, de Kooning exudes an almost pent-up energy in her applied brushstrokes, mirroring the energy of the bulls and surrounding crowd during the fights. Exploring the interplays between action painting and figuration in Untitled (BullfightSeries), this time in the Southwest, was a preoccupation which persisted throughout her whole career. Proving the importance of the subject to de Kooning, the artist would later return to the bull motif in the last decade of her life following a visit to Lascaux, France.
it.iii Indeed, the present work demonstrates this collecting aim, presenting an example of one of de Kooning’s most successful series.
i Elaine de Kooning, quoted in Eleanor Munro, Originals:AmericanWomenArtists, New York, 1979, p. 255.
ii Lawrence Campbell, ”Elaine de Kooning Paints a Picture,” ARTnews, no. 59, vol. 8, December 1960, p. 40.
iii I. David Orr, quoted in Helen A. Harrison, “The Art of Collecting,” TheNewYorkTimes, May 9, 1982, p. 1.
Avid art collector, I. David Orr amassed a collection which combinedthe best of mid-century American art. Beginning to collect around 1929, Orr acquired examples by artists of the Hudson River School, native Impressionists, the Ashcan school, and a smaller group of contemporary artists, such as Franz Kline and Elaine de Kooning. Noting, “I like anything that’s beautiful and that was successfully rendered by the artist,” Orr concentrated more on quality than quantity, selecting works based on the beauty of the work itself rather than the notoriety of the artist who created
PrProovvenanceenance
I. David Orr (acquired directly from the artist circa 1961–1962) Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Saratoga Springs, Hathorn Gallery, Skidmore College; New York, National Arts Club, Contemporary WomenArtists,January 6–29, 1970, no. 18
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EAST COAST COLLECTION
Wild Geraniums
signed twice "Lois Dodd" on the stretcher acrylic on canvas
48 3/8 x 37 3/8 in. (122.9 x 94.9 cm)
Painted in 1974.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
Go to Lot“[Dodd is] the greatest painter of windows since Henri Matisse... her windows are ludic and staunchly elliptical. Something deep and resonant happens when painters with the requisite nerve address grids.” —Nicholas Hatfull
PrProovvenanceenance
Green Mountain Gallery, New York
Private Collection, New Jersey (acquired from the above in 1974)
Gifted by the above to the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF INGER AND OSBORN ELLIOTT
Still Life
signed and dated "de Kooning '29" lower right oil on canvas
36 x 26 in. (91.4 x 66 cm)
Painted circa 1929.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 250,000
Go“My interest has always been people.” —Inger Elliott
Inger and Osborn Elliott cultivated an art collection worthy of praise. Their home served as a jewel box of taste, with brightly colored walls adorned with paintings, photographs, and drawings, all delicately and masterfully curated.The couple's diverse collection reflects their devotion to New York City's cultural, intellectual, and civic spheres, while also spanning a global reach of artistic styles and techniques. Inger, originally from Norway, had a passion for photojournalism that brought her to Southeast Asia, where she documented the Vietnam War from a helicopter. She would later go on to found China Seas, a design firm specializing in batik textiles. Osborn, a revolutionary Newsweekeditor and social advocate, went on to become the Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Trailblazers in their own regard, the Elliotts amassed a collection including rare, early works by Willem de Kooning, Wassily Kandinsky, and Milton Avery, among those by many other innovative modern and post-war painters, photographers, and printmakers.
Inger and Oz's eye for style, together with a casual, chic approach to curation, set them apart from other collectors. It is their charisma that lives on through these artworks, proving that a distinct approach to collecting yields the finest quality. These artworks not only have excellent provenance, but also exhibit a unique rarity and quality, remarkably contemporary despite their age.
“A third painting, titled 'Still Life' and dated circa 1929, may well be the earliest de Kooning painting most of us have ever seen. Its crisp shapes and deep primary colors suggest the influence of Joseph Stella and look forward to David Hockney.”
—Roberta Smith Inger and Osborn Elliott.Created when the artist was just 25 years old, Willem de Kooning’s StillLife, circa 1929, presents a rare, figurative precursor to the heavily abstracted forms for which he is known.Included in the artist’s 2012 retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, the present work is an exceptional early example within the groundbreaking oeuvre of one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. A standout in Inger and Osborn Elliott’s collection, the present work is entirely fresh to market, having been in the same family collection for decades.
Moving to New York from Rotterdam in 1927, de Kooning started working as a carpenter and house painter. In 1929, the year of the present work, de Kooning met artists John Graham, Stuart Davis and Arshile Gorky, who would become great influences on the young painter. Through Gorky, de Kooning’s artistic career would flourish.Gorky introduced him to artists such as Paul Cézanne and Pablo Picasso, as well as the Surrealists. The present work recalls the principles of such avantgarde painters. And yet, de Kooning’s still life scene eschews the academic tradition withvibrant hues of ruby red, deep violets, blues, and greens, emphasizing geometric patterns in the floorboards and simplified forms in the plant’s leaves.
The composition is slightly tilted, with the horizon line of the floor brought almost mid-way through the room and the table slightly tilted downwards, as if its contents were about to spill out towards the viewer. This manipulation of space would foreshadow de Kooning’s entirely abstract compositions, using form and dimension in a way which would lead to his most important contributions to the Abstract Expressionist movement. Nearly 20 years before his legendary Womanpaintings, StillLifeis a rare look into de Kooning’s formative work, showcasing the range of the artist’s illustrious career.
PrProovvenanceenance
Milton Robertson (gifted by the artist circa 1940)
David and Lova Abrahamsen, New York (acquired from the above in 1959)
Inger Elliott, New York (thence by descent from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, GardeninDelft:WillemdeKooningLandscapes,1928–88,May 3–June 26, 2004, pl. 1, pp. 22–23, 57 (illustrated, p. 23; erroneous dimensions 48 x 24 in. listed)
New York, Museum of Modern Art, deKooning:ARetrospective,September 18, 2011–January 9, 2012, no. 4, pp. 64–65 (illustrated, p. 64)
LiteraturLiteraturee
Thomas B. Hess, WillemdeKooning,New York, 1959, no. 9, p. 39 (illustrated)
Robert Rosenblum, WillemdeKooning,Paris, 1984, p. 172 (illustrated)
Sally Yard, WillemdeKooning:TheFirstTwenty-SixYearsinNewYork,New York, 1986, no. 1 (illustrated)
Roberta Smith, “Art Guide,” TheNewYorkTimes,June 4, 2004
A detail of the present work.New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF INGER AND OSBORN ELLIOTT
The White Hen and Fantasy Creatures (double-sided) signed and dated "Milton Avery 1947" lower left of the recto; signed "Milton Avery" lower right of the verso gouache and watercolor on paper, double-sided 22 3/8 x 30 3/4 in. (56.8 x 78.1 cm) Executed in 1947.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
“My interest has always been people.” —Inger Elliott
Inger and Osborn Elliott cultivated an art collection worthy of praise. Their home served as a jewel box of taste, with brightly colored walls adorned with paintings, photographs, and drawings, all delicately and masterfully curated.The couple's diverse collection reflects their devotion to New York City's cultural, intellectual, and civic spheres, while also spanning a global reach of artistic styles and techniques. Inger, originally from Norway, had a passion for photojournalism that brought her to Southeast Asia, where she documented the Vietnam War from a helicopter. She would later go on to found China Seas, a design firm specializing in batik textiles. Osborn, a revolutionary Newsweekeditor and social advocate, went on to become the Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Trailblazers in their own regard, the Elliotts amassed a collection including rare, early works by Willem de Kooning, Wassily Kandinsky, and Milton Avery, among those by many other innovative modern and post-war painters, photographers, and printmakers.
Inger and Oz's eye for style, together with a casual, chic approach to curation, set them apart from other collectors. It is their charisma that lives on through these artworks, proving that a distinct approach to collecting yields the finest quality. These artworks not only have excellent provenance, but also exhibit a unique rarity and quality, remarkably contemporary despite their age.
Inger and Osborn Elliott.PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection
Sotheby’s Parke-Bernet, New York, May 16, 1973, lot 170 John J. McDonough, Youngstown, Ohio
Inger Elliott, New York (acquired from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New Orleans Museum of Art; Raleigh, The North Carolina Museum of Art, APanoramaof AmericanPainting,TheJohnJ.McDonoughCollection,April 18, 1975–June 1, 1976, no. 1, pp. 21, 115 (illustrated, p. 115)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF INGER AND OSBORN ELLIOTT
Milton Avery
Dark Sea, Dark Sky
signed and dated "Milton Avery 1959" lower left; signed, titled and dated "DARK SEA, DARK SKY by Milton Avery 1959" on the reverse oil on canvasboard
9 1/8 x 12 1/8 in. (23.2 x 30.8 cm)
Painted in 1959.
EstimateEstimate
$25,000 — 35,000
“My interest has always been people.” —Inger Elliott
Inger and Osborn Elliott cultivated an art collection worthy of praise. Their home served as a jewel box of taste, with brightly colored walls adorned with paintings, photographs, and drawings, all delicately and masterfully curated.The couple's diverse collection reflects their devotion to New York City's cultural, intellectual, and civic spheres, while also spanning a global reach of artistic styles and techniques. Inger, originally from Norway, had a passion for photojournalism that brought her to Southeast Asia, where she documented the Vietnam War from a helicopter. She would later go on to found China Seas, a design firm specializing in batik textiles. Osborn, a revolutionary Newsweekeditor and social advocate, went on to become the Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Trailblazers in their own regard, the Elliotts amassed a collection including rare, early works by Willem de Kooning, Wassily Kandinsky, and Milton Avery, among those by many other innovative modern and post-war painters, photographers, and printmakers.
Inger and Oz's eye for style, together with a casual, chic approach to curation, set them apart from other collectors. It is their charisma that lives on through these artworks, proving that a distinct approach to collecting yields the finest quality. These artworks not only have excellent provenance, but also exhibit a unique rarity and quality, remarkably contemporary despite their age.
Inger and Osborn Elliott.PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection
Sotheby's, New York, December 5, 1985, lot 275
Inger Elliott, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Thence by descent to the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF INGER AND OSBORN ELLIOTT
Wassily Kandinsky
Rapallo-Stürmischer Tag oil on canvasboard
9 3/8 x 12 5/8 in. (23.8 x 32.1 cm)
Painted in 1906.
EstimateEstimate
$120,000 — 180,000
Go to Lot“My interest has always been people.” —Inger Elliott
Inger and Osborn Elliott cultivated an art collection worthy of praise. Their home served as a jewel box of taste, with brightly colored walls adorned with paintings, photographs, and drawings, all delicately and masterfully curated.The couple's diverse collection reflects their devotion to New York City's cultural, intellectual, and civic spheres, while also spanning a global reach of artistic styles and techniques. Inger, originally from Norway, had a passion for photojournalism that brought her to Southeast Asia, where she documented the Vietnam War from a helicopter. She would later go on to found China Seas, a design firm specializing in batik textiles. Osborn, a revolutionary Newsweekeditor and social advocate, went on to become the Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Trailblazers in their own regard, the Elliotts amassed a collection including rare, early works by Willem de Kooning, Wassily Kandinsky, and Milton Avery, among those by many other innovative modern and post-war painters, photographers, and printmakers.
Inger and Oz's eye for style, together with a casual, chic approach to curation, set them apart from other collectors. It is their charisma that lives on through these artworks, proving that a distinct approach to collecting yields the finest quality. These artworks not only have excellent provenance, but also exhibit a unique rarity and quality,remarkably contemporary despite their age.
“Kandinsky painted the view from the house they rented in via Montebello and also numerous scenes of the bay. In the Italian landscapes there is an emphasis on pastel colors and a greater freedom of execution...The bright light of Tunisia and Italy resulted in higher-keyed-tonalities in Kandinsky's pictures.” —Vivian Endicott
Inger and Osborn Elliott.Barnett
Wassily Kandinsky’s Rapallo-StürmischerTag, 1906, is a prime, representational example of Kandinsky’s expressive and spontaneous brushwork. Translating to Rapallo-StormyDay,the present work depicts just that – brash waves whip against a rock in the lower left corner with an overcast sky signaling an incoming storm threatening the seaside homes in the distance. Formerly in the collection of the artist, Gabriele Münter, the present work is one of about eighteen small format canvases depicting the Italian seaside town of Rapallo, providing a rare glimpse into the artist’s life and career during the months spent there.
Living with Münter, fellow artist and then-lover, in Rapallo from December 1905 to April 1906, Kandinsky painted the present work during a shift in his aesthetic when he became preoccupied with the surrounding landscape. Using his natural setting to inspire his painterly practice, the artist would depict Rapallo and the surrounding Riviera numerous times throughout this five-month period. The brushstrokes, likely created using his palette knife, are quick and short, as if the artist were standing by the shore just as the storm began to roll in. The paint is thickly applied and appears almost wet, again echoing the sea below and stormy sky above. Using a neutral color palette during this influential period, Kandinsky would turn towards a more vibrant palette in the non-figurative paintings following his time in Rapallo, making the present work a gem-like example of the artist’s early oeuvre.
LiteraturLiteraturee
Hans K. Roethel and Jean K. Benjamin, Kandinsky,CatalogueRaisonnéoftheOil-Paintings, VolumeOne,1900–1915,London, 1982, no. 148, p. 160 (illustrated)
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of Gabriel Münter
Franz Resch, Gauting (after 1962)
George Shäfer, Schweinfurt
His sale, Christie, Mason & Woods Ltd., London, June 27, 1978, lot 3 David and Lova Abrahamsen, New York (acquired at the above sale) Inger Elliott, New York (thence by descent from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Munich, Städtisce Galerie im Lenbachhaus, KandinskyandGabrieleMünter—WerkeausFunf Jahrzehnten,February 19–April 30, 1957, no. 42
New York, Leonard Hutton Galleries, Jawlensky&MajorGermanExpressionists,October 17, 1980–January 1981, no. 16, pp. 36–37 (illustrated, p. 36)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF INGER AND OSBORN ELLIOTT
Portrait of the Artist's Wife signed "A Gorky" upper right oil on canvas mounted to Masonite
30 3/4 x 22 1/2 in. (78.1 x 57.2 cm)
Painted circa 1946–1947.
EstimateEstimate
$25,000 — 35,000
“My interest has always been people.” —Inger Elliott
Inger and Osborn Elliott cultivated an art collection worthy of praise. Their home served as a jewel box of taste, with brightly colored walls adorned with paintings, photographs, and drawings, all delicately and masterfully curated.The couple's diverse collection reflects their devotion to New York City's cultural, intellectual, and civic spheres, while also spanning a global reach of artistic styles and techniques. Inger, originally from Norway, had a passion for photojournalism that brought her to Southeast Asia, where she documented the Vietnam War from a helicopter. She would later go on to found China Seas, a design firm specializing in batik textiles. Osborn, a revolutionary Newsweekeditor and social advocate, went on to become the Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Trailblazers in their own regard, the Elliotts amassed a collection including rare, early works by Willem de Kooning, Wassily Kandinsky, and Milton Avery, among those by many other innovative modern and post-war painters, photographers, and printmakers.
Inger and Oz's eye for style, together with a casual, chic approach to curation, set them apart from other collectors. It is their charisma that lives on through these artworks, proving that a distinct approach to collecting yields the finest quality. These artworks not only have excellent provenance, but also exhibit a unique rarity and quality,remarkably contemporary despite their age.
Inger and Osborn Elliott.PrProovvenanceenance
Nicholas Vasilieff (acquired directly from the artist circa 1946–1947)
John Heller Gallery, Inc., New York (1958)
Benefit Art Sale for the New York Psychoanalytic Association, New York, November 1959
David and Lova Abrahamsen, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Inger Elliott, New York (thence by descent from the above) Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum, ContinuityandChange:45AmericanAbstractPaintersand Sculptors,April 12–May 27, 1962, no. 30, p. 14 (titled Artist’sWife)
New York, The Museum of Modern Art, ArshileGorky:Paintings,Drawings,Studies,December 19, 1962–February 12, 1963, no. 95, p. 55
New York, Gagosian Gallery, ArshileGorky:Portraits,March 20–April 27, 2002, pp. 60–61
(illustrated, p. 61; dated circa 1942)
New York, Armand Bartos Fine Art, CollectwithUs,November 4–14, 2008
New York, Armand Bartos Fine Art, CollectWithUs,May 3–28, 2010
Purchase, Neuberger Museum of Art; Fort Worth, Amon Carter Museum of American Art; Andover, Massachusetts, Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, AmericanVanguards: Graham,Davis,Gorky,deKooning,andTheirCircle,1927–1942,September 21–December 31, 2012, no. 76, pp. 163, 168 (illustrated)
LiteraturLiteraturee
Julien Levy, ArshileGorky,New York, 1966, no. 34, n.p. (illustrated)
Barbara Rose, “Arshile Gorky and John Graham: Eastern Exiles in a Western World,” Arts Magazine,New York, March 1976, vol. 50, no. 7
Jim M. Jordan and Robert Goldwater, ThePaintingsofArshileGorky:ACriticalCatalogue,New York, 1982, no. 197, pp. 345–346 (illustrated, p. 346)
Daniel Kunitz, “Gallery Chronicle,” TheNewCriterion,New York, vol. 20, no. 9, May 2002, p. 50 (dated circa 1942)
Ben Eastham, ed., TheWorldsofStephenSpender,Zurich, 2018, pp. 118–120, 151 (illustrated, p. 119)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF INGER AND OSBORN ELLIOTT
Conversation - Paris Cafe (Yvonne Pène du Bois)
signed "Guy Pène du Bois" lower left oil on board
9 1/2 x 13 in. (24.1 x 33 cm)
Painted circa 1955.
EstimateEstimate
$12,000 — 18,000
“My interest has always been people.” —Inger Elliott
Inger and Osborn Elliott cultivated an art collection worthy of praise. Their home served as a jewel box of taste, with brightly colored walls adorned with paintings, photographs, and drawings, all delicately and masterfully curated.The couple's diverse collection reflects their devotion to New York City's cultural, intellectual, and civic spheres, while also spanning a global reach of artistic styles and techniques. Inger, originally from Norway, had a passion for photojournalism that brought her to Southeast Asia, where she documented the Vietnam War from a helicopter. She would later go on to found China Seas, a design firm specializing in batik textiles. Osborn, a revolutionary Newsweekeditor and social advocate, went on to become the Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Trailblazers in their own regard, the Elliotts amassed a collection including rare, early works by Willem de Kooning, Wassily Kandinsky, and Milton Avery, among those by many other innovative modern and post-war painters, photographers, and printmakers.
Inger and Oz's eye for style, together with a casual, chic approach to curation, set them apart from other collectors. It is their charisma that lives on through these artworks, proving that a distinct approach to collecting yields the finest quality. These artworks not only have excellent provenance, but also exhibit a unique rarity and quality,remarkably contemporary despite their age.
Inger and Osborn Elliott.PrProovvenanceenance
James Graham & Sons, New York
Estate of Mrs. William H. Bender, Bronxville
Sotheby's Parke Bernet Inc., New York, April 26, 1977, lot 210
David and Lova Abrahamsen, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Inger Elliott, New York (thence by descent from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF INGER AND OSBORN ELLIOTT
La fenêtre aux vitres de couleurs signed "Raoul Dufy" lower right oil on canvas
31 3/4 x 25 3/8 in. (80.6 x 64.5 cm)
Painted in 1907.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
“My interest has always been people.” —Inger Elliott
Inger and Osborn Elliott cultivated an art collection worthy of praise. Their home served as a jewel box of taste, with brightly colored walls adorned with paintings, photographs, and drawings, all delicately and masterfully curated.The couple's diverse collection reflects their devotion to New York City's cultural, intellectual, and civic spheres, while also spanning a global reach of artistic styles and techniques. Inger, originally from Norway, had a passion for photojournalism that brought her to Southeast Asia, where she documented the Vietnam War from a helicopter. She would later go on to found China Seas, a design firm specializing in batik textiles. Osborn, a revolutionary Newsweekeditor and social advocate, went on to become the Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Trailblazers in their own regard, the Elliotts amassed a collection including rare, early works by Willem de Kooning, Wassily Kandinsky, and Milton Avery, among those by many other innovative modern and post-war painters, photographers, and printmakers.
Inger and Oz's eye for style, together with a casual, chic approach to curation, set them apart from other collectors. It is their charisma that lives on through these artworks, proving that a distinct approach to collecting yields the finest quality. These artworks not only have excellent provenance, but also exhibit a unique rarity and quality,remarkably contemporary despite their age.
“One must meditate about pleasure. Raoul Dufy is pleasure.” —Gertrude Stein
A highlight of the Elliott’s marvelous collection is Raoul Dufy’s Lafenêtreauxvitresdecouleurs
Inger and Osborn Elliottfrom 1907. Known for his grand pictures of social life, usually set outdoors, here Dufy instead brings the viewer into an intimate and ornate interior, offering a contemplative composition focusing on colorful stained glass. Through the marvelous hues of rich yellow, deep blue and red, we can see a glimpse of a garden trellis under a blue sky. A stone banister grounds the righthand side of the composition, hinting at a grand staircase in a lavish home. A keen attention to architectural details is common in Dufy’s paintings, but this instance of proximity to the structures is certainly unique.
,
Created during the height of Fauvism, Lafenêtreauxvitresdecouleursexhibits Dufy’s preference for bold colors, while demonstrating a more analytical approach to his depiction of his surroundings. Dufy’s meditation into the physical world expressed through color, people, and plant life all share a distinct vocabulary in his paintings, and regardless of subject matter, Dufy consistently employs a variety of vibrant huesto inform these settings. With its bright colors, geometrically composed lines, and light-filled warmth, Lafenêtreauxvitresdecouleurs complements the many objects found in the Elliotts’ home. One of few interior scenes in Dufy’s early oeuvre, the present work is a remarkable example of his practice, cherished by the Elliotts for more than four decades.
PrProovvenanceenance
Marcel Kapferer, Paris
Perls Galleries, New York
Mr. Crawford A. Black, New York
Sotheby & Co., London, July 2, 1969, lot 60
Perls Galleries, New York
Inger Elliot, New York (acquired from the above on October 16, 1978)
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
San Francisco Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum, RaoulDufy,1877–1953,May 12–September 12, 1954, no. 5, p. 10 (illustrated)
New York, Perls Galleries, RaoulDufy,January 31–March 12, 1955, no. 3, n.p. (illustrated; titled Le VestibuleauxVitraux; dated 1906)
New York, The Museum of Modern Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Fort Worth, The Kimbell Art Museum, The"WildBeasts,"FauvismandItsAffinities,March 26–October 31, 1976 (titled VestibulewithStained-GlassWindow)
San Antonio, McNay Art Institute, RaoulDufyRetrospective,May 4–June 29, 1980, no. 7
London, Hayward Gallery, RaoulDufy1877–1953,London, 1983, no. 15, pp. 22, 161 (illustrated, p. 22; titled Lafenêtreauxvitrinesdecouleur,dated circa 1906)
Raoul Dufy, WindowonthePromenandedesAnglais,Nice 1938, The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Image: Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Samuel S. White 3rd and Vera White Collection, 1967, 1976-30-36LiteraturLiteraturee
Pierre Courthion, RaoulDufy,Geneva, 1951, pl. 8, pp. 89, XI (illustrated, p. 89; titled Lafenêtreaux CarreauxdeCouleurs;dated 1906)
Albert Skira, Fauvism,Paris, 1959, p. 110 (illustrated; titled VestibulewithStained-GlassWindows; dated 1906)
Jean Leymarie, LeFauvisme,Lausanne, 1959, p. 110 (illustrated)
L’ArteModerna,Fratelli Fabri, vol. 4, no. 29, p. 48 (illustrated)
Joseph-Emile Muller, LeFauvisme,Paris, 1956, no. 114 (illustrated)
Maurice Laffaille, RaoulDufy,Catalogueraisonnédel’oeuvrepeint,Paris, 1972, vol. I, no. 210, p. 180 (illustrated)
RaoulDufy,exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon, 1999, fig. 1., p. 86 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Les remparts à Montreuil-sur-mer
signed "Derain" lower right oil on canvas
18 1/8 x 21 1/8 in. (46 x 53.7 cm)
Painted in 1909.
EstimateEstimate
$300,000 — 500,000
Rendered in thick brushstrokes applied in dabs straight from the tube and onto the canvas, André Derain’s LesrempartsàMontreuil-surmer, 1909, reflects a fusion of the two movements which defined this key moment in the artist’s career—Fauvism and Cubism. In depicting the walls of the Northern French city of Montreuil-sur-mer, Derain uses Cubistblocks of color, rejecting the depiction of three-dimensional space. Characterized by a more mature color palette as compared to the works created at the height of Fauvism just a few years prior, the present work illustrates the evolution of Derain’s landscapes, specifically reflecting an interest in Paul Cézanne’s PostImpressionist vistas. Belonging to the same family collection for nearly 85 years, the present work provides a fresh to market look into an important transitional time within the artist’s oeuvre.
Nestled among groves of thick trees rendered in rich browns, blues and blacks, city walls and homes reminiscent of the French countryside emerge from the verdant ground. While the buildings are rendered in thick, singular blocks of color, the field below is composed of quick, spontaneous brushstrokes. Having founded Fauvism with Henri Matisse in 1905, Derain was concerned with upending French academic painting and challenging the Impressionists, who were in contrast more fixed on a dutiful representation of nature. In the early 1900s, this meant that Derain’s landscapes were painted in brilliant, oftentimes pure, colors that had no relation to reality. Created at the turn of the decade in 1909, just before Fauvism officially came to an end in 1910, the present work incorporates more earth tones than Derain’s more colorful renderings of the French
countryside. As such, the present work reflects a shift from the height of the colorist movement, when Derain began opting for more subdued, while still imaginary, hues.
“Fauvism was our ordeal by fire. No matter how far we moved away from things, in order to observe them and transpose them at our leisure, it was never far enough. Colors became charges of dynamite. They were expected to discharge light. It was a fine idea, in its freshness, that everything could be raised above the real. It was serious too. With our flat tones, we even preserved a concern for mass, giving for example to a spot of sand a heaviness it did not possess, in order to bring out the fluidity of the water, the lightness of the sky... The great merit of this method was to free the picture from all imitative and conventional contact.” —André Derain
In addition to its tonality, LesrempartsàMontreuil-sur-meris unique in its incorporation of Cubist tendencies, particularly the ordering and structuring of nature according to Paul Cézanne. Derain’s thick brushstrokes and box-like houses are directly influenced by Cézanne’s fragmented landscapes. Here, Derain is embracing the abstract potential of nature, while not afraid of bending it in a way which suits his own painterly needs. Though the colors are more earthy than his earlier, more vibrant compositions, Derain feels no need to adhere to Montreuil-sur-mer's natural color palette, positioning bright orange tones next to greens to represent the grass below the city wall. As such, the present work offers a glimpse into this pivotal moment in Derain’s career when he was grappling with different ways to use color and form. By the 1920s, Derain would embrace a much darker palette to depict more Neoclassical subjects. A transition from one phase of the artist’s career to the next, LesrempartsàMontreuil-sur-merrepresents a distinct moment within Derain’s practice, bridging the gap between his brilliantly colored Fauvist paintings and moodier, Cubist scenes.
City walls of Montreuil-sur-mer, France. Image: David Bagnall / Alamy Stock PhotoPaul Cézanne, ChâteauNoir,1900/1904, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: © National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, 1958.10.1
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris
Alphonse Bellier, Paris, December 2, 1938, lot 265 (possibly) Private Collection, Paris and New York (acquired at the above sale) Thence by descent to the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Michel Kellermann, AndréDerain:Catalogueraisonnédel’oeuvrepeint,TomeI,1895–1914,Paris, 1992, no. 161, p. 101 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Femme en buste
signed "Renoir" upper left oil on canvas
13 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (34.3 x 27.6 cm)
Painted circa 1909.
This work will be included in the forthcoming Renoir Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 250,000
With its warm light and loose brushstrokes, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Femmeenbuste,circa 1909, exudes a soft glow and captures an intimate, introspective moment. Painted in the artist’s final decade, this portrait distills the stylistic experimentations that defined Renoir’s career, from his commitment to Impressionist motifs to the use of classic subjects inspired by Italian Renaissance painters like Raphael and Titian. While the present work sits within the genre for which Renoir became most well-known—portraiture—its connections to his own still lifes and landscapes serve as a culmination of an impressive and renowned oeuvre.
subject matter transitioned from commissioned portraits of wealthy patrons and their families, such as the Charpentiers, towards more intimate studies of the female form, including models, local women, and close friends.
“I like a painting which makes me want to stroll in it, if it is a landscape, or to stroke a breast or a back, if it is a figure.” —Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Further shifting away from his earlier tendency for sharp figural outlines, in the present work, Renoir renders his sitter in painterly, airy brushstrokes barely distinguishable from the background. At lower right is the mere suggestion of the figure’s hands, standing out against the warm golden backdrop. In the background, there seems to be an amorphous armchair that blends into its surroundings. Around this time, the artist wrote that “at the moment, I am trying to merge the landscape with my figures,” and this portrait perfectly captures his success in this ambition.i Renoir’s painterly approach to this portrait mimics his still lifes. Upon close inspection, folds of the woman’s robe could just as easily depict the papery skin of an onion, and her rosy, pink lips appear almost like flower petals. These resemblances evidence his willingness to experiment with new techniques and subjects in his later years. As such, Femmeenbusteencapsulates Renoir’s transformative artistic journey in his final decade.
While the model’s face remains entirely legible, Renoir renders it with a softness resulting from a combination of the gentle lighting upon her skin, tendrils of loose hair, and her calm expression. Unlike portraits of known society figures such as MadameGeorgesCharpentierandHerChildren, 1878, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Femmeenbusteinstead depicts a subject from domestic, modern life. After moving from urban Paris to the French countryside in 1907, Renoir’s
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, MadameGeorgesCharpentierandHerChildren, 1878, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1907Pierre-Auguste Renoir
i Pierre-Auguste Renoir, quoted in RenoirintheBarnesFoundation, New Haven, 2012, p. 42.
PrProovvenanceenance
B. Mayer, Zurich
Galerie Thannhauser, Lucerne (acquired from the above on July 6, 1925)
Robert W. Schütte, New York (acquired from the above on July 28, 1930)
Florence S. Schütte, New York (by descent from the above in 1935)
Estate of the above, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, January 5, 1946, lot 760
Isabelle M. Murphy (acquired at the above sale)
Estate of Isabelle M. Murphy
Sotheby's, New York, May 14, 1992, lot 242
Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)
Jeremy Wiltshire Fine Art, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner in November 2003
ExhibitedExhibited
Berlin, Galerie Thannhauser, ErsteSonderausstellunginBerlin,January 9–February, 1927, no. 205, pp. 138–139 (illustrated, p. 139; titled JungesMädchen)
LiteraturLiteraturee
Julius Meier-Graefe, Renoir,Leipzig, 1929, no. 312, p. 316 (illustrated; titled SitzendesMädchen; dated 1906)
Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville, RenoirCatalogueRaisonnédesTableaux,Pastels,Dessinset
Aquarelles1903–1910,vol. 4, Paris, 2012, no. 3269, p. 347 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Jardin au bord de la Seine stamped with the artist's signature "Bonnard" lower right
oil on canvas
34 x 30 in. (86.4 x 76.2 cm) Painted circa 1912.
EstimateEstimate
$200,000 — 300,000
“In painting, you will never succeed in rendering reality when it is already perfect. The point is not to paint life, but to bring painting to life.” —Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard’s JardinauborddelaSeinedepicts a glimpse of the artist’s home garden at Vernonnet, a small hamlet outside of Paris known as Ma Roulette. Painted circa 1912, the same year Bonnard purchased this home with Marthe, his artisticmuse who would soon become his wife, this intimate scene shows a view of the garden from their dining room,dominated by a delicate, budding tree in the center of the composition. Bonnard would live at Vernonnet with Marthe until the 1920s, and just a few miles down the Seine lived the artist’s dear friend, and fellow Impressionist, Claude Monet at Giverny. While both artists deeply cherished the verdant Seine Valley, Bonnard’s landscapes follow stricter representations of the natural world, albeit submerged with abstractions of form. One of the great colorists of the 20th century, Bonnard uses color to animate the painting with a sacred quality, one that brings forth an almost spiritual experience, a quality which immediately relates him to his Nabis contemporaries.
In Bonnard’s oeuvre, his landscapes oscillate between grand, panoramic murals, and narrow, more personal perspectives of the outside world, as seen through an open window or a fenced gate. The present work belongs to this latter group, in which the landscape is treated with intimate care, arranging the subject delicately, as if a still life. JardinauborddelaSeinesucceeds in showing the range of techniques utilized by Bonnard in the last stage of his career, particularly in his use of color. Every field on the picture plane in the present work is imbued with a rich green, whether made obvious in the grass and flowers in the lower half of the composition or hidden adeptly in the blues of the horizon. This pseudo-monochromatic nature results in a heroically modern flatness, which recalls the perspective of his predecessor, Paul Cézanne. Balancing stylized representation with vibrant abstraction, Bonnard creates a point of view that is instantly recognizable, one which serves as a celebration of his artistic voice in the mythos of Modernism.
Like his Nabis contemporaries, Bonnard’s artistic output is often laden with nomadic voyages, charismatic lovers, and spiritual iconography. What JardinauborddelaSeineoffers instead is a
Pierre Bonnard, TheDiningRoomintheCountry, 1913, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Image: Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The John R. Van Derlip Fund, 54.15 Maurice Denis, Springtime, 1894-1899, Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of David Allen Devrishian, 1999, 1999.180.2a,bpeek behind the curtain of the more domestic side of the artist’s life. Departing from the Nabis’ sensibility of imbuing spiritual symbolism into their works, in the present work, Bonnard obfuscates the landscape of any deeper meaning, and favors the delicate depiction of his garden view over more overt symbolism. Nabis symbolism progresses to be more subtle as they moved into the 20th century, but they maintained an esoteric, dream-like state that we see in Jardinau borddelaSeine.Although devoid of meaning, Bonnard might be suggesting the central tree as a stand-in for the crucifix, comforting the viewer with themes of the rebirth of Christ, coinciding with the holiday of Easter. In the present work, Bonnard is offering the viewer a chance to meditate on the contradictions that come with the onset of spring through a vibrant, intimate setting.
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
Wildenstein & Co., Ltd., New York (acquired by 1965)
Private Collection, Paris (acquired from the above in 1967)
Sotheby's, New York, May 6, 2015, lot 326 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Jean and Henry Dauberville, Bonnard.Catalogueraisonnédel'oeuvrepeint1906–1919,vol. II, Paris, 1968, no. 700, p. 264 (illustrated)
Bonnard'sWorlds,exh. cat., Kimbell Art Museum, Houston, and The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 2023, fig. 13, p. 41 (illustrated; titled GardenontheBanksoftheSeine)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE BAKWIN FAMILY COLLECTION
Fleurs dans un vase
signed "ODILON REDON" lower right pastel on paper
25 1/2 x 19 in. (64.8 x 48.3 cm)
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000
Odilon Redon’s Fleursdansunvase, presents a variety of flowers arranged delicately in a bouquet rendered in soft pastel tones. The artist first began to explorefloral themes in the 1860s following a period of dramatic, monochromatic compositions. The present work is from a distinct turning point in the artist’s oeuvre when he began working in pastel and oil, here exploring the relationships between flowers of different shapes and sizes. Belonging to the renowned collection of the Drs. Bakwin, Fleursdansunvasewas notably included in the exhibition of their collection held in 1967, put on to benefit the Association for Mentally Ill Children in Manhattan, and has remained in their family collection since the 1930s.
“…there is, surrounding all the flowers that Redon puts before us, fanned out as they stand in a long vase, with stray stems shooting off like rockets or scattered in a spray of brightly-colored blooms, a very striking sort of empty halo that gives one's spirit a little vertigo of the infinite.” —Marius-Ary Leblond
The present work explores Redon’s fascination with the relationships between color, line and form. Likely created just after his Noirs–a series of works created between 1870 and 1890 in which the artist used a predominantly black palette – the present work embraces color, combining shades of violet, bright red and light pink to compose his bouquet. The Noirswould often incorporate Surrealist and Symbolist iconography, positioning his flower paintings as a stark contrast from his earlier, moodier style of figuration. Reflecting on this period of the artist’s career, art historian Agnès Lacau St Guily notes that Redon was drawn towards flowers because “they are a link between fantasy and reality; because they are doubly evocative of a kindly and everyday nature, of dream and fantasy. The flowers arranged in a bouquet are alive in Redon's work, they are soothing or playful. They are never carnivorous or poisonous. The flowers series signified the end of the nightmares, the end of the blacks."i
Recounting the daily ritual of painting these still lifes, the artist’s son, Arï, noted “there, rising early, my father liked to begin his day at the bottom of the garden, reading a few pages of Pascalhis favorite author - or Montaigne, Suarès, or Remy de Gourmont. My mother, meanwhile, carefully - and lovingly - prepared the model: a large vase of flowers.”ii Redon’s floral subjects are treated with as much care and attention as French academic artists would devote to the human figure, carefully emphasizing the intricacies of each bloom. Set against a blurred, pastel-toned background, the flowers are rendered in stark realism against the abstracted, almost gestural background, an effect which is reminiscent of Japanese woodblock prints, popular in Europe at this
Odilon Redon, SaintGeorgeandtheDragon, 1880s and 1892, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of GTE and the New Century Fund, 2000.14.1time and a key influence on Redon’s work.Dreamlike backdrops like this would continue to dominate his paintings in the first decade of the 20th century, when the works became increasingly abstract and surreal. Here, the blurring effect between background and foreground makes the flower subject pop, as if inviting the viewer to reach out and touch the delicate leaves of buds.
iAgnès Lacau St Guily, OdilonRedon,catalogueraisonnédel’oeuvrepeintetdessiné, pp. 5–6.
iiArï Redon, 1956, pp. 131–132.
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Zborowski, Paris
The Drs. Bakwin, New York (acquired from the above in August 1934) Thence by descent to the present owners
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Wildenstein & Co. Inc., AnExhibitionofPaintingsandSculptureFortheBenefitofthe AssociationforMentallyIllChildreninManhattan,Inc.TheDr.andMrs.HarryBakwinCollection, October 4–November 4, 1967, no. 29, pp. 29, 54 (illustrated, p. 29)
New York, Acquavella Galleries, Inc., OdilonRedon,October 22–November 21, 1970, no. 17
LiteraturLiteraturee
Alec Wildenstein, OdilonRedon,Catalogueraisonnédel’oeuvrepeintetdessiné,vol. III, Paris, 1996, no. 1650, p. 180 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Nu assis ou femme au collier signed and dated "Henri Matisse 37" lower right ink on paper 24 3/4 x 19 5/8 in. (62.8 x 49.9 cm) Executed in 1937.
Georges Matisse has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work.
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000
“I believe study by means of drawing is most essential. If drawing is of the Spirit and color of the Sense, you must draw first, to cultivate the spirit and be able to lead color into spiritual paths... A colorist makes his presence known even in a simple line drawing.” —Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse’s Nuassisoufemmeaucollier, 1937, showcases a masterful command of line and form. Using the thin line to mirror the rhythm of the woman’s figure, nude except for a string of pearls around her neck, the artist uses the delicate contour against the starkness of the blank page to emphasize the intricate curves of his model, Lydia Delectorskaya. Part of an oeuvre spanning paintings, cutouts and sculpture, Matisse’s line drawings reflect an effortlessness that is a continuation of his profound experimentation with media.
Part of a series of studio nudes of Delectorskaya in various poses, Matisse’s 1936 and 1937 drawings were largely concerned with the simplicity of the female figure. As noted by the artist “my models, human figures, are never just ‘extras’ in an interior. They are the principal theme in my work. I depend entirely on my model, whom I observe at liberty, and then I decide on the pose which best suits her nature. When I take a new model, I intuit the pose that will best suit her from her un-self-conscious attitudes of repose, and then I become the slave of that pose.”i Returning to the depiction of Lydia numerous times throughout his practice, Matisse infused each of his portraits with a unique engagement of both the aesthetic form of Delectorskaya’s figure and her personality—the combination of which cements him as one of the foremost portraitists of the 20th century.
“My line drawing is the purest and most direct translation of my emotion. The simplification of the medium allows that.” —Henri Matisse
Best known for his use of vibrant and imaginative color, Matisse sought to unite color and line throughout his practice, placing drawing and painting on the same level and noting that “a true colorist makes his presence known even in a simple charcoal drawing.”ii Rather than hiding behind color in the present work, Matisse relies on his confidence in the unshaded line, which stands out against the stark white page. It is the whiteness of the sheet which “determines forms and spatial relations,” emphasizing the emotion and individuality of the sitter.iii Hinting at depth with the figure’s playful positioning and subtle differences in the thickness of line, Nuassisoufemmeau collierreflects an engagement with drawing that is unique to the artist’s practice.
i Henri Matisse, quoted in Ernst Gerhard Guse, HenriMatisse,DrawingsandSculpture, Munich, 1991, p. 22.
ii Henri Matisse, in a letter to Henry Clifford, February 1948.
iii Raoul-Jean Moulin, HenriMatisse:DrawingsandPaperCut-outs,New York, 1969, p. 26.
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
Galerie Beyeler, Basel
Schlumberger Collection (acquired from the above in April 1996)
Sotheby's, New York, November 4, 2014, lot 42
Jeremy Wiltshire Fine Art, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner in June 2016
[Left] Lydia Delectorskaya. Image: © Archives Henri Matisse[Right]Henri Matisse, LargeReclining Nude, 1935, The Baltimore Museum of Art.Image: Baltimore Museum of Art / Bridgeman Images, Artwork: © 2024 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkNew York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
signed with the artist's monogram lower right oil on canvas
16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm) Painted in 1992.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Mia Joosten, Amsterdam (acquired in 1995)
Mrs. B. Weegels-Hamers (acquired in 1995)
Mrs. M. de Vries-Weegels (acquired in 2002)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF EUGENE AND DOROTHY PRAKAPAS
Tasse et bananes
signed "Picasso" on the reverse oil on panel
10 5/8 x 8 3/8 in. (27 x 21.3 cm)
Painted in 1908.
EstimateEstimate
$200,000 — 300,000
Dorothy and Eugene Prakapas, Prakapas Gallery, 1970s.
Phillips is honored to present a selection of artwork from the collection of pioneering gallerists Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas. Proceeds from their outstanding collection will benefit the Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas ScholarshipFund at Yale University in memory of Thomas C. Mendenhall. Gene’s attendance at Yale in 1949 was made possible by a scholarship, and it was his and Dorothy’s intent that the sale of artwork from their estate would support scholars of the future.
Gene (1932-2011) and Dorothy (1928-2022) founded Prakapas Gallery at 19 East 71st Street, New York City, in 1976. The gallery quickly became known for its adventurous curatorial approach and for showing a diverse range of artists and media. The couple set a demanding pace for themselves, mounting a new exhibition every four weeks, and keeping an ever-changing array of painting,
photography, and works-on-paper on the gallery walls. Photography, especially work connected to the Bauhaus, was a particular interest of the Prakapases, and the broad theme of European Modernism threaded its way through many of their shows. Operating on a shoestring budget, the couple sought out little-known artists and underrepresented aspects of well-known artists’ oeuvres for their exhibitions. Gallery favorites included László Moholy-Nagy, Fernand Léger, Willi Baumeister, Albert Renger-Patzsch, and Werner Mantz, among many others.
Both Gene and Dorothy came to the art world after having pursued successful careers in other arenas. Gene worked in publishing after graduating Yale, served in the Navy, and later pursued graduate studies at Oxford, which he attended on a Fulbright scholarship. Dorothy was educated at City University of New York and the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked in the fashion industry. Together, they made Prakapas Gallery into a mecca for collectors on the hunt for material that could not be found elsewhere, the esoteric and the avant-garde across all media, selected and contextualized with intelligence and warmth.
“Galleries that are powered by a completely idiosyncratic taste and with no regard for current fashion do not always live long. So it is good to see from their 10th anniversary miscellany that Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas are just as quirky as ever they were.”—John Russell
A rare example of Pablo Picasso’s early painterly practice, Tasseetbananes, 1908, sits at the precipice of Cubism. Experimenting with still lifes at various stages throughout his practice, Picasso here relies on simple geometric shapes to inform his composition, which anticipate the artist’s more abstracted later works. Using a neutral color palette of golden browns, terracotta and pops of green to render the cup, banana and background, the shapes and forms blend into one another, creating a harmonious, geometric scene that blurs the lines between objects and space,
[Left] Dorothy Prakapas, Prakapas Gallery, 1970s. [Right]Eugene Prakapas with photographer Arthur Rothstein, Prakapas Gallery, 1978.ideas which foreshadow his later Cubist output.
“The still life was the genre which Picasso would eventually explore more exhaustively and develop more imaginatively than any other artist in history.” —John Richardson
The present work was created just as Picasso was experimenting with Georges Braque to find a new form of representation – an experiment which would lead to Cubism. Though not yet fully developed, there are hints of the movement in the present work. Relying solely on geometric shapes to build the composition, Picasso pares down the banana and cup to their most basic forms . By removing any sense of depth, Picasso developed a new way of rendering objects and still lifes that directly contrast with the naturalistic renderings of his predecessors. Such an early work thus provides a rare glimpse into Picasso’s first explorations of composition which would come to inform his heavily abstracted and patterned compositions later in his oeuvre.
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris
Roger Dutilleul, Paris
Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas, New York (acquired from the above in November 2000) Thence by descent to the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Françoise Cachin, Toutl'œuvrepeintdePicasso,1907–1916,Milan, 1972, no. 169, pp. 95–96 (illustrated, p. 95)
Pierre Daix and Joan Rosselet, Picasso:TheCubistYears1907–1916,ACatalogueRaisonnéofthe PaintingsandRelatedWorks,London, 1979, no. 208, p. 229 (illustrated; titled CupandFruit) Christian Zervos, PabloPicasso.Œuvresde1906a1912,vol. 2, Paris, 1986, no. 100, pp. 48, 175 (illustrated, p. 48)
Josep Palau i Fabre, PicassoCubism(1907–1917),New York, 1990, no. 295, pp. 107, 499 (illustrated, p. 107; titled CupandTuber;dated 1909)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF EUGENE AND DOROTHY PRAKAPAS
Composition à l'échequier signed with the artist's initials and dated "F.L.26" lower right
gouache, ink and pencil on paper 19 x 16 5/8 in. (48.3 x 42.2 cm)
Executed in 1926, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Comité Léger.
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000
Dorothy and Eugene Prakapas, Prakapas Gallery, 1970s.
Phillips is honored to present a selection of artwork from the collection of pioneering gallerists Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas. Proceeds from their outstanding collection will benefit the Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas ScholarshipFund at Yale University in memory of Thomas C. Mendenhall. Gene’s attendance at Yale in 1949 was made possible by a scholarship, and it was his and Dorothy’s intent that the sale of artwork from their estate would support scholars of the future.
Gene (1932-2011) and Dorothy (1928-2022) founded Prakapas Gallery at 19 East 71st Street, New York City, in 1976. The gallery quickly became known for its adventurous curatorial approach and for showing a diverse range of artists and media. The couple set a demanding pace for themselves, mounting a new exhibition every four weeks, and keeping an ever-changing array of painting,
photography, and works-on-paper on the gallery walls. Photography, especially work connected to the Bauhaus, was a particular interest of the Prakapases, and the broad theme of European Modernism threaded its way through many of their shows. Operating on a shoestring budget, the couple sought out little-known artists and underrepresented aspects of well-known artists’ oeuvres for their exhibitions. Gallery favorites included László Moholy-Nagy, Fernand Léger, Willi Baumeister, Albert Renger-Patzsch, and Werner Mantz, among many others.
Both Gene and Dorothy came to the art world after having pursued successful careers in other arenas. Gene worked in publishing after graduating Yale, served in the Navy, and later pursued graduate studies at Oxford, which he attended on a Fulbright scholarship. Dorothy was educated at City University of New York and the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked in the fashion industry. Together, they made Prakapas Gallery into a mecca for collectors on the hunt for material that could not be found elsewhere, the esoteric and the avant-garde across all media, selected and contextualized with intelligence and warmth.
“Galleries that are powered by a completely idiosyncratic taste and with no regard for current fashion do not always live long. So it is good to see from their 10th anniversary miscellany that Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas are just as quirky as ever they were.”—John Russell
A gem of the Prakapas collection, Fernand Léger’s Compositionàl’échequier, 1926, provides a look into the key characteristics of the artist’s oeuvre. Masterfully using color and shading to create a three-dimensional space within an otherwise flat composition, Léger evokes the tenets of his practice during the interwar period – harmony and balance. Paring objects such as the checkerboard and gear down to their most essential elements, the artist showcases his association with Purism, a rebellion againstCubism, at its finest, and his idiosyncratic means of arranging
[Left] Dorothy Prakapas, Prakapas Gallery, 1970s. [Right]Eugene Prakapas with photographer Arthur Rothstein, Prakapas Gallery, 1978.objects and colors within space. Before the Prakapases acquired the work in the 1990s, the present work was notably in the collection of famed British art historian and collector Douglas Cooper.
“I dispersed my objects in space and kept them all together while at the same time making them radiate out from the surface of the picture.” —Fernand Léger
Following World War I, artists were struggling to forge a new path forward. For Léger, this resulted in a preoccupation with creating compositions that emphasized a harmonious balance, mirroring a gradual return to order in both art and society. It was at this point when the artist began to embrace a Purist style of rendering his figures and objects – stripping them of their decorative elements and leaving them with only their most essential colors and forms. This would result in the removal of objects from their conventional settings, allowing the artist to redefine the relationships between them; as noted by the artist, “I dispersed my objects in space and kept them all together while at the same time making them radiate out from the surface of the picture. A tricky interplay of harmonies and rhythms made up of background and surface colors, guidelines, distances, and oppositions.”i Compositionàl’échequieris almost collage-like, with the checkerboard and mechanical elements appearing to be laid over the background. Experimenting with space in a novel way, Léger juxtaposes thick black lines with vibrant colors to create a balanced, harmonious examination into space, color and form.
i Fernand Léger, quoted in Werner Schmalenbach, FernandLéger, New York, 1976, p. 32.
PrProovvenanceenance
Douglas Cooper, London and Argilliers
His sale, Christie's, New York, May 11, 1992, lot 41 Prakapas Gallery, New York (acquired at the above sale) Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas, New York
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Kunstmuseum Basel; London, The Tate Gallery; Philadelphia Museum of Art, DouglasCooperund diemeisterdesKubismus,November 22, 1987–July 1988, no. 43, pp. 121, 126–127, 208 (illustrated, p. 126)
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Picasso,Braque,Gris,Léger:DouglasCooperCollecting Cubism,October 14–December 30, 1990, no. 43, p. 62
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF EUGENE AND DOROTHY PRAKAPAS
Maschine und Mensch tempera and pencil on paper 14 3/4 x 10 3/8 in. (37.5 x 26.4 cm) Executed in 1926.
EstimateEstimate
$25,000 — 35,000
Dorothy and Eugene Prakapas, Prakapas Gallery, 1970s.
Phillips is honored to present a selection of artwork from the collection of pioneering gallerists Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas. Proceeds from their outstanding collection will benefit the Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas ScholarshipFund at Yale University in memory of Thomas C. Mendenhall. Gene’s attendance at Yale in 1949 was made possible by a scholarship, and it was his and Dorothy’s intent that the sale of artwork from their estate would support scholars of the future.
Gene (1932-2011) and Dorothy (1928-2022) founded Prakapas Gallery at 19 East 71st Street, New York City, in 1976. The gallery quickly became known for its adventurous curatorial approach and for showing a diverse range of artists and media. The couple set a demanding pace for themselves, mounting a new exhibition every four weeks, and keeping an ever-changing array of painting,
photography, and works-on-paper on the gallery walls. Photography, especially work connected to the Bauhaus, was a particular interest of the Prakapases, and the broad theme of European Modernism threaded its way through many of their shows. Operating on a shoestring budget, the couple sought out little-known artists and underrepresented aspects of well-known artists’ oeuvres for their exhibitions. Gallery favorites included László Moholy-Nagy, Fernand Léger, Willi Baumeister, Albert Renger-Patzsch, and Werner Mantz, among many others.
Both Gene and Dorothy came to the art world after having pursued successful careers in other arenas. Gene worked in publishing after graduating Yale, served in the Navy, and later pursued graduate studies at Oxford, which he attended on a Fulbright scholarship. Dorothy was educated at City University of New York and the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked in the fashion industry. Together, they made Prakapas Gallery into a mecca for collectors on the hunt for material that could not be found elsewhere, the esoteric and the avant-garde across all media, selected and contextualized with intelligence and warmth.
“Galleries that are powered by a completely idiosyncratic taste and with no regard for current fashion do not always live long. So it is good to see from their 10th anniversary miscellany that Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas are just as quirky as ever they were.”—John Russell
PrProovvenanceenance
Ernst Burkhardt, Zurich (acquired directly from the artist on May 17, 1929)
Galerie Ziegler, Zurich
Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas, New York (acquired from the above in 1986)
Thence by descent to the present owner
[Left]Dorothy Prakapas, Prakapas Gallery, 1970s. [Right] Eugene Prakapas with photographer Arthur Rothstein, Prakapas Gallery, 1978.LiteraturLiteraturee
Dietmar J. Ponert, WilliBaumeisterWerkverzeichnisderZeichnungen,GouachenundCollagen, Cologne, 1988, no. 162, p. 87 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF EUGENE AND DOROTHY PRAKAPAS
Small Tree near Cairo
signed, titled and dated "Howard Hodgkin Small Tree near Cairo 1973–77" on the reverse oil on wood
11 3/8 x 15 2/4 in. (28.9 x 39.4 cm) Painted in 1973–1977.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 200,000
Dorothy and Eugene Prakapas, Prakapas Gallery, 1970s
Phillips is honored to present a selection of artwork from the collection of pioneering gallerists Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas. Proceeds from their outstanding collection will benefit the Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas ScholarshipFund at Yale University in memory of Thomas C. Mendenhall. Gene’s attendance at Yale in 1949 was made possible by a scholarship, and it was his and Dorothy’s intent that the sale of artwork from their estate would support scholars of the future.
Gene (1932-2011) and Dorothy (1928-2022) founded Prakapas Gallery at 19 East 71st Street, New York City, in 1976. The gallery quickly became known for its adventurous curatorial approach and for showing a diverse range of artists and media. The couple set a demanding pace for themselves, mounting a new exhibition every four weeks, and keeping an ever-changing array of painting,
photography, and works-on-paper on the gallery walls. Photography, especially work connected to the Bauhaus, was a particular interest of the Prakapases, and the broad theme of European Modernism threaded its way through many of their shows. Operating on a shoestring budget, the couple sought out little-known artists and underrepresented aspects of well-known artists’ oeuvres for their exhibitions. Gallery favorites included László Moholy-Nagy, Fernand Léger, Willi Baumeister, Albert Renger-Patzsch, and Werner Mantz, among many others.
Both Gene and Dorothy came to the art world after having pursued successful careers in other arenas. Gene worked in publishing after graduating Yale, served in the Navy, and later pursued graduate studies at Oxford, which he attended on a Fulbright scholarship. Dorothy was educated at City University of New York and the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked in the fashion industry. Together, they made Prakapas Gallery into a mecca for collectors on the hunt for material that could not be found elsewhere, the esoteric and the avant-garde across all media, selected and contextualized with intelligence and warmth.
“Galleries that are powered by a completely idiosyncratic taste and with no regard for current fashion do not always live long. So it is good to see from their 10th anniversary miscellany that Eugene and Dorothy Prakapas are just as quirky as ever they were.” —John Russell
PrProovvenanceenance
André Emmerich Gallery, New York
Kasmin Gallery, Ltd., London
Prakapas Gallery, Bronxville, New York
Thence by descent to the present owner
[Left]Dorothy Prakapas, Prakapas Gallery, 1970s. [Right]Eugene Prakapas with photographer Arthur Rothstein, Prakapas Gallery, 1978.ExhibitedExhibited
London, The Hayward Gallery, HaywardAnnual,May–August 1977
New York, André Emmerich Gallery, HowardHodgkin:NewPaintings,September 15–October 5, 1977
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 30, 1995–January 31, 1996
LiteraturLiteraturee
Andrew Graham-Dixon, HowardHodgkin,London, 1994, p. 162
Michael Auping, John Elderfield, Susan Sontag and Marla Price, HowardHodgkinPaintings,Fort Worth, 1995, no. 141, p. 169 (illustrated)
Marla Price, HowardHodgkinTheCompletePaintings,CatalogueRaisonné,Fort Worth, 2006, no. 141, p. 154 (illustrated)
ArtThatChangedTheWorld,New York, 2013, pp. 372–373 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A PRESTIGIOUS AMERICAN COLLECTION
Untitled
signed and dated "Philip Guston 58" lower right gouache on paper
22 5/8 x 28 5/8 in. (57.5 x 72.7 cm)
Executed in 1958.
EstimateEstimate
$350,000 — 500,000
“There is something ridiculous and miserly in the myth we inherit from abstract art. That painting is autonomous, pure and for itself, therefore we habitually analyze its ingredients and define its limits.” —Philip Guston
A patchwork of brilliantly colored forms with tangible brushwork, Philip Guston’s Untitled, 1958, is a stunning example of the abstraction that defined the artist’s mid-career works. Cycling through phases of figuration and abstraction for decades, Guston had a unique take on the abstract tradition, one which differed from his fellow artists defining the movement at the time, like Willem de Kooning. Created just five years before the artist’s retrospective at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (Guston was the first artist to have a solo retrospective at the museum), the present work is an exceptional example of the artist’s peak abstract period of the late 1950s. The work was formerly in the collection of film star Hedy Lamarr and has been in the same collection since the late 1970s. An avid collector of Abstract Expressionism, Lamarr was friends with artists and gallerists such as Guston, Franz Kline, and Irving Blum.
“Guston’s brush, by contrast, patiently explored the canvas, establishing a network of short, discontinuous strokes that charted the exact dimensions of the painting’s format and located its center of gravity. His gesture was not that of the hand that grasps a tool while the arm sweeps but that of an arm that extends a groping hand.”
—Robert Storr“C“Congealed
Unlike de Kooning, Guston developed a mode of abstraction in the 1950s which was characterized by “congealed and clotted masses, streaks and smears, thick glistening ridges.” As John Yau espoused on the occasion of an exhibition of Guston’s 1954-1958 works, “While Willem de Kooning believed that ‘flesh was the reason oil paint was invented,’ Guston might have countered that it was because of something much more elemental and dark. Guston, who had the ability to be every bit as seductive in paint as de Kooning (and who else among the Abstract Expressionists could you say this about?), eschews that route over and over. Instead of flesh, Guston took to oil paint like an earthworm slithering in dirt.”i Using expressive, gestural and short brushstrokes, the Guston forms amorphous blobs grouped around the center of the composition.Yau continues, “Nothing feels clean or pristine in a Guston painting. Everything feels like it has absorbed the smoke of a fire.”ii This feels like an even more apt description of Guston’s paintings on paper, like this work, where oil seeps into the sheet below, and pigments coalesce in visible layers.
Soon, towards the end of the next decade, Guston would once again move from abstraction to figuration, this time in favor of a more dramatic and satirical approach to art making. A foreshadowing of this evolution can be seen in the lone black form at upper left, which seems to be
moving away from the unoccupied space in the left towards the brightly colored forms. It is like a looming precursor to Guston’s later forthcoming practice works defined by his idiosyncratic, cartoonish pictorial vocabulary. In fact, upon close inspection this black blob forms a peak at the top, perhaps a reference to the artist’s hooded figures to come.
A detail of the present work.
Works from this turn-of-the-decade period are some of the artist’s most sought-after. Masterworks like ToFelliniand Nile, which hold two of the top three prices at auction, were also painted in this pivotal year of 1958. Other small-scale abstractions are held in important museum collections, like LastPiece, 1958, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Untitled, 1958, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Intimately scaled, the present work offers a glimpse into Guston’s unique style which, as Robert Storr aptly puts, represents “one of the most poetic contributions to Abstract Expressionism.”iii
Willem de Kooning, Interchange, 1955, Private Collection. Artwork: © 2024 The Willem de Kooning Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
iJohn Yau, “Philip Guston 1954–1958,” TheBrooklynRail, March 2009.
iiIbid.
iii Robert Storr, PhilipGuston, New York, 1983, p. 7.
PrProovvenanceenance
Hedy Lamarr, Los Angeles (acquired directly from the artist in 1958)
Paul Kantor, Los Angeles
Nicholas Wilder, Los Angeles
Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 1977–1980
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled
watercolor and crayon on paper
19 x 24 5/8 in. (48.3 x 62.5 cm)
Executed circa 1961.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
Walker-Cunningham Fine Art, St. Louis
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Michael Corinne West
Save the Tiger
signed and dated "Mich West 1980" lower right; signed, titled, inscribed and dated "Mich West Object 1980 Save the Tiger" on the reverse oil on canvas
36 1/2 x 48 in. (92.7 x 121.9 cm)
Painted in 1980.
EstimateEstimate
$25,000 — 35,000
Go to LotMichael Corinne West
PrProovvenanceenance
Taylor Graham Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Newport Beach, Art Resource Group, MichaelWest:PaintingsfromtheFortiestotheEighties, June 5–September 25, 2010, pl. XVIII, pp. 36–37 (illustrated, p. 37)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Judith Rothschild
Figure in Space
signed "Rothschild" lower right; signed and titled "Figure in Space Rothschild" on the reverse oil on canvas
40 x 50 in. (101.6 x 127 cm)
Painted circa 1958–1960.
This work is registered with The Judith Rothschild Foundation as catalogue no. 58.12.
EstimateEstimate
$10,000 — 15,000
Regarded as a “young woman who was immersed in the vanguard of abstraction at a pivotal moment, just as it was becoming airborne,” Judith Rothschild infused her paintings with a Cubist flair, combined with the pioneering abstraction of the mid-century New York school.i Strong outlines and bold swathes of color comprise her compositions, as seen in the present work, Figure inSpace,1960, which was first unveiled at the artist’s 1962 exhibition at the Knapik Gallery in New York and would later be included in her 2002-2003 retrospective in Eastern Europe. The mosaiclike background of lavenders and grays interspersed with warm bursts of pink, orange and yellow encompass the background of the composition, while short and abrupt black contour lines form the “figure” of flattened squares and rectangles in the upper center. Having moved to California in 1947 and later returning to New York in the late 1960s, Rothschild's output of the 1950s and early 1960s would become inspired by her time on the West Coast, integrating various shades of color to depict forms with softer, less defined edges as compared to her work from the 1940s.
A detail of the present work.
Coming of age as an artist in New York at the height of Abstract Expressionism, Rothschild studied at the Art Students League with Reginald Marsh, and then with Hans Hofmann in his studio, where she first began to experiment with abstraction. In 1945, she became a member of the Jane Street Gallery, a cooperative in New York’s West Village, alongside Nell Blaine and Larry Rivers, staging her first solo exhibition at the galleryin December of 1945. Remaining an active member of the arts community and an avid collector of works by artists like Mondrian, Picasso and Matisse, Rothschild spent the later part of her life promoting underrepresented artists and their estates. Today, Rothschild’s works are included in the renowned permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C, the Tate Modern, London, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
i Rachel Youens, “Judith Rothschild: Image and Abstraction,” TheBrooklynRail, March–April 2002, online.
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
The Judith Rothschild Foundation
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Knapik Gallery, JudithRothschild:RecentOilsandCollages,April 3–31, 1962
St. Petersburg, The State Russian Museum (pp. 98–100, illustrated); Wuppertal, Germany, The Von der Heydt-Museum (pp. 96–97, illustrated, p. 97), JudithRothschild,June 13, 2002–January 4, 2004
LiteraturLiteraturee
Jack Flam, JudithRothschild:AnArtist’sSearch,New York, 1998, fig. 41, pp. 56–57 (illustrated, p. 57)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Hans Hofmann
Magenta, Yellow and Black
signed and dated "hans hofmann 50" lower right
oil on canvas mounted to panel
42 1/8 x 60 in. (107 x 152.4 cm)
Painted in 1950.
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000
“The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color. Our entire being is nourished by it. This mystic quality of color should likewise find expression in a work of art.” —Hans Hofmann
PrProovvenanceenance
Kootz Gallery, New York (1950)
Fred Olsen, Guilford (acquired in 1950)
Solomon & Co. Fine Art, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1975
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Kootz Gallery, HansHofmann:NewPaintings, October 24–November 13, 1950, no. 2
Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum, AmericanPaintingsandSculpturefromConnecticutCollections, July 24–September 9, 1962
Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum, 20thCenturyPaintingandSculpture,October 28–December 6, 1965, no. 27, n.p.
Washington, D.C., The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution; Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, HansHofmann:ARetrospectiveExhibition,October 14, 1976–April 3, 1977, no. 15, pp. 38, 58 (illustrated, p. 58)
Roslyn Harbor, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, TheLongIslandCollections,ACenturyofArt: 1880–1980,April 20–July 18, 1982, no. 103, p. 73 (illustrated)
New York, James Goodman Gallery, Inc., ReframingtheBrushstroke:KlinetoLichtenstein, HofmanntoDine,November 2–29, 2017
LiteraturLiteraturee
James Fitzsimmons, “Hofmann’s Nature,” TheArtDigest,vol. 25, no. 3, November 1, 1950, p. 17 Betty Holliday, “Reviews and Previews,” ARTnews,vol. 49, no. 3, November 1, 1950, p. 48 Sam Hunter, HansHofmann,New York, 1963, pl. 32, pp. 7, 86 (illustrated, p. 86; erroneously catalogued as oil on plywood)
"Hans Hofmann," ArtinAmerica,January–February, 1974, p. 9 (illustrated)
Suzi Villiger, ed., HansHofmannCatalogueRaisonnéofPaintings,VolumeII:CatalogueEntries P1–P846(1901–1951),London, 2014, no. P790, p. 483 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM TWO NEW YORK COLLECTORS
The Green Day of the Jaguar
signed and dated "© Baber 77" lower left; signed, titled and dated "Alice Baber 1976-77 "The Green Day of The Jaguar"" on the overlap oil on canvas
30 1/8 x 50 in. (76.5 x 127 cm) Painted in 1976–1977.
This work will be included in The Alice Baber Project at www.alicebaber.com.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
“I often paint a painting until it tells me to stop, and sometimes the white ground still shows. In most cases, I try to make the white ground either a pattern, so that it can be both negative and positive space, or if not that, perhaps an atmospheric wind moving the other colors and shapes around.” —Alice Baber
PrProovvenanceenance
A.M. Sachs Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1977
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE MIDWESTERN COLLECTION
Spirits of Wine
titled and dated "SPIRITS OF WINE - (1972 - AUGUST)
SPIRITS OF WINE" on the stretcher
acrylic on canvas
69 5/8 x 43 1/4 in. (176.8 x 109.9 cm)
Painted in 1972.
EstimateEstimate
$1,200,000 — 1,800,000
“A line, color, shapes, spaces, all do one thing for and within themselves, and yet do something else, in relation to everything that is going on within the four sides [of the canvas]. A line is a line, but [also] is a color... It does this here, but that there. The canvas surface is flat and yet the space extends for miles. What a lie, what trickery—how beautiful is the very idea of painting.” —Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler’s SpiritsofWine, 1972, depicts a delicate array of color, line and space. Vibrant greens border the edges of the almost six-foot-tall canvas, giving way to an orange field which flanks the pink central passage, creating an almost canyon-like effect within an otherwise abstract composition. Encapsulating a synergy of Abstract Expressionism, Color Field Painting and Minimalism, SpiritsofWineis an exceptional example of Frankenthaler’s famed soak-stain technique. The work has remained in the same collection since 1975 and hasn’t been seen in the public since the 1976 AmericaNowexhibition at The Minneapolis Institute of Art.
CColorolor
Created at a key juncture in her practice, SpiritsofWineopts for diluted acrylic paint over the artist’s previously used thinned oil paint. This departure allowed for her compositions to breathe beneath the painted surfaces and leant themselves to her pioneering soak-stained technique. Likely originating from a childhood habit of pouring her mother’s red nail polish into a bathroom sink filled with cold water and watching the polish disperse to create abstracted forms, Frankenthaler’s soak-stain technique was first seen in her 1952 masterpiece, MountainsandSea, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.i Challenging the methods of her Abstract Expressionist forebearers, Frankenthaler used thin applications of vast pools of paint, which embraced the canvas, rather than hiding it behind layers of thick impasto. Even through the layering of her stained veils of paint, the viewer can see the intricate weave of the canvas itself, creating an airy, almost ethereal quality to the painting. Though she was not the first artist to dilute her paints –artists such as Paul Cézanne, Wassily Kandinsky and Arshile Gorky had been using this technique in their respective practices decades prior – Frankenthaler would become a pioneer of the soakstain method, influencing artists like Jules Olitski, Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland.
LineLine Using orange and bright white thin lines to draw the viewer’s eyes down, the composition encourages the viewer to take in the painting in its entirety. The present work explores the combination of drawing and painting, used as a means to amplify her soak-stained paintings. Blurring the lines between the two mediums, Frankenthaler’s practice during this time “modulated, monochromatic fields of color with irregularly shaped fissures or crevices of bare canvas, around which the filaments of drawing are clustered and within which, at times, notations of other colors appear. The format of these pictures recalls Clyfford Still and allows of a Still-like sense of color zones spreading organically toward each other across the flat surface. But the abrupt accents of drawing pull and pin back the opposing tides, reversing their movement while producing the illusion of paper-like thinness in the color itself.”ii In SpiritsofWine, the lines are less overt, but the effect of this mark-making style is still subtly evident. This constant, selfreferential reimagining of her own techniques persisted throughout the entirety of the artist’s practice.
The artist in her East 83rd Street studio, with the present work (right). Artwork: © 2024 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkHelen Frankenthaler, Barbizon, 1971, Private Collection.Artwork: © 2024 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Right: Clyfford Still, PH-571(1951-N), 1951, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection, Gift in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1989.87.1, Artwork: © 2024 City & County of Denver, Courtesy Clyfford Still Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
“No longer are corners and edges ignored. But since image and painting surface are coextensive now – unrolling horizontally out from the center – the corners and edges are less boundaries than before. They had previously been neutralized by being ignored. Now, they are expanded.” —John Elderfield
SpaceSpace
In layering colors and forms atop one another, Frankenthaler was constantly exploring the notion of space, a preoccupation which is very evident in the present work. The rendering of a seemingly infinite space within SpiritsofWineis even more astonishing considering the flat, unprimed canvas ground which serves as its foundation. Allowing the paint to sit on the surface and fully soak into the canvas, Frankenthaler gives life to the otherwise flat surface through the depth and intensity of
the colors she uses. The arrangement of color appears as if spilt wine, deeper in the center and growing evermore translucent working outwards, adding a sense of three-dimensionality to the work that is unique to her compositions.
FromtheLakeNo.3, 1924, Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Art,
While entirely abstract, Frankenthaler’s paintings do seem to reference landscapes and figures in interesting ways. The present work is an almost bodily representation of a landscape. The curvy
Left: Georgia O’Keeffe, Museum of Art.Image: Museum of Bequest of Georgia O'Keeffe for the Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1987, Artwork: © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkFrankenthaler
outlines of the green frame the pink center which resemblea deep canyon, or perhaps the inner anatomy of a figure. This is reminiscent of the dual-meaning landscapes of Georgia O’Keeffe, whose iconic paintings often disguise references to female anatomy in pastel landscapes. Spiritsof Winetransports the viewers to an undescribed place, allowing them to create their own interpretations of the painting. Frankenthaler herself noted, “There is no ‘always.’ No formula. There are no rules. Let the picture lead you where it must go.”iii
iAlex Greenberger, “Helen Frankenthaler’s Liberated Abstractions Charted a New Path for Painting,” ArtinAmerica,March 12, 2021, online
iiJohn Elderfield, Frankenthaler, New York, 1987, n.p.
iiiHelen Frankenthaler, quoted in Ted Loos, ”ART/ARCHITECTURE; Helen Frankenthaler, Back to the Future,” NewYorkTimes, April 27, 2003, online
PrProovvenanceenance
André Emmerich Gallery, New York
Locksley Shea Gallery, Minneapolis Private Collection (acquired from the above in 1975) Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
The Minneapolis Institute of Art, AmericaNow,February 28–May 2, 1976
LiteraturLiteraturee
LineintoColor,ColorintoLine:HelenFrankenthaler,Paintings,1962–1987,exh. cat., Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills, 2016, p. 48 (illustrated in a preliminary state in the artist's studio, frontispiece and p. 48)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED EUROPEAN COLLECTION
Hollow Men Series
incised with the artist's initials “RM” upper left; signed, titled and dated “R. Motherwell “Hollow Men Series” 1989” on the reverse acrylic and charcoal on canvas 60 x 96 in. (152.4 x 243.8 cm) Executed in 1989.
EstimateEstimate
$600,000 — 800,000
Created just two years before the artist’s death, Robert Motherwell’s large scale HollowMen Series, 1989, is a testament to his painterly practice and deep connections to the tumultuous world around him. Inspired by a 1977 drawing and created in the last 8 years of his life, the approximately 33 works bearing the HollowMentitle represent an amalgamation of techniques, forms and colors that were developed throughout the artist’s life. Building upon his already iconic pictorial vocabulary, the present work takes the themes of life and death which pervaded Motherwell one step further.
“After a period of painting [the Elegies], I discovered Black as one of my subjects –and with black, the contrasting white, a sense of life and death which to me is quite Spanish. They are essentially the Spanish black of death contrasted with the dazzle of Matisse-like sunlight.” —Robert Motherwell
Originally created as a response to the Spanish Civil War, Motherwell’s renowned Elegiesserve as a precursor to the present work, icons of a deeply political investigation into the interrelation between life and death. The Elegiesserve as memorials to the human loss and suffering that was felt throughout Europe in the 1940s and beyond. Rendered in starkly contrasting blacks and whites, the abstracted forms in these works allow Motherwell the freedom to relate them to any given moment each time they are repeated.
Robert Motherwell, ReconciliationElegy, 1978, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of the Collectors Committee, 1978.20.1, Artwork: © 2024 Dedalus Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
The title of the present work is a reference to the groundbreaking 1925 poem by T. S. Eliot, one which grapples with the ideas of hopelessness, religious conversion and redemption; themes that were ever present in post-World War I Europe. Following the journey of “violent souls,” the poem refers to men who are indeed hollow – broken and without a soul or sense of purpose. Relating the meaning of the poem almost immediately to his interpretations of the aftermath of war
throughout the world in the twentieth century, Motherwell imbues a deeper literary meaning to the notions of grief and mourning in HollowMenSeries. Interpretting Eliot’s work as a true testament to the culture and feelings of post-war Europe, Motherwell returned to the poet’s words towards the end of his life, repeating HollowMenin the titles of a number of works from his final decade.
“Those who have crossed With direct eyes to death’s other Kingdom Remember us – if at all – not as lost 15 Violent souls, but only As the hollow men The stuffed men.”
—The Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot (1925)
Composed of three similar ovoid forms as in the Elegies, the present work substitutes a deep amber pigment for the central black forms. Asymmetrically framed by bands of a brighter, golden orange in the upper right and lower left margins, the three figures are almost connected to one another. In this way, HollowMenSeries“retains an echo of the Elegyformat in its sweep of ovals. The skeletal forms of the painting are drawn in graphite and charcoal on a rich luminous ground of ochre.”i Further adding to the “hollow” feeling of the figures is their washy amber hue – allowing the viewer to practically see through them onto the lighter ground of the canvas.
One of the last great works to be created before Motherwell’s passing in 1991, HollowMenSeries represents, as noted by art historian David Anfam, “Motherwell’s foremost signature idiom, which was as original and archetypal in its own right as Mark Rothko’s tiered rectangles, Barnett Newman’s vertical “zips,” Franz Kline’s monochromatic dramas, or Pollock’s poured skeins of pigment.”ii These signature figures recall a Surrealist tendency that is at the heart of the artist’s practice, creating a dialogue between artistic styles that merge to embody a common feeling –grief.
A detail of the present work.[Left] Mark Rothko, No.17, 1958, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund), 2014.136.99, Artwork: © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York[Right] Barnett Newman, EighthStation, 1964, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C, Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection, 1986.65.8, Artwork: © 2024 Barnett Newman Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
i Tim Clifford, RobertMotherwell:100Years, Skira, 2015, p. 295.
ii David Anfam, RobertMotherwell:ElegytotheSpanishRepublic, exh. cat., Dominique Lévy, New York, 2015, p.15.
LiteraturLiteraturee
Jack Flam, Katy Rogers, and Tim Clifford, eds., RobertMotherwell:PaintingsandCollages,A CatalogueRaisonné,1941–1991,VolumeTwo,PaintingsonCanvasandPanel,New Haven, 2012, no. P1167, p. 557 (illustrated)
Daniel Creahan, "New York - Robert Motherwell: "Elegy to the Spanish Republic" At Dominique Lévy Through January 9th, 2015," ArtObserved,January 7, 2016, online (illustrated)
PrProovvenanceenance
Dedalus Foundation (acquired in 1991)
Miles McEnery Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Dominique Lévy, RobertMotherwell:ElegytotheSpanishRepublic,November 4, 2015–January 9, 2016, pp. 16, 116 (illustrated, p. 16)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE MIDWESTERN COLLECTION
Zen IV
incised with the artist's initials and date "RM 72" lower right
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
32 x 32 in. (81.3 x 81.3 cm) Executed in 1972.
EstimateEstimate
$120,000 — 180,000
Go to LotDistinguished by the synthesis of color and gesture, the Zenpaintings by Robert Motherwell, like ZenIV, 1972, symbolize the preoccupation with Japanese philosophy that informs a small, discrete series within Motherwell’s signature Opens. First exploring the notion of Zen in the mid-1940s, Motherwell did not relate these ideas to his works until the 1960s with his LyricSuiteand Open series. Returning to the concept in the 1970s and 1980s, Motherwell created the Zenseries, a discrete group of 6 paintings created during 1972 to which the present work belongs. Part of the Openseries, these works incorporate a painterly style which is inspired directly by the tenets of Japanese painting, mirroring ink-on-paper paintings from the 17th century while infusing them with an Abstract Expressionist, gestural twist.
Interested in the “gesture of the metaphysical void” in Eastern philosophy, Motherwell’s works reflect influence from philosophical movements, particularly Japanese Zen, of which the present work takes its name.i The careful yet swift brushstrokes of the central forms are rendered like Japanese characters on a page, focusing on the ways in which “…line and color work in opposition to each other - the intellect responding to the line and the emotions to color.”ii Using these gestural brushstrokes to represent a pseudo-landscape, Motherwell explores the notions of light and dark within ZenIV.Manipulating the flatness of the canvas with these contrasting dark forms, Motherwell depicts what looks like a void, desolate landscape, an idea pioneered by his Surrealist predecessors. Exploring the juxtapositions of cool and warm, or light and dark, Motherwell creates an otherworldly effect in which gesture and paint interact to become one cohesive form.
Created between 1968 and 1974, the Openseries culminates Motherwell’s most prolific bodyof work. Composed of canvases of different sizes, the series, as noted by the artist, “began as a door [but was] ultimately reversed into a window.”iii Motherwell’s fascination with the window as a symbol serves as the foundation for the series, intrigued by the possibilities of looking out from within that could be created through paint. Utilizing this notion in ZenIV, Motherwell depicts the window or door in three lines at the center of the composition, beckoning one into the space, despite its surface being entirely flat. Indeed, Motherwell leaves his work open - to the past, the future, and one another.
Yves Tanguy, TheLookofAmber, 1929, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Chester Dale Fund, 1984.75.1, Artwork: © The Estate of Yves Tanguy / Artists Rights Society, NY / ADAGP, ParisRobert Motherwell
i Robert S. Mattison, “Robert Motherwell’s Opensin Context” 2009, p. 15
ii Ibid. p. 14
iii Robert Motherwell, “Statement of the Open Series” [1969], in Dosh Ashton, ed., TheWritingsof RobertMotherwell,Berkeley, 2007, p. 244.
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection (acquired in 1972)
Private Collection (acquired from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Jack Flam, Katy Rogers and Tim Clifford, eds., RobertMotherwell:PaintingsandCollages,A CatalogueRaisonné,1941–1991,VolumeTwo,PaintingsonCanvasandPanel,New Haven, 2012, no. P700, p. 354 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled (VSF 347)
partially titled "VSF 347" on the reverse; stamped twice with the Estate of Vivian Springford stamp on the reverse and once on the overlap acrylic on canvas
89 1/2 x 88 1/2 in. (227.3 x 224.8 cm)
Painted circa 1975.
EstimateEstimate
$70,000 — 100,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
Private Collection (acquired from the above)
Christie's, New York, December 3, 2020, lot 237
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Helen Frankenthaler
Untitled
signed and dated "frankenthaler July 20 '69" lower right
acrylic on unstretched canvas
12 1/4 x 4 in. (31.1 x 10.2 cm)
Painted in 1969.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Andrew Heiskell (gifted by the artist) Doyle, New York, November 6, 2019, lot 2021
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Joan Mitchell
Untitled
oil on canvas, diptych
left 13 1/8 x 9 1/2 in. (33.3 x 24.1 cm)
right 13 1/8 x 8 3/4 in. (33.3 x 22.2 cm)
overall 13 1/8 x 18 3/8 in. (33.3 x 46.7 cm)
Painted circa 1975.
EstimateEstimate
$350,000 — 550,000
While intimately scaled, Joan Mitchell’s Untitled,circa 1975, presents the artist’s monumental mastery of color and gesture. At first viewed as spontaneous and randomly placed, each gestural brushstroke is deliberate, providing a careful examination into the painting process which would come to define Mitchell’s late career. Energetic in its composition, Untitledwas painted the year following the artist’s groundbreaking exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. The painting was gifted originally to Dr. André Légaré in Montreal—a friend of Mitchell and her long-time partner Jean-Paul Riopelle, whom she separated from in 1979. During this period Mitchell gifted many small paintings to fellow friends and artists, often referred to by her as “suitcase” paintings, as they were small enough to carry.
“I paint from remembered landscapes that I carry with me - and remembered feelings of them, which of course become transformed. I could certainly never mirror nature. I would like more to paint what it leaves me with.” —Joan Mitchell
Moving to Vétheuil, France in 1967, Mitchell would live and work in the French countryside until her death in 1992. Living near Giverny, the village which inspired many of Claude Monet’s greatest compositions, Mitchell became fascinated with her surroundings, using the natural landscape to inform her abstract practice. Never trying to render a landscape exactly as it appears, the artist instead sought to capture the essence of her settings, creating “remembered landscapes” which would flood her oeuvre from this period. Untitledis one such painting, hinting at the landscape through the jewel-toned shades of green, blue, and black splashed across the canvas. Richer, more heavily impastoed strokes occupy the lower margin of the composition, seeming to refer to the ground. Moving upwards, the pigment becomes less densely applied, alluding to the air or sky as in a traditional landscape.
The expansiveness of the French countryside around her saw Mitchell’s works play out across multiple surfaces, including diptychs, like the present work, triptychs, and polyptychs. This experimentation into the multiplicity of canvases gave way to a dialogue between movement and pigment which would persist throughout the remainder of her practice. Here, the brushstrokes spread evenly across both canvases, not stopping at the junction between the two and moving fluidly between each. As if extending past the edges of the painting, it seems as if the brushstrokes have no end. They seem to go on infinitely, well beyond the intimately sized composition, suggesting that the landscape continues on with no bounds. Indeed, Untitledsuggests that its owner can carry Mitchell’s infinite, remembered landscapes with them for eternity, as the artist had intended.
“I carry my landscapes with me.” —Joan MitchellClaude Monet, BanksoftheSeine,Vétheuil, 1880, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.177
PrProovvenanceenance
The Artist
Dr. André Legaré, Montreal (gifted by the artist)
René Detroye Fine Art, Montreal
Miriam Shiell Fine Art, Toronto (acquired circa 1999)
William McWillie Chambers III, Catskill, New York (acquired from the above in 2000)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Norman Lewis
Untitled
oil on canvas
34 5/8 x 17 3/4 in. (87.9 x 45.1 cm)
Painted circa 1961.
EstimateEstimate
$80,000 — 120,000
Norman Lewis
PrProovvenanceenance
The Artist
The Estate of Norman Lewis
Acquired from the above by the present owner before 2005
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Bill Hodges Gallery, NormanLewis&RichardHunt, September 7, 2023–March 23, 2024
Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Black and White #7
signed "Alston" upper right oil on canvas
45 x 54 in. (114.3 x 137.2 cm) Painted in 1961.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 200,000
Go to LotRendered in swirling shades of black and white, Charles Alston’s BlackandWhite#7, 1961, showcases Alston’s signature mode of gestural abstraction. Inspired by the social justice murals of José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera, and having gotten his start as one of the only African American supervisors of a WPA project at Harlem Hospital in the 1930s, Alston was deeply rooted in the Civil Rights Movement, exploring themes of inequality and race relations in a variety of ways throughout his works.One of a series of eight paintings created between 1959 and 1961, the present work has been exhibited in numerous major exhibitions, the first of which was the historic, first and only documented show put on by the Spiral group in May 1964. One of the first Black artists to have work exhibited in The Museum of Modern Art, New York,Alston has works today in the prominent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., and the Detroit Institute of Art.
“I don’t think the standards are black, white, green or whatnot. The thing that makes an African mask great is the thing that makes a great painting by Rembrandt great, really essentially, you know?” —Charles Alston
Born in Charlotte and educated at Columbia University, Alston formed Spiral with artists such as Hale Woodruff, Norman Lewis, and his cousin Romare Bearden. Their aim was simple: to form a collective for African American artists to discuss the Civil Rights Movement and how they fit in as artists to the shifting political and cultural landscape of mid-century America. Described by Bearden, Alston was “one of the most versatile artists whose enormous skill led him to a diversity of styles… and a voice in the development of African American art who never doubted the excellence of all people's sensitivity and creative ability. During his long professional career, Alston significantly enriched the cultural life of Harlem. In a profound sense, he was a man who built bridges between Black artists in varying fields, and between other Americans.”i For the collective’s single documented show at the Christopher Street Gallery in New York in 1964, in which the present work was included, there was just one guiding principle: submitted works were restricted to a palette of black and white.
Using a muted, color-blind palette with limited tones of blacks, whites and grays, BlackandWhite #7, likemany of Alston’s works, is racially charged, intended to provide a social commentary on the tumultuous moment in which he lived. Hinting at the tension of 1960s America, the black and white tones of the present work struggle around one another, twisting to get out of the other’s reach. Blurring the ends of each hue, each color melts into one another, lacking a distinction between beginning and end. As such, BlackandWhite#7transposes the inner turmoil felt by Alston and other African Americans during this period onto the canvas, creating a painting which is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s.
i Romare Bearden, quoted in Pierce Lemoine, “Charles Alston – An Appreciation,” The InternationalReviewofAfricanAmericanArt,Santa Monica, 2004, pp. 33–38.
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Christopher Street Gallery, Spiral,FirstGroupShowing,May 14–June 4, 1964
New York, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, AfricanAmericanArt:20thCenturyMasterworks,November 18, 1993–February 12, 1994, p. 32
New York, Brooklyn Museum; Hanover, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College; Austin, The Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Witness:ArtandCivilRightsinthe Sixties,March 7, 2014–May 10, 2015, fig. 4, pp. 13, 16–17, 141 (illustrated, p. 16)
Detroit Institute of Arts, ArtofRebellion:BlackArtoftheCivilRightsMovement,July 23–October 22, 2017, pp. 33, 71 (illustrated, p. 33)
San Francisco, de Young Museum; Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, SoulofaNation:ArtintheAge ofBlackPower,1963–1983,November 9, 2019–August 30, 2020
LiteraturLiteraturee
Martha Schwendener, “Spiral and the ‘60s,” VillageVoice,July 27, 2011, online
Paul Mullan, “Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties,” RedWedgeMagazine,April 24, 2015, online (illustrated)
Valerie J. Mercer, "Art of Rebellion: Black Art of the Civil Rights Movement," CAAReviews,October 10, 2018, online
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A PROMINENT PRIVATE COLLECTION
Human Celebration signed "ERNIE BARNES" lower right acrylic on canvas 24 1/8 x 35 7/8 in. (61.3 x 91.1 cm)
Painted circa 1960s.
HumanCelebrationis included in the forthcoming Ernie Barnes Catalogue Raisonné. We thank Luz Rodriguez for her assistance in cataloguing this work.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 250,000
In Ernie Barnes’ HumanCelebration, an early career work executed in the 1960s, we find ourselves witness to a festivity of thirteen revelers movingin joyous rhythm – their eyes closed, heads thrown back, and mouths open, the group shares in the propulsive beat ofunheard melodies. Painted in rich earthy tones with pops of reds, blues and yellows, HumanCelebrationgives visual testimony to Barnes’ talent for depicting pure, physical, and primal pleasure of dance. Dance halls are one of Barnes' most well-known subjects, and HumanCelebrationelevates this scene to new heights as it concentrates onthe beauty of the human figure through an energetic display of movement.
The figures in HumanCelebrationappear to be rejoicing in their bodies – relishing the very human abilities to sing, dance, and express emotions freely. Whether we look to the woman in a red dress, knees bent in a spirited dance move, or the man perched upon a tabletop, crooning into a microphone, each expressive figure in HumanCelebrationtranscends beyond the static canvas and reaches the epitome of jubilation.
“Being an athlete helped me to formulate an analysis of movement. Movement is what I wanted to capture on canvas more than anything else. I can’t stand a static canvas.” —Ernie Barnes
Barnes’ depictions of dance halls were inspired by his childhood memory of sneaking into a local Black dance club, the Armory, in segregated North Carolina - experiencing what Barnes called the "sins of dance" for the first time.i His dance halls are most famously seen in TheSugarShack, 1976, which was both selected as the cover art forMarvin Gaye’s album from the same year, “I Want You,” and used in the end credits of the groundbreaking sitcom “Good Times.” HumanCelebration captures the same dynamism and sense of soulthat makes TheSugarShackso iconic. As Barnes has described, “The painting transmits rhythm, so the experience is re-created in the person viewing it.”ii The rhythm of HumanCelebrationcan still be felt some sixty years later, inviting the viewer to partake in the festivity as well.
Barnesplayed five seasons in the American Football League before concentrating on painting fulltime from the mid-1960s onward and the ways in which his practice is deeply informed by his athletic background is visible in his use of sinuous figuresand elongated limbs. Rendered in his signature neo-Mannerist style, and drawingupon his firsthand understanding of how the body moves and operates, we see in Barnes’ work echoes of El Greco’s elongated twisted forms, and Thomas Hart Benton’s scenes of everyday life in the United States. Barnes’ sculpted, fluid figures and fascination with familiar American settings such as the football field, pool table, or dance hall, make his works ever relevant and compelling.
i “Ernie Barnes Interview,” SoulMuseum, date accessed April 4, 2024, online.
ii Ibid.
El Greco, ChristCleaningtheTemple, before 1570, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.4PrProovvenanceenance
Stephen Blauner (acquired circa 1960s)
Shirley & Herb Ritts, Los Angeles (acquired from the above in 1967) Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2008
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
Three works: (i-iii) Bobby Short each stamped twice by the Estate of Andy Warhol and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., New York, initialed and numbered “VF [PA55.023, PA55.026, PA55.029]” on the overlap silkscreen and acrylic on linen each 20 1/8 x 15 7/8 in. (51.1 x 40.3 cm) Executed in 1963.
EstimateEstimate $600,000 — 800,000
Rendered in varied shades of cerulean blue and phthalo green, Andy Warhol’s three canvases of cabaret singer Bobby Short from 1963 aptly capture the larger-than-life personality of the sitter. Energetic and animated, Short’s big smile jumps off the canvases, creating almost threedimensional renderings of the figure, amplified by Warhol’s signature silkscreen technique. Using photobooth pictures as inspiration for the paintings, Warhol painted only nine canvases of Short –none of which were exhibited during the artist’s lifetime. Short himself only found out about the works following Warhol’s death in 1987, when the paintings were discovered in the artist’s studio. Today, four of the nine paintings as well as the original photobooth strip are held in the permanent collection of the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Created during the most important decade in Warhol’s career, the BobbyShortpaintings provide a rare glimpse into Warhol’s early portraiture practice which would kickstart his illustrious and prolific career.
The 1960s represented a transitional period for Warhol, experimenting with the media which he used as a basis for his silkscreens. Transitioning away from the 35-mm still camera and found imagery that was used in the Elvis,Marilyn,and DeathandDisasterseries, Warhol began to experiment with his own source imagery. Using photobooth strips between 1963 to 1966, Warhol usedthis new media to take improvised pictures of his sitters, creating enigmatic, ephemeral portraits that capture the essence of the subject. His own photography would dominate his artistic production during the decade, leading ultimately to his use of the Polaroid camera in his later silkscreens.
studies of
A cabaret singer at the famous Café Carlyle in The Carlyle Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side for nearly 50 years, Bobby Short (1924–2005) was a symbol of civilized New York culture at the dawn of the second half of the century. With an audience including royalty, movie stars, presidents, and socialites, Short and his glamorous Upper Manhattan social circle stood in stark contrast to Warhol’s downtown scene. Like Warhol, however, Short was also a closeted gay man and a fixture in New York’s queer social circles. Short has said that he remembers Warhol making a drawing of him with his feet propped up against a piano, and also the photobooth session which inspired the present works. In the photobooth strip, Warhol himself appears in the first shot. The informality of such “sessions” and the resulting portraits of the singer show Short in a different light than in his
Photobooth Bobby Short with Andy Warhol, 1963. Image/Artwork: © 2024 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Yorkperformative, uptown world.
Memorializing Short and his other portrait subjects in his signature silkscreens, Warhol interrogates the notion of celebrity. By transforming ephemeral images such as photobooth strips and Polaroids into portraits of famous figures, Warhol comments on the impermanence of fame. The discovery of the photobooth in particular was apt for Warhol, given that the images were produced by a coin-operated machine which anyone can access. Perhaps it was the massproductive aspect of the photobooth which drew Warhol in, and yet, despite the machinegenerated imagery, Warhol’s resulting portraits were each unique. The silkscreen process employed back in the studio, which Warhol only pioneered a year before in 1962, offered a contrast to the expressive painterly style of the historic portraiture tradition. With Warhol’s method, the hand of the artist is virtually eliminated. While it would seem that this process would render the image impersonal and unemotional, portraits like BobbyShort, which capture candid, casual moments, uniquely allow for the personality of the sitter to shine through, creating a livelier and more engaging portrait.
Unposed, Short’s images are more approachable as compared to the traditional portraits of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Here, Short is depicted with uninhibited emotion, raw and genuine. This is heightened by Warhol’s use of pure, vibrant color for the backgrounds, situating the works distinctly in the Pop era. In subverting the traditions of portraiture and presenting a more realistic interpretation of their subject, the present works mirror the depiction of personality for which artists such as Rembrandt are so well known. Indeed, BobbyShortreflects an almost reverent attention paid by Warhol to the sitter, offering an intimate glimpse into the relationship between artist and subject, which has cemented Warhol as the most important portrait painter of the 20th century.
Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait, 1659, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.72PrProovvenanceenance
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., New York Lang Fine Art and Jane Holzer
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, AndyWarhol,Portraits,May 12–October 1, 2005
LiteraturLiteraturee
Georg Frei and Neil Printz, eds., TheAndyWarholCatalogueRaisonné.PaintingsandSculpture 1961–1963,vol. 1, London, 2002, no. 482, pp. 423, 425 (illustrated, p. 423); no. 484, pp. 424–425 (illustrated, p. 424); no. 485, pp. 424–425 (illustrated, p. 424)
Steven Bluttal and Dave Hickey, AndyWarhol“Giant”Size, London, 2006, pp. 262, 615 (nos. PA 55.026 and PA 55.029 illustrated, p. 262)
Tony Shafrazi, ed., AndyWarholPortraits,New York, 2007, pp. 38, 305 (illustrated, p. 38)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE OVER HOLLAND COLLECTION
signed and dated "SAUL 2001" lower right acrylic on canvas
78 x 60 in. (198.1 x 152.4 cm)
Painted in 2001.
Please note that lot 223 is a study for this painting.
EstimateEstimate
$120,000 — 180,000
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, EyeInfection,November 3, 2001–January 20, 2002, p. 159 (illustrated)
The present work included on a banner for EyeInfection, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 2001. Lot 223, the study for the painting. PrProovvenanceenanceLiteraturLiteraturee
L-S Torgoff, "Saul's Stupid Painting," artpress,vol. 275, January 2002, p. 28 (illustrated) Robert Storr and Mike Kelley, "Obscured Visions: "Eye Infection,"" Artforum,vol. 40, no. 7, March 2002, p. 117 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Fritz Scholder (Luiseño)
Super Kachina
signed "Scholder" lower left; titled and dated "-SUPER KACHINA-1976-" on the overlap
acrylic on canvas
80 x 68 in. (203.2 x 172.7 cm)
Painted in 1976.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 200,000
Go to LotFritz Scholder’s SuperKachina, 1976 combines the influences of Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism while depicting a distinctly Native American subject—the spiritual being of a “kachina.” While consistently referencing Native American images and themes throughout his practice, Scholder deviated from the romanticized clichés of Native and Southwestern imagery, elevating the status of Native Americans in art in the present work. Though enrolled in the Luiseño tribe, concentrated in southern California, the artist considered himself to be equal parts German, French and Luiseño, a combination which gave him an interesting perspective that set him apart from other American painters.
Taught by renowned Sioux artist Oscar Howe in high school, Scholder moved to Sacramento in 1957 to study with leading Bay Area Figurative artist, Wayne Thiebaud. After exceptional reviews of his first two solo exhibitions at Thiebaud’s cooperative gallery and the Crocker Art Museum, both in Sacramento, Scholder was invited to participate in the Rockefeller Indian Arts Projects at the University of Arizona, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in 1964. After accepting a teaching position at the Institute of American IndianArts in Santa Fe the same year, Scholder developed his signature painting style, which focused on reconstructing the narrative surrounding Native American bodies and voices. Today, his works are in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Scholder’s work was recently the subject of a two-venue retrospective held by the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., and the National Museum of the American Indian’s George Gustav Heye Center, New York, reflecting an increased visibility of Native American artists and exhibitions by major museum collections in recent years.
“I’m interested in someone reacting to the work. And I don’t much care if they react negatively or positively, as long as they react. I felt it to be a compliment when I was told that I had destroyed the traditional style of Indian art.” —Fritz Scholder
Imbuing his work with his unique perspective, Scholder was interested in exposing the realistic side of Native American life and death. In his paintings, he explored issues such as alcoholism, unemployment, cultural clashes and spirituality. As noted by the artist, “what I’ve always tried to do... is knock down this great national guilt.”i Indeed, in creating images that exaggerate typical depictions of Native Americans, SuperKachinaelevates quintessential Native American imagery on a grand, portrait scale. The present work represents a kachina – a spiritual being in Native American culture that can be embodied through a doll, or a performer in a decorative mask. To signify the importance of the symbol within Native American life, Scholder presents the kachina on a large scale, measuring over seven feet tall, engulfing viewers and dissolving the mystification of Indigenous ideologies and imagery.
In addition to the influences from his Luiseño background, Scholder also paid homage to his art historical predecessors throughout his work. The bright yellow background of SuperKachina imbues a distinct Pop sensibility, while the hurried brushstrokes of the kachina’s clothes and features recall the gestural tendencies of the Abstract Expressionist movement. In addition to Thiebaud, Scholder also found influence in the art of Francis Bacon, whose Surrealist distortions of figures encouraged Scholder to experiment with form and composition. As such, Scholder’s work escapes the narrow categorization of his art as simply Native American, breaking the boundaries of typical indigenous art and adding a fresh perspective to the genre.
Francis Bacon, Untitled(Head),1948, Private Collection.Artwork: © The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved / DACS, London / ARS, NY 2024Fritz Scholder (Luiseño)
iFritz Scholder, quoted in Paul Karlstrom, “Oral history interview with Fritz Scholder, 1995 March 3–30,” SmithsonianArchivesofAmericanArt, March 3–30, 1995, online
PrProovvenanceenance
Elaine Horwitch Galleries, Scottsdale Private Collection, Wyoming
Santa Fe Art Auction, November 13, 2004, lot 87 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Boise Gallery of Art, FritzScholder:PaintingsandPrints,1966–1978,April 8–May 6, 1979
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Skull
stamped by the Estate of Andy Warhol and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., initialed and numbered "VF 86.008" on the reverse graphite on paper
20 1/2 x 28 in. (52.1 x 71.1 cm)
Executed circa 1978.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of Andy Warhol, New York
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., New York
Private Collection
Sotheby's, New York, May 14, 2003, lot 258
Private Collection
Christie's, New York, March 5, 2020, lot 20
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled
signed and dated "Jean-Michel Basquiat 87" on the reverse oilstick on paper
16 1/8 x 13 7/8 in. (41 x 35.2 cm)
Executed in 1987, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Authentication Committee of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
EstimateEstimate
$180,000 — 250,000
Jean-Michel Basquiat
“I get my facts from books, stuff on atomizers, the blues, ethyl alcohol, geese in Egyptian glyphs, […] I don’t take credit for my facts. The facts exist without me.”
—Jean-Michel BasquiatPrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection (acquired directly from the artist)
Christie’s, London, October 15, 2011, lot 259
Private Collection
Phillips, New York, September 19, 2013, lot 43
Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Paris, Cahiers d’Art, Jean-MichelBasquiat&A.R.Penck,April 6–May 27, 2023
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled
signed, dedicated and dated "K. Haring AUG. 25 88 ⨁
For Dennis" lower right sumi ink on paper
29 x 40 1/8 in. (73.7 x 101.9 cm)
Executed in 1988.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 200,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Dennis Hopper (gifted by the artist)
Christie's, New York, November 11, 2010, lot 327
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Yayoi Kusama
Butterfly
signed, titled and dated "yayoi kusama 1990 Butterfly [in Japanese]" on the reverse acrylic on canvas
6 1/4 x 8 7/8 in. (15.9 x 22.5 cm)
Painted in 1990, this work is accompanied by a registration card issued by Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.
EstimateEstimate
$200,000 — 300,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Collection Art Office Mori, Japan
Mallet, Japan, February 18, 2016, lot 160
Whitestone Gallery, Hong Kong (acquired at the above sale)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Zurich, Galerie von Vertes, YayoiKusama:InsideOut, October 27–December 15, 2022, n.p. (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
On Kawara
NOV. 8, 1977 (from Today Series, no. 23)
signed "On Kawara" on the reverse liquitex on canvas with newspaper clipping in artist's box
8 1/8 x 10 1/4 in. (20.6 x 26 cm)
Executed on November 8, 1977.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 200,000
“Despite the fact that paintings of dates necessarily resemble each other, no combination of numerical or letter forms can ever be identical with another. Letters and numbers, which may be perceived as independent objects, allow an otherwise immaterial date to assume material form. The date paintings thus succeed in turning abstract, temporal measurement into the concrete reality of painting.” —Anne Rorimer
PrProovvenanceenance
Lisson Gallery, London
Private Collection, Geneva (acquired from the above in 1978)
Private Collection (acquired from the above in 2007)
Sotheby's, New York, November 12, 2009, lot 231 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited London, Lisson Gallery, OnKawara:DatePaintings,April 1978
LiteraturLiteraturee
CandidaHöfer,OnKawara:DatePaintingsinPrivateCollections,Cologne, 2009, p. 8 (installation view illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Suddenly Spastic
signed and dated "Ed Ruscha 2015" lower right
dry pigment and acrylic on paper
15 x 22 3/8 in. (38.1 x 56.8 cm)
Executed in 2015.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Gagosian Gallery, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Lisa Turvey, ""Things Fall Apart": Ed Ruscha's Swiped Words," GagosianQuarterly,September 4, 2020, online
Lisa Turvey, EdwardRuschaCatalogueRaisonnéoftheWorksonPaper,VolumeThree:1998–2018, New York, 2023, no. D2015.11, p. 319 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Ed RuschaTREMBLING STALKS OF AQUATIC VEGETATION
signed and dated "Edward Ruscha 1977" on the reverse pastel on paper
23 1/8 x 29 1/8 in. (58.7 x 74 cm)
Executed in 1977.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 200,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection (acquired directly from the artist in 1999)
Sotheby’s, New York, March 6, 2020, lot 17
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Honolulu Academy of Arts, California:3by8Twice,February 3–March 5, 1978
London, Anthony d’Offay Gallery, EdRuscha,June 26–July 27, 1998
Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art; Rome, Museo Nazionale delle Arti dei XXi Secolo, Ed Ruscha,March 18–October 3, 2004
Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, EdRuscha:Paintings,Drawings,Photographs, Books,November 3, 2004–January 16, 2005
LiteraturLiteraturee
Ed Ruscha, TheyCalledHerStyrene,London, 2000, n.p. (illustrated)
Catrìona Black, “Ed Ruscha,” SundayHerald,November 14, 2004, online
Lisa Turvey, ed., EdwardRuscha:CatalogueRaisonnéoftheWorksonPaper,VolumeTwo: 1977–1997,New York, 2018, no. D1977.19, p. 55 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
We're This and We're That Aren't We?
signed and dated "Edward Ruscha 1977" on the reverse
lettuce stain on paper
22 7/8 x 29 in. (58.1 x 73.7 cm)
Executed in 1977.
EstimateEstimate
$180,000 — 250,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Sprüth Magers, Berlin
Galerie Mai 36, Zurich
Galerie Sprüth Magers, Berlin
Mireille Mosler, Ltd., New York
Dickinson Roundell, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Fort Worth Art Museum, EdwardRuscha:RecentDrawings,December 4, 1977–January 22, 1978
Munich, Monika Sprüth Philomene Magers Galerie, EdwardRuscha:GunpowderandStains,May 6–June 17, 2000, pp. 36–37, 60 (illustrated, p. 37)
New York, Dickinson Roundell, Idiosynchromism,March 8–October 14, 2014
LiteraturLiteraturee
Ed Ruscha, ed., GuacamoleAirlinesandOtherDrawingsbyEdwardRuscha,New York, 1980, pl. 77, pp. 87, 96 (illustrated, p. 87)
Ed Ruscha, TheyCalledHerStyrene,London, 2000, n.p. (illustrated)
EdRuscha:Custom-BuiltIntrigue:Drawings1974–1984,exh. cat., Gagosian, New York, 2018, p. 77 (illustrated)
“Ed Ruscha Works on Paper,” GagosianQuarterly,Winter 2018, October 25, 2018, p. 94
Lisa Turvey, EdwardRuschaCatalogueRaisonnéOfTheWorksOnPaper,VolumeTwo:1977–1997, New Haven, 2018, no. D1977.24, p. 58 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Study for Homage to the Square: Oracle signed with the artist's monogram and dated "A61" lower right; signed, titled, variously inscribed and dated "Study for Homage to the Square "Oracle" Albers 1961" on the reverse oil on Masonite 32 x 32 in. (81.3 x 81.3 cm)
Painted in 1961, this work will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné being prepared by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation.
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000
PrProovvenanceenance
The Estate of Josef Albers
The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation (by 1976)
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
Edward Totah Gallery, London
Galerie Arditti, Paris
Private Collection, Palm Beach
Private Collection
Sotheby’s, Paris, June 7, 2016, lot 15
Private Collection, France (acquired at the above sale)
Karl & Faber Kunstauktionen GmbH, Munich, December 9, 2021, lot 332
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts; San Francisco, Museum of Modern Art; Los Angeles, University of Southern California; Berkeley, University of California; Detroit, General Motors Styling Center, InteractionofColor:APresentationofPaintingsandtheColorTheoryofJosefAlbers,June 14, 1963–February 28, 1964
Hartford, Austin Arts Center, Trinity College, TheArtofJosefAlbers,April 19–May 7, 1965, no. 22
London, Waddington Galleries, JosefAlbersPaintings,April 1–May 2, 2009, lot 21, pp. 48–49, 55 (illustrated, p. 49)
Dusseldorf, Galerie Ludorff, JosefAlbers:ColorsinPlay, March 5–May 14, 2022, pp. 44–49 (illustrated, p. 47)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
Untitled
stamped "DON JUDD 7 – 68 10 – R" on the reverse; signed, inscribed and dated "Don Judd 7/68 - #10-R" on the reverse light cadmium red oil on wood 25 x 16 1/8 in. (63.5 x 41 cm)
Painted in 1968.
EstimateEstimate
$80,000 — 120,000
“I like the color and I like the quality of cadmium red light. And then, also, I thought for a color it had the right value for a three-dimensional object. If you paint something black or any dark color, you can’t tell what its edges are like. If you paint it white, it seems small and purist. And the red, other than a gray of that value, seems to be the only color that really makes an object sharp and defines its contours and angles.” —Donald Judd
The reverse of the present work.
PrProovvenanceenance
Roy C. Judd, Excelsior Springs, Missouri (before 1975)
Flavin Starbuck Judd, Marfa (thence by descent from the above)
Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York (before 2006)
Private Collection
Christie's, New York, November 16, 2006, lot 473
Craig F. Starr Gallery, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Private Collection
PaceWildenstein, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Cologne, Galerie Thomas Zander, LewisBaltz/DonaldJudd,September 4–November 7, 2010
New York, Craig F. Starr Gallery, DonaldJudd:CadmiumRed,February 3–March 31, 2012, no. 12, n.p. (illustrated)
MACBA Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires, GeometricObsession:AmericanSchool 1965–2015,October 16, 2015–March 13, 2016, pp. 161, 188 (illustrated, p. 161)
Gagosian, New York, DonaldJudd,May 13–July 14, 2023
LiteraturLiteraturee
Brydon Smith, DonaldJudd:CatalogueRaisonnéofPaintings,ObjectsandWood-Blocks 1960–1974,Ottawa, 1975, no. 349, p. 279
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled
signed and dated "L Benglis 1965" on the reverse purified pigmented beeswax and dammar resin on Masonite
66 x 4 5/8 x 1 3/4 in. (167.6 x 11.7 x 4.4 cm)
Executed in 1965.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
PrProovvenanceenance
David Diao (gifted by the artist in 1969)
Private Collection, Los Angeles (acquired from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled
painted wood, in two parts
80 x 86 x 11 1/2 in. (203.2 x 218.4 x 29.2 cm)
Executed circa 1976–1978.
EstimateEstimate
$80,000 — 120,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
The Pace Gallery, New York
Private Collection
Sotheby’s, New York, May 17, 2019, lot 223
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, The Pace Gallery, LouiseNevelson:Black&White,February 1–March 3, 2018, no. 26, pp. 26–27, 55 (illustrated, p. 27)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled
wool and horsehair
90 x 64 x 5 in. (228.6 x 162.6 x 12.7 cm)
Executed in the 1970s, this work is registered in the artist's archives under reference number OA0109*.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
Exploring the interplays of texture and color, Olga de Amaral’s Untitled, circa 1970s, is an exceptional example of the artist’s signature weaving practice. Born in Bogotá in 1932, de Amaral is deeply influenced by her Colombian culture and identity, using unconventional materials such as wool and horsehair to illustrate depth and space in a non-figurative way. Educated at Cranbrook Academy of the Arts in Michigan, de Amaral studied applied art and textiles, blurring the lines between art and craft with her groundbreaking practice. Representing Colombia in the Venice Biennale in 1986, de Amaral will return to Venice, participating in the 2024 Biennale.
Staging a solo exhibition of her WovenWalls, the series to which Untitledbelongs, at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York in 1970, de Amaral received recognition early on in her career and continues to do so today. In 2019, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art in New York, making her contributions to the art of textiles as evident today as it was in the 1970s. Today, her works are in the prominent public collections of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the de Young Museum, San Francisco. Examples of her WovenWallscan be found at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
“As I build these surfaces, I create spaces of meditation, contemplation and reflection... Tapestry, fibers, strands, units, cords, are all transparent layers with their own meanings, revealing and hiding each other to make one presence, one tone that speaks about the texture of time.” —Olga de Amaral
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection (acquired directly from the artist in the 1970s)
Thence by descent to the present owner
One of her MurosTejidos,or WovenWalls, the present work wraps braided spools of purple thread into a three-dimensional tapestry. Using rods to support the vertical weaves, the work becomes sculptural, challenging the notion of traditional weaving. Against the wall, Untitledbecomes almost architectural, giving the work a sense of depth and structure. Carefully manipulating each thread within the composition, de Amaral creates complex, heavily textured plaits and patterns, allowing the hand of the artist to shine through the tapestry. While creating the WovenWalls, the artist noted, “as I build these surfaces, I create spaces of mediation, contemplation and reflection... Tapestry, fibers, strands, units, cords, all are transparent layers with their own meanings, revealing and hiding each other to make one presence, one tone that speaks about the texture of time.”i
i Olga de Amaral, TheHouseofMyImagination:LecturebyOlgadeAmaralattheMetropolitan MuseumofArt, April 24, 2003, Bogotá, 2003, pp. 6–8.
WWoovvenWenWallsallsModern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Richard Serra
Untitled
paintstick on paper
60 3/4 x 107 in. (154.3 x 271.8 cm)
Executed in 1987.
EstimateEstimate
$400,000 — 700,000
“A drawing which would entirely cover its background would cease to be a drawing.”
—Walter BenjaminFor philosopher Walter Benjamin, the notion of a drawing is entirely defined by the conspicuousness of the background – and Richard Serra’s Untitled, 1987, with its prudently placed margins, seems to abide by these guidelines. At five feet high and almost nine feet in width, Untitledis a behemoth to behold. The use of paintstick is notable; a combination of pigment, linseed oil, and melted wax molded into a large cylindrical stick, the compound medium becomes a draftsman’s tool in Serra’s hand. Oil from the handmade paintstick seeps out along the edges, framing the jet-black surfaces in a tawny border, and creating a transitional space between the heavily impastoed black passages and the small slivers of handmade paper. Originally in the renowned collection of New York-based patron and collector Raymond J. Learsy, this work comes to market just a couple of months after the beloved artist’s passing this March.
As a drawing by a sculptor, one may presume that the present work is intended to perform a task similar to that of one of his steel or lead monumental sculptures. However, Serra’s goal is quite the opposite. He seeks to posit the black shapes as weights in relation to a given architectural volume. For Serra, to cut is to draw a line; to make a distinction. “Which are the cuts that have to be made in order to destabilize the experience of the space?,” Serra asks himself when creating a drawing.i By thoughtfully adjusting factors such as the texture and composition, here seen in the asymmetrical high-low composition from left to right, Serra’s drawings take on an agency of their own.
“The drawings make the viewer aware of his body movement in a gallery or a museum space. They make him aware of the six-sidedness of a room.” —Richard Serra
While a student at Yale, Serra was asked to proof Josef Albers’ book,TheInteractionofColor, which laid out the color principles Albers used to demonstrate the important axioms and rules of color, as well as its effects. Serra’s interest in abstraction and monochromatic art was likely influenced greatly by Albers’ teachings. As Serra once said, “In terms of weight, black is heavier, creates a larger volume, holds itself in a more compressed field.”ii For him, using solely the color black was a way to avoid metaphorical and other associative misreadings. Just like Albers, Serra was not interested in the “paint-allusion gesture.”iii
“The drawing installations do not accept a static definition, do not give over easily to analyses and categorizations; they negate traditional definitions.” —Richard Serra
One of the most significant artists of his generation, Serra has left behind a monumental legacy, both in terms of physicality and sheer volume. Now, Serra’s work is timelier and more resonant than ever. Untitled,a lyrical yet sober example of his seminal paintstick drawings, engulfs and eludes the viewer as his work never fails to do.
Josef Albers, HomagetotheSquare:Precinct, 1951, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY, Artwork: © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
i Hans Janssen, ed., RichardSerra:Drawings/Zeichnungen1969-1990, Benteli, 1990, p. 8.
ii Hans Janssen, RichardSerra:Drawings/Zeichnungen1969-1990, p. 11.
iii Ibid.
PrProovvenanceenance
The Pace Gallery, New York
Raymond J. Learsy, New York Christie's, New York, November 16, 1999, lot 36 Grant Selwyn Gallery, New York Private Collection (acquired from the above) Gifted by the above to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, The Pace Gallery, WallPropsandDrawings,September 25–October 24, 1987 Barcelona, Fundació Joan Miró, ITriennaldeDibiuxJoanMiró,June 15–September 10, 1989, no. 193, p. 98 (illustrated)
LiteraturLiteraturee
Hans Janssen, ed., RichardSerraDrawings,Zeichnungen,1969–1990,Bern, 1991, no. 338, p. 252 (illustrated)
& Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Honey's Drawing
signed and dated "B Marden 84" lower right ink on paper
12 1/4 x 10 in. (31.1 x 25.4 cm)
Executed in 1984.
EstimateEstimate
$30,000 — 40,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of Honey Waldman, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled
signed "a. martin" lower right watercolor, ink and pencil on rice paper image 9 x 9 in. (22.9 x 22.9 cm) sheet 11 x 11 in. (27.9 x 27.9 cm) Executed in 1978.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
Go to LotPrProovvenanceenance
The Pace Gallery, New York Private Collection
The Pace Gallery, New York
Galerie Annemarie Verna, Zurich Private Collection
Christie's, New York, November 7, 2000, lot 443
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Nancy Princenthal, "Agnes Martin L'Oeil Intérieur," ArtPress,vol. 161, October 1991, p. 32 (illustrated)
Tiffany Bell, ed., AgnesMartin:CatalogueRaisonné:WorksonPaper,New York, 2019–ongoing, no. 1978.024 WP, online (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Ife
signed, titled and dated "Clark IFE 1973" lower right; titled and dated "IFE AUG 19 1973" on the reverse pastel and graphite on paper 29 1/2 x 41 1/8 in. (74.9 x 104.5 cm) Executed in August 1973.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Jack Tilton Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2016
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled 26.2.89
signed and dated "Richter 26.2.89" lower left; signed and dated "26.2.89 Richter" on the reverse oil on heavy paper
8 1/4 x 11 3/4 in. (21 x 29.8 cm)
Painted on February 26, 1989.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
“Despite all my technical experience, I can’t always exactly foresee what will happen when I apply or remove large amounts of paint with the scraper. Surprises always emerge, whether disappointing or pleasant, in either case representing changes to the painting—changes that I have to process mentally before I can continue.” —Gerhard Richter
PrProovvenanceenance
James Cohan Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Untitled #21
paintstick on handmade paper
42 3/4 x 30 7/8 in. (108.6 x 78.4 cm)
Executed in 2011.
EstimateEstimate
$250,000 — 350,000
“Drawing gives me an immediate return for my effort and the result is commensurate with my involvement. It is an activity that requires solitude, it is the most concentrated space in which I work.” —Richard Serra
PrProovvenanceenance
Gagosian Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner on April 29, 2013
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
stamped with the artist's monogram, inscription and number "799S 4/9" on the underside bronze with black patina
15 x 6 7/8 x 7 3/8 in. (38.1 x 17.5 x 18.7 cm) Cast in 1980, this work is number 4 from an edition of 9.
We are grateful to Sarah Chadwick for her kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
PrProovvenanceenance
The Artist
Private Collection, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
London, Marlborough Fine Art, ChadwickRecentSculpture,October 31–December 7, 1984, no. 2, pp. 4, 6 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 6)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE BAKWIN FAMILY COLLECTION
Mädchenkopf I (Head of a Girl I)
incised with the artist's signature and number "Kogan 1/6" lower edge bronze
15 1/41 x 6 x 7 in. (38.2 x 15.2 x 17.8 cm)
Conceived in 1925 and cast circa 1960, this work is number 1 from an edition of 6.
EstimateEstimate
$8,000 — 12,000
Kogan
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection
Parke-Bernet Galleries, March 1965, lot 62
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York (acquired at the above sale)
The Drs. Bakwin, New York
Thence by descent to the present owners
LiteraturLiteraturee
Galerie Alfred Flechtheim, ed., MoisseyKogan,SkulpturenundZeichnungen,Berlin, 1929, no. 1, n.p. (another variant illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION
Garden Figure (second state) [LF 137] incised with the artist’s name “© G. LACHAISE G. LACHAISE” and the Estate stamp and number “LACHAISE ESTATE 1/8" on the lower left edge of the cast base; stamped with the Modern Art Foundry insignia "MODERN ART FOUNDRY NEW YORK N.Y." on the rear edge of the cast base bronze with brown patina, on stone base sculpture 77 1/2 x 31 1/2 x 23 1/2 in. (196.9 x 80 x 59.7 cm)
stone base 7 7/8 x 31 1/2 x 23 1/2 in. (20 x 80 x 59.7 cm)
Conceived in 1935 and cast in 1973 by Modern Art Foundry, this work is number 1 from an edition of 8 of which only 2 were produced.
We are grateful to Virginia Budny, author of the forthcoming catalogueraisonnésponsored by the Lachaise Foundation, for her assistance in preparing the catalogue entry for this work.
EstimateEstimate
$300,000 — 400,000
“[Lachaise] was one of those rare artists who could on occasion achieve a likeness and psychological depth at the same time, a talent I greatly respect.” —Louise Bourgeois
One of Gaston Lachaise’s final works, GardenFigureis exemplary of the artist’s signature redefinition of the voluptuous female nude. Inspired by theform of his wife, Isabel Dutaud Nagle, as his muse, this Rubensesque figure is the pastoral embodiment of fruitful abundance and demonstrates the artist’s formidable contributions to 20th century figurative sculpture. The sculpture is Lachaise’s second version of GardenFigure, and was developedfrom his first interpretation, which was commissioned in April 1935 by Nelson A. Rockefeller for his family’s estate in Pocantico, New York. The present cast of the second version of GardenFigureis one of the few large-scale sculptures in private hands by Lachaise, an increasingly rare-to-market artist who is widely regarded as one of the most pivotal figures in American modernism.
Despite their conspicuous formal contrasts, both versions of GardenFigure—as in most of Lachaise’s oeuvre—were passionate representations of his lover and muse, Isabel Dutaud Nagle. Indeed, the palpable adoration that permeates the sculpture is evocative of the couple’s fairy-tale romance: when the artist was studying at the Académie Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he glimpsed Isabel—a married American sojourning in the city—strolling along the Seine and fell in love with her at first sight. “At twenty, in Paris,” Lachaise later recalled of their meeting, “I met a young American person who immediately became the primary inspiration which awakened my vision and the leading influence that has directed my forces. Throughout my career, as an artist, I refer to this person by the word ‘Woman.’”i
“You—who give me the Goddess I seek to express in all my work.” —Gaston Lachaise to Isabel Dutaud Nagle
Leaving his home and the epicenter of the modern art world, he followed her to the United States— where she resided with her husband and young son—with virtually no comprehension of English and only $30. Upon arrival, he was a sculptor's assistantand worked over 12 hour days, breaking only to sleep and see Isabel while he waited years for her to divorce in order to marry her in 1917.
By the time of the execution of GardenFigurein 1935, Lachaise was already regarded as one of the most important sculptors working in the United States; that same year, his career was spotlighted in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York—the first retrospective of a living American sculptor to be held at the institution. This critical acclaim was mirrored by commensurate commercial success with wealthy, discerning patrons, including Rockfeller, who afforded Lachaise’s work considerable attention.
Isabel Nagle photographed by Gaston Lachaise in Maine, circa 1913“[Lachaise was] the greatest American sculptor of his time.”— ARTnews
The first version of GardenFigurecommissioned by the legendary businessman is now held by the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. Lachaise went on to produce four other cement casts, three of which are now in the permanent collections of Portland Museum of Art; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton; and The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
i Gaston Lachaise, quoted in Gerald Nordland, GasonLachaise:TheManandHisWork, New York, 1974, p. 8.
LiteraturLiteraturee
James R. Mellow, “Lachaise Nude Sculptures Displayed," TheNewYorkTimes, October 27, 1973, p. 27
Gerald Nordland, GastonLachaise:TheManandHisWork,New York, 1974, p. 161
GastonLachaise:Sculpture,exh. cat., Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York, 1991, no. 35, pp. 78–79, 84 (another example illustrated, pp. 78-79; titled StandingWoman)
Louise Bourgeois, “Obsession,” Artforum, vol. 30, no. 8, April 1992, p. 87 (another example illustrated; titled StandingWoman)
GastonLachaiseSculptures,exh. cat., Galerie Gerald Piltzer, Paris, 1992, pp. 25, 60 (another example illustrated, p. 25; titled StandingWoman)
Sam Hunter, Lachaise,New York, 1993, pp. 214–219, 245 (another example illustrated, pp. 214-219; titled StandingWoman)
GastonLachaise:TheMonumentalSculpture,exh. cat., Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York, 1994, n.p. (another example illustrated; titled StandingWoman)
PrProovvenanceenance
The Lachaise Foundation, Boston
Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York (acquired from the above in 1973) Private Collection, Long Island (acquired from the above in 1984) Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, GastonLachaise, October 20–December 6, 1973
Roslyn, The Nassau County Museum of Art, MonumentsandMonoliths:AMetamorphosis, September 24–December 3, 1978, p. 7 (illustrated)
New York, Cheim & Read, Art Dealers Association of America: The Art Show, GastonLachaiseand LouiseBourgeois:AJuxtaposition, March 5–9, 2014, n.p. (illustrated frontispiece and n.p.; titled StnadingWoman)
New York, Christie's, RockefellerCenterandtheRiseofModernismintheMetropolis, January 17–February 25, 2015
Linda Muehlig, ed., MasterworksofAmericanPaintingandSculpturefromtheSmithCollege MuseumofArt,New York, 1999, fig. 48, pp. 48, 170, 257, note 10 (plaster model illustrated, p. 170)
GastonLachaise,exh. cat., La Piscine - Musée d'art et d'industrie André Diligent, Roubaix, 2003, fig. 96, no. 79, pp. 132, 195 (another example illustrated, p. 132; titled Femmedebout(Standing Woman))
MaineModerns:ArtinSeguinland,1900-1940,exh. cat., Portland Museum of Art, New Haven, 2011, p. 112, note 1
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Reina Mariana
epoxy on wood
70 x 48 x 33 1/2 in. (177.8 x 121.9 x 85.1 cm)
Executed in 2016.
EstimateEstimate
$300,000 — 500,000
Manolo ValdésManolo Valdés was a pivotal artist in the development of the Spanish Pop Art movement. In the 1960s, he co-founded the EquipoCrónicawith fellow Spanish artists Rafael Solbes and Juan Antonio Toledo—a group which opposed the abstractionism supported by the Franco administration in favor of appropriated and recontextualized art historical imagery. Inspired by politics, irony, humor and social commentary, Valdés’ ReinaMarianaworks are some of his most well-known, referencing the collective history and identity of Spain through the repetition of simple geometric forms. In these sculptures, Valdés takes direct reference from Diego Velázquez’s portraits of Queen Mariana, the second wife of Spanish King Felipe IV, and imbues this recognizable form with a fresh, sculptural twist.
Rendered in life-size, measuring over five-feet-tall, ReinaMariana, 2016 is one of Valdés’ largescale examples carved from wood painted with black epoxy, which evokes a sense of tactility, rawness, and tangibility. While directly referencing the silhouette of Velázquez’s subject, Valdés depicts her faceless and in three dimensions. His queen is a dark and heavy rendition of the symbolic figure, and despite its size, the sculpture suggests an underlying fragility and arresting femininity. The surface presents textural irregularities, showcasing the artist’s unique ability to create expressive sculptures that emphasize the materiality of his chosen mediums.
Throughout his career, Valdés has interpreted ReinaMarianain a variety of sizes and compositions. His large format sculptures like the present work have been commissioned as public works since 1999. In recent decades, he has revisited the form for major projects in cities around the world including New York, Munich, Biarritz, Madrid, and concurrently, in St. Mark’s Square in Venice.
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, QueenMarianaofAustria, 1952–1653.Image: © Museo Nacional del Prado © Photo MNP / Scala, FlorencePrProovvenanceenance
Galeria Freites (acquired directly from the artist)
Private Collection, Miami
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
La nymphe aux fleurs
incised with the artist's monogram on the top of the base; incised with the foundry mark and inscribed "Épreuve D'Artiste Alexis Rudier Fondeur Paris" along the lower edge of the base bronze
62 x 20 x 15 1/2 in. (157.5 x 50.8 x 39.4 cm)
Conceived in 1931 and cast by the Alexis Rudier Foundry in Paris before 1952, this work is an artist's proof from an edition of 6 plus 4 artist's proofs.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the late Dina Vierny.
EstimateEstimate
$600,000 — 800,000
Aristide Maillol’s Lanympheauxfleurs, 1931, is a testament to the sensuality and gracefulness of the artist's use of line and form. The present work is one from a series of nymphs created by the artist between 1931 and 1937 in preparation for his groundbreaking three-part sculpture, Lestrois nymphes. The figure is the leftmost form from Lestroisnymphes, in which her outstretched hand holds the hand of the central figure, the three nymphs together referencing the Three Graces of Greek mythology. Per the artist’s title, however, these women are not Graces but nymphs of the “flowery meadows.”
According to Olivier Lorquin, the present form was cast before 1952 and probably during the artist's lifetime. In this work,the nymph stands alone, her gaze ahead as if beckoning to an unseen figure in the distance. Having a career-long preoccupation with the female nude, Maillol presents idealized proportions of the figure’s features, again recalling the ancient traditions of the Greeks and Romans. Inspiring other revolutionary artists such as Henry Moore, Maillol is one of the foremost sculptors of the late 19th and early 20th century. Creating his first sculptures around 1895, Maillol quickly gained popularity among collectors, including his contemporary, Auguste Rodin, throughout his lifetime, and his works continue to be sought after to this day.
“Maillol is the equal of the greatest sculptors. What is admirable in Maillol, what is, so to speak eternal, is the purity, the clarity, the limpidity of his workmanship and thought.” —Auguste Rodin
In many ways a celebration of the female figure, the present work emphasizes her perfectly symmetrical features. As noted by John Rewald, “to celebrate the human body, particularly the feminine body, seems to have been Maillol’s only aim. He did this in a style from which all grandiloquence is absent, a style almost earthbound and grave... the absence of movement, however, is compensated by a tenderness and charm distinctively his own.”i Perhaps using his
Aristide Maillol, Lestroisnymphes, 1937–1938, Tate, London. Image: © Tate, London / Art Resourcemaid, Marie, as his model, Maillol delicately renders her features through smooth lines, accentuating the peaks and valleys of her form in an idealized rendering. Perfectly proportioned, Maillol’s nearly life-sized figure represents the ideals of feminine beauty, a depiction that ties him directly to his predecessors of antiquity.
TorsoofAphrodite, circa 200 BC / 150 AD, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Barbara Harrison Wescott in memory of the Hon. Francis Burton Harrison
Both the strong form and serene grace of the present work recalls the sculptural traditions of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Maillol relies on the same principles of balance, harmony, and proportion in his works to create his idealized figures. This balance is deceptively simple, an attempt to render the female figure through geometric forms and line only, creating a sense of rhythm that flows through the modeled greenish patina. Though stagnant in pose, Lanympheaux fleurssuggests movement, through both her contrapposto stance, a Classical Greek technique, and her delicately raised hand, as if she might reach out towards the viewer in an instant. Utilizing these principles, Maillol creates portraits concerned with preserving and purifying classical
tradition, allowing his sculptures to truly transcend time. Indeed, the present work captures this aim – his compositions have a sense of nostalgia to them, creating works that are at once timeless and contemporary.
iJohn Rewald, AristideMaillol, exh. cat., Rosenberg Gallery, New York, 1958, pp. 6–7.
PrProovvenanceenance
Lucien Maillol, Marly-le-Roi
Cook Fine Art, New York (acquired in 2005)
Acquired from the above by the present owner on April 1, 2005
ExhibitedExhibited
Tokyo, Mitsukoshi Museum of Art; Hokkaido, Hakodate Museum of Art; Takamatsu Art Museum; Akita, Chiba Museum of Art; Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art; Himeji City Museum, Maillol, September 1994–October 15, 1995, no. 63, p. 198 (illustrated)
Kaoshiung, Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, AristideMaillol,1996
Paris, Musée Maillol, AristideMaillol,July 6–October 26, 1996
New York and London, C & M Arts, AristideMaillol,April 10–June 1, 1997, no. 21, n.p. (illustrated)
Santa Fe, Gerald Peters Gallery, AristideMaillol,November 20, 1998–February 5, 1999, no. 10, n.p. (illustrated)
LiteraturLiteraturee
George Waldemar, AristideMailloletl'âmedelasculpture,Paris, 1977, pp. 189, 191 (another cast illustrated)
Dina Vierny, FondationDinaVierny,Paris, 1996, p. 56 (another cast illustrated)
Bertrand Lorquin, AristideMaillol,London, 1995, p. 113 (another cast illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Mme Arthur Fontaine au piano signed and dated "E Vuillard 04" lower left oil on board mounted on cradled panel 21 1/2 x 24 1/2 in. (54.6 x 62.2 cm) Painted in 1904.
EstimateEstimate
$120,000 — 180,000
“Who speaks of art speaks of poetry. There is no art without a poetic aim. There is a species of emotion particular to painting. There is an effect that results from a certain arrangement of colors, of lights, of shadows, etc. It is this that one calls the music of painting.”—Édouard Vuillard
In the corner of her adorned home, a woman, submerged in the dark silhouette of her gown, sits at a piano, reading the notes to the song which she is about to play. The decorative objects surrounding her, painted in gestural brushstrokes with twirl like vines, seems to swirl around the room, mirroring the music that is about to permeate the space. Illustrating the wife of a wealthy Parisian industrialist and art patron, Édouard Vuillard’s MmeArthurFountaineaupiano,1904, illustrates an engaging view of interior domestic life of turn of the century France.
Introduced to Arthur Fontaine, state counselor and minister of labor, by his fellow-Nabis painter Maurice Denis in 1897, Vuillard would go on to paint both him and his wife several times throughout his career. The Fontaines were part of a cohort of new collectors, alongside Jos and Lucie Hessel. Using loose brushstrokes to depict Mrs. Fontaine, the present work mimics the sound of the music through expressive, almost rhythmic swathes of paint, creating an interplay between the “delicate interweaving of color and line, the harmony and melody of painting.”i Vuillard, whose work during this time primarily focused on interior spaces, captures the sitter in the middle of a leisurely activity in the comfort of her own home. As noted by Claude Roger-Marx, “ravished by the enchantment of these scenes, where happiness seems to flourish, it
Edouard Vuillard, MadameArthurFontaineinaPinkShawl, 1903, The Art Institute of Chicago. Image: The Art Institute of Chicago / Art Resource, NYis happiness he [Vuillard] attempts to portray. He is animated by manifest sympathy and even by a kind of tenderness for his subjects and the gilded peace he saw there.”ii The present work was exhibited in the Salon d’Automne held in the fall of the year it was painted, 1904. Describing Vuillard’s works debuted in this show, Roger-Marx said “we perceive continuity in the refinement of his vision and the enrichment of his technique.”iii
Utagawa Hiroshige II, TrueViewoftheHarboratYokohamanearKanagawa, 1860,The Philadelphia Museum of Art.Image: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Eli Kirk Price, 1950, 1950-70-1(28--30)
The Nabis painters, which included other notable members Pierre Bonnard and Paul Sérusier, embraced alternatives to the French Academic painting style, opting for simple yet deeply symbolic settings. Through this subversion of the French tradition, Vuillard and the Nabis were similarly drawn to Japanese woodcut prints which were popular during the late 19th century. These prints, characterized by their flat shapes, sharp outlines and spatial effects, influenced Vuillard to incorporate similar perspectives into his own work. In this painting, the background in which Madame Fontaine is seated is compressed—a highly detailed yet relatively flat scene. Despite its shortened perspective, the wall behind the sitter appears to curve inward, as if the room itself were moving. As such, the scene is consumed by the inner world of the woman and piano that inhabit it. Vuillard’s illustrations of interior modern life illustrated “more what the room felt like than how they appeared.”iv Departing further from his Nabis contemporaries, the present work represents a darker, more dramatic color palette for Vuillard than his brightly colored paintings from the years prior. In doing so, the artist upends the traditional representation of domestic scenes, adding a fresh, distinctive twist to classic subject matter.
iElizabeth Wynne Easton, TheIntimateInteriorsofEdouardVuillard,exh. cat., The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1989, p. 2.
iiClaude Roger-Max, Vuillard,HisLifeandWork,London, 1946, pp. 67, 89.
iii Ibid, p. 66.
ivElizabeth Wynne Easton, TheIntimateInteriorsofEdouardVuillard,exh. cat., The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1989, p. 76.
PrProovvenanceenance
Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired directly from the artist on June 14, 1904)
Étienne Moreau-Nélaton, Paris (acquired from the above on October 22, 1904)
Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired on November 30, 1927)
Raphael Gérard, Paris (acquired on December 1, 1927)
Jos Hessel, Paris
Georges Renand, Paris (acquired by 1930)
Jean Walther, Paris (acquired by 1941)
Jacques Laroche, Paris
Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York (acquired by 1950)
William Rand, New York (acquired from the above in 1954)
His sale, Christie’s, New York, February 19, 1998, lot 11
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Paris, Grand Palais, Salond’Automne,2emeExposition,October–November, 1904, no. 1293, p. 1382
Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, E.Vuillard,May–July, 1938, no. 115, p. 20 (titled Dameennoirau piano)
Paris, Alfred Daber, OeuvresremarquablesdeVuillard,April 25–May 14, 1947
New York, Rosenberg Galleries, 20thCenturyFrenchPaintings,November 13–December 2, 1950, no. 18, n.p.
Cleveland Museum of Art; New York, The Museum of Modern Art, WorkofÉdouardVuillard, January 27–June, 1954, p. 103 (titled MissiaatthePiano)
Paris, Durand-Ruel, E.Vuillard,1868–1940,May 26–September 29, 1961, no. 41, n.p.
Vuillard
LiteraturLiteraturee
André Chastel, Vuillard1868–1940,Paris, 1946, pp. 57, 116 (illustrated, p. 57)
Claude Roger-Marx, Vuillardetsontemps,Paris, 1945, p. 109 (illustrated; titled Missiaaupiano; dated 1899)
Claude Roger-Marx, Vuillard,Paris, 1948, no. 31, pp. 25, 47 (illustrated, p. 47; dated 1899)
Curt Schweicher, DieBildraumgestaltungdasDekorativeunddasOrnamentaleimWekevon ÉdouardVuillard,Zurich, 1949, pp. 24–25, 27, 47–49 (titled Missiaaupiano)
Georges Charnesol, Vuillard,Médecinesetpeintures,no. 76, Arcueil, 1955, pl. 9, p. 8 (illustrated; titled Missiaaupiano)
Curt Schweicher, Vuillard,Bern, 1955, pl. 23, pp. 31, 77–78 (illustrated, p. 78; titled Misiaamflügel; dated 1899)
Toulouse-Latrec,exh. cat., Hayward Gallery and Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, London and Paris, 1991–1992, fig. 182, p. 150 (illustrated; titled Intérieur)
Antoine Salomon and Guy Cogeval, Vuillard:TheInexhaustibleGlance,CriticalCatalogueof PaintingsandPastels,vol. II, Milan, 2003, no. VII-315, p. 696 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Nus dans un paysage
signed "A. Derain" upper left oil on canvas
8 5/8 x 10 1/2 in. (21.9 x 26.7 cm)
Painted circa 1908–1909.
EstimateEstimate
$80,000 — 120,000
Derain
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris
W.R. Timken
Van Diemen-Lilienfeld Galleries, New York
Private Collection, Paris and New York (acquired from the above on May 20, 1954)
Thence by descent to the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Michel Kellermann, AndréDerain:Catalogueraisonnédel’oeuvrepeint,TomeI1895–1914,Paris, 1992, no. 390, p. 241 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Les deux soeurs assises, Madame Zette et Madame Juin
signed "L. Valtat" lower right oil on canvas
51 1/8 x 35 in. (129.9 x 88.9 cm) Painted circa 1917.
This work is recorded in the archives of l'Association Les Amis de Louis Valtat.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Jean-Claude ANAF, March 18, 1987, lot 421
Private Collection, Europe (acquired at the above sale)
Sotheby's, New York, November 7, 2013, lot 287
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY RESTITUTED TO THE HEIRS OF DANE REICHSMAN
Maurice de Vlaminck
Village et bord de rivière signed "Vlaminck" lower left oil on canvas
23 5/8 x 28 3/4 in. (60 x 73 cm)
Painted circa 1911–1912.
This work is accompanied by an Attestation of Inclusion from the Wildenstein Institute and it will be included in the forthcoming Vlaminck digital database, being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
Vlaminck
André Derain’s Naturemorteavecbouteille,circa 1900, and Maurice de Vlaminck’s Villageetbord derivière, circa 1911–1912, are both exceptional examples from the collection of the Reichsman family. A young man growing up in Zagreb, Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia), Franz Reichsman was studying to become a doctor in Vienna. While there, he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned, released two months later to return to Zagreb to take his final exams. Franz then fled to the United States, attempting to convince his family to emigrate from Europe at the onset of World War II – only his sister, Danica, would leave for London. Franz’s father, Dane, avid art collector and patriarch of the family, stayed in Zagreb and attended an exhibition of the Paris school in 1940, purchasing several works including André Derain’s Naturemorteavecbouteille, circa 1900, and Maurice de Vlaminck’s Villageetbordderivière, circa 1911–1912.
Croatia was invaded by the Germans on April 6th, 1941. Just 12 days later, on April 18th, the Yugoslav army surrendered, and Yugoslavia was divided among the Axis powers, forcing the remaining members of the Reichsman family into a concentration camp, their art seized. The German forces soon occupied Western Croatia, and the family was sent to Auschwitz, where they perished in captivity in April 1944. Nearly 80 years later, after being kept in the collection of the Croatian National Museum of Modern Art, Naturemorteavecbouteilleand Villageetbordde rivièrewere finally returned to their rightful owners, the surviving member of the Reichsman family, Franz’s son, and Dane’s grandson.
Dane and Frieda Reichsman.Peering through the trees on the bank of a river, a small village comes into view, with buildings rendered in vibrant whites and terracottas, reflecting onto the river below. Using a more naturalistic color palette following the end of Fauvism in 1910, Maurice de Vlaminck’s Villageet bordderivière, circa 1911–1912, reflects the artist’s unique approach to landscape painting. While the artist traveled to London in 1911 and painted along the River Thames, it was France that he called home, ever inspired by the verdant, rolling hills and meandering path of the Seine, west of Paris. As such, Vlaminck combined various influences from memory in the paintings from this period. Using brilliant, earthy tones of green and blue, the present work demonstrates an abandoning of Fauvism in favor of the order of nature according to Paul Cézanne, representing a key transitional period in the artist’s practice.
“I had no wish for a change of scene. All these places that I knew so well, the Seine with its strings of barges, the tugs with their plumes of smoke, the taverns in the suburbs, the color of the atmosphere, the sky with its great clouds and its patches of sun, these were what I wanted to paint.” —Maurice de Vlaminck
Inspired by Cézanne’s modeling of three-dimensional space, Vlaminck’s works from this time are increasingly more ordered and realistic, forgoing the vibrant, saturated colors of his more imaginary paintings from before. Though never explicitly aligning with Cubism, its effects can
clearly be seen in the present work. The square and rectangular forms that make up the buildings on the opposite side of the river and their shadows almost immediately reference the earliest Cubist renderings of cities and towns, using geometric shapes to create depth within the composition. Later moving back to the Seine valley following World War I and shifting entirely to dramatic and moody landscapes, Vlaminck here foreshadows his later work. Villageetbordde rivièrethus presents a unique transitional piece between the brilliantly colored Fauve landscapes, and his later, darker compositions.
Paul Cézanne, BanksoftheSeineatMédan, circa 1885/1890, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Alisa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.21
The Reichsman Family, circa 1928. Frieda (leftmost), Danica (fourth from left), Franz (center in striped jacket), and Dane (rightmost)PrProovvenanceenance
Ambroise Vollard, Paris
Erih Šlomović, Paris
Dane Reichsman, Zagreb (acquired by 1940)
Confiscated by the Germans during World War II in 1942 and placed on deposit to The National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Restituted to the family of Dane Reichsman in 2023
ExhibitedExhibited
Zagreb, The Gallery of King Peter I, FrancuskaUmjetnost:IzKolekcijeErihŠlomović,1940, no. 174
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY RESTITUTED TO THE HEIRS OF DANE REICHSMAN
Nature morte avec bouteille signed "a derain" lower right oil on canvas
23 5/8 x 21 7/8 in. (60 x 55.6 cm)
Painted circa 1900.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Comité Derain.
EstimateEstimate
$300,000 — 500,000
André Derain
André Derain’s Naturemorteavecbouteille,circa 1900, and Maurice de Vlaminck’s Villageetbord derivière, circa 1911–1912, are both exceptional examples from the collection of the Reichsman family. A young man growing up in Zagreb, Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia), Franz Reichsman was studying to become a doctor in Vienna. While there, he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned, released two months later to return to Zagreb to take his final exams. Franz then fled to the United States, attempting to convince his family to emigrate from Europe at the onset of World War II – only his sister, Danica, would leave for London. Franz’s father, Dane, avid art collector and patriarch of the family, stayed in Zagreb and attended an exhibition of the Paris school in 1940, purchasing several works including André Derain’s Naturemorteavecbouteille, circa 1900, and Maurice de Vlaminck’s Villageetbordderivière, circa 1911–1912.
Croatia was invaded by the Germans on April 6th, 1941. Just 12 days later, on April 18th, the Yugoslav army surrendered, and Yugoslavia was divided among the Axis powers, forcing the remaining members of the Reichsman family into a concentration camp, their art seized. The German forces soon occupied Western Croatia, and the family was sent to Auschwitz, where they perished in captivity in April 1944. Nearly 80 years later, after being kept in the collection of The National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, Naturemorteavecbouteilleand Villageetbordde rivièrewere finally returned to their rightful owners, the surviving member of the Reichsman family, Franz’s son, and Dane’s grandson.
Dane and Frieda Reichsman.A rare early career work of Fauvist master André Derain, Naturemorteavecbouteille, circa 1900, is a stunning example of the artist’s still life practice. The late 19th century would be a pivotal time during the painter’s life – Derain would meet Henri Matisse and Maurice de Vlaminck within a few years, two artists whom he would go on to found Fauvism with in 1904. The artist’s works from this period, including the present work, reflect the beginnings of a departure from the French academic style, while still highlighting the tenets of the still life tradition.
UnconUnconvventional Still Lifesentional Still Lifes
The objects on the table of Naturemorteavecbouteillecome to life through the artist’s use of thickly applied, unconstrained brushstrokes. Not yet adopting the bold colors which characterize Fauvism, the present work uses vibrant yet natural hues of tan, green and blue to render the table and objects in the foreground, while the earthy red used to depict the shadows behind the objects in the upper right hints at a transition away from realism. The table itself is angled in such a way where the objects seem like they are about to slide towards the viewer, recalling the angular compositions of artists like Giorgio de Chirico. A preferred subject amongst artists at the turn of the century, the still life was a basis for which artists could experiment with color, line and texture. Viewing the present work as a precursor to Derain’s Fauvist landscapes begun just four years later, the present work provides a rare look into the early oeuvre of the artist.
Giorgio de Chirico, TheSmoothsayer’sRecompense,1913, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Image: Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950, 1950-134-38, Artwork: © 2024 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome
PrProovvenanceenance
(possibly) Ambroise Vollard, Paris
Erih Šlomović, Paris
Dane Reichsman, Zagreb (acquired by 1940)
Confiscated by the Germans during World War II in 1942 and placed on deposit to The National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Restituted to the family of Dane Reichsman in 2023
ExhibitedExhibited
Zagreb, The Gallery of King Peter I, FrancuskaUmjetnost:IzKolekcijeErihŠlomović,1940, no. 27, p. 87 (illustrated)
The Reichsman Family, circa 1928. Frieda (leftmost), Danica (fourth from left), Franz (center in striped jacket), and Dane (rightmost)New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Femme au perroquet (La fenêtre)
signed "Metzinger" lower right oil on canvas
36 1/8 x 25 5/8 in. (91.8 x 65.1 cm)
Painted circa 1927.
EstimateEstimate
$80,000 — 120,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Ketterer, Stuttgart, May 21, 1960, lot 391 International Galleries, Chicago
Harry Belafonte, New York (acquired by 1964) Baruch College, New York (donated by the above)
Sotheby, Parke Bernet, New York, April 26, 1972, lot 53 Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Schoneman (acquired by 1985)
Harriet Griffin Fine Arts, New York Obelisk Gallery, Boston (acquired from the above) Private Collection, United States (acquired from the above in March 1988)
Thence by descent to the present owners
ExhibitedExhibited
Chicago, International Galleries, Metzinger.Pre-CubistandCubistWorks1900–1930, April 17–May 10, 1964, no. 18, pp. 30, 32 (illustrated, p. 30; titled LaFenêtre)
Iowa City, The University of Iowa Museum of Art; Austin, Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas; Chicago, The David and Alfred Smart Gallery, The University of Chicago; Pittsburgh, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, JeanMetzingerinRetrospect,August 31, 1985–May 25, 1986, no. 229, pp. 120–121 (illustrated, p. 120)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Alexander Calder
Two men, two pyramids signed and dated "Calder 56" lower right oil on canvas
42 x 24 in. (106.7 x 61 cm) Painted in 1956.
EstimateEstimate
$300,000 — 500,000
Go“My work is an expression of the joy and excitement I find in the world.”
—Alexander Calder
While Alexander Calder is most well-known for his kinetic sculptures and vibrant gouaches, his paintings on canvas hold a unique place in the artist’s prolific oeuvre. TwoMen,TwoPyramids, 1956was painted at a pivotal moment in the artist’s career. Three years earlier, in November 1953, right after he moved to Aix-en-Provence, Calder traded three of his mobiles for François Premier, a dilapidated seventeenth-century farmhouse in Saché. Across the street, there wasa smaller building which he turned into his “gouacherie,” or painting studio.
The following years would be transformative as Calder began to embark upon commissioned projects around the world. Through his travels, Calder developed an affinity for historic monuments, visiting places like Egypt, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and India. 1956 was also the year that Calder had his first solo exhibition with Perls Galleries in New York, mounted by his new dealers Klaus and Dolly Perls, who would continue to represent the artist for the rest of his life and career.
In the present work, two caricatured men in red and yellow stare off into the distance where there are two pyramid structures receding into the background. Both the figures and the pyramids are rendered with simple contour lines, recalling a primitive style of ancient art-making forms like cave painting and stone carving. The pyramids themselves more overtly reference what he would have encountered in places like Egypt. While static, Calder’s energetic brushwork suggests movement. Quick, white strokes in the sky resemble clouds moving from left to right, while thinner, brushier outlines around the figures’ limbs highlight their musculature. Together, these elements combine to create a picture which highlights humans’ awe of the expansive world around them, undoubtedly inspired by Calder’s joie-de-vivre.
ExhibitedExhibited
Roslyn Harbor, Nassau County Museum of Art, CalderandMiró,June 7–September 13, 1998, pp. 52, 77 (illustrated, p. 52)
New York, Helly Nahmad Gallery, AlexanderCalder:ThePainter,November 2011–January 2012, pp. 54–55 (illustrated, p. 55; titled Untitled)
PrProovvenanceenance
Perls Galleries, New York
Private Collection, New York
Christie's, New York, February 22, 1996, lot 14 Muriel and Howard Weingrow
Sotheby's, New York, May 13, 2015, lot 151 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Alexander Calder
Bow Tie
wood, wire and paint
3 x 6 x 1 in. (7.6 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm)
Executed in 1938, this work is registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, under application number A04427.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Monroe Wheeler, New York (gifted by the artist in 1938)
Private Collection, United States
Harcourts Gallery, San Francisco
Eugenia Rodriguez (acquired in the 1990s)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Daniel Marchesseau, CalderInTime,Paris, 1989, p. 17 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT WEST COAST COLLECTION
Tonk #8
signed and dated "Chamberlain '86" lower left painted soldered metal
6 3/4 x 31 7/8 x 9 1/2 in. (17.1 x 81 x 24.1 cm)
Executed in 1986.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
Inspired by the wreckage of car parts and junk yards, John Chamberlain’s enigmatic sculptures bring three dimensionality to the flat gestural nature of Abstract Expressionism. In Tonk#8,1986, Chamberlain uses scraps from an abandoned Tonka Toy factory. Fusing together elements of color and shape, the present work transforms materials into statements that resonate on both a visceral and intellectual level. Works from the Tonkseries are held in important museum collections such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
“There is material to be seen around you every day. But one day something, some one thing, pops out at you and you pick it up and you take it over and you put it somewhere else and it fits, and it’s just the right thing at the right moment.” —John Chamberlain
In the Tonkseries, started in the 1980s, Chamberlain creates toy-like and toy-sized works that dance with playful allure, smaller than his usual sculptures but still executed by twisting and shaping metal into abstract forms. The Tonkworks are compact and frisky, and their overlapping material painted in industrial colors invites us into a kaleidoscope of vibrant hues and dynamic forms. Many of the Tonksare characterized by a low, horizontal form, which resembles the largerscale works in the Gondolaseries from the same decade, those inspired by and resembling a fleet of Venetian gondolas. Here in Tonk#8, Chamberlain utilizes that same elongated form in smaller scale. The title’s reference to a symbol of nostalgic Americana in the Tonka brand harkens back to Chamberlain’s Midwestern roots, the Tonka name having originated in Minnesota. The childish resemblance and title’s connection to a toy, juxtaposed with the harsh nature of discarded and abandoned metal, highlights Chamberlain's play on words.
PrProovvenanceenance
Patricia Faure Gallery, Los Angeles
Acquired from the above by the present owner on December 16, 1998
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Robert Indiana
Number 0
stamped with the artist's name, date and number "© 1980–1997 R INDIANA 7/8" on the base grey polychrome aluminum
16 x 18 x 10 in. (40.6 x 45.7 x 25.4 cm)
Executed in 1980–1997, this work is number 7 from an edition of 8.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Morgan Art Foundation
Galería Freites, Caracas (acquired in 2005)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Galería Ateneo de Caracas, LosEstadoesUnidosBajoaLaOpticadeRobertIndiana,May 6–June 17, 2001, no. 17, p. 28 (another example illustrated)
Caracas, Galería Freites, RobertIndiana,November–December 2014, no. 3, pp. 47, 83, 92 (another example illustrated, pp. 47, 92; Galería Ateneo de Caracas, Caracas, 2001, installation view of another example illustrated, p. 83)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT WEST COAST COLLECTION
Access
signed and dated "Rauschenberg 96" lower right fabric and paper on painted wood door with brass and glass doorknobs, double-sided 77 x 30 x 6 1/4 in. (195.6 x 76.2 x 15.9 cm) Executed in 1996.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
Rauschenberg
PrProovvenanceenance
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles (donated by the artist)
Ikon Ltd., Los Angeles
Private Collection, Los Angeles (acquired from the above circa 2008)
Los Angeles Modern Auctions, Los Angeles, February 21, 2016, lot 19 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
180
Ken Price
Lower
fired and painted clay
10 5/8 x 20 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (27 x 52.7 x 40 cm)
Executed in 2006.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 200,000
“Sculpture of an intimate size draws the viewer in for a closer look, and there should be a payoff when that happens. One’s relationship to a smaller piece can be magical. I’d actually like people to be able to touch the work, so they can experience its textures and marks and realize that the thing is made out of layers of painted color that are integral, not just applied.” —Ken Price
PrProovvenanceenance
Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Matthew Marks Gallery, KenPrice:SculptureandDrawings,1962–2006,September 22–November 4, 2006, pl. 17, pp. 48–49 (illustrated, p. 49)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, BEVERLY HILLS
Stretched As Tightly As Is Possible (Satin) & (Petroleum Jelly)
medium and dimensions variable
Conceived in 1994, this work is accompanied by a Letter of Responsibility signed by the artist and registered with the Moved Pictures Archive under catalogue number 742.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Regen Projects, Los Angeles
Acquired from the above by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Christopher Bollen, “LA Artworld,” Interview,November 18, 2010, online
Kelly Klein, PoolsReflections,New York, 2012, n.p. (illustrated)
Katie White, “We Ranked 7 of the Splashiest Artist-Designed Swimming Pools From Around the World – See Them Here,” ArtnetNews,July 4, 2022, online (installation view illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Biosphere #3
oil on panel, in artist's frame, in two parts
31 x 258 x 5 in. (78.7 x 655.3 x 12.7 cm)
Painted in 1971–1975.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
“Once I learned about the ancient Greeks’ system of understanding painting—that you’re looking through a window onto the scene, and that the frame is basically the architectural foreground, the window presenting the illusion—I couldn’t stop drawing frames. I’m still doing it.” —Neil Jenney
PrProovvenanceenance
Edward R. Broida, Los Angeles
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Berkeley, University Art Museum, University of California; Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum; Washington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery of Art; Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum; Humlebæk, Louisiana Museum; Basel, Kunsthalle, NeilJenney:PaintingsandSculpture1967–1980,April 15, 1981–June 27, 1982, no. 26, p. 53
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN ESTEEMED PRIVATE COLLECTION
'Word, Sentence, Paragraph (Z. & N.) #16' mounted photograph, neon and transformers 113 x 105 in. (287 x 266.7 cm)
Executed in 1987, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Jay Gorney Modern Art, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owners in 1988
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Jack Goldstein
Untitled
signed and dated "Jack Goldstein 1988" on the reverse
acrylic on canvas
84 1/8 x 96 x 6 1/2 in. (213.7 x 243.8 x 16.5 cm)
Painted in 1988.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2008
ExhibitedExhibited
MMK Museum für Kunst Frankfurt am Main, JackGoldstein,October 3, 2009–January 10, 2010, pp. 48, 161, 191 (illustrated, pp. 48, 161)
Newport Beach, Orange County Museum of Art, JackGoldsteinx10,000,June 24–September 9, 2012, pl. 54, pp. 178, 225 (illustrated, p. 178)
LiteraturLiteraturee
Marie B. Shurkus, “Jack Goldstein: Operational Pictures,” X-TRA,vol. 15, no. 3, Spring 2013, online (illustrated)
Michael Connor, “Jack Goldstein, Glitch Artist? An Interview with Lorne Lanning,” Rhizome,May 21, 2013, online (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
The Serenade for the Doll after Claude Debussy, Gift Wrapped Doll #18
signed, titled and dated ""GIFT WRAPPED DOLL" NO 18 James Rosenquist 1993" on the overlap oil on canvas mounted on panel 60 x 60 in. (152.4 x 152.4 cm) Painted in 1993.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Marvin Ross Friedman & Co., Miami (acquired directly from the artist)
Private Collection, Florida (acquired from the above)
Sotheby’s, London, March 10, 2015, lot 30
Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)
Christie’s, New York, March 9, 2021, lot 102 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
JamesRosenquist:GiftWrappedDollsorSerenadefortheDollafterClaudeDebussy,exh. cat., Feigen Inc., Chicago, 1993, no. 18, p. 21 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A PROMINENT COLLECTION
Richard Estes
Staten Island Ferry Docking
signed and dated "RICHARD ESTES 2011" lower right oil on board
24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)
Painted in 2011.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Marlborough Gallery, RichardEstes:NewYorkByNight,September 20–October 20, 2012, p. 20 (illustrated)
Monte Carlo, Marlborough Monaco, RichardEstes-FernandoBotero-ManoloValdés,June 27–September 6, 2013
New York, National Academy Museum & School, TheAnnual2014:RedefiningTradition,June 11–September 14, 2014, p. 38 (illustrated)
New York, Marlborough Gallery, GroupExhibition,April 18–May 26, 2018
LiteraturLiteraturee
RivieraMagazine,no. 64, July 4, 2013, p. 127 (illustrated) Linda Chase, RichardEstes,London, 2014, no. 114, p. 137 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION
Passages (Shopping Center)
signed and dated "RICHARD ESTES 1981" lower right oil on canvasboard
14 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (36.2 x 51.4 cm)
Painted in 1981.
EstimateEstimate
$70,000 — 100,000
Richard Estes’s Passages(ShoppingCenter), 1981, blurs the line between photograph and painting.Here, the Southern California suburb, Lakewood, serves as the subject matter for the present work. Though a departure from Estes’ urban landscapes, the present work depicts a scene that is no less evocative of classic American imagery: the post-war suburb. Lakewood, which Estes visited in the mid-1970s, was one of the first planned, mass-produced communities built in the 1950s, becoming an icon of suburbia in literature and art.
The present work has many trademark characteristics of Estes’ work—an unpopulated street, a dazzlingly reflective storefront window, meticulously constructed geometry of architectural structures, and a velvety depiction of sunlight’s effects on surfaces. The shoe store facades, aligned rooftops, and sidewalk pavement, seemingly damp from recent rain, come together to form an evocative portrayal of a deserted Sunday-morning shopping center, the artist’s favored time to gather the snapshots upon which he based his paintings.
“What I’m trying to paint is not something different, but something more like the place I’ve photographed. Somehow the paint and the intensity of color emphasize the light and do things to build up form that a photograph does not do. In that way the painting is superior to the photograph.” —Richard Estes
While this specific image has been made into a popular, editioned print, mass-produced like a pair of shoes in the mall’s display, the present work uniquely reveals the painterly details often hidden in reproductions of the artist’s work. By examining the work up close, one can see the loose brushstrokes forming the pavement lines and the shrubbery’s free-hand dashes, all of which make the hyper-realistic scene even more impressive. This plainly painted quality is indeed what set Estes and his fellow Photorealists apart from photographers themselves. In Estes’ work, what appears at first as photographic is a carefully constructed composition, with elements that heighten the feeling of reality beyond what a camera could produce. Indeed, Passages(Shopping Center)highlights the uniqueness of the artist’s practice, setting it apart from the duplicative mediums of photography and printing, all while referencing the very mass production that it calls to distinguish itself from.
ExhibitedExhibited
Louisville, Martha White Gallery, January 12, 1984
Evanston, Byer Museum of the Arts, Photorealism,February–July 1984
New Orleans, Contemporary Arts Center; New York Academy of Art, Landscape,Seascape, Cityscape:1960–1985,January 18–June 1, 1986, pp. 14, 75 (illustrated, p. 75)
LiteraturLiteraturee
Louis K. Meisel, RichardEstes:TheCompletePaintings1966–1985,New York, 1986, no. 132, p. 100 (illustrated)
Louis K. Meisel, PhotorealismSince1980,New York, 1993, no. 563, p. 183 (illustrated; titled Passages(ShoppingCenter-LakewoodMall))
PrProovvenanceenance
Vincent Sarrentino, Tampa
Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York (acquired from the above in 1983) Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
MAKING MODERN: PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF FLORENCE KNOLL BASSETT
Small Wonder
African wonderstone
8 7/8 x 11 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. (22.5 x 29.8 x 3.5 cm)
Executed in 1946.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
Noguchi
PrProovvenanceenance
Gifted by the artist to the present owner circa 1959
LiteraturLiteraturee
Diane Botnick and Nancy Grove, TheSculptureofIsamuNoguchi,1924–1979:ACatalogue,New York and London, 1980, no. 248, p. 45
Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, TheIsamuNoguchiCatalogueRaisonné,no. 248, online, ongoing
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
John McCracken
Vibe
signed, titled and dated "VIBE 2005 John McCracken" on the reverse polyester resin, fiberglass and plywood
4 1/8 x 24 1/8 x 4 1/4 in. (10.5 x 61.3 x 10.8 cm) Executed in 2005.
EstimateEstimate
$70,000 — 100,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
David Zwirner, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2016
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE TERNER FAMILY COLLECTION, LOS ANGELES
Untitled signed, titled and dated "MCLAUGHLIN UNTITLED 1956" on the reverse oil on linen
48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Painted in 1956.
EstimateEstimate
$70,000 — 100,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Dr. and Mrs. James Lodge, San Juan Capistrano, California
Jack and Sandra Terner, Los Angeles
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Laguna Beach, Laguna Art Museum; The Baltimore Museum of Art; Omaha, Joslyn Art Museum, JohnMcLaughlin:WesternModernism/EasternThought,July 20, 1996–August 31, 1997, no. 18, pp. 20, 70 (illustrated, p. 20)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE TERNER FAMILY COLLECTION, LOS ANGELES
Untitled signed, titled and dated "MCLAUGHLIN UNTITLED 1955" on the reverse oil on Masonite
32 x 37 7/8 in. (81.3 x 96.2 cm) Painted in 1955.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
John McLaughlin
PrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
Stephen McLaughlin
Felix Landau Gallery, Los Angeles
Tobey C. Moss Gallery, Los Angeles
Jack and Sandra Terner, Los Angeles (acquired from the above on January 6, 1995)
Thence by descent to the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE TERNER FAMILY COLLECTION, LOS ANGELES
Hipped
signed, titled and inscribed "Santini 67 Alfred Leslie Hipped" on the reverse oil on canvas
95 x 113 in. (241.3 x 287 cm) Painted in 1959.
EstimateEstimate
$100,000 — 150,000
Go to Lot“I always felt people are open if you can catch them off guard. You can get them to see something that they may not have been able to see before. The idea was by making the paintings big, you eliminated all of the nuances of prettiness, which could be seen as distractions... If you can get them to think about what it is they’re seeing, what it is they’re thinking about, it can perhaps lead to other thoughts about themselves or the world inside and the world outside.” — Alfred Leslie
PrProovvenanceenance
Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles (acquired directly from the artist) Baron/Boisanté Editions, New York Jack and Sandra Terner, Los Angeles (acquired from the above on October 6, 1994) Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Martha Jackson Gallery, January 1960 Stockholm, Moderna Museet, 4Amerikanare:JasperJohns,AlfredLeslie,RobertRauschenberg, RichardStankiewicz,March 17–May 6, 1962, no. 48, pp. 68, 92 (illustrated, p. 68)
LiteraturLiteraturee
Fred W. McDarrah, TheArtist'sWorldInPictures,New York, 1988, p. 90 (Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, installation view illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ALFRED LESLIE
Lake Front Property
signed, titled, inscribed and dated “Lake Front Property #B 1961 Alfred Leslie 1961 Santurn #60” on the reverse of the upper canvas; signed and titled “Alfred Leslie Lake Front Property #A Santurn #60” on the reverse of the lower canvas oil on canvas, in 2 parts each 66 1/8 x 96 in. (168 x 243.8 cm) overall 132 1/4 x 96 in. (335.9 x 243.8 cm)
Painted in 1961.
EstimateEstimate
$120,000 — 180,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Collection of the Artist
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Moderna Museet Stockholm, 4Amerikanare:JasperJohns,AlfredLeslie,RobertRauschenberg, RichardStankiewicz,March 17–May 6, 1962, no. 51, pp. 70, 72, 93 (illustrated, p. 72)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE TERNER FAMILY COLLECTION, LOS ANGELES
Great Hall
signed, titled and dated "LEON POLK SMITH GREAT HALL 1959" on the reverse oil on canvas
51 1/4 x 74 1/8 in. (130.2 x 188.3 cm) Painted in 1959.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
PrProovvenanceenance
The Artist
Paule Anglim Gallery, San Francisco (acquired in 1979)
Robert A. Rowan, Pasadena
Paule Anglim Gallery, San Francisco (acquired in 1994)
Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles
Jack and Sandra Terner, Los Angeles (acquired from the above on October 29, 1994)
Thence by descent to the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE TERNER FAMILY COLLECTION, LOS ANGELES
Lorser Feitelson
Magical Space Forms
signed and dated "Feitelson '51" lower right; signed, titled, inscribed and dated "LORSER FEITELSON 1951 (LARGE) "MAGICAL SPACE - FORMS" Lorser
Feitelson" on the reverse oil on canvas
68 1/4 x 101 1/2 in. (173.4 x 257.8 cm)
Painted in 1951.
EstimateEstimate
$30,000 — 40,000
Lorser Feitelson
PrProovvenanceenance
The Artist
The Feitelson / Lundeberg Art Foundation
Tobey C. Moss Gallery, Los Angeles
Jack and Sandra Terner, Los Angeles (acquired from the above on January 21, 1994)
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Los Angeles Art Association, PortableMurals,May 4–30, 1951
Pasadena Art Institute, LorserFeitelson,ARetrospective,March 21–April 27, 1952, no. 36 Claremont, Scripps College Art Galleries, PaintingsbyLorserFeitelson,March 1958, no. 1 Los Angeles, Paul Rivas Gallery, AnnaMahler/LorserFeitelson,June 8–July 3, 1959, no. 2 Los Angeles, Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, LorserFeitelson,ARetrospectiveExhibition, August 16–September 17, 1972, no. 26, n.p.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Los Angeles, The Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, LorserFeitelsonandHelenLundeberg:RetrospectiveExhibition,October 2, 1980–May 3, 1981, no. 38, pp. 18, 68
Los Angeles Art Association Galleries and Tobey C. Moss Gallery, LundebergandFeitelson TogetherAgain,February 13–March 13, 1993, no. 5
LiteraturLiteraturee
Jennifer Lee, "Six Artists Introduce Portable Murals as Contribution to Modern Living," Pasadena Star-News,May 1951 (illustrated)
Jarvis Barlow, "Art Matters," PasadenaIndependent,May 27, 1951
Diane Moran, "On Lorser Feitelson," ArtInternational20,no. 5, October–November 1977, pp. 36–37 (illustrated, p. 36)
Diane Moran, ThePaintingofLorserFeitelson,University of Virginia, 1979, fig. 87, pp. 175, 199–201, 205, 338
LorserFeitelsonandtheInventionofHardEdgePainting,1945–1965,exh. cat., Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, 2005, p. 90
LorserFeitelson:TheKineticSeries,Worksfrom1916–1923,exh. cat., Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles, 2005, p. 90
Diane Moran, LorserFeitelson:EternalRecurrence,Los Angeles, 2014, fig. 36, p. 116 (Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, 1952 installation view illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE TERNER FAMILY COLLECTION, LOS ANGELES
Cold Climate
signed "Riopelle" lower right oil on canvas
18 x 25 in. (45.7 x 63.5 cm)
Painted in 1960.
EstimateEstimate
$70,000 — 100,000
Jean-Paul Riopelle
“If art lovers and art experts feel admiration, emotion and pleasure for Riopelle’s oil paintings, it is largely because of their materiality. Volume, color, glossiness and matteness all contribute to create a harmonious whole.” —Marie-Claude Corbeil
PrProovvenanceenance
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
Robertson F. Alford, Mill Neck, New York (acquired from the above in 1966)
Mary Paige Alford, Norfolk, Connecticut (by descent from the above) Estate of Mary Paige Alford, Norfolk, Connecticut (by descent from the above) Forum Gallery, New York
Jack and Sandra Terner, Los Angeles (acquired from the above on April 23, 2011) Thence by descent to the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Yseult Riopelle, JeanPaulRiopelle,Catalogueraisonné,Tome31960–1965,Quebec, 2009, no. 1960.037H.1960, p. 84 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Untitled signed "goldberg" lower left oil on canvas
18 7/8 x 17 in. (47.9 x 43.2 cm)
Painted in 1953.
EstimateEstimate
$20,000 — 30,000
Michael Goldberg
PrProovvenanceenance
Young Hoffman Gallery, Chicago
Robert and Ruth Vogele, Chicago (acquired from the above in 1978)
Their sale, Wright, Chicago, April 25, 2019, lot 120
Jeremy Wiltshire Fine Art, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner in March 2020
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
signed and inscribed "J. Brooks '68" lower right; titled and dated "Blow 1982" on the reverse oil on canvas
50 1/4 x 48 in. (127.6 x 121.9 cm)
Painted in 1982.
EstimateEstimate
$30,000 — 40,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Louise Himelfarb Gallery, New York
Estate of Charles B. Slackman, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Night Shuttle
signed, titled and dated "Dzubas/1983 "NIGHT SHUTTLE"" on the reverse
Magna acrylic on canvas
25 x 111 in. (63.5 x 281.9 cm)
Painted in 1983.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
PrProovvenanceenance
M. Knoedler & Co., New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Ellipse with Yellows
acrylic on canvas
51 x 35 3/8 in. (129.5 x 89.9 cm)
Painted in 1977.
EstimateEstimate
$25,000 — 35,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale
Private Collection, New Hampshire
Acquired from the above by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Vallarino Fine Art, AbstractAddictions:What’sNext.....WhoKnows...?,September 4, 2020, p. 161 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Love Birds
signed, titled, inscribed and dated "Ed Clark PARIS
2003 'LOVE BIRDS'" on the reverse acrylic on canvas
18 1/8 x 15 in. (46 x 38.1 cm)
Painted in 2003.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Alex Katz
Jessica (Study for New Pink)
signed and dated "Alex Katz 2004" upper right oil on board
16 x 11 7/8 in. (40.6 x 30.2 cm)
Painted in 2004.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection (acquired directly from the artist)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Karen Lerner
stamped by the Estate of Andy Warhol and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., New York and numbered "PO50.601" on the overlap silkscreen ink on linen
30 x 27 7/8 in. (76.2 x 70.8 cm) Executed in 1972.
EstimateEstimate
$70,000 — 100,000
“With Warhol’s gallery of contemporary faces, the decade of 1970s high society is instantly captured. In his glittering realm, light and shadow are bleached out by the high wattage of spotlights; colors seem selected from the science-fiction rainbow invented by the likes of Baskin-Robbins.” —Robert Rosenblum
Executed in 1972, Andy Warhol's KarenLerneris a vibrant and colorful representation of the female journalist who was one of the first women reporters at Life, Timeand Newsweek magazines.i In a total of only 14 canvases, Warhol skillfully captured the multi-faceted personality of Lerner through varied facial expressions rendered in vibrant shades ranging from warm oranges to cool purples. The present work is one of only eight Lerner canvases exhibited in the groundbreaking 1972 show Johns,Stella,Warhol:WorksinSeriesat the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi.
The depiction of royalty, the elite, and the wealthy in the form of portraiture has always played a significant part in art history. Contributing to this legacy, Warhol “succeeded virtually singlehanded[ly]…in resurrecting from near extinction that endangered species of grand-style portraiture of people important, glamorous, or notorious enough – whether statesmen, actresses, or wealthy patrons of the arts – to deserve to leave their human traces in the history of painting.”ii Indeed, the present portrait of KarenLerneris an intimate example of how the artist was able to capture his sitters with his Polaroid camera and transform images into vibrant and electrifying representations of their personalities through his silkscreen printing method.
Andy Warhol, KarenLerner, 1972. Image/Artwork: © 2024 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Yorki “Karen G. Lerner”, Valley News, 3 May 2019, online
ii Robert Rosenblum, “Andy Warhol: Court Painter to the 70s” in AndyWarhol:Portraitsofthe70s, David Whitney, ed., New York, 1979, p. 9.
PrProovvenanceenance
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., New York
Jane Holzer
Gagosian Gallery, New York
Private Collection
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Corpus Christi, Art Museum of South Texas, Johns,Stella,Warhol:WorksinaSeries,October 4–November 26, 1972, pp. 29, 32, 46 (illustrated, p. 32; erroneously dated 1971)
LiteraturLiteraturee
Georg Frei and Neil Printz, eds., TheAndyWarholCatalogueRaisonnéofPaintingsandSculptures, 1970-1974,vol. 3, New York, 2010, no. 2199, pp. 115, 117 (illustrated, p. 115)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Richard Pettibone
Andy Warhol 'Lavender Disaster', 1964
signed, titled and dated "Andy Warhol Lavender Disaster 1964 R. Pettibone 1969" on the stretcher acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, in artist's frame 4 3/8 x 4 3/8 in. (11.1 x 11.1 cm) Executed in 1969.
EstimateEstimate
$25,000 — 35,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Rudolf Budja Gallery, Miami BeachNew York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Richard Pettibone
Andy Warhol 'Liz' 1962
signed, titled and dated ""Andy Warhol 'Liz,' 1962"
Richard Pettibone 1965" on the reverse
acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, in artist's frame
8 3/8 x 6 1/8 in. (21.3 x 15.6 cm)
Executed in 1965.
EstimateEstimate
$30,000 — 50,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Edward Janss, Los Angeles
Private Collection (acquired from the above)
Christie's, Online, May 20, 2014, lot 19
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
signed, titled and dated "Beyond Kenny Scharf '99" on the reverse oil on canvas, in artist's frame 76 x 86 in. (193 x 218.4 cm) Painted in 1999.
EstimateEstimate
$150,000 — 200,000
Kenny Scharf
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection, Los Angeles
Private Collection, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Bergen Kunstmuseum, NewYorkExpression,February–April 2002
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Peter Saul
He Forgot Something signed and dated "SAUL '19" lower right acrylic on canvas
49 3/8 x 43 5/8 in. (125.4 x 110.8 cm) Painted in 2019.
EstimateEstimate
$80,000 — 120,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Almine Rech, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited Paris, Almine Rech Gallery, PeterSaul:ArtHistoryisWrong,January 18–February 29, 2020
LiteraturLiteraturee
Keith Estiler, "Peter Saul Mounts Paintings of Madcap Characters in "Art History Is Wrong" Exhibition," Hypebeast,January 31, 2020, online (Almine Rech Gallery, Paris, 2020 installation view illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Bride
signed "appel" lower left; signed, titled and dated "BRIDE APPEL 1969" on the reverse oil on canvas
42 1/8 x 28 1/8 in. (107 x 71.4 cm)
Painted in 1969.
EstimateEstimate
$50,000 — 70,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection (acquired directly from the artist)
Thence by descent to the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Karl Wirsum
Ahh! Macy's Grazed
signed "Wirsum Karl Wirsum" on the overlap
acrylic on canvas
31 3/4 x 24 7/8 in. (80.6 x 63.2 cm)
Executed circa 1976.
EstimateEstimate
$20,000 — 30,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Lijnbnaanscentrum, Rotterdam
Mrs. B. Weegels-Hamers (acquired in 1976)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2002
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Cundo Bermúdez Arlequines
signed and dated "Cundo Bermúdez 57" lower left oil on canvas
39 5/8 x 31 1/4 in. (100.6 x 79.4 cm)
Painted in 1957.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Arsenio Caraballo, Florida (acquired directly from the artist)
Lazaro Caraballo, Florida (thence by descent from the above)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Frontal stehend, linke Hand an die Hüfte gelegt
(Standing Woman with Hand on Hip)
pencil on simile Japan paper
22 x 14 5/8 in. (55.9 x 37.1 cm)
Executed circa 1907-1908.
EstimateEstimate
$25,000 — 35,000
Go to LotPrProovvenanceenance
Estate of the Artist
The Galerie St. Etienne, New York
Private Collection, South America (acquired from the above in November, 1992) Christie's, New York, May 13, 2023, lot 468
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Alice Strobl, GustavKlimt:DieZeichnungen,1904-1912,vol. II, Salzburg, 1982, no. 1675, pp. 146–147 (illustrated, p. 147)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Gelée blanche à Crozant
signed "Guillaumin" lower right oil on canvas laid down on board 25 1/2 x 31 3/4 in. (64.8 x 80.6 cm) Painted circa 1905.
This work will be included in Volume II of the Catalogue Raisonné Guillaumin being prepared by the Comité Guillaumin with Dominique Fabiani, Jacques de la Béraudière and Stéphanie Chardeau-Botteri.
EstimateEstimate
$30,000 — 50,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection, Paris (acquired before 1919)
Private Collection (thence by descent from the above)
Private Collection (thence by descent from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
The Beach and Along the Sea with Boat and People (double-sided)
signed "Prendergast" lower left of recto watercolor and pencil on paper, double sided 11 1/4 x 16 3/4 in. (28.6 x 42.5 cm)
(i) Executed in 1907–1910. (ii) Executed in 1898–1899.
EstimateEstimate
$20,000 — 30,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection
Sotheby's, New York, September 28, 2012, lot 98
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN ESTEEMED MARYLAND COLLECTION
Study St. Malo
signed "Prendergast" lower right oil on panel
10 1/2 x 13 3/4 in. (26.7 x 34.9 cm)
Painted circa 1907.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
The Artist
Charles Prendergast (acquired from the above in 1924)
Mrs. Charles Prendergast (thence by descent from the above in 1948) Kraushaar Galleries, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Julius Jacobson (acquired in 1958)
ACA Galleries, New York
Private Collection (acquired in 1981)
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Macbeth Galleries, ExhibitionofPaintingsbyArthurB.Davies,WilliamJ.Glackens, RobertHenri,ErnestLawson,GeorgeLuks,MauriceB.Prendergast,EverettShinn,JohnSloan, February 3–15, 1908
Wilmington, Delaware Art Center, TheFiftiethAnniversaryoftheExhibitionofIndependentArtists in1910,January 9–February 21, 1960, no. 72, n.p.
LiteraturLiteraturee
"Widely Shown Exhibition of 'The Eight' American Artists at the Public Library," NewarkEvening News,May 1, 1909, p. 3 (titled Studies,St.Malo)
Hedley Howell Rhys, "Maurice B. Prendergast," MauricePrendergast1859–1924,Boston, 1960
Richard J. Wattenmaker, "Maurice Prendergast," AllenMemorialArtMuseumBulletin,vol. XL, no. 1, 1982-1983, footnote 28, p. 36
Carol Clark, Nancy Mowll Mathews and Gwendolyn Owens, MauriceBrazilPrendergast,Charles Prendergast:ACatalogueRaisonné,Williamstown, 1990, no. 95, p. 233 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT AMERICAN COLLECTION
Young Mother and Child signed “Milton Avery” lower left; signed, titled and dated ""Young Mother + Child" by Milton Avery 1935" on the reverse oil on canvasboard 20 x 15 7/8 in. (50.8 x 40.3 cm) Painted in 1935.
This work is accompanied by a letter of opinion from the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
Avery
PrProovvenanceenance
Valentine Gallery, New York
Private Collection
Private Collection, New Jersey
Thence by descent to the present owners
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Valentine Gallery, PaintingsbyMiltonAvery, March 11–30, 1935, no. 9
LiteraturLiteraturee
Carlyle Burrows, "Notes and Commentary on Events in Art: A Display by Milton Avery," NewYork
HeraldTribune, New York, March 17, 1935, p. 10
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT AMERICAN COLLECTION
Coney Island (double-sided) signed and dated “1946 Reginald Marsh” lower right recto
mixed media on paper, double-sided 22 x 31 in. (55.9 x 78.7 cm) Executed in 1946.
EstimateEstimate
$18,000 — 25,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection, New Jersey (acquired in 1967)
Thence by descent to the present owners
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Willem de Kooning
Reclining Woman
pencil on paper
8 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (21.6 x 27.6 cm)
Executed circa 1951.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
Willem de Kooning
PrProovvenanceenance
Elaine de Kooning, New York (until at least 1972) Fourcade, Droll, Inc., New York
Diane Upright Fine Art, New York
Mark Borghi Fine Art, New York
ExhibitedExhibited
Minneapolis, Walker Art Center; Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada; Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection; Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, Willem deKooning:DrawingsandSculptures,March 10, 1974–April 6, 1975, no. 40, n.p. Bridgehampton, Mark Borghi Fine Art, WillemdeKooning:ARetrospectiveFeaturing35Works from1936–1978,July 2–22, 2011
LiteraturLiteraturee
Thomas B. Hess, WillemdeKooningDessins,Lausanne, 1972, no. 68, pp. 46, 170, 172 (illustrated, p. 172)
Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Willem de Kooning Reclining Women
pencil on paper
11 x 13 7/8 in. (27.9 x 35.2 cm)
Executed circa 1950.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000 Go
de Kooning
PrProovvenanceenance
Elaine de Kooning, New York (until at least 1972)
Fourcade, Droll, Inc., New York
Washburn Gallery, New York
Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York
Mark Borghi Fine Art, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Minneapolis, Walker Art Center; Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada; Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection; Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, Willem deKooning:DrawingsandSculptures,March 10, 1974–April 6, 1975, no. 33, n.p. New York, Barbara Mathes Gallery, WillemdeKooning:WorksonPaper,October 23–December 31, 1993
LiteraturLiteraturee
Thomas B. Hess, WillemdeKooningDessins,Lausanne, 1972, no. 67, pp. 46, 170–171 (illustrated, p. 171)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Martín Ramírez
Untitled (Arches)
gouache, colored pencil and graphite on pieced paper
16 3/8 x 10 7/8 in. (41.6 x 27.6 cm)
Executed circa 1960–1963.
EstimateEstimate
$10,000 — 15,000
Ramírez
“The artist shares his life story, his travels, his passions, his motivations, his heartbreaks, his anger, his love, and his curiosity. When we start to look at the work in that way, then we get to see the ordinariness of Ramírez, of his all-too-human experience.” — Brooke Davis Anderson, curator ofMartín Ramírez, American Folk Art Museum, New York, 2007
"In many ways Ramírez’s story is the farthest thing from being exotic and outsider-y. It is a quintessential American narrative: the tale of hundreds of thousands of people. It is about caretaking, of crossing borders, and of survival. I wish we could acknowledge how un-sensational it is; he was like so many migrants who are leaving, moving, hoping to get work and care for their family.
If we could look at his work as a journal, we might see his production with more clarity. The artist shares his life story, his travels, his passions, his motivations, his heartbreaks, his anger, his love, and his curiosity. When we start to look at the work in that way, then we get to see the ordinariness of Ramirez, of his all-too-human experience. Then what unfolds is how extraordinary his line and form really are. There’s no one who paints and draws like him. There’s no one who sets up the page like him."i
i Brooke Davis Anderson, quoted in MartínRamírez:MemoryPortals, Ricco/Maresca, New York, 2021, online
PrProovvenanceenance
Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Brooke Davis Anderson, MartínRamírez:TheLastWorks,Petaluma, 2008, no. 55, p. 74 (illustrated; erroneous dimensions listed)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Réchaud-four à Gaz
signed with the artist's initials and dated "J.D. 66" lower right felt tip pen and colored pencil on paper 10 3/8 x 8 3/8 in. (26.4 x 21.3 cm) Executed on March 20, 1966.
EstimateEstimate
$15,000 — 20,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Beyeler, Basel (acquired in 1967)
Sotheby & Co, London, December 2, 1971, lot 41
Piccadilly Galleries, London
Waddington Galleries, London (acquired in 1972)
Private Collection
Pook & Pook, Inc., Auctioneers and Appraisers, Downington, October 28, 2005, lot 26
David Benrimon Fine Art, New York
Private Collection
Niveau Gallery, New York
Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami Beach
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
London, Waddington Galleries, JeanDubuffet:paintings,gouaches,assemblages,sculpture, monuments,praticables,worksonpaper,June 7–July 8, 1972
LiteraturLiteraturee
Max Loreau, CataloguedestravauxdeJeanDubuffet,fasciculeXXI:L’HourloupeII,Switzerland, 1968, no. 305, p. 169 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Personnage
signed with the artist's initials and dated "J.D. Janv.
60" lower right ink on paper
9 7/8 x 6 1/2 in. (25.1 x 16.5 cm)
Executed in January 1960.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Berggruen, Paris (acquired in 1960)
James Wise, Tourettes-sur-loup (acquired in 1960)
The Estate of James Wise
Richard Feigen, New York and Chicago
David Gibb and Co., Ltd., London
The Estate of Herbert Seigle, Pittsburgh
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, ArtinResidence,October 17, 1973–January 6, 1974, n.p.
LiteraturLiteraturee
Max Loreau, CataloguedestravauxdeJeanDubuffet,fasciculeXVIII:Dessins1960,Switzerland, 1969, no. 11, pp. 16–17 (illustrated, p. 17)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Hans Hartung
P10-1976-H20
signed and dated "Hartung 76" lower left acrylic and ink on baryte cardboard 23 1/4 x 15 1/2 in. (59.1 x 39.4 cm) Executed in 1976.
This work is registered in the archives of the Fondation Hartung Bergman.
EstimateEstimate
$25,000 — 35,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Galeria Joan Prats, Barcelona
Bassenge, Berlin, Moderne Kunst Teil I, November 26, 2011, lot 8412
Private Collection, Encino
Los Angeles Modern Auctions, Los Angeles, October 24, 2021, lot 131
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Barcelona, Galeria Joan Prats, Hartung:OlisIAiguadesDamuntCartro1973–1977,December 1977, no. 24, n.p. (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
PROPERTY FROM THE OVER HOLLAND COLLECTION
Peter Saul
Study for Prune Head
signed and dated "SAUL May 4, 2001" lower left pencil and ink on paper
11 5/8 x 9 1/2 in. (29.5 x 24.1 cm)
Executed on May 4, 2001.
Please note that this is a study for the painting, lot 143.
EstimateEstimate
$10,000 — 15,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Free comb with Pagoda signed "Jean-Michel Basquiat" lower right oilstick and mixed media on paper 15 3/8 x 23 7/8 in. (39.1 x 60.6 cm)
Executed in 1986, this work was issued a certificate of authenticity by the Authentication Committee of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
EstimateEstimate
$80,000 — 120,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Michael Petronko Gallery, New York
Private Collection, Nevada
Private Collection
Casterline|Goodman Gallery, Aspen
Acquired from the above by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Anny Shaw, “Basquiat drawing to be auctioned as an NFT – and winning bidder will be given the option to destroy the original,” TheArtNewspaper,April 27, 2021, online (illustrated)
Emily Dinsdale, “Winners of this NFT auction may destroy the original Basquiat drawing,” Dazed, April 27, 2021, online
“Basquiat NFT pulled from auction after sparking controversy,” Artforum,April 28, 2021, online (illustrated)
Trace William Cowen, “Basquiat NFT Removed From Sale After Controversy Over Original Artwork
Potentially Being Destroyed,” Complex,April 28, 2021, online (illustrated)
Bryan Hood, “If You Buy the NFT of This Basquiat Drawing, You Get the Option to Destroy the Original,” RobbReport,April 28, 2021, online (illustrated)
Sophie Caraan, “Basquiat NFT Pulled From Sale After Estate Confirms That Highest Bidder Will Not Own Copyright,” Hypebeast,April 29, 2021, online
Nicholas O’Donnell, “No, you probably can’t sell your Basquiat as an NFT,” ApolloMagazine,May 12, 2021, online (illustrated)
Matt Fortnow and QuHarrison Terry, TheNFTHandbook:HowtoCreate,SellandBuyNonFungibleTokens,Hoboken, 2022, p. 46
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Dollar Sign
stamped by the Estate of Andy Warhol and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., initialed and numbered "VF 24.024" on the reverse graphite on HMP paper
31 5/8 x 23 3/8 in. (80.3 x 59.4 cm)
Executed in 1981.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York
Stellan Holm Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
Beverly Hills, Gagosian Gallery, AndyWarhol:$,November 1–29, 1997
New York, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, AndyWarhol,Drawings,50's–80's,February 16–March 30, 2002
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Ladies and Gentlemen
stamped by the Estate of Andy Warhol and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., initialed and numbered "VF 53.018" on the reverse graphite on HMP paper
40 1/8 x 27 1/2 in. (101.9 x 69.9 cm)
Executed in 1975.
EstimateEstimate
$20,000 — 30,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York
Stellan Holm Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Alexander Calder
Rose des sables
signed and dated "Calder 74" lower right
gouache and ink on paper
29 1/2 x 43 1/4 in. (74.9 x 109.9 cm)
Executed in 1974.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Maeght, Paris
Linssen Gallery, Cologne
Galeria Ynguanzo, Madrid
Private Collection
Bukowskis, Stockholm, April 25, 2017, lot 248
Private Collection, Sweden (acquired at the above sale)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2022
ExhibitedExhibited
Dordogne, Chateâu Biron, Calder,June 14–September 30, 1986, no. 32
Cologne, Linssen Gallery, CalderRetrospective,1898–1976,December 1987–January 1988, no. 43, pp. 70, 111 (illustrated, p. 70)
Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Alexander Calder Grass
signed and dated "Calder 73" lower right gouache and ink on paper
29 1/8 x 42 7/8 in. (74 x 108.9 cm)
Painted in 1973.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Galerie Maeght, Paris
Galerie Bel Art, Stockholm
Auction Skandia Stockholm, 1978
Private Collection
Bukowskis, Stockholm, December 16, 2016, lot 163
Private Collection, Sweden (acquired at the above sale)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2022
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Alexander Calder
Untitled
signed and dated "Calder 69" lower right
gouache and ink on paper
29 1/8 x 42 7/8 in. (74 x 108.9 cm)
Executed in 1969.
EstimateEstimate
$40,000 — 60,000
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection
Loudmer Poulain, Paris, April 1, 1979, lot 17
Private Collection, Sweden
Private Collection, Europe (acquired in the mid 1980s)
Bukowskis, Stockholm, November 21, 2018, lot 435
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Pisciarsi in bocca
signed, inscribed and dated "alighiero e boetti 1979
KABUL - AFGHANISTAN" on the overlap embroidery on canvas
9 1/4 x 9 1/4 in. (23.5 x 23.5 cm)
Executed in 1979.
This work is registered in the Archivio Alighiero Boetti, Rome under number 1176.
EstimateEstimate
$60,000 — 80,000
Boetti
PrProovvenanceenance
Daniela Betta
Leo Koenig Inc., New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner
LiteraturLiteraturee
Jean-Christophe Ammann, AlighieroBoettiCatalogogenerale,Tomosecondo,Milan, 2012, no. 1176, p. 374 (illustrated)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Primavera Inoltrata
signed and dated "NUVOLO 1955" on the reverse mixed media on canvas
19 3/8 x 25 1/5 in. (49.2 x 64 cm)
Executed in 1955.
This work was submitted to the Nuvolo Archive, which through photographs, deemed it to be autographed. The work is not yet archived.
EstimateEstimate
$15,000 — 20,000
Nuvolo (Giorgio Ascani)
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection, New Jersey
Thence by descent to the present owner
ExhibitedExhibited
New York, Brooklyn Museum, WatercolorstodayinItaly,April 9–May 26, 1957, no. 86, n.p. (titled Spring)
New York Auction / 15 May 2024 / 10am EDT
Tavola toscana (Post-Sevillane, Tableau piège) signed, titled, inscribed and dated "Daniel Spoerri + (HAE) Serie Post Sevillane --> Tavola Toscana Tableau Piège Seggiano 92" on the reverse assemblage of objects on panel in Plexiglas construction
32 x 63 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (81.3 x 161.3 x 36.8 cm) Executed in 1992, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Verein zur Förderung des Werkes von Daniel Spoerri.
EstimateEstimate
$15,000 — 20,000
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVgy-rUPovU
“While collecting scrap iron for Tinguely, Spoerri began gluing random objects he found in flea markets—especially drawn to the end-of-day leftovers—to the wall in elaborate assemblages, improvising art from chance. These early “Flea Market Carnivals” led to the creation of Spoerri’s well-known “Snare Pictures” in the 1960s, assemblages of detritus left on the table at the end of a meal. The collections of used napkins, empty bottles, and dirty plates reflect Spoerri’s long standing interest in dissolving the boundaries between art and life.”— Daniel Spoerri, Luna Luna artist profile.
PrProovvenanceenance
Private Collection
Finarte, Milan, May 31, 2001, lot 202 Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)
Gifted from the above to the present owner in 2015