Art 1970-1979
1970 The Pierced Family of Barbara Hepworth
2016 SOLD for £ 3.75M including premium
Henry Moore deconstructed and reconstructed the human body. Lynn Chadwick populated his own world with surrealist characters in bronze who enjoyed to gather on English lawns. Meanwhile the sculpture by Barbara Hepworth is resolutely abstract, inspired by sea spray on the megaliths of Cornwall.
Hepworth returns to figuration in 1970, in her own way. After all, a menhir and a standing human have similarities of forms. Same as Chadwick she does not look for recognizable details. She builds her characters like her totems by including holes that become more expressive than their surrounding material.
Nine Figures on a Hill, later renamed The Family of Man, is an assembly of nine separate sculptures that symbolize the phases of growth and maturity of the human being like in a surrealist wedding : Young Girl, Youth, Bride, Bridegroom, Parent I, Parent II, Ancestor I, Ancestor II and Ultimate Form. The number of stacked components varies from child to adult, from two to four.
The Family of Man was made in bronze in two complete sets plus four copies of each of the nine individual figures.
According to the artist, Parent I is the universal mother who may have given life to about twenty children. At nearly 2.70 cm high, she dominates the scenery while remaining opulent with her flexible lines. A bronze of Parent I is estimated £ 2M for sale by Sotheby's in London on November 22, lot 13.
Hepworth returns to figuration in 1970, in her own way. After all, a menhir and a standing human have similarities of forms. Same as Chadwick she does not look for recognizable details. She builds her characters like her totems by including holes that become more expressive than their surrounding material.
Nine Figures on a Hill, later renamed The Family of Man, is an assembly of nine separate sculptures that symbolize the phases of growth and maturity of the human being like in a surrealist wedding : Young Girl, Youth, Bride, Bridegroom, Parent I, Parent II, Ancestor I, Ancestor II and Ultimate Form. The number of stacked components varies from child to adult, from two to four.
The Family of Man was made in bronze in two complete sets plus four copies of each of the nine individual figures.
According to the artist, Parent I is the universal mother who may have given life to about twenty children. At nearly 2.70 cm high, she dominates the scenery while remaining opulent with her flexible lines. A bronze of Parent I is estimated £ 2M for sale by Sotheby's in London on November 22, lot 13.
1970 The Wild Liturgy of Wifredo Lam
2010 SOLD 2.15 M$ including premium
Wifredo Lam was Cuban, but we may also consider that he came from three continents: his father was Chinese, his mother was of mixed Spanish and Congolese bloods. Like the poetry of Cesaire, the art of Lam is a cry for dignity in the Third World.
On November 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells a painting that is important because it provides the key to the surreal world of the artist. Dated 1970 during his long stay in Italy, it is entitled in French "Les Abalochas Dansent Pour Dhambala, dieu de l'unité" (The Abalochas dance for Dhambala, god of unity).
On a large surface (213 x 244 cm) this oil painting shows the figures of Lam's personal mythology, somewhat anthropomorphic, that dance in all directions like an evocation of the spirits of the African forest. Some are bright, others in the dark are waiting their turn. The artwork is illustrated in the press release shared by Artdaily.
The Abalochas are an invention of Lam, but Dhambala, the rainbow serpent, is a known Creole mystic figure from Haiti. The main female in the foreground looks like the horse in Guernica.
This masterpiece of political art for the Third World, well ahead of its time, is estimated $ 1.75 M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This painting sold for $ 2.15 million including premium responds to the expectations, confirming that it is a masterpiece of the artist.
On November 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells a painting that is important because it provides the key to the surreal world of the artist. Dated 1970 during his long stay in Italy, it is entitled in French "Les Abalochas Dansent Pour Dhambala, dieu de l'unité" (The Abalochas dance for Dhambala, god of unity).
On a large surface (213 x 244 cm) this oil painting shows the figures of Lam's personal mythology, somewhat anthropomorphic, that dance in all directions like an evocation of the spirits of the African forest. Some are bright, others in the dark are waiting their turn. The artwork is illustrated in the press release shared by Artdaily.
The Abalochas are an invention of Lam, but Dhambala, the rainbow serpent, is a known Creole mystic figure from Haiti. The main female in the foreground looks like the horse in Guernica.
This masterpiece of political art for the Third World, well ahead of its time, is estimated $ 1.75 M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This painting sold for $ 2.15 million including premium responds to the expectations, confirming that it is a masterpiece of the artist.
1970 The Drapings of Sam Gilliam
2019 SOLD for $ 1.08m including premium
The physical interrelation of the artist with his work becomes a major component of the creativity after the Second World War. The greatest artists generate new processes. For painters, outstanding examples include Pollock, Frankenthaler, Shiraga, Klein.
The group of Washington DC is innovative. Sam Francis increases the brightness and transparency of colors. Morris Louis inserts his pure colors into a minimalist geometry.
In the mid-1960s in Washington, Sam Gilliam watches some clothes drying on their washing line. The wind changes the shape. The artist is experimenting in a new process by releasing the canvas from the easel and from the stretching bar. The same freedom also applies during the installation, with the possibility to vary the folds of the artwork to boost its visual effects.
Gilliam executes in 1970 a series entitled Ray painted in shimmering colors on folded and sometimes beveled canvases. Ray VIII, acrylic on canvas 137 x 274 cm, is estimated $ 600K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on September 26, lot 20.
Like Kline, Gilliam is sensitive to the musicality of his gesture, and especially to jazz and blues. Lady Day II is a tribute to Billie Holiday. This acrylic on canvas 272 x 406 cm with structuring folds painted in 1971 was sold for $ 2.17M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2018.
With his series of Seahorses, the artist tries in 1975 more complex shapes, accentuating the impression of air lightness by the transparency of the colors. He then abandons the folds to explore new relationships between canvas and object.
Rediscovered in 2015, Sam Gilliam is the most important African-American abstract painter of his time.
The group of Washington DC is innovative. Sam Francis increases the brightness and transparency of colors. Morris Louis inserts his pure colors into a minimalist geometry.
In the mid-1960s in Washington, Sam Gilliam watches some clothes drying on their washing line. The wind changes the shape. The artist is experimenting in a new process by releasing the canvas from the easel and from the stretching bar. The same freedom also applies during the installation, with the possibility to vary the folds of the artwork to boost its visual effects.
Gilliam executes in 1970 a series entitled Ray painted in shimmering colors on folded and sometimes beveled canvases. Ray VIII, acrylic on canvas 137 x 274 cm, is estimated $ 600K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on September 26, lot 20.
Like Kline, Gilliam is sensitive to the musicality of his gesture, and especially to jazz and blues. Lady Day II is a tribute to Billie Holiday. This acrylic on canvas 272 x 406 cm with structuring folds painted in 1971 was sold for $ 2.17M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2018.
With his series of Seahorses, the artist tries in 1975 more complex shapes, accentuating the impression of air lightness by the transparency of the colors. He then abandons the folds to explore new relationships between canvas and object.
Rediscovered in 2015, Sam Gilliam is the most important African-American abstract painter of his time.
1971 rotation and mirror of good and evil
2017 unsold
On October 6 in London, Christie's sells as lot 16A an oil on canvas 198 x 148 cm painted by Francis Bacon in April 1971 and titled Study of Red Pope 1962 2nd version. This unusual title indicates that for the artist this work inspired from the portrait of Innocent X by Velazquez is a culmination of this theme.
Conceived as a sort of triptych concentrated on a single canvas, 2nd version poses existential questions and reserves many surprises.
The Pope in the curled-up position of Innocent X is installed in a circular environment as if seated over a turntable. The room is closed with two lateral curvilinear mirrors offering a mystery of reflection that may remind the Menines by Velazquez. The mirror on the right brings the recognizable figure of Francis' lover, George Dyer.
The scene is an impossible encounter between the two characters. Each one embodies both good and evil. The old Pope does not master the responsibilities of his function of which he is nevertheless the sole representative. The ordinary man with a troubled past has become the supreme idol in the life of Francis.
The rotating Pope has reached a position where he cannot see George. On the opposite George tries to establish a communication and raises his hand to the reflection of the string of an out of field bell or light.
George committed suicide six months later in Paris while Francis was preparing in that city the great exhibition which consecrated him as a major artist of his time. The traumatized Francis will no longer need a pope. The ghost of George will henceforth secure the mystery of spirit and flesh.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Conceived as a sort of triptych concentrated on a single canvas, 2nd version poses existential questions and reserves many surprises.
The Pope in the curled-up position of Innocent X is installed in a circular environment as if seated over a turntable. The room is closed with two lateral curvilinear mirrors offering a mystery of reflection that may remind the Menines by Velazquez. The mirror on the right brings the recognizable figure of Francis' lover, George Dyer.
The scene is an impossible encounter between the two characters. Each one embodies both good and evil. The old Pope does not master the responsibilities of his function of which he is nevertheless the sole representative. The ordinary man with a troubled past has become the supreme idol in the life of Francis.
The rotating Pope has reached a position where he cannot see George. On the opposite George tries to establish a communication and raises his hand to the reflection of the string of an out of field bell or light.
George committed suicide six months later in Paris while Francis was preparing in that city the great exhibition which consecrated him as a major artist of his time. The traumatized Francis will no longer need a pope. The ghost of George will henceforth secure the mystery of spirit and flesh.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
1971 Bad Weather through Richter's Lens
2012 unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Photography plays an important role in the beginnings of the art of Richter. A refugee from East Germany into the West, he was first concerned with social identification. He recuperated trivial photographs into paintings in which heskillfully combined hyperrealistic techniques and blurring.
These first successes do not satisfy his need to express the subtlety of colors. He suddenly finds a new way in 1969.He is on holiday in Corsica, the île de beauté famous for its sunshine. Luckily for the history of art, the weather is verycloudy. The horizon fades between sea and sky, and the weak diffusing light generates a variety of shades.
Admirer of the Romantic painters and more specifically of Fridrich, Richter comes in communion with the forces of a wild and uninhabited landscape. Painted in 1969 from an assembly of two photographs, a seascape, 200 x 200 cm,was sold $ 19.3 million including premium at Christie's on May 8, 2012.
History repeats almost identically at Tenerife in 1971, now with a landscape. The oil on canvas, 200 x 300 cm, for sale by Christie's in New York on November 14, is estimated $ 10M.
Once again struck by the example of Fridrich, he devoted his 1972 holidays to photographing icebergs.
These works led Richter to his total control of color. They also had a major influence on the minimalist style of somecontemporary photographs.
I invite you to play the video where Christie's is introducing the Tenerife painting.
Photography plays an important role in the beginnings of the art of Richter. A refugee from East Germany into the West, he was first concerned with social identification. He recuperated trivial photographs into paintings in which heskillfully combined hyperrealistic techniques and blurring.
These first successes do not satisfy his need to express the subtlety of colors. He suddenly finds a new way in 1969.He is on holiday in Corsica, the île de beauté famous for its sunshine. Luckily for the history of art, the weather is verycloudy. The horizon fades between sea and sky, and the weak diffusing light generates a variety of shades.
Admirer of the Romantic painters and more specifically of Fridrich, Richter comes in communion with the forces of a wild and uninhabited landscape. Painted in 1969 from an assembly of two photographs, a seascape, 200 x 200 cm,was sold $ 19.3 million including premium at Christie's on May 8, 2012.
History repeats almost identically at Tenerife in 1971, now with a landscape. The oil on canvas, 200 x 300 cm, for sale by Christie's in New York on November 14, is estimated $ 10M.
Once again struck by the example of Fridrich, he devoted his 1972 holidays to photographing icebergs.
These works led Richter to his total control of color. They also had a major influence on the minimalist style of somecontemporary photographs.
I invite you to play the video where Christie's is introducing the Tenerife painting.
1972 Farewell to New York by Yayoi Kusama
2017 SOLD for HK$ 42M including premium
In 1958 Yayoi Kusama brings to New York City the visual elements of her hallucination. The world is an unlimited net or curtain. Mankind is nothing more than undifferentiated tiny spots distributed evenly throughout that network. The basic element is a polka dot but it can also take other forms.
The very long stay of the artist in New York is a continuous attempt to escape the common fate. She imagines and realizes many happenings at the extreme limits of decency and even beyond.
She is in contact with the avant-gardes. Donald Judd is enthusiastic about her graphic minimalism. She admires the use of ordinary objects of chance by Joseph Cornell who manages an exception to his lonely habits for maintaining with her a daily and platonic relationship which is beneficial to the creativity of both artists. Yayoi Kusama covers with her dots various artefacts as well as the naked bodies of the participants of her performances and uses mirrors to display the infinity.
On September 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 107 x 92 cm painted by Yayoi Kusama in 1972, lot 1067 estimated HK $ 32M. This artwork is an unexpected return to her obsession with the infinity nets but can also be considered as a new prototype by its use of multiple colors.
After 14 years of overwork in New York the artist is exhausted. The sudden death of Cornell on December 29, 1972 completes the ruin of her fragile world. She returns to Japan in the following year. Her voluntary residence since 1977 in a hospital for the mentally ill protects her against her desire for excessive performance without reducing her graphic creativity.
Yayoi Kusama succeeded in making the public enjoy her offbeat vision of the universe.
The very long stay of the artist in New York is a continuous attempt to escape the common fate. She imagines and realizes many happenings at the extreme limits of decency and even beyond.
She is in contact with the avant-gardes. Donald Judd is enthusiastic about her graphic minimalism. She admires the use of ordinary objects of chance by Joseph Cornell who manages an exception to his lonely habits for maintaining with her a daily and platonic relationship which is beneficial to the creativity of both artists. Yayoi Kusama covers with her dots various artefacts as well as the naked bodies of the participants of her performances and uses mirrors to display the infinity.
On September 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 107 x 92 cm painted by Yayoi Kusama in 1972, lot 1067 estimated HK $ 32M. This artwork is an unexpected return to her obsession with the infinity nets but can also be considered as a new prototype by its use of multiple colors.
After 14 years of overwork in New York the artist is exhausted. The sudden death of Cornell on December 29, 1972 completes the ruin of her fragile world. She returns to Japan in the following year. Her voluntary residence since 1977 in a hospital for the mentally ill protects her against her desire for excessive performance without reducing her graphic creativity.
Yayoi Kusama succeeded in making the public enjoy her offbeat vision of the universe.
1972 Modern Architecture within the Art of Jeffrey Smart
2009 SOLD 870 K AUD including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
As David Hockney, the Australian-born Jeffrey Smart is passionate about architecture.
The strange oil on canvas by Smart, 100 x 99 cm, that Sotheby's sells on August 24 in Melbourne is entitled "The Painted Factory, Tuscany." Painted in 1972, it dates from the year after the installation of the artist in Arezzo, where he still resides today.
A green Tuscan landscape is dominated by a cubic factory that we imagine made of concrete, with a smooth front decorated with abstract or stylized patterns in the style of Léger. A friend of the artist shows himself in the factory entrance, brandishing a painting that is a reducted replica of the complete artwork.
This painting is an ironic display of the modern world, a theme usually conducive to success. This justifies an estimate of 600 KA$, which should be an excellent result for this artist.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is excellent. Sold 870 KA$ including costs, it almost matches the high estimate, which was 800 KA$ excl.
As David Hockney, the Australian-born Jeffrey Smart is passionate about architecture.
The strange oil on canvas by Smart, 100 x 99 cm, that Sotheby's sells on August 24 in Melbourne is entitled "The Painted Factory, Tuscany." Painted in 1972, it dates from the year after the installation of the artist in Arezzo, where he still resides today.
A green Tuscan landscape is dominated by a cubic factory that we imagine made of concrete, with a smooth front decorated with abstract or stylized patterns in the style of Léger. A friend of the artist shows himself in the factory entrance, brandishing a painting that is a reducted replica of the complete artwork.
This painting is an ironic display of the modern world, a theme usually conducive to success. This justifies an estimate of 600 KA$, which should be an excellent result for this artist.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is excellent. Sold 870 KA$ including costs, it almost matches the high estimate, which was 800 KA$ excl.
1972 THE MUSICALISM OF ZENDEROUDI
2008 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The contemporary art sales organized by Christie's at Dubai are exciting. The market is new, which finds its resources in Iran, Arabia and the Middle East. Artists who have been confirmed here are good candidates to extend their influence into the international arena. The buyers' network and their sensitivity are different from other places of sales, and big surprises are always possible in the results.
On April 30, four works exceeded one million dollars, increasing at once the credibility of this place of the art market. The press highlighted on this occasion the important bid at 2.8 MUS$ including fees that was recorded on a bronze by Parviz Tanavoli that paid tribute to Persepolis and had been estimated 400 KUS$.
This outstanding result had a little bit hidden the second result of the sale, obtained on a work of another Iranian artist, born the same year as Tanavoli (1937): Hossein Zenderoudi. His painting in oil and acrylic on canvas from 1981, 210x195 cm, was sold 1.6 MUS$ costs included from an estimate of 200 KUS$. It consists of thick sinuous lines on both sides of a middle horizontal area populated with a repetitive pattern of small masks of different colors. In the same sale, a 1972 acrylic representing a very tight coloured spiral was sold 600 KUS$ fees included.
On October 30, there are four works by Zenderoudi in the catalog. Christie's, based on its previous successes, appears to have pushed a little further its estimates.
The lot 57 is a monochrome red on a white background based on similar features and masks (but differently distributed) as the star lot of the April sale. This is an oil on canvas from 1972, 195x130cm. This painting is much appreciated by Christie's, which presents it at the best place in its press release. The estimated 400 KUS$ will certainly be greatly exceeded. The catalog indicates the clear influence of calligraphy and musicalism in this work.
The other three paintings are estimated 400 KUS$ (Lot 98, 150x301 cm, 1986), 400 KUS$ (Lot 100, 215x180 cm, 1983) and 300 KUS$ (Lot 58, 130x97 cm, 1969).
POST SALE COMMENT
Compared to the sale of April 28, the results are disappointing. The highest figure, 480 KUS$ including fees, is recorded successively on a very large abstract oil on canvas (300 x 185 cm) by the Iranian Mohammed Ehsai and on a triptych (200 x 450 cm overall) of the Algerian Rachid Koraichi. We observe also in this market the trend for gigantism.
Regarding Zenderoudi, it is a disaster! None of the four paintings have been sold. This decrease is curiosity is also confirmed on a lot that I did not mention: a work on paper sold 230 KUS$ costs included on a low estimate of 300 KUS$.
The contemporary art sales organized by Christie's at Dubai are exciting. The market is new, which finds its resources in Iran, Arabia and the Middle East. Artists who have been confirmed here are good candidates to extend their influence into the international arena. The buyers' network and their sensitivity are different from other places of sales, and big surprises are always possible in the results.
On April 30, four works exceeded one million dollars, increasing at once the credibility of this place of the art market. The press highlighted on this occasion the important bid at 2.8 MUS$ including fees that was recorded on a bronze by Parviz Tanavoli that paid tribute to Persepolis and had been estimated 400 KUS$.
This outstanding result had a little bit hidden the second result of the sale, obtained on a work of another Iranian artist, born the same year as Tanavoli (1937): Hossein Zenderoudi. His painting in oil and acrylic on canvas from 1981, 210x195 cm, was sold 1.6 MUS$ costs included from an estimate of 200 KUS$. It consists of thick sinuous lines on both sides of a middle horizontal area populated with a repetitive pattern of small masks of different colors. In the same sale, a 1972 acrylic representing a very tight coloured spiral was sold 600 KUS$ fees included.
On October 30, there are four works by Zenderoudi in the catalog. Christie's, based on its previous successes, appears to have pushed a little further its estimates.
The lot 57 is a monochrome red on a white background based on similar features and masks (but differently distributed) as the star lot of the April sale. This is an oil on canvas from 1972, 195x130cm. This painting is much appreciated by Christie's, which presents it at the best place in its press release. The estimated 400 KUS$ will certainly be greatly exceeded. The catalog indicates the clear influence of calligraphy and musicalism in this work.
The other three paintings are estimated 400 KUS$ (Lot 98, 150x301 cm, 1986), 400 KUS$ (Lot 100, 215x180 cm, 1983) and 300 KUS$ (Lot 58, 130x97 cm, 1969).
POST SALE COMMENT
Compared to the sale of April 28, the results are disappointing. The highest figure, 480 KUS$ including fees, is recorded successively on a very large abstract oil on canvas (300 x 185 cm) by the Iranian Mohammed Ehsai and on a triptych (200 x 450 cm overall) of the Algerian Rachid Koraichi. We observe also in this market the trend for gigantism.
Regarding Zenderoudi, it is a disaster! None of the four paintings have been sold. This decrease is curiosity is also confirmed on a lot that I did not mention: a work on paper sold 230 KUS$ costs included on a low estimate of 300 KUS$.
1973 The Essential Earth of Raza
2014 SOLD 3.1 M$ including premium
The essential theme of Raza is Earth, which interacts with mankind while transcending the physical and mystical forces. In an early phase he is a landscape painter. The light of dawn playing behind the hills to illuminate the village fascinates him. Gradually the trace of man is no longer useful.
The bright lights of the transition between night and day are not enough to express his philosophical quest. Joining Pollock, his actual subject is the proper life of the soil.
On March 18 in New York, Christie's sells a large acrylic on canvas, 189 x 189 cm, entitled La Terre.
Painted in 1973, this work did not yet open the great transition of the art of Raza. Rather, it is the ultimate culmination of his landscapes becoming totally abstract while keeping the memory of the sparkling dawn.
Later, Raza discovered how geometry can express the energy. He will forget the night, and his colors become clearer. His quest will more rely upon the principles of Hindu philosophy. The Earth as the unique support of our relationship with the universe remains however implicit in his work.
The 1973 version of La Terre had been sold for £ 1.27 million including premium at Christie's on 30 June 2008, which is still now one of the highest prices recorded at auction for Raza.
POST SALE COMMENT
The art of Raza is better understood today than six years ago. This version of La Terre is outstanding in the evolution of his quest. It was sold for $ 3.1 million including premium.
The bright lights of the transition between night and day are not enough to express his philosophical quest. Joining Pollock, his actual subject is the proper life of the soil.
On March 18 in New York, Christie's sells a large acrylic on canvas, 189 x 189 cm, entitled La Terre.
Painted in 1973, this work did not yet open the great transition of the art of Raza. Rather, it is the ultimate culmination of his landscapes becoming totally abstract while keeping the memory of the sparkling dawn.
Later, Raza discovered how geometry can express the energy. He will forget the night, and his colors become clearer. His quest will more rely upon the principles of Hindu philosophy. The Earth as the unique support of our relationship with the universe remains however implicit in his work.
The 1973 version of La Terre had been sold for £ 1.27 million including premium at Christie's on 30 June 2008, which is still now one of the highest prices recorded at auction for Raza.
POST SALE COMMENT
The art of Raza is better understood today than six years ago. This version of La Terre is outstanding in the evolution of his quest. It was sold for $ 3.1 million including premium.
1973-1974 KAZUO SHIRAGA IN TOKYO
2008 SOLD 31 M YEN BEFORE FEES
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
It seems cheap: on July 25 in Tokyo, Mallet Auction sells two oils on canvas by Kazuo Shiraga of the same size, one in height and the other in width, 130 x 162 cm, each 10 million yen, one of 1974 and the other of 1973 (lots 49 and 61). The specialty of this artist is an abstract monochrome painting.
Lot 49, a full size composition in large strokes, looks comparable to an oil on canvas from 1983 (131x195 cm) sold by Lombrail-Teucquam at Drouot on April 14 for 290 K € before fees, ie roughly 5 times more expensive than the Japanese estimate indicated above.
Also comparable, a small oil on canvas of 1961 (80 x 120 cm) was sold 32 million yen in Est-Ouest Auctions in Tokyo on April 4.
Lot 61, finally more atypical, is a transparent blue.
Shiraga is doing well in Paris, since his top four results sorted by Artvalue were obtained in that city. The painting I mentioned above is the third in this sequence.
Using the same database, we see that all the significant results of this artist have been achieved in the last two years. Indeed he deserves the curiosity of fans with his avant-gardist painting technique using various parts of his body, particularly his feet, and his assimilation of the gesture of artistic creation to that of wrestling. He died at the age of 84 on April 8.
We are in the presence of an artist whom we just really started to discover and Mallet Auction may not have wanted to give an estimate too high. We can therefore predict at no risk that prices of these two paintings shall widely exceed their estimates.
POST SALE COMMENT
As it was expected, the estimate was much too low. Both paintings were sold 31 and 24 million yen before fees.
It seems cheap: on July 25 in Tokyo, Mallet Auction sells two oils on canvas by Kazuo Shiraga of the same size, one in height and the other in width, 130 x 162 cm, each 10 million yen, one of 1974 and the other of 1973 (lots 49 and 61). The specialty of this artist is an abstract monochrome painting.
Lot 49, a full size composition in large strokes, looks comparable to an oil on canvas from 1983 (131x195 cm) sold by Lombrail-Teucquam at Drouot on April 14 for 290 K € before fees, ie roughly 5 times more expensive than the Japanese estimate indicated above.
Also comparable, a small oil on canvas of 1961 (80 x 120 cm) was sold 32 million yen in Est-Ouest Auctions in Tokyo on April 4.
Lot 61, finally more atypical, is a transparent blue.
Shiraga is doing well in Paris, since his top four results sorted by Artvalue were obtained in that city. The painting I mentioned above is the third in this sequence.
Using the same database, we see that all the significant results of this artist have been achieved in the last two years. Indeed he deserves the curiosity of fans with his avant-gardist painting technique using various parts of his body, particularly his feet, and his assimilation of the gesture of artistic creation to that of wrestling. He died at the age of 84 on April 8.
We are in the presence of an artist whom we just really started to discover and Mallet Auction may not have wanted to give an estimate too high. We can therefore predict at no risk that prices of these two paintings shall widely exceed their estimates.
POST SALE COMMENT
As it was expected, the estimate was much too low. Both paintings were sold 31 and 24 million yen before fees.
1974 The Narrow Path to Freedom
2019 sold for $ 10.3m including premium
Robert Motherwell had been one of the pioneers of abstract expressionism which he managed to separate from surrealism. Influenced by psychoanalysis, he will seek throughout his career to give visibility to his own mental universe.
In 1948 he illustrates with a black ink drawing a poem by Harold Rosenberg titled Elegy to the Spanish Republic. On the white background, bulky ovoid elements are stuck at mid-height in a pattern of vertical columns. The masses of white and black display the balance of forces between life and death, or between order and chaos.
The Spanish Civil War was a triumph of death, illustrated by Picasso's Guernica. Motherwell begins to paint in an invariant style a very long series of Elegies to the Spanish Republic. In the same stifling and dismal style, he had also painted in 1949 At Five in the Afternoon, inspired by writings on bullfighting by Garcia Lorca and Hemingway.
The biomorphic forms between the columns look like compressed human heads between the bars of a prison. Escape is impossible. Franco dies in 1975. In 1978 on an order from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, Motherwell paints the gigantic Reconciliation Elegy, 305 x 924 cm. A space between two columns has exploded and the left edge is empty, in a new hope for a free world.
The artist had been dispossessed against his will from the original of At Five in the Afternoon. A remake 229 x 305 cm painted in 1971 was sold for $ 12.7M including premium by Phillips on May 17, 2018.
On May 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells two opus from the Spanish elegy. The lot 35 estimated $ 9M, typical of an obstructed hope, is the Elegy for the Spanish Republic No. 134, acrylic and charcoal on canvas 245 x 305 cm painted in 1974. Dated 1976 but probably completed in 1979, the Elegy Study No. XIII, 61 x 122 cm, lets freedom flowing through the right edge. It is estimated $ 1.5M, lot 14.
RESULTS including premium :
Lot 35 SOLD for $ 10.3M
Lot 14 SOLD for $ 2.9M
In 1948 he illustrates with a black ink drawing a poem by Harold Rosenberg titled Elegy to the Spanish Republic. On the white background, bulky ovoid elements are stuck at mid-height in a pattern of vertical columns. The masses of white and black display the balance of forces between life and death, or between order and chaos.
The Spanish Civil War was a triumph of death, illustrated by Picasso's Guernica. Motherwell begins to paint in an invariant style a very long series of Elegies to the Spanish Republic. In the same stifling and dismal style, he had also painted in 1949 At Five in the Afternoon, inspired by writings on bullfighting by Garcia Lorca and Hemingway.
The biomorphic forms between the columns look like compressed human heads between the bars of a prison. Escape is impossible. Franco dies in 1975. In 1978 on an order from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, Motherwell paints the gigantic Reconciliation Elegy, 305 x 924 cm. A space between two columns has exploded and the left edge is empty, in a new hope for a free world.
The artist had been dispossessed against his will from the original of At Five in the Afternoon. A remake 229 x 305 cm painted in 1971 was sold for $ 12.7M including premium by Phillips on May 17, 2018.
On May 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells two opus from the Spanish elegy. The lot 35 estimated $ 9M, typical of an obstructed hope, is the Elegy for the Spanish Republic No. 134, acrylic and charcoal on canvas 245 x 305 cm painted in 1974. Dated 1976 but probably completed in 1979, the Elegy Study No. XIII, 61 x 122 cm, lets freedom flowing through the right edge. It is estimated $ 1.5M, lot 14.
RESULTS including premium :
Lot 35 SOLD for $ 10.3M
Lot 14 SOLD for $ 2.9M
1974 Abstract Charts
2018 SOLD for £ 7.4M including premium
In 1966 Gerhard Richter is occupied with the anti-art. For the figurative he copies his blurry photos. This is not enough for his pictorial revolution : he now manages to attack also the abstract art.
To free the abstraction of all emotion he imitates the color charts of the industrial paint brands, without any fancy in the geometric composition. The carefully aligned rectangles are separated by a narrow white grid.
He begins the year 1973 with gray monochromes and then tries real abstract dialogues between red, yellow and blue. At the turn of 1974 he devotes himself again to his Farbtafeln in lacquer on canvas in which he often removes the white stripes for a mosaic juxtaposition.
The opus 359 painted in 1974 is the most complex and the final of this series with 254 x 254 cm and 4096 colors. It was sold for $ 3.7M including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2004. The other extreme is the opus 353-1 20 x 20 cm with 4 colors which is also the first without the separating grid.
The opus 357-2 painted in 1974, 121 x 124 cm with 1025 separated colors was sold for $ 4.1M including premium by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008. It is estimated £ 5M for sale by Sotheby's in London on March 7, lot 8.
The culmination is achieved in 2007 with the opus 901, 196 lacquered aluminum panels of 25 squares each that form when they are all assembled together a square of 680 x 680 cm and 4900 colors in an interesting example of art adjustable by the user.
To free the abstraction of all emotion he imitates the color charts of the industrial paint brands, without any fancy in the geometric composition. The carefully aligned rectangles are separated by a narrow white grid.
He begins the year 1973 with gray monochromes and then tries real abstract dialogues between red, yellow and blue. At the turn of 1974 he devotes himself again to his Farbtafeln in lacquer on canvas in which he often removes the white stripes for a mosaic juxtaposition.
The opus 359 painted in 1974 is the most complex and the final of this series with 254 x 254 cm and 4096 colors. It was sold for $ 3.7M including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2004. The other extreme is the opus 353-1 20 x 20 cm with 4 colors which is also the first without the separating grid.
The opus 357-2 painted in 1974, 121 x 124 cm with 1025 separated colors was sold for $ 4.1M including premium by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008. It is estimated £ 5M for sale by Sotheby's in London on March 7, lot 8.
The culmination is achieved in 2007 with the opus 901, 196 lacquered aluminum panels of 25 squares each that form when they are all assembled together a square of 680 x 680 cm and 4900 colors in an interesting example of art adjustable by the user.
1974 rural serenity in bali
2014 sold for hk$ 34M including premium
Chinese painter born in Guangzhou, Lee Man Fong spent his youth in Singapore and made his career in Jakarta and Bali. The Dutch influences led him to choose the oil painting. His atmospheres with progressive mists express the fundamental beauty of a human friendly nature and join the great figurative Chinese tradition through Qi Baishi.
The main theme of his art was the rural life in Bali, with large views in widescreen format along with often vertical detailed paintings. He developed his personal style on his arrival in Indonesia and maintained it over three decades.
An oil on wood painted in 1951, 86 x 260 cm, was sold for HK $ 34 million including premium by Sotheby's on October 7, 2012. Its title, Fortune and Longevity, clearly indicates in what large extent Bali can provide happiness.
Bali life paintings from the early 1960s mark one of the most creative phases of his career. An oil on masonite 100 x 243 cm was sold for HK $ 36 million including premium by Christie's on 23 November 2013. Previously, on April 5, 2010, an oil on canvas 100 x 200 cm was sold for HK $ 25,3M including premium by Sotheby's, then assuring for the first time Lee 's deserved position among top ranking artists.
Large oils on canvas by Lee Man Fong are scarce. A Bali life painted in 1974, 83 x 184 cm, is for sale at Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5, lot 1025. This artwork is full of quiet anecdotal details about rural occupations.
The main theme of his art was the rural life in Bali, with large views in widescreen format along with often vertical detailed paintings. He developed his personal style on his arrival in Indonesia and maintained it over three decades.
An oil on wood painted in 1951, 86 x 260 cm, was sold for HK $ 34 million including premium by Sotheby's on October 7, 2012. Its title, Fortune and Longevity, clearly indicates in what large extent Bali can provide happiness.
Bali life paintings from the early 1960s mark one of the most creative phases of his career. An oil on masonite 100 x 243 cm was sold for HK $ 36 million including premium by Christie's on 23 November 2013. Previously, on April 5, 2010, an oil on canvas 100 x 200 cm was sold for HK $ 25,3M including premium by Sotheby's, then assuring for the first time Lee 's deserved position among top ranking artists.
Large oils on canvas by Lee Man Fong are scarce. A Bali life painted in 1974, 83 x 184 cm, is for sale at Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5, lot 1025. This artwork is full of quiet anecdotal details about rural occupations.
1974 the princess of ife
2018 sold for £ 1.2m including premium
The war of Biafra ends in 1970 after three years of horrors. Nigeria is reunited but deeply shocked.
A painter and sculptor, Ben Enwonwu becomes in 1971 the first professor of art of the University of Ife, a Yoruba city with a cultural tradition of very high antiquity. He is an Ibo, the secessionist ethnic group of Biafra. He seeks a theme that can symbolize the reconciliation.
In 1973 Enwonwu sees a pretty Yoruba young woman and asks the permission to execute her portrait. At first reluctant to this request from an Ibo artist, the parents agree. The artist appreciates the excellence of his choice when he knows that his new model is the granddaughter of a previous king of Ife.
The first portrait of the princess Tutu by Enwonwu is the message of peace and hope that the Nigerian society needed and its printed image is very widely disseminated in the country. The original painting was kept by the artist until his death. It is not currently located.
Enwonwu revisits Tutu in 1974. In his second portrait the composition is similar but the behavior has changed : the youthful princess is now confident in the artist and her gaze is serene. This oil on canvas 97 x 67 cm that was last seen in 1975 has just resurfaced in the suburbs of London. It is estimated £ 200K for sale by Bonhams in London in duplex with Lagos on February 28, lot 47.
A third and last portrait of Tutu was painted by Enwonwu in 1974. Its whereabouts are not known.
A painter and sculptor, Ben Enwonwu becomes in 1971 the first professor of art of the University of Ife, a Yoruba city with a cultural tradition of very high antiquity. He is an Ibo, the secessionist ethnic group of Biafra. He seeks a theme that can symbolize the reconciliation.
In 1973 Enwonwu sees a pretty Yoruba young woman and asks the permission to execute her portrait. At first reluctant to this request from an Ibo artist, the parents agree. The artist appreciates the excellence of his choice when he knows that his new model is the granddaughter of a previous king of Ife.
The first portrait of the princess Tutu by Enwonwu is the message of peace and hope that the Nigerian society needed and its printed image is very widely disseminated in the country. The original painting was kept by the artist until his death. It is not currently located.
Enwonwu revisits Tutu in 1974. In his second portrait the composition is similar but the behavior has changed : the youthful princess is now confident in the artist and her gaze is serene. This oil on canvas 97 x 67 cm that was last seen in 1975 has just resurfaced in the suburbs of London. It is estimated £ 200K for sale by Bonhams in London in duplex with Lagos on February 28, lot 47.
A third and last portrait of Tutu was painted by Enwonwu in 1974. Its whereabouts are not known.
1974 Appeasement
2019 UNSOLD
Gaitonde brings the light to the nothingness of his canvases, by a meticulous work of transparent or opaque layers of paint that he is applying or removing over a background painted in white. He is not an alchemist and has no formula. Each opus is different. A work is finished when the artist is happy with the extreme subtlety of the color variations, after a process of creation that can be very long.
He was very early inspired by Rothko. He creates a dynamics made of barely discernible horizontal stripes on a format that is often vertical. Around 1971 he begins to add circles that are not Raza's bindus but aim to fix the gaze for offering meditation and serenity, reaching the culmination of the effect of appeasement in pictorial art.
On November 15 in Mumbai, Sotheby's sells as lot 22 an oil on canvas 153 x 102 cm painted in 1974. In a supreme refinement, the five dots are aligned on a strictly central vertical. The strident yellow alternates with a deep black. The middle point is smaller. The background is a mingling of ochre and burnt sienna.
This painting had never been documented or exhibited since 1974. It is sold by the actress Sabira Merchant, who met Gaitonde in period. She explains in the video shared by Sotheby's the importance of this artwork in her collection. The assimilation of the line of circles to a sequence of sunrises and moonrises may have been suggested by the artist.
He was very early inspired by Rothko. He creates a dynamics made of barely discernible horizontal stripes on a format that is often vertical. Around 1971 he begins to add circles that are not Raza's bindus but aim to fix the gaze for offering meditation and serenity, reaching the culmination of the effect of appeasement in pictorial art.
On November 15 in Mumbai, Sotheby's sells as lot 22 an oil on canvas 153 x 102 cm painted in 1974. In a supreme refinement, the five dots are aligned on a strictly central vertical. The strident yellow alternates with a deep black. The middle point is smaller. The background is a mingling of ochre and burnt sienna.
This painting had never been documented or exhibited since 1974. It is sold by the actress Sabira Merchant, who met Gaitonde in period. She explains in the video shared by Sotheby's the importance of this artwork in her collection. The assimilation of the line of circles to a sequence of sunrises and moonrises may have been suggested by the artist.
1975 SEASIDE SURREALISM BY PAUL DELVAUX
2010 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
In the art of Paul Delvaux, surrealism is a pretext to idealize the nude woman. They are there, pale and blonde, among the remains of ancient monuments. The absent look reveals that their world is dreamlike.
On December 16 in Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Marc-Arthur Kohn sells an oil on canvas entitled Au bord de la mer, 150 x 120 cm, dated 1975.
Two triangular pediments introduce two different scenes. On the right, it is an inside view of a bath cabin. On the left, the beach is adorned with two intact antique columns which are a symbol of life. The naked woman is sitting on a stool in both parts of the work.
This easy to decode surreal painting is estimated € 800K.
In the art of Paul Delvaux, surrealism is a pretext to idealize the nude woman. They are there, pale and blonde, among the remains of ancient monuments. The absent look reveals that their world is dreamlike.
On December 16 in Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Marc-Arthur Kohn sells an oil on canvas entitled Au bord de la mer, 150 x 120 cm, dated 1975.
Two triangular pediments introduce two different scenes. On the right, it is an inside view of a bath cabin. On the left, the beach is adorned with two intact antique columns which are a symbol of life. The naked woman is sitting on a stool in both parts of the work.
This easy to decode surreal painting is estimated € 800K.
1976 Francis Bacon after the Mourning
2018 SOLD for £ 10M including premium
Francis Bacon was a homosexual but did not reject the company of women in Soho's debauched life. He has three female muses with differentiated social roles. Muriel pours his drinks and Isabel helps him to meet other artists. Henrietta Moraes is much younger. He loves her unconstrained freedom and her laughter.
The years go by too fast and the bodies get older. Henrietta's figure with her hypodermic syringe painted in 1968, 198 x 148 cm, was sold for £ 20.2M including premium by Christie's on June 30, 2016.
George's suicide in 1971 marks a turning point in Bacon's behavior and art. It takes him five years to shake off his guilt. His paintings of this mourning often have a black background made intense and homogeneous by the priming through the back of the canvas. Voluntarily away from London since 1974, Bacon has now his studio in Paris.
He returns to a less tormented life in 1976 and is interested again in former friends. He is 67 years old. Henrietta, 45, has successfully passed her difficult period. Francis pays tribute to this female phenix by a triptych of oils on canvas in his usual format, 35 x 30 cm each. It is estimated £ 10M for sale by Christie's in London on March 6, lot 25.
John Deakin died in 1972. To compose this triptych, Francis is not relying on an image of Henrietta but transposes on her personality a still of Emmanuelle Riva with a wet strand falling down over her nose in Hiroshima mon Amour. The contribution of Henrietta in this creation is the application of bright colors around the mouth for memorizing the vivacity of her attitude in Soho ten years earlier.
The years go by too fast and the bodies get older. Henrietta's figure with her hypodermic syringe painted in 1968, 198 x 148 cm, was sold for £ 20.2M including premium by Christie's on June 30, 2016.
George's suicide in 1971 marks a turning point in Bacon's behavior and art. It takes him five years to shake off his guilt. His paintings of this mourning often have a black background made intense and homogeneous by the priming through the back of the canvas. Voluntarily away from London since 1974, Bacon has now his studio in Paris.
He returns to a less tormented life in 1976 and is interested again in former friends. He is 67 years old. Henrietta, 45, has successfully passed her difficult period. Francis pays tribute to this female phenix by a triptych of oils on canvas in his usual format, 35 x 30 cm each. It is estimated £ 10M for sale by Christie's in London on March 6, lot 25.
John Deakin died in 1972. To compose this triptych, Francis is not relying on an image of Henrietta but transposes on her personality a still of Emmanuelle Riva with a wet strand falling down over her nose in Hiroshima mon Amour. The contribution of Henrietta in this creation is the application of bright colors around the mouth for memorizing the vivacity of her attitude in Soho ten years earlier.
1976 the monumental humor of joan miro
2014 sold for $ 4.6M including premium
Throughout his long career that spanned more than six decades,Joan Miro never gave up humor and monsters. He wants to populate his universe with solid creatures as enigmatic as in his paintings. In 1956, he settles in Palma in a large studio that allows him to develop his creativity in sculpture.
On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells a bronze designed by Miro in 1976 and cast in the same year by Susse in an edition of two.
The design is worthy of Duchamp or Ernst : a cardboard box forming the head of a character is placed on a donkey's yoke that represents the legs. The set has been expanded in progressive steps to create the ultimate version 4.50 m high. The title is typical of Miro's hermetic poetry : Personnage gothique Oiseau éclair.
With this artwork, the then octogenarian artist appears as a precursor of the gigantism in contemporary sculpture. This bronze is estimated $ 6M, lot 50.
On 9 May 2007, Christie's sold for $ 10M including premium a bronze conceived in 1981, 3.70 m high, whose biomorphism is accentuated by the steady opening legs that avoid the use of a base.
I invite you to play the video where Sotheby's introduce the Miro sculptures listed in their next sale.
On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells a bronze designed by Miro in 1976 and cast in the same year by Susse in an edition of two.
The design is worthy of Duchamp or Ernst : a cardboard box forming the head of a character is placed on a donkey's yoke that represents the legs. The set has been expanded in progressive steps to create the ultimate version 4.50 m high. The title is typical of Miro's hermetic poetry : Personnage gothique Oiseau éclair.
With this artwork, the then octogenarian artist appears as a precursor of the gigantism in contemporary sculpture. This bronze is estimated $ 6M, lot 50.
On 9 May 2007, Christie's sold for $ 10M including premium a bronze conceived in 1981, 3.70 m high, whose biomorphism is accentuated by the steady opening legs that avoid the use of a base.
I invite you to play the video where Sotheby's introduce the Miro sculptures listed in their next sale.
1976 THE CLOTHESPIN OF PHILADELPHIA
2011 SOLD 373 K$ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
In the best tradition of pop art, the Swedish sculptor Claes Oldenburg performs giant enlargements of familiar objects.
Since 1976, his steel Clothespin 15 meter high is located across the street from the City Hall in Philadelphia. This work was commissioned by a planner to celebrate the second centenary of American independence.
On November 6, also in Philadelphia, Freeman's is organizing the sale of the estate of the urbanist. The star lot is a bronze reduction 1:12, 1.25 m high, which served as a model for the giant clothespin.
Oldenburg continued to work for the ornament of Philadelphia. A week ago, he installed his Paint Torch 17 m high,which can be interpreted as a torch or as an upward brush after dipping in red paint.
POST SALE COMMENT
This local work, made for Philadelphia, was sold in Philadelphia : $ 310K before fees, 373K includingpremium. It had been estimated $ 250K.
In the best tradition of pop art, the Swedish sculptor Claes Oldenburg performs giant enlargements of familiar objects.
Since 1976, his steel Clothespin 15 meter high is located across the street from the City Hall in Philadelphia. This work was commissioned by a planner to celebrate the second centenary of American independence.
On November 6, also in Philadelphia, Freeman's is organizing the sale of the estate of the urbanist. The star lot is a bronze reduction 1:12, 1.25 m high, which served as a model for the giant clothespin.
Oldenburg continued to work for the ornament of Philadelphia. A week ago, he installed his Paint Torch 17 m high,which can be interpreted as a torch or as an upward brush after dipping in red paint.
POST SALE COMMENT
This local work, made for Philadelphia, was sold in Philadelphia : $ 310K before fees, 373K includingpremium. It had been estimated $ 250K.
1976 HARRY BERTOIA REINVENTS THE BELL
2009 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Harry Bertoia was a versatile artist. Specialist of metal, he worked for Knoll furniture makers and then became interested in sculpture. One day, knocking one of his works, it provided him with a deep and resonant sound which pleased him. This led therefore his research towards the realization of musical sculptures.
On October 15 in London, Phillips de Pury sells Sonambient, a private commission of 1976 designed for the opening of the Grieg Concert Hall (Grieghallen) in Bergen, Norway.
It consists in thirteen thin vertical metal rods in copper-beryllium, each ending in a cap, and culminating at a height of 4.66 meters. When struck, the caps collide and produce a sound that seems like that of church bells. The base is a metal plate of 91 x 91 cm.
This strange musical instrument is estimated 200 K£.
Harry Bertoia was a versatile artist. Specialist of metal, he worked for Knoll furniture makers and then became interested in sculpture. One day, knocking one of his works, it provided him with a deep and resonant sound which pleased him. This led therefore his research towards the realization of musical sculptures.
On October 15 in London, Phillips de Pury sells Sonambient, a private commission of 1976 designed for the opening of the Grieg Concert Hall (Grieghallen) in Bergen, Norway.
It consists in thirteen thin vertical metal rods in copper-beryllium, each ending in a cap, and culminating at a height of 4.66 meters. When struck, the caps collide and produce a sound that seems like that of church bells. The base is a metal plate of 91 x 91 cm.
This strange musical instrument is estimated 200 K£.
1977 Studies of the Earth
2019 SOLD for $ 3M including premium
Established in Paris since 1950, Sayed Haider Raza expresses the beauty of the Provençal villages. A heavy impasto is used for the confrontation of bright colors. Unlike Riopelle, the topographic elements are interpretable, although stylized.
The artist is not satisfied. In the 1970s he makes frequent and long stays in India to seek the source of his emotions. When he finds the forests of his childhood in Madhya Pradesh, his art becomes abstract.
The play of colors and forms is now based on the promise of dawn, when a beneficial light succeeds the anxieties of the dark. In 1972 Tapovan, acrylic on canvas 160 x 189 cm, brings a mystical dimension with some figures that can be interpreted as stylized faces. This painting was sold for $ 4.45M including premium by Christie's on March 21, 2018.
The expression of La Terre is the major quest in Raza's art. A 189 x 189 cm acrylic painted in 1973 was sold for $ 3.1M including premium by Christie's on March 18, 2014.
On September 11 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 182 an acrylic on canvas 175 x 260 cm painted in 1977, also titled La Terre. This painting in a large scale for this artist appears as a culmination of this phase. In the dark atmosphere enlivened by flashes of light, the figure in the foreground is reminiscent of Tapovan's ghosts.
In the 1980s Raza introduces structuring geometries into his compositions now dominated by sumptuous colors and Indian mystic symbols such as the Bindu. La Terre remains a regularly used title, assessing that the fundamental quest of the artist is still the same despite the radical change of style.
The artist is not satisfied. In the 1970s he makes frequent and long stays in India to seek the source of his emotions. When he finds the forests of his childhood in Madhya Pradesh, his art becomes abstract.
The play of colors and forms is now based on the promise of dawn, when a beneficial light succeeds the anxieties of the dark. In 1972 Tapovan, acrylic on canvas 160 x 189 cm, brings a mystical dimension with some figures that can be interpreted as stylized faces. This painting was sold for $ 4.45M including premium by Christie's on March 21, 2018.
The expression of La Terre is the major quest in Raza's art. A 189 x 189 cm acrylic painted in 1973 was sold for $ 3.1M including premium by Christie's on March 18, 2014.
On September 11 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 182 an acrylic on canvas 175 x 260 cm painted in 1977, also titled La Terre. This painting in a large scale for this artist appears as a culmination of this phase. In the dark atmosphere enlivened by flashes of light, the figure in the foreground is reminiscent of Tapovan's ghosts.
In the 1980s Raza introduces structuring geometries into his compositions now dominated by sumptuous colors and Indian mystic symbols such as the Bindu. La Terre remains a regularly used title, assessing that the fundamental quest of the artist is still the same despite the radical change of style.
1977 happiness in the meadow
2017 withdrawn
From 1975 to 1977 Willem de Kooning finds an unexpected happiness that gradually generates a great impulse of creativity. He lives in Long Island amidst a lush nature, next to his mistress Mimi. His wife Elaine is ready to come back.
He covers with his colors large canvases in which he can soak himself and catch the viewer. The colors come to play over a luminous lead white ground. The hand is fast but the balance of the blocks and the uneven brightness provided by the variation in the thickness of paint meet a predefined composition.
Abstraction does not adequately match the contemplation of the artist in his surrounding. The colors now evoke the sea, the tree and the naked flesh, without being supported by a figurative drawing.
The series of Untitled painted by de Kooning in 1977 are the masterpieces of abstract landscape. Untitled XXV, 196 x 224 cm, was sold for $ 66M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2016.
On May 17 in New York, Christie's sells the Untitled II from the same year, oil on canvas in the same size, lot 42 B estimated $ 25M.
Untitled II expresses the colors and balances of nature while bringing an additional theme : the body of a woman who is peacefully reclining in the foreground offers a rare reminder from the Woman series which had brought to the artist his unfairly sulphurous notoriety a quarter of a century earlier.
His new inspiration will be ephemeral. In the following year the structuring lines separating the colors destroy the thematic illusion in these compositions falling back to mere abstractions.
He covers with his colors large canvases in which he can soak himself and catch the viewer. The colors come to play over a luminous lead white ground. The hand is fast but the balance of the blocks and the uneven brightness provided by the variation in the thickness of paint meet a predefined composition.
Abstraction does not adequately match the contemplation of the artist in his surrounding. The colors now evoke the sea, the tree and the naked flesh, without being supported by a figurative drawing.
The series of Untitled painted by de Kooning in 1977 are the masterpieces of abstract landscape. Untitled XXV, 196 x 224 cm, was sold for $ 66M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2016.
On May 17 in New York, Christie's sells the Untitled II from the same year, oil on canvas in the same size, lot 42 B estimated $ 25M.
Untitled II expresses the colors and balances of nature while bringing an additional theme : the body of a woman who is peacefully reclining in the foreground offers a rare reminder from the Woman series which had brought to the artist his unfairly sulphurous notoriety a quarter of a century earlier.
His new inspiration will be ephemeral. In the following year the structuring lines separating the colors destroy the thematic illusion in these compositions falling back to mere abstractions.
1977 Optical Illusions of Bridget Riley
2009 unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Influenced by pointillism and by Vasarely, Bridget Riley initially specialized in geometric abstract paintings in black and white. In the 1970's, she added color.
Her paintings of large size, with unlimited pattern, are fascinating in the proper meaning of that word. Inspecting the image, we end up not knowing what to see, and it is hard to go away.
In this February, fans of this period are particularly well served.
Yesterday, February 5, Sotheby's London sold 735 K £ including fees "Gala", 160 x 160 cm, painted in 1974. The sinuous lines are tight and equidistant, except against oblique stripes as they tighten even more. Depending on whether or not we are a poet, we see waves or corrugated iron.
The painting that Christie's will sell on 11 February, also in London, is more interesting, although it is estimated less: 400 K £. Entitled "Aurulum", painted later (1977), smaller (132 x 122 cm), it has a surprising effect of colors. The sinuous lines have the same characteristics as "Gala" but the surface is composed of pale colors whose boundaries are not the same as those of the oblique stripes. We want to see how these colors are juxtaposed but the vision is blurred by the lines, and the light does not stabilize.
Influenced by pointillism and by Vasarely, Bridget Riley initially specialized in geometric abstract paintings in black and white. In the 1970's, she added color.
Her paintings of large size, with unlimited pattern, are fascinating in the proper meaning of that word. Inspecting the image, we end up not knowing what to see, and it is hard to go away.
In this February, fans of this period are particularly well served.
Yesterday, February 5, Sotheby's London sold 735 K £ including fees "Gala", 160 x 160 cm, painted in 1974. The sinuous lines are tight and equidistant, except against oblique stripes as they tighten even more. Depending on whether or not we are a poet, we see waves or corrugated iron.
The painting that Christie's will sell on 11 February, also in London, is more interesting, although it is estimated less: 400 K £. Entitled "Aurulum", painted later (1977), smaller (132 x 122 cm), it has a surprising effect of colors. The sinuous lines have the same characteristics as "Gala" but the surface is composed of pale colors whose boundaries are not the same as those of the oblique stripes. We want to see how these colors are juxtaposed but the vision is blurred by the lines, and the light does not stabilize.
1978 The Tour of the Champions
2020 SOLD for £ 5M including premium
In Marilyn's time, film actors and actresses crystallized the admiration and jealousy of the general public. In 1977 the art collector Richard Weisman manages to convince Andy Warhol that times have changed. Viewers now enjoy the live broadcasts of sporting events, and the era of sports marketing has already begun.
Richard selects ten champions who dominate their sport. He will visit them with Andy and their team. Andy takes the photos with his Polaroid. Back in his 'Factory', he has the canvases painted in acrylic by his collaborators, himself adding expressive scratches in the still wet paint, and at the end of the process they do the silkscreen printing.
The Athletes series, completed in 1979, is made up of ten portraits of champions in a standardized 40 x 40 inches (102 x 102 cm) format. 8 series are realized. The images are multicolored, with variations from one series to another. This grouping of ten elements to constitute a series was also standardized by Andy for his editions of prints since 1967.
These encounters between two worlds that were ignoring each other bring some surprises. O.J. Simpson has a five-day beard, Jack Nicklaus is upset against Andy's incompetence in sports. The meeting with Muhammad Ali begins with an interminable preamble during which it seems impossible to stop the champion from speaking.
A set of ten paintings was sold by Christie's for $ 5.7M including premium on May 11, 2011. Two other sets come from the deceased estate of Weisman. One of them was separated by Christie's in New York on November 13 and 14, 2019. The other will be separated in London on February 12, also by Christie's.
Comparing these groups provides additional information : the first Weisman set included Vitas Gerulaitis, while the other two sets display the ice hockey player Rod Gilbert. Weisman certainly wanted such a substitution to avoid tennis, already illustrated by Chris Evert, to be represented twice.
Muhammad Ali was the only one to control that his portrait matched well the image of himself that he wanted to leave, just as fearless in his activism as in his sport. He is the only one of the eleven whose sport is not symbolized by an artifact : his bare fists are brandished towards the artist.
On November 13, 2019, the portrait of Muhammad Ali was sold for $ 10M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 4M. The piece for sale in February was completed in 1978. It is estimated £ 3M, lot 8. Behind the boxing champion, the greatest is Pelé, fetching $ 860K including premium on November 14, 2019 and estimated £ 300K in the next sale, lot 27.
Top results including premium :
Muhammad Ali SOLD for £ 5M
Pelé SOLD for £ 580K
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar SOLD for £ 490K
Richard selects ten champions who dominate their sport. He will visit them with Andy and their team. Andy takes the photos with his Polaroid. Back in his 'Factory', he has the canvases painted in acrylic by his collaborators, himself adding expressive scratches in the still wet paint, and at the end of the process they do the silkscreen printing.
The Athletes series, completed in 1979, is made up of ten portraits of champions in a standardized 40 x 40 inches (102 x 102 cm) format. 8 series are realized. The images are multicolored, with variations from one series to another. This grouping of ten elements to constitute a series was also standardized by Andy for his editions of prints since 1967.
These encounters between two worlds that were ignoring each other bring some surprises. O.J. Simpson has a five-day beard, Jack Nicklaus is upset against Andy's incompetence in sports. The meeting with Muhammad Ali begins with an interminable preamble during which it seems impossible to stop the champion from speaking.
A set of ten paintings was sold by Christie's for $ 5.7M including premium on May 11, 2011. Two other sets come from the deceased estate of Weisman. One of them was separated by Christie's in New York on November 13 and 14, 2019. The other will be separated in London on February 12, also by Christie's.
Comparing these groups provides additional information : the first Weisman set included Vitas Gerulaitis, while the other two sets display the ice hockey player Rod Gilbert. Weisman certainly wanted such a substitution to avoid tennis, already illustrated by Chris Evert, to be represented twice.
Muhammad Ali was the only one to control that his portrait matched well the image of himself that he wanted to leave, just as fearless in his activism as in his sport. He is the only one of the eleven whose sport is not symbolized by an artifact : his bare fists are brandished towards the artist.
On November 13, 2019, the portrait of Muhammad Ali was sold for $ 10M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 4M. The piece for sale in February was completed in 1978. It is estimated £ 3M, lot 8. Behind the boxing champion, the greatest is Pelé, fetching $ 860K including premium on November 14, 2019 and estimated £ 300K in the next sale, lot 27.
Top results including premium :
Muhammad Ali SOLD for £ 5M
Pelé SOLD for £ 580K
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar SOLD for £ 490K
1978 The Freudian Eye
2010 SOLD 2.84 M£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Lucian Freud uses a hyper-realistic vision for showing human flesh in life size. His greatest success at auction is the painting of 1995 showing the big Sue lying naked on the sofa to the artist, sold $ 33.6 million including premium at Christie's on May 13, 2008.
Since yesterday, another work excites the art press. Estimated £ 3 million by Sotheby's, for sale in London on February 10, it has the advantage of mixing art and story, and had remained unpublished until now.
Freud admits that he was a brawler. In 1978 a taxi driver throws a punch in his face. The artist admires his swollen eye adorning his newly distorted face, and makes a self-portrait as an oil on canvas 18 cm high (from the lips to the top of the hair) and 14 cm wide.
I had a choice between a half-dozen sites to provide you the link to that artwork. The image shared by AuctionPublicity has the advantage of showing it full in its vertical format, and not a detail limited to eye level.
POST SALE COMMENT
This painting of very small size has been sold for £ 2.84 million including premium. So it has not reached its estimate.
Lucian Freud uses a hyper-realistic vision for showing human flesh in life size. His greatest success at auction is the painting of 1995 showing the big Sue lying naked on the sofa to the artist, sold $ 33.6 million including premium at Christie's on May 13, 2008.
Since yesterday, another work excites the art press. Estimated £ 3 million by Sotheby's, for sale in London on February 10, it has the advantage of mixing art and story, and had remained unpublished until now.
Freud admits that he was a brawler. In 1978 a taxi driver throws a punch in his face. The artist admires his swollen eye adorning his newly distorted face, and makes a self-portrait as an oil on canvas 18 cm high (from the lips to the top of the hair) and 14 cm wide.
I had a choice between a half-dozen sites to provide you the link to that artwork. The image shared by AuctionPublicity has the advantage of showing it full in its vertical format, and not a detail limited to eye level.
POST SALE COMMENT
This painting of very small size has been sold for £ 2.84 million including premium. So it has not reached its estimate.
1978 Family Life in the Outback
2018 SOLD for AUD 980k including premium
The drought was extreme during the Second World War in the outback, the desert region beyond the Australian bush. In 1944 the Sydney Morning Herald sends an investigative journalist to see the damage. He is accompanied by Russell Drysdale.
Families live in isolated houses as in pioneer times. Who are they ? What are they doing ? What are they waiting for? They are the forgotten people of the planet, just like the father and his two sons photographed in 1936 by Rothstein in Oklahoma. In these terrible conditions their family life is normal. Children play and jump like all children in the world.
Deeply moved, Drysdale appreciates that his drawings will not be enough. He becomes a painter. His portraits of old Australians with chiseled faces are unprecedented. Rocky McCormack, oil on canvas 111 x 86 cm painted in 1962-1963, was sold for A $ 1.9M including premium by Sotheby's on August 25, 2008.
In the 1970s the artist had almost completely lost his eyesight. He is re-focusing on his first theme of family life in the desert. Grandma's Sunday Walk, 75 x 126 cm painted in 1972, was sold for A $ 2.97M including premium by Mossgreen on June 25, 2017.
Evening on Stony Plains, oil on canvas 50 x 76 cm bought by a Melbourne gallery in 1978, has just surfaced. In the foreground the barefoot father is very tall and very thin. In front of the poor dwelling, the mother and the son take a rest. The two little girls play. This artwork is estimated A $ 800K for sale by Menzies in Melbourne on April 26, lot 30. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Families live in isolated houses as in pioneer times. Who are they ? What are they doing ? What are they waiting for? They are the forgotten people of the planet, just like the father and his two sons photographed in 1936 by Rothstein in Oklahoma. In these terrible conditions their family life is normal. Children play and jump like all children in the world.
Deeply moved, Drysdale appreciates that his drawings will not be enough. He becomes a painter. His portraits of old Australians with chiseled faces are unprecedented. Rocky McCormack, oil on canvas 111 x 86 cm painted in 1962-1963, was sold for A $ 1.9M including premium by Sotheby's on August 25, 2008.
In the 1970s the artist had almost completely lost his eyesight. He is re-focusing on his first theme of family life in the desert. Grandma's Sunday Walk, 75 x 126 cm painted in 1972, was sold for A $ 2.97M including premium by Mossgreen on June 25, 2017.
Evening on Stony Plains, oil on canvas 50 x 76 cm bought by a Melbourne gallery in 1978, has just surfaced. In the foreground the barefoot father is very tall and very thin. In front of the poor dwelling, the mother and the son take a rest. The two little girls play. This artwork is estimated A $ 800K for sale by Menzies in Melbourne on April 26, lot 30. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1978 HERON IN THE RAIN
2010 SOLD 696 K AUD INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Brett Whiteley was one of the most original experimental artists of Australia. Among his many themes, collectors like his portraits of birds in a mixed technique including the nest and eggs. He also tried expressing the rain, which is obviously one of the most difficult subjects of figurative art.
Shao (rain slanted by wind) shows a white heron in flight in the storm, well centered at the top of the image as an Audubon bird. Below is a nest on a branch, with eggs. This work on board made in 1978 or 1979 122 x 81 cm, is estimated 600 KA$, for sale in Sydney on August 31 by Sotheby's Australia.
Brett Whiteley was too fond of experimentation. He died of a heroin overdose, aged 53.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, A $ 696K including premium, is consistent with what was expected.
Brett Whiteley was one of the most original experimental artists of Australia. Among his many themes, collectors like his portraits of birds in a mixed technique including the nest and eggs. He also tried expressing the rain, which is obviously one of the most difficult subjects of figurative art.
Shao (rain slanted by wind) shows a white heron in flight in the storm, well centered at the top of the image as an Audubon bird. Below is a nest on a branch, with eggs. This work on board made in 1978 or 1979 122 x 81 cm, is estimated 600 KA$, for sale in Sydney on August 31 by Sotheby's Australia.
Brett Whiteley was too fond of experimentation. He died of a heroin overdose, aged 53.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, A $ 696K including premium, is consistent with what was expected.
1978 The Finest Harbour in the World
2018 unsold
In 1788 the first governor of New South Wales described Port Jackson as "the finest harbour in the world". The city of Sydney has now settled on its shore. The compliment remains valid as a tribute to a perfect cooperation between nature and humans.
Brett Whiteley was born in the suburbs of Sydney. This artist virtually unlimited in theme, composition and technique has been inspired throughout his career by the beauty of the bay.
His nonconformism appealed the art critics : in 1976 and 1977 he received successively the three prestigious awards of the Art Gallery of New South Wales respectively specialized in portrait, genre and landscape. The consecration is even greater when he receives again the same prizes within a single year, in 1978.
In 1977 his Wynne Prize was awarded to a monumental diptych 208 x 456 cm titled The Jacaranda Tree (on Sydney Harbour). The composition skillfully juxtaposes the immensity of the bay and the details of the tree, accentuating the perspective over a dark blue background of Fauviste inspiration. This oil on canvas was sold for A $ 2M including premium by Christie's in 1999.
On August 28 in Sydney, Sotheby's Australia sells a 168 x 153 cm oil on canvas painted in 1978 on the same theme, titled Harbour (Grey day), lot 19 estimated A $ 2M. The gloomy weather softens the contrasts. The waterfront buildings and the bridge are relegated to the top of the image but are perfectly identifiable.
The artist wants to become the designer of the landscape, probably already pushed in this way by the desires of his wife Wendy. In the following year he painted The Paddock at two opposite times of the day. The early morning view was sold for A $ 650K including premium by Deutscher-Menzies in September 2004 and the late afternoon view for A $ 1.56M including premium by Menzies on June 23, 2011.
Brett Whiteley's passion for the views of the bay had a posthumous following : in 1992, immediately after the artist's death, Wendy began creating her landscaped garden on a derelict land in a Sydney suburb, at Lavender Bay.
Brett Whiteley was born in the suburbs of Sydney. This artist virtually unlimited in theme, composition and technique has been inspired throughout his career by the beauty of the bay.
His nonconformism appealed the art critics : in 1976 and 1977 he received successively the three prestigious awards of the Art Gallery of New South Wales respectively specialized in portrait, genre and landscape. The consecration is even greater when he receives again the same prizes within a single year, in 1978.
In 1977 his Wynne Prize was awarded to a monumental diptych 208 x 456 cm titled The Jacaranda Tree (on Sydney Harbour). The composition skillfully juxtaposes the immensity of the bay and the details of the tree, accentuating the perspective over a dark blue background of Fauviste inspiration. This oil on canvas was sold for A $ 2M including premium by Christie's in 1999.
On August 28 in Sydney, Sotheby's Australia sells a 168 x 153 cm oil on canvas painted in 1978 on the same theme, titled Harbour (Grey day), lot 19 estimated A $ 2M. The gloomy weather softens the contrasts. The waterfront buildings and the bridge are relegated to the top of the image but are perfectly identifiable.
The artist wants to become the designer of the landscape, probably already pushed in this way by the desires of his wife Wendy. In the following year he painted The Paddock at two opposite times of the day. The early morning view was sold for A $ 650K including premium by Deutscher-Menzies in September 2004 and the late afternoon view for A $ 1.56M including premium by Menzies on June 23, 2011.
Brett Whiteley's passion for the views of the bay had a posthumous following : in 1992, immediately after the artist's death, Wendy began creating her landscaped garden on a derelict land in a Sydney suburb, at Lavender Bay.
1979 THE DIVINE SKIRMISH OF MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN
2010 SOLD 840 K$ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The personality and art of Maqbool Fida Husain have not finished to raise passions. In India, this epic artist is considered by some as an equal of Picasso, by others as an obscene painter who exposes Hindu gods and goddesses in the nude. He left his country in 2006 at the age of 91, and accepted the Qatari citizenship in January 2010.
On March 23 in New York, Christie's sells Sita Hanuman, an oil on canvas made in 1979, 97 x 168 cm, estimated 600 K$.
The subject depicts Hanuman coming to the rescue of Sita abducted by Ravana, on a cart pulled by three frantic horses. The characters mingle in a violent brawl worth of Tyeb Mehta but in a different style, to the limit of readability like some Cubist works of Picasso and Braque. Sita is naked, of course. Two of these horses at full speed have their mouths wide open as the murdered horses of Guernica.
POST SALE COMMENT
The art of Maqbool Fida Husain is undoubtedly arousing much interest, and its value should be followed. Sita Hanuman was sold 840 K $ including premium.
The personality and art of Maqbool Fida Husain have not finished to raise passions. In India, this epic artist is considered by some as an equal of Picasso, by others as an obscene painter who exposes Hindu gods and goddesses in the nude. He left his country in 2006 at the age of 91, and accepted the Qatari citizenship in January 2010.
On March 23 in New York, Christie's sells Sita Hanuman, an oil on canvas made in 1979, 97 x 168 cm, estimated 600 K$.
The subject depicts Hanuman coming to the rescue of Sita abducted by Ravana, on a cart pulled by three frantic horses. The characters mingle in a violent brawl worth of Tyeb Mehta but in a different style, to the limit of readability like some Cubist works of Picasso and Braque. Sita is naked, of course. Two of these horses at full speed have their mouths wide open as the murdered horses of Guernica.
POST SALE COMMENT
The art of Maqbool Fida Husain is undoubtedly arousing much interest, and its value should be followed. Sita Hanuman was sold 840 K $ including premium.
1979 FROM LINE BY LEE UFAN
2012 SOLD 500 M KRW BEFORE FEES
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Internationally, Lee UFan is the best known among Korean artists of today. His art is appreciated in Japan, where he lives since 1956, and in France where he spends some part of the year.
His art is abstract. During the 1970s, he led two series, From Point and From Line. From Point is the most complex,with regular shapes which are positioned around a network of points.
From Line is more minimalist. Parallel lines define the colored vertical stripes painted in oil with mineral pigments. Apainstaking brushwork in several layers is progressively varying both thickness and color of the material, in high contrast at the top of the work, increasingly evanescent, like the passing of time, when looking downward .
A 'From Line' dated 1979, 100 x 80 cm, with 19 identical colored lines, is estimated KRW 600M, for sale by Seoul Auction in Seoul on July 19. The auction house also indicates the estimation in several currencies more frequentlyused on the international market: U.S. $ 525K or HK $ 4.1M.
A very similar painting of same size, dated 1978 and including 18 lines, was sold $ 580K including premium by Christie's on November 14, 2007.
Lee's art is quite rare. The artist, very meticulous, has a small output. His place in the international art may be considered in the following of Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns.
POST SALE COMMENT
This lot has not reached its lower estimate, but it was sold. Hammer price: KRW 500M, equivalent of U.S. $ 440K.
Internationally, Lee UFan is the best known among Korean artists of today. His art is appreciated in Japan, where he lives since 1956, and in France where he spends some part of the year.
His art is abstract. During the 1970s, he led two series, From Point and From Line. From Point is the most complex,with regular shapes which are positioned around a network of points.
From Line is more minimalist. Parallel lines define the colored vertical stripes painted in oil with mineral pigments. Apainstaking brushwork in several layers is progressively varying both thickness and color of the material, in high contrast at the top of the work, increasingly evanescent, like the passing of time, when looking downward .
A 'From Line' dated 1979, 100 x 80 cm, with 19 identical colored lines, is estimated KRW 600M, for sale by Seoul Auction in Seoul on July 19. The auction house also indicates the estimation in several currencies more frequentlyused on the international market: U.S. $ 525K or HK $ 4.1M.
A very similar painting of same size, dated 1978 and including 18 lines, was sold $ 580K including premium by Christie's on November 14, 2007.
Lee's art is quite rare. The artist, very meticulous, has a small output. His place in the international art may be considered in the following of Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns.
POST SALE COMMENT
This lot has not reached its lower estimate, but it was sold. Hammer price: KRW 500M, equivalent of U.S. $ 440K.
