A DISTINGUISHED
PRIVATE SWEDISH COLLECTION
INCLUDING WARHOL
CHADWICK AND HARING
The sale for this catalogue will be conducted as a part of the Modern Sale, Thursday 3 December 2015 at 12 noon.
3
4
5
INTRODUCTION TO A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE SWEDISH COLLECTION INCLUDING WARHOL, CHADWICK AND HARING The present owners acquired their first sculpture, ”Walking couple II” by Lynn Chadwick, in the year of 1979. This first piece laid the foundation for the rare and exquisite collection that is a part of this sale, and was bought in Sweden at the Fabian Carlsson Gallery in Gothenburg. During the following years, further visits to the Fabian Carlsson Gallery but also to Copenhagen in Denmark and especially the Court Gallery expanded the collection of sculptures. Lynn Chadwick made all the five figurative sculptures that is part of the collection in the 1970’s, a time in his life where the artist further developed the relationship between men and women in his sculptures and began using the schematic geometrical shapes to separate them. It is not hard to understand why the collectors chose to acquire particularly these interesting works by the sculptor. His characteristics are unique in its style but the paired, single or grouped figures also tell a story that keeps fascinate the viewer and give rise to discussions. Andy Warhol’s masterpiece Flowers, from 1964, exhibited at the Galerie Ileana Sonnabend in Paris, is yet another example of the previous century’s great diversity within artistry. Just like Chadwick, Warhol challenged former ideas and brought something completely new into the art world and the post modern movement. The unique painting Flowers, (only twelve 8-inch paintings with green background was made for the Ileana Sonnabend consigment) is one of the true highlights of the collection and together with the important works by Chadwick and Haring, it presents an extraordinary image of some of the most influential and challenging artists during the previous century. Artists such as Andy Warhol, Lynn Chadwick and Keith Haring are regarded to be fundamental to modern art history. Their world famous works of art can be viewed at museums all over the world and even to this day, they are considered to be pioneers and prominent figures of modern art. The exquisite collection conducted in the current sale gives a unique insight into some of the greatest artists during the 20th century and the many different directions within the field of art that were created during these eventful years. Even more importantly, the outstanding quality of each individual item in the collection reveals a significant sense of proficiency when discerning the sculptures, painting and print. The collection includes masterpieces from the second half of the 20th century, all art works that have carefully been selected based on knowledge and a deep interest in the post modernism era. Uppsala Auktionskammare is very proud to be appointed auctioneers for this rare and exceptional collection. It takes the spectator on a journey back in time, yet the pieces by Warhol, Chadwick and Haring manage to feel more contemporary now than ever.
6
7
866. Andy Warhol USA 1928‑1987. ”Flowers”. Signed Andy Warhol on the overlap. Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 20.5 x 20.3 cm. / 2.500.000 - 3.000.000 / / 2 266.000 - 319.000 / On the overlap ”Certified Estate of Andy Warhol ©1964 (twice dated)”. With the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board stamp on reverse. Archive number A107.984 from Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board. The certificate from the Andy Art Authentification Board is included in this lot. Provenance: Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris. Frederick Hughes, New York. Peder Bonnier, Sweden. A Distinguished Private Collection, Sweden. Literature: Georg Frei and Neil Printz (Editors), The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné. Paintings and sculptures 1964 - 1969, Vol. 2B, 2004, illustrated in colour, p. 100 and listed on p. 122, cat. no. 1653.
8
9
FLOWERS ”The reason I’m painting this way is because I want to be a machine. Whatever I do, and do machine-like, is because it is what I want to do. I think it would be terrific if everybody was alike.” A quote by Andy Warhol from the catalogue published in 1968 in connection with the exhibition at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. In 1964 Andy Warhol was invited to do an exhibition at the prestigious Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. This was a most anticipated commission for the artist who previously had begun his career as a successful commercial illustrator. He decided to dedicate the exhibition to a single theme – the flowers. The pop art-movement challenged the traditional perception of art with the use of the popular mass media and everyday objects. This visuality was brought into the circles of the fine art and it was its experimental form that Warhol adopted. He developed and created a signature style. By reason of his previous background in advertising, he was an early adaptor to innovative techniques of image making, such as the silkscreen print making, sometimes using photos as models. The flowers-series began in such a way when he opened a photography magazine called Modern photography and saw a photo by Patricia Caulfield of some hibiscus flowers. This photo was repeatedly printed and he appropriated this photograph when creating his picture of the flowers, also inspired by the repetition that he had seen in the magazine. In his studio, the Factory, he then created flowers in different colours and sizes. The exhibition consisted of nothing but his flowers and the reception was a great success.
10
works”, making them a reminiscence of the Castelli flowers he presented the previous year. Warhol had solved some technical concerns and could work effectively and quickly, almost machine-like, producing more than one hundred paintings in only a few months. This sales “Flowers” is however a counterpoint to this mechanical point of view, expressing the artists impulses and improvising methods. To keep the continuity of the series, since he saw it as one group, the flower-paintings from both 1964 and 1965 are signed 64. The flowers show the artist from a softer angle, as the flowers are intimate symbols and signs of the delicacy of life. Although it can also be seen as a provocative series, with associations to the later counterculture of the flowerpower, in the age of peace, love and anti-war protest in the 1960’s. But all in all it is a positive, colourful series, and works as a counterpoint to the darker themes that Warhol also worked on during this period. The result was beautiful, decorative and joyful, and above all something completely new, which showed Warhol’s graphic sensibility. Thanks to both the square format and the motif the paintings can be hung in any direction. When exhibited in the galleries, almost as a mural, in its entirety made it the most abstract series of the Warhol paintings in the 1960’s. Although the method of production was machine-like there are subtle variations in the execution of each and every one of the flower-series, which makes every single painting unique. The paintings from the April Sonnabend consignment painted by hand by the artist are even more rare and exceptional.
In May 1965, he did his first exhibition in Europe at Galerie Ileana Sonnabend in Paris. He continued his series of flowers. This time also in smaller sizes, for instances the 8 inch (20x20 cm), and again the walls of the gallery were covered of the flower-paintings, almost giving the impression of a field of flowers.
The flowers became a motif that would preoccupy him for the rest of his life. It is also the only subject that he returned to throughout his career, and in almost every medium. He had already in the 1950’s, during his commercial career, drawn some floral images as commercial illustrations. After the silkscreen prints with acrylic, he also made photographs and graphical prints. The success of his flowers lead to a couple of early exhibitions in Stockholm, such as the one at Moderna Museet in 1968.
For the Sonnabend exhibition Warhol made a majority of the flowers on a white background, in contrast to the green backgrounds of the Castelli collection. However, there were also 12 paintings with the green background in the smaller 8 inch size. The painting in this sale is from the exhibition at the Sonnabend Gallery with green backgrounds. To further point out its uniqueness, according to the Catalogue Raisonné (Georg Frei & Neil Printz (red.), vol 2B, 2004, p. 78), Andy Warhol painted the green background by hand. Moreover “the local color of the flowers is also painted by hand in all but two of these
Wherein lays the magic with flowers that the painters throughout the history have wanted to capture in their still-lives? Is it the fragility and purity? Often in traditional paintings the subject of something common, like the flower, have been depicted by the painter and transformed into art. This also applies in the pop-art philosophy. Andy Warhol is playing with this traditional art historical theme of the flower still-life. The flower may be a symbol of the natural cycle of life, the inevitability of death. While commemorating life and death, it awakes both sensual and poetic associations.
11
LYNN CHADWICK “The important thing in my figures is always the attitude – what the figures are expressing through their actual stance. They talk, as it were, and this is something a lot of people don’t understand”. The fascinating sculptures by Lynn Chadwick are immediately distinguishable. Their style resembles no other with the geometrically simplified forms but yet majestic and strong features. Through his unique method of working, the significant characteristics of his figures regarding balance, form, line and attitude come alive and awaken curiosity and associations. He mainly created his sculptures with single or paired figures but sometimes with groups, and in order to understand and appreciate the sculptures they need to be viewed at the correct height according to the artist. For Lynn Chadwick that meant that the head of a figure should be at eye height. A sculpture made by Lynn Chadwick may almost come across as a modernist architecture. Unlike many other modernist artists, he did not find inspiration among classical sculptures. Instead, he was basically an autodidact and invented his own methods for creating his distinguished sculptures. Regarded today as one of the most important post-war British sculptors, Chadwick made his debut as one of the next generations of sculptors at the British Pavilion of the 1952 Venice Biennale. During World War II, Chadwick worked as a RAF pilot and when the war finally came to an end he was longing to continue his career in art and to begin the creation of something new. Before the year of 1939 he worked as a draughtsman at an architect’s office, a position he returned to even after the war. It took a few years before Chadwick dared to take the step fully towards a career as an artist, and until the late 1940’s he made his living working as a designer and interior architect. The art from the following years after World War II and especially his first artwork was strongly influenced by the experiences from his serving time in war. His very first creations were abstract kinetic constructions, not entirely three-dimensional but with the nature of flattened structures. They are sometimes compared to Alexander Calder’s mobiles due to the linked, balanced forms that floated freely in space. Very few of these early sculptures exist today. The abstract forms soon evolved into animal-like sculptures and the shape developed into more massive volumes. At the 28th Venice Biennale, he mastered this technique fully and was awarded the prestigious International Prize for Sculpture. This was the definite breakthrough for Chadwick, who after
12
the reward got acknowledged internationally and sold numerous works to both public and private collections. Towards the end of the 1950’s, Chadwick began to cast his sculptures in bronze. This development also meant that he could expand his practice from unique sculptures into editions. The texture of the surface was very important to Chadwick who devoted many hours to achieve the right patina. As his own methods improved, his sculptures developed over the years. The first ideas of a figurative sculpture were brought to light early in his career when Chadwick started to grow an interest in the human figure and its movements, but in the 1970’s they reached a new level and became standardized in his production. The constellation and postures of the figures varies, sometimes they are dancing or walking but there are also many examples of winged, seated or reclining formations. The relationship between the figures was a theme that Chadwick returned to many times during his lifetime, as the quote mentioned above clearly shows. It was of great importance to Chadwick not to provide the viewer with any explanations about his artworks. Instead, he wanted the viewer to approach his sculptures with an open mind and free imagination. The distinguished collection of five sculptures made by Lynn Chadwick during the 1970’s, are all exquisite examples of his tremendous skill as an artist. They demonstrate his broad spectrum as an artist with different formations consisting of men and women, sitting together like in “Maquette for Unity” (lot 868), or standing and facing each other in “Winged figures II” (lot 867). A bit more rare is the formation of three figures together, as seen in “Three sitting figures” (lot 870) that was executed by Chadwick in 1976. Together they show the artist’s true ability to create a sense of movement in his sculptures, even with the use of many straight lines. The women and men are similar but not completely alike. During this period in his life, he began to develop a visual code where the male figures had rectangular heads and the female had triangular heads. The genders are being distinguished in a subtle yet significant way, which further reinforces the picture of Chadwick as one of the most skilled pioneers in the 20th century.
13
867. Lynn Russell Chadwick England 1914‑2003. ”Winged figures II”. Signed, dated and numbered Chadwick 75 688 5/8. Patinated bronze, H 50 cm. / 300.000 - 400.000 / / 2 32.000 - 43.000 / Ⓓ Executed in 1975. Provenance: Galleri Fabian Carlsson, Gothenburg, Sweden. A Distinguished Private Collection, Sweden. Exhibited: Copenhagen, Court Gallery, ”Lynn Chadwick”, December 1975 - January 1976. Literature: Dennis Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick: Sculptor, With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947‑1988, 1990, p. 272, cat. nr. 688, illustration of another example p. 273.
14
15
868. Lynn Russell Chadwick England 1914‑2003. ”Maquette for Unity”. Signed with initial C and signed, dated and numbered Chadwick 75 689 2/8. Patinated bronze, H 27 cm. / 175.000 - 200.000 / / 2 19.000 - 21.000 / Ⓓ Executed in 1975. Provenance: Galleri Fabian Carlsson, Gothenburg, Sweden. A Distinguished Private Collection, Sweden. Literature: Dennis Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick: Sculptor, With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947‑1988, 1990, p. 272, cat. nr. 689, illustration of another example p. 273.
16
17
18
19
869. Lynn Russell Chadwick England 1914‑2003. ”Pair of standing figures”. Signed with initial C and dated and numbered E/3 75 6/8. Patinated bronze, H 31 cm. / 150.000 - 200.000 / / 2 16.000 - 21.000 / Ⓓ Executed in 1975. Provenance: Court Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. A Distinguished Private Collection, Sweden. Literature: Dennis Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick: Sculptor, With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947‑1988, 1990, p. 278, cat. nr. 707, illustration of another example p. 279.
20
21
870. Lynn Russell Chadwick England 1914‑2003. ”Three sitting figures”. Signed with initial C and signed and numbered Chadwick E/5 5/8. Patinated bronze, H 19 cm. / 125.000 - 150.000 / / 2 13.000 - 16.000 / Ⓓ Executed in 1976. Provenance: Court Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. A Distinguished Private Collection, Sweden. Exhibited: Copenhagen, Court Gallery, ”Lynn Chadwick”, December 1975 - January 1976. Literature: Dennis Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick: Sculptor, With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947‑1988, 1990, p. 252, cat. nr. 634, illustration of another example p. 253.
22
23
871. Lynn Russell Chadwick England 1914‑2003. ”Walking couple II”. Signed with initial C and dated and numbered 75 693 3/8. Patinated bronze, H 31 cm. / 125.000 - 150.000 / / 2 13.000 - 16.000 / Ⓓ Executed in 1975. Provenance: Galleri Fabian Carlsson, Gothenburg, Sweden. A Distinguished Private Collection, Sweden. Literature: Dennis Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick: Sculptor, With a Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947‑1988, 1990, p. 274, cat. nr. 693, illustration of another example p. 275.
24
25
26
27
872. Keith Haring USA 1958‑1990. ”The Fertility Suite: one plate”. Signed and dated K. Haring 83, numbered 22/100. Published by Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York. Screenprint in colours on wove paper, I. 102.8 x 120.6 cm, S. 106.6 x 127 cm. / 125.000 - 150.000 / / 2 13.000 - 16.000 / Provenance: A Distinguished Private Collection, Sweden. Exhibited: Galleri Mocca, Gothenburg, Sweden.
KEITH HARING 28
29
30
Uppsala Auktionskammare Specialists and services for this auction
Magnus Bexhed VD CEO bexhed@uppsalaauktion.se
Karl-Magnus Törnros Intendent Specialist tornros@uppsalaauktion.se
Sara Gellermark Ekonomichef CFO gellermark@uppsalaauktion.se
Cronje van Walleghem Vice VD, Intendent Vice CEO, Specialist walleghem@uppsalaauktion.se
Julia Unge Sörling Assistent Junior Specialist sorling@uppsalaauktion.se
Charlotte Johansson Ekonomi Accounts c.johansson@uppsalaauktion.se
Knut Knutson Expert Head Specialist mail@uppsalaauktion.se
Clara Sunesson Assistent Junior Specialist sunesson@uppsalaauktion.se
Agnes Lidehäll Marknadskoordinator Marketing coordinator lidehall@uppsalaauktion.se
Charlotte Widenfelt Intendent Specialist widenfelt@uppsalaauktion.se
Catherine Klev Assistent Assistant c.klev@uppsalaauktion.se
Jonas Jöreskog It-ansvarig IT manager joreskog@uppsalaauktion.se
Rikard Klev Chefsintendent Senior Specialist klev@uppsalaauktion.se
Katherine Huang Assistent Assistant huang@uppsalaauktion.se
Olav Nyhus Fotograf Photographer nyhus@uppsalaauktion.se
Fredrik Blidberg Intendent Specialist blidberg@uppsalaauktion.se
Jeanna Ahlin Assistent Assistant ahlin@uppsalaauktion.se
Åsa Liffner Fotograf, konsult Photographer, consultant
Oscar Silfverhielm Intendent Specialist silfverhielm@uppsalaauktion.se
David Magnusson Assistent Assistant magnusson@uppsalaauktion.se
Representant Södermanland:
Cathrina Engström‑Kjellberg Representative antikvardering.cek@telia.com
Kundtjänst Services
Betalning
Avhämtning
Payment
Collection
Tel: +46 (0) 18 18 35 02 ekonomi@uppsalaauktion.se Fax: +46 (0) 18 14 80 97
Tel: +46 (0) 18 12 12 22 mail@uppsalaauktion.se Fax: + 46 (0) 18 14 80 97
31
32
33
34
dragarbrunnsgatan 73, uppsala, sweden. tel +46 (0)18-12 12 22, fax +46 (0)18- 14 80 97 www.uppsalaauktion.se