Art from 2005
2005 The Tattooed Astronaut of Fred Tomaselli
2012 sold 735 K£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Earth is no longer enough to man. At the time of the first artificial satellite, the cosmos of Fontana was uninhabited.The spacewalks revealed the attitude of the body in a weightless environment, allowing contortions that would have shocked our forefathers.
On October 11 in London, Christie's sells Orgamism by Fred Tomaselli, considering with an unexpected pruderythat this title is a misspelling.
Half a century earlier, Newman had not erred when naming Onement his recreation of the universe. Tomaselli is apost-modernist artist, who concentrates in punk art various artistic languages which sometimes go up to Masaccio. Hecould not make such a mistake.
Orgamism is a mixed technique on panel, made in 2005 in acrylic and gouache along with magazine pictures and plant residues stuck in the resin. It is in large format, 244 x 196 cm, a prerequisite for expecting success to a work of current art.
The large lanky body is fully tattooed with biological symbols. Upside down, he falls freely in a cosmos of radiant constellations, each shining ray deploying a geometric or vegetal pattern. Everywhere, various eyes and hands are strengthening the psychedelic intention.
This work is estimated £ 400K. I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good result for this very recent artwork : £ 735K including premium.
Earth is no longer enough to man. At the time of the first artificial satellite, the cosmos of Fontana was uninhabited.The spacewalks revealed the attitude of the body in a weightless environment, allowing contortions that would have shocked our forefathers.
On October 11 in London, Christie's sells Orgamism by Fred Tomaselli, considering with an unexpected pruderythat this title is a misspelling.
Half a century earlier, Newman had not erred when naming Onement his recreation of the universe. Tomaselli is apost-modernist artist, who concentrates in punk art various artistic languages which sometimes go up to Masaccio. Hecould not make such a mistake.
Orgamism is a mixed technique on panel, made in 2005 in acrylic and gouache along with magazine pictures and plant residues stuck in the resin. It is in large format, 244 x 196 cm, a prerequisite for expecting success to a work of current art.
The large lanky body is fully tattooed with biological symbols. Upside down, he falls freely in a cosmos of radiant constellations, each shining ray deploying a geometric or vegetal pattern. Everywhere, various eyes and hands are strengthening the psychedelic intention.
This work is estimated £ 400K. I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good result for this very recent artwork : £ 735K including premium.
2005 THe Tales of Liu Ye
2010 sold 960 K$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The discovery of Liu Ye on the art market began in 2007. Now 46 years old, his rating is strengthening, as opposed to the artists of post-Maoist social criticism who hardly hit now the top sales.
The reason is simple: the art of Liu Ye has an international appeal, as the tales of Andersen where he got much of his inspiration.
The child tries to explore the universe, never succeeds but remains confident. He sometimes has a mask, sometimes wings or a mermaid's tail. He looks a liner hidden behind a stage curtain on the painting sold HK $ 13 million including premium by Sotheby's on Oct. 4, 2008.
The Neuberger Berman Lehman sale, by Sotheby's in New York on September 25, includes an outstanding work by Liu Ye, estimated $ 600K. Dated 2005, it entered at once in this collection while the artist was still virtually unknown.As I said about Julie Mehretu, this sale will allow a great exploration of contemporary creation.
Entitled "The Long Way Home", this painting shows three peaceful figures: child, adult and dog. The child and adult, immersed in the snow up to mid-thighs, are holding hands but they go in opposite directions. They are not close to arrive at their destination whatsoever.
POST SALE COMMENT
Here above, I was right: I had considered this work of Liu Ye as outstanding. Sotheby's had hesitated, lowering its estimate to $ 500K with the publication of the catalog. Result: $ 960K including premium.
Here are the dimensions: 180 x 245 cm.
The discovery of Liu Ye on the art market began in 2007. Now 46 years old, his rating is strengthening, as opposed to the artists of post-Maoist social criticism who hardly hit now the top sales.
The reason is simple: the art of Liu Ye has an international appeal, as the tales of Andersen where he got much of his inspiration.
The child tries to explore the universe, never succeeds but remains confident. He sometimes has a mask, sometimes wings or a mermaid's tail. He looks a liner hidden behind a stage curtain on the painting sold HK $ 13 million including premium by Sotheby's on Oct. 4, 2008.
The Neuberger Berman Lehman sale, by Sotheby's in New York on September 25, includes an outstanding work by Liu Ye, estimated $ 600K. Dated 2005, it entered at once in this collection while the artist was still virtually unknown.As I said about Julie Mehretu, this sale will allow a great exploration of contemporary creation.
Entitled "The Long Way Home", this painting shows three peaceful figures: child, adult and dog. The child and adult, immersed in the snow up to mid-thighs, are holding hands but they go in opposite directions. They are not close to arrive at their destination whatsoever.
POST SALE COMMENT
Here above, I was right: I had considered this work of Liu Ye as outstanding. Sotheby's had hesitated, lowering its estimate to $ 500K with the publication of the catalog. Result: $ 960K including premium.
Here are the dimensions: 180 x 245 cm.
2005 MINIMALIST SCULPTURES BY ANISH KAPOOR
2008 SOLD 940 K$ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE COMMENT
The week of sales of contemporary art of New York is a real pleasure to identify the artists who start taking a lead in the market. My easy method is to read the press releases of the four international groups and to catch the names which are repeated several times. So I made recently for you, in the Modern Art group, a study on Mel Ramos.
Anish Kapoor also is present in the four auction houses. Contrary to Ramos, it is not this May that the highest prices should be reached, but it is interesting to note that this time his minimalist sculptures shall attract the amateurs.
Among them the two more important are announced exactly at the same price, which, as in the case of Ramos, shows a beautiful coherence of the market:
On May 14 Christie's estimates at 800 K$ an interesting oval stainless steel structure of 2005, 205x205x61 cm, lot 381, which has the characteristic to frame a concave mirror.
At the same price, as said above, Phillips de Pury presents on May 15 an elegant black granite of 156x192x30 cm of 2001. (lot 130)
The lacquered bronze of 2001 to sell at Sotheby's on May 15 has the perfect shape of a drop as its name (Blood Solid) indicates it, but it is smaller: 30x90x90 cm. Its price, more reasonable, is 250 K$ (lot 462).
I wanted to mention the four houses, but at Bonhams on May 13 one will be satisfied with an assembly of various materials at 100 K$, an early work (1983) of 41x38x36 cm (lot 17).
The first highlighting of Kapoor at auction dates from the session of sales of London of June 2006, at Sotheby's and Christie's simultaneously. In the results indexed on Artvalue, the fifteen more important have less than two years.
His value is thus to follow, even if the price of a superb Carved alabaster, 2,8 M$ fees included at Sotheby's NewYork at the end of last year, does not have any chance to be reached.
POST SALE COMMENT
The most original work, sold by Christie's, went to 940 K$ fees included. With its concave mirror, it was perhaps the less minimalist of the four.
Sotheby's sold Blood Solid for 300 K$ fees included.
The granite of Phillips was too expensive and was not sold, and the work presented by Bonhams, of which I did not awaited anything, did not give anything: it remained also unsold.
The week of sales of contemporary art of New York is a real pleasure to identify the artists who start taking a lead in the market. My easy method is to read the press releases of the four international groups and to catch the names which are repeated several times. So I made recently for you, in the Modern Art group, a study on Mel Ramos.
Anish Kapoor also is present in the four auction houses. Contrary to Ramos, it is not this May that the highest prices should be reached, but it is interesting to note that this time his minimalist sculptures shall attract the amateurs.
Among them the two more important are announced exactly at the same price, which, as in the case of Ramos, shows a beautiful coherence of the market:
On May 14 Christie's estimates at 800 K$ an interesting oval stainless steel structure of 2005, 205x205x61 cm, lot 381, which has the characteristic to frame a concave mirror.
At the same price, as said above, Phillips de Pury presents on May 15 an elegant black granite of 156x192x30 cm of 2001. (lot 130)
The lacquered bronze of 2001 to sell at Sotheby's on May 15 has the perfect shape of a drop as its name (Blood Solid) indicates it, but it is smaller: 30x90x90 cm. Its price, more reasonable, is 250 K$ (lot 462).
I wanted to mention the four houses, but at Bonhams on May 13 one will be satisfied with an assembly of various materials at 100 K$, an early work (1983) of 41x38x36 cm (lot 17).
The first highlighting of Kapoor at auction dates from the session of sales of London of June 2006, at Sotheby's and Christie's simultaneously. In the results indexed on Artvalue, the fifteen more important have less than two years.
His value is thus to follow, even if the price of a superb Carved alabaster, 2,8 M$ fees included at Sotheby's NewYork at the end of last year, does not have any chance to be reached.
POST SALE COMMENT
The most original work, sold by Christie's, went to 940 K$ fees included. With its concave mirror, it was perhaps the less minimalist of the four.
Sotheby's sold Blood Solid for 300 K$ fees included.
The granite of Phillips was too expensive and was not sold, and the work presented by Bonhams, of which I did not awaited anything, did not give anything: it remained also unsold.
2005 BY KATE MOSS
2008 SOLD 28 K£ BEFORE FEES
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Here is an unexpected artist at auction. To be visible in contemporary art, you need to have a high mediatic sense. Nobody can deny that Kate Moss is so gifted. When the material used is original, and when the title and the subject refer to one of the many known episodes of the love life of the artist, the fans should be excited.
However, it is almost by chance that I found for you on the web a canvas "painted" in lipstick and blood by Kate Moss, 122 x 91 cm, lot 160 of the sale organized by the Scottish auction house Lyon and Turnbull in London this September 27.
Created in 2005-2006, the work is entitled WHO NEEDS BLOOD WHEN YOU'VE GOT LIPSTICK. In a few draws, we see a young lying woman smoking a cigar or cigarette. The painting was completed using the blood of the artist's lover, the singer Pete Doherty. From all points of view, this is called mixed ...
The databases that I visit do not find any previous auction result of this young and promising artist! This does not prevent the auction house to expect 30 K £, a price that many other artists of her age (34 years) would be happy to reach for their works!
POST SALE COMMENT
The work of Kate Moss was sold 28 K£ excluding fees. In the last few days before the sale, it had begun to excite the newspapers.
Here is an unexpected artist at auction. To be visible in contemporary art, you need to have a high mediatic sense. Nobody can deny that Kate Moss is so gifted. When the material used is original, and when the title and the subject refer to one of the many known episodes of the love life of the artist, the fans should be excited.
However, it is almost by chance that I found for you on the web a canvas "painted" in lipstick and blood by Kate Moss, 122 x 91 cm, lot 160 of the sale organized by the Scottish auction house Lyon and Turnbull in London this September 27.
Created in 2005-2006, the work is entitled WHO NEEDS BLOOD WHEN YOU'VE GOT LIPSTICK. In a few draws, we see a young lying woman smoking a cigar or cigarette. The painting was completed using the blood of the artist's lover, the singer Pete Doherty. From all points of view, this is called mixed ...
The databases that I visit do not find any previous auction result of this young and promising artist! This does not prevent the auction house to expect 30 K £, a price that many other artists of her age (34 years) would be happy to reach for their works!
POST SALE COMMENT
The work of Kate Moss was sold 28 K£ excluding fees. In the last few days before the sale, it had begun to excite the newspapers.
2006 Yellow Bear by Urs Fischer
2011 SOLD for $ 6.8M by Christie's
The news was published yesterday by Reuters: a yellow lamp-bear by Fischer is available for sale! It is pictured on the article shared by the Wall Street Journal. The piece is looking like a plush teddy bear, sitting in a flaccid position. A desk lamp planted between his shoulders passes over his head to illuminate the ground between his legs.
It is a bronze, made in 2006 with the collaboration of Art Crating Inc in Brooklyn. It is 7 meters high, weighs 15.8 tons, and a team of 30 workers is required to install it.
Three copies were made. A blue bear is in the collection of Steven Cohen. A yellow bear adorns the property of a collector in Long Island. The other yellow bear went through the hands of François Pinault and Alberto Mugrabi. It was sold for $ 6.8M by Christie's on May 11, 2011.
It is a bronze, made in 2006 with the collaboration of Art Crating Inc in Brooklyn. It is 7 meters high, weighs 15.8 tons, and a team of 30 workers is required to install it.
Three copies were made. A blue bear is in the collection of Steven Cohen. A yellow bear adorns the property of a collector in Long Island. The other yellow bear went through the hands of François Pinault and Alberto Mugrabi. It was sold for $ 6.8M by Christie's on May 11, 2011.
2006 Happiness within the Stars
2015 SOLD for $ 3.4M including premium
Yoshitomo Nara is the artist of a unique theme, the young child, girl or boy or indeterminate gender in full length or just with the head. His stylized line is inspired by punk and manga. His artistic message is however complex and he is one of the favorite painters of the new Japanese generation.
The children by Yoshitomo Nara express appeased and happy feelings. The artist sees a gap between the promises made during childhood and the threats of the adult life. When a child carries a weapon, it is only a small toy. He does not know to what extent the weapons of the adults are terrible.
The involvement of children in the art of Yoshitomo Nara is somehow the opposite of the children by Liu Ye, engaged in epic action or support for an philosophical or artistic thought.
The title of the painting for sale by Christie's in New York on November 9 is dreamlike: the little star dweller. The oversized head with closed eyes and happy smile is surrounded by stars made in glitter.
This acrylic on canvas 227 x 181 cm painted in 2006 is estimated $ 3M, lot 24A.
The children by Yoshitomo Nara express appeased and happy feelings. The artist sees a gap between the promises made during childhood and the threats of the adult life. When a child carries a weapon, it is only a small toy. He does not know to what extent the weapons of the adults are terrible.
The involvement of children in the art of Yoshitomo Nara is somehow the opposite of the children by Liu Ye, engaged in epic action or support for an philosophical or artistic thought.
The title of the painting for sale by Christie's in New York on November 9 is dreamlike: the little star dweller. The oversized head with closed eyes and happy smile is surrounded by stars made in glitter.
This acrylic on canvas 227 x 181 cm painted in 2006 is estimated $ 3M, lot 24A.
2006 Art Education with Liu Ye
2019 SOLD for HK$ 26M including premium
International Blue by Liu Ye was sold for HK $ 10.6M including premium by Sotheby's on April 5, 2013, lot 906. It is now estimated HK $ 22M for sale by Poly in Hong Kong on October 6, lot 168.
I narrated it as follows before the 2013 sale. I have also included below the reference to a more recent result.
Liu Ye was two years old in 1966, during the Cultural Revolution. His father, author of children's books, had the intelligence and courage to interest him in Andersen and Lewis Carroll. Such a linking with fairy tales from the West offered to Liu unparalleled themes of inspiration.
In a dreamlike world, Liu relies on children and their judgments. They are featured in various scenes, always with humor and kindness and without sentimentality.
Liu is also passionate about abstract art. An oil on canvas painted in 1998, 100 x 100 cm, sold for £ 640K including premium by Christie's on 16 October 2007, is typical. The small girl does not inspect the three Mondrian artworks on the wall, but her happy attitude and angel wings clearly express Liu's unlimited admiration for the Dutch master.
On April 1, 2019, another painting from the Mondrian series was sold for HK $ 23M including premium by Sotheby's over a lower estimate of HK $ 12M. The title of this 210 x 210 cm oil on canvas painted in 2006, Boogie Woogie, is a reuse from the 1942-1943 Mondrian artwork contemplated by the girl.
Also painted in 2006, the diptych 210 x 420 cm overall in acrylic and oil on canvas that comes for sale demands a more complex interpretation despite the simple graphics. Its title, International blue, is a direct reference to Yves Klein.
Two monochrome squares hang on the blue wall. Mufty, the rabbit of Dutch children's books, is intensely looking at the yellow square. The young girl stands before the big cobalt blue square, but is not interested in anything else than the toy.
This disdain from the child to the difficult artwork is certainly not a rejection of Klein by Liu, but rather a strong incentive to the arts education for children and a continued confidence in their curiosity.
I narrated it as follows before the 2013 sale. I have also included below the reference to a more recent result.
Liu Ye was two years old in 1966, during the Cultural Revolution. His father, author of children's books, had the intelligence and courage to interest him in Andersen and Lewis Carroll. Such a linking with fairy tales from the West offered to Liu unparalleled themes of inspiration.
In a dreamlike world, Liu relies on children and their judgments. They are featured in various scenes, always with humor and kindness and without sentimentality.
Liu is also passionate about abstract art. An oil on canvas painted in 1998, 100 x 100 cm, sold for £ 640K including premium by Christie's on 16 October 2007, is typical. The small girl does not inspect the three Mondrian artworks on the wall, but her happy attitude and angel wings clearly express Liu's unlimited admiration for the Dutch master.
On April 1, 2019, another painting from the Mondrian series was sold for HK $ 23M including premium by Sotheby's over a lower estimate of HK $ 12M. The title of this 210 x 210 cm oil on canvas painted in 2006, Boogie Woogie, is a reuse from the 1942-1943 Mondrian artwork contemplated by the girl.
Also painted in 2006, the diptych 210 x 420 cm overall in acrylic and oil on canvas that comes for sale demands a more complex interpretation despite the simple graphics. Its title, International blue, is a direct reference to Yves Klein.
Two monochrome squares hang on the blue wall. Mufty, the rabbit of Dutch children's books, is intensely looking at the yellow square. The young girl stands before the big cobalt blue square, but is not interested in anything else than the toy.
This disdain from the child to the difficult artwork is certainly not a rejection of Klein by Liu, but rather a strong incentive to the arts education for children and a continued confidence in their curiosity.
2006 Explosive Butterflies by Damien Hirst
2010 SOLD 2.17 M£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Hirst plays with life and death in the border zone that separates controversy and scandal, but the result is a deeply inventive art. The titles of his works are philosophical, metaphysical or merely obscure, increasing the discomfort or the attraction perceived by the observer.
Made in 2006, one of the largest of his kaleidoscopes of butterflies is on sale at Christie's in London on October 14, estimated £ 2.5 M. The vast surface of 213 x 554 cm is filled with two figures of concentric circles made of butterfly wings arranged on a background of thick deep red paint. The work is illustrated in the press release shared by Artdaily.
This explosion of colors is reminiscent of the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico in 1945, twenty years before the birth of the artist. Fascinated and perhaps frightened by the power of atomic weapons, J. Robert Oppenheimer found in an ancient text of Hindu philosophy his historical sentence that Hirst has repeated to become the title of this artwork: I am become Death, shatterer of Worlds.
Undoubtedly, the art world awaits this lot as a test of the market. In September 2008, Hirst reached the top with his solo auction at Sotheby's entitled Beautiful Inside My Head Forever. The confidence crisis of 2009 seems to have dented his rating.
POST SALE COMMENT
This artwork was announced as being of large size and nice quality. Sold £ 2.17 million including premium, it has thus remained at about 20% below the lower estimate. This result confirms the refocusing of Hirst's value, but we may rejoice that it becomes less speculative.
Hirst plays with life and death in the border zone that separates controversy and scandal, but the result is a deeply inventive art. The titles of his works are philosophical, metaphysical or merely obscure, increasing the discomfort or the attraction perceived by the observer.
Made in 2006, one of the largest of his kaleidoscopes of butterflies is on sale at Christie's in London on October 14, estimated £ 2.5 M. The vast surface of 213 x 554 cm is filled with two figures of concentric circles made of butterfly wings arranged on a background of thick deep red paint. The work is illustrated in the press release shared by Artdaily.
This explosion of colors is reminiscent of the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico in 1945, twenty years before the birth of the artist. Fascinated and perhaps frightened by the power of atomic weapons, J. Robert Oppenheimer found in an ancient text of Hindu philosophy his historical sentence that Hirst has repeated to become the title of this artwork: I am become Death, shatterer of Worlds.
Undoubtedly, the art world awaits this lot as a test of the market. In September 2008, Hirst reached the top with his solo auction at Sotheby's entitled Beautiful Inside My Head Forever. The confidence crisis of 2009 seems to have dented his rating.
POST SALE COMMENT
This artwork was announced as being of large size and nice quality. Sold £ 2.17 million including premium, it has thus remained at about 20% below the lower estimate. This result confirms the refocusing of Hirst's value, but we may rejoice that it becomes less speculative.
2006 The Heavenly Butterflies of Damien Hirst
2009 SOLD 15.5 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The introduction of Western contemporary art into the Far East market is an important event. The Korean house Seoul Auction is one of the pioneers of this trend which hopefully shall be sustained.
At the sale of last May, the star had been Tranquility by Damien Hirst, a mixed technique of 2008 based on butterfly wings and colored gloss, 231x323x13 cm, sold 12 MHK$ before fees (13.3 MHK$ including premium).
It is likely that the mystical mood, well known and often discussed, of Hirst interested fans in the Far East: indeed a work of the same technology is making the cover of the sale of Hong Kong in October 7. Dating from 2006, this canvas 292x244 cm is domed. Considering also the brilliant colors of insects, it returns dramatically to the stained glass of the cathedrals. The press release indicates the estimate: 18 MHK$. It is entitled The Importance of Elsewhere, The Kingdom of Heaven.
In some countries, this technique had been controversial. However, collectors of butterflies have never been criticized, but what shocks the friends of insects is probably the number of individuals needed to produce a work of great dimensions.
Still bigger: in London on October 13, 2007, Phillips de Pury sold £ 4.7 million charge included Eternity, 213x533 cm.
Here is the link to the press release, with a photo of the work, shared by AuctionPublicity.
POST SALE COMMENT
Seoul Auction sold 15.5 MHK$ including premium this work by Hirst. The lower estimate is not reached, but the result is encouraging.
The art market is global.
The introduction of Western contemporary art into the Far East market is an important event. The Korean house Seoul Auction is one of the pioneers of this trend which hopefully shall be sustained.
At the sale of last May, the star had been Tranquility by Damien Hirst, a mixed technique of 2008 based on butterfly wings and colored gloss, 231x323x13 cm, sold 12 MHK$ before fees (13.3 MHK$ including premium).
It is likely that the mystical mood, well known and often discussed, of Hirst interested fans in the Far East: indeed a work of the same technology is making the cover of the sale of Hong Kong in October 7. Dating from 2006, this canvas 292x244 cm is domed. Considering also the brilliant colors of insects, it returns dramatically to the stained glass of the cathedrals. The press release indicates the estimate: 18 MHK$. It is entitled The Importance of Elsewhere, The Kingdom of Heaven.
In some countries, this technique had been controversial. However, collectors of butterflies have never been criticized, but what shocks the friends of insects is probably the number of individuals needed to produce a work of great dimensions.
Still bigger: in London on October 13, 2007, Phillips de Pury sold £ 4.7 million charge included Eternity, 213x533 cm.
Here is the link to the press release, with a photo of the work, shared by AuctionPublicity.
POST SALE COMMENT
Seoul Auction sold 15.5 MHK$ including premium this work by Hirst. The lower estimate is not reached, but the result is encouraging.
The art market is global.
2006 Computer Aided Impressionism
2011 SOLD 1.27 M£ including premium
2019 UNSOLD
PRE 2019 SALE DISCUSSION
Glenn Brown painted his suite of masterpieces by reviewing the whole history of graphic art according to his own selection criteria. After Warhol, Lichtenstein and Richard Prince, he is a master of appropriation. The titles of his re-appropriated works are created by a Dadaist chance or by a temptation for pun.
Declining Nude was sold for £ 1.27M including premium by Sotheby's in London on February 15, 2011. It is now estimated £ 700K for sale in the same auction room on June 26, lot 29. I narrated it as follows in 2011 :
Glenn Brown is a Young British Artist. He finds on the Internet the masterpieces of classical art and the illustrations of science fiction. Masterpieces ? No, only their poor scanned image, which he appropriates for his own practice. His oil painting is smooth like a computer screen, but a meticulous technique similar to the hyper-realism provides a modernized and enlarged view to the plagiarized work.
For example, a 1992 oil on canvas 274 x 183 cm appropriating Dali's Premonition of Civil War was sold for £ 1.44M including premium at Christie's on June 30, 2010.
Declining Nude, oil on panel 140 x 99 cm, painted in 2006, is a daring pastiche of one of the key works of early Impressionism, Pissarro's self-portrait (1873, 55 x 46 cm).
Pissarro is perfectly recognizable but his original inspiration is missing. The beard is copied, as big as on the model. It indeed lost the flaky blur of the impressionist touch to become the modernist beard of an old man. Pissarro was only 43 years old when he painted this portrait.
Glenn Brown painted his suite of masterpieces by reviewing the whole history of graphic art according to his own selection criteria. After Warhol, Lichtenstein and Richard Prince, he is a master of appropriation. The titles of his re-appropriated works are created by a Dadaist chance or by a temptation for pun.
Declining Nude was sold for £ 1.27M including premium by Sotheby's in London on February 15, 2011. It is now estimated £ 700K for sale in the same auction room on June 26, lot 29. I narrated it as follows in 2011 :
Glenn Brown is a Young British Artist. He finds on the Internet the masterpieces of classical art and the illustrations of science fiction. Masterpieces ? No, only their poor scanned image, which he appropriates for his own practice. His oil painting is smooth like a computer screen, but a meticulous technique similar to the hyper-realism provides a modernized and enlarged view to the plagiarized work.
For example, a 1992 oil on canvas 274 x 183 cm appropriating Dali's Premonition of Civil War was sold for £ 1.44M including premium at Christie's on June 30, 2010.
Declining Nude, oil on panel 140 x 99 cm, painted in 2006, is a daring pastiche of one of the key works of early Impressionism, Pissarro's self-portrait (1873, 55 x 46 cm).
Pissarro is perfectly recognizable but his original inspiration is missing. The beard is copied, as big as on the model. It indeed lost the flaky blur of the impressionist touch to become the modernist beard of an old man. Pissarro was only 43 years old when he painted this portrait.
2006 The Bindis of Bharti Kher
2010 SOLD 1 M£ including premium
Born in London, Bharti Kher moved to New Delhi in 1992, aged 23. Thereafter, she constantly questions about India and the place of its traditions in the modern world. She covers her sculptures in fiberglass by thousands of bindis, that forehead ornament of Hindu women which symbolizes inner wisdom.
Sotheby's sale on June 28 in London includes a life-size female elephant sculpture made in 2006. By direct reference to bindis, the title takes the form of a manifesto: The Skin Speaks a Language not its Own. The animal is lying on her side, and we do not know if this symbol of India dies or wakes. Because of her position, the glassy eyes of the animal takes the viewer from below, thus strengthening the questioning.
The Hindu is sharing a photo of the sculpture on display at Sotheby's, with a cameraman providing the scale.
Contemporary art is well alive. As before the crisis of 2009, we continually discover new artists. Bharti Kher has already made an impeccable progress, with a 2007 show at a gallery
in New York, another one in London this year, then this featured entry in an auction of contemporary art.
Here is an illustrated account of the exhibition in New York where our elephant was in a good (and large size) place. It is shared by Artnet.
The estimate announced by Sotheby's is £ 700K. The press release indicates that the highest price achieved at auction for a work of Bharti Kher is 198.5 K £.
POST SALE COMMENT
It missed only 7 K£ for this artwork to reach £ 1 million including premium. We already knew that the market for contemporary art loves the very large sculptures. We also see a very pleasant tendency to appreciate the cultural references. Fine.
Sotheby's sale on June 28 in London includes a life-size female elephant sculpture made in 2006. By direct reference to bindis, the title takes the form of a manifesto: The Skin Speaks a Language not its Own. The animal is lying on her side, and we do not know if this symbol of India dies or wakes. Because of her position, the glassy eyes of the animal takes the viewer from below, thus strengthening the questioning.
The Hindu is sharing a photo of the sculpture on display at Sotheby's, with a cameraman providing the scale.
Contemporary art is well alive. As before the crisis of 2009, we continually discover new artists. Bharti Kher has already made an impeccable progress, with a 2007 show at a gallery
in New York, another one in London this year, then this featured entry in an auction of contemporary art.
Here is an illustrated account of the exhibition in New York where our elephant was in a good (and large size) place. It is shared by Artnet.
The estimate announced by Sotheby's is £ 700K. The press release indicates that the highest price achieved at auction for a work of Bharti Kher is 198.5 K £.
POST SALE COMMENT
It missed only 7 K£ for this artwork to reach £ 1 million including premium. We already knew that the market for contemporary art loves the very large sculptures. We also see a very pleasant tendency to appreciate the cultural references. Fine.
2006 Beijing Emotions
2013 SOLD 12 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Wang Yidong was one of the founders of Beijing Realism in 1994. This movement changed its name to China Realismwhen it was joined by the most famous of its members, Chen Yifei, working in Shanghai.
For Wang, painting must express the unlimited happiness. This theme is traditional in Chinese culture, but the characters by Wang are very young people resolutely living in our time.
The receiving by a young Chinese woman of a letter from far away is for Wang a favorite moment of intense emotionwhich he expresses with black and white dominated by a deep saturated red.
The girl opens the envelope, reads the mail, and then goes to think about what she has read. On the 2005 painting,150 x 180 cm, sold RMB 17.9 million including premium by China Guardian on 23 November 2010, she has justfinished her reading.
The oil on canvas for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5 shows the same girl in the same view a few minutes later. The paper is still held but already neglected and the girl is completely absorbed by her dream of happiness. The painting is smaller, 100 x 150 cm, and dated 2006. It is estimated HK $ 10M.
It is illustrated on the blog post shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The price, HK$ 12M including premium, is unsurprisingly well below the other variant sold by China Guardian in 2010.
Wang Yidong was one of the founders of Beijing Realism in 1994. This movement changed its name to China Realismwhen it was joined by the most famous of its members, Chen Yifei, working in Shanghai.
For Wang, painting must express the unlimited happiness. This theme is traditional in Chinese culture, but the characters by Wang are very young people resolutely living in our time.
The receiving by a young Chinese woman of a letter from far away is for Wang a favorite moment of intense emotionwhich he expresses with black and white dominated by a deep saturated red.
The girl opens the envelope, reads the mail, and then goes to think about what she has read. On the 2005 painting,150 x 180 cm, sold RMB 17.9 million including premium by China Guardian on 23 November 2010, she has justfinished her reading.
The oil on canvas for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5 shows the same girl in the same view a few minutes later. The paper is still held but already neglected and the girl is completely absorbed by her dream of happiness. The painting is smaller, 100 x 150 cm, and dated 2006. It is estimated HK $ 10M.
It is illustrated on the blog post shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The price, HK$ 12M including premium, is unsurprisingly well below the other variant sold by China Guardian in 2010.
2006 Draperies without Textiles by El Anatsui
2016 sold for £ 800k including premium
Color is everywhere in today's world. The artists are finding new answers to reveal and assemble it. El Anatsui recovers bottle tops of all colors in the recycling plants for realizing his gigantic sculptures. The alcohol bottle is for him a symbol of the relation between Africa and Europe.
The small pieces of aluminum are flattened, leaving visible the brand of the drink, and then tied together by copper wire. This hanging set takes the appearance of a heavy theater curtain. The shimmering colors evoke the African traditions.
Assembly is performed without support and without predefined fold, leaving the exhibitor free to arrange the general form of the installation.
On February 11 in London, Bonhams sells Peju's Robe, lot 9estimated £ 450K. This 245 x 310 cm work was made in 2006 by El Anatsui for the use of his legal advisor and the title evokes the professional garment of that friend.
The art of El Anatsui is resolutely contemporary by the recovery of colors in the consumer society that anticipates Mark Bradford and by its modifiable shape following Lygia Clark and Felix Gonzalez Torres. Art is global and El Anatsui who is working in Nigeria is one of the best examples of current African creativity.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Bonhams.
The small pieces of aluminum are flattened, leaving visible the brand of the drink, and then tied together by copper wire. This hanging set takes the appearance of a heavy theater curtain. The shimmering colors evoke the African traditions.
Assembly is performed without support and without predefined fold, leaving the exhibitor free to arrange the general form of the installation.
On February 11 in London, Bonhams sells Peju's Robe, lot 9estimated £ 450K. This 245 x 310 cm work was made in 2006 by El Anatsui for the use of his legal advisor and the title evokes the professional garment of that friend.
The art of El Anatsui is resolutely contemporary by the recovery of colors in the consumer society that anticipates Mark Bradford and by its modifiable shape following Lygia Clark and Felix Gonzalez Torres. Art is global and El Anatsui who is working in Nigeria is one of the best examples of current African creativity.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Bonhams.
2006 THe Cool Tree of Ugo Rondinone
2011 sold 540 K£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
London is a privileged city where they can follow live the trends of artistic creation. Phillips de Pury, the best specialist in contemporary art auction, makes its next sale there on 27 and 28 June.
The exhibition is open. I visited it in the online company of a young trendy blogger. As you will see, the new generation does not even look at the more established artists such as Basquiat, Tansey or Sherman. All artworks cited in this blog post have been made during the last ten years.
One of the showrooms is dominated by a tree 4.57 m tall in cast aluminum and white enamel made in 2006 by Ugo Rondinone, and estimated £ 200K.
This artist became known very long time ago (it was in 2001!) by rainbow neons with provocative titles such as Hell,yes! Our tree is an olive tree whose leafless tormented branches are expressing another mystic message: Get up girl a sun is running the world. It is illustrated on the catalog page shared by the auction web provider LiveAuctioneers.
Ugo Rondinone was born in Switzerland, from Neapolitan parents. The Swiss connection brings a strong and original vision to contemporary international art, particularly in installation art. Rondinone is younger than Fischli and Weiss,and older than Urs Fischer.
POST SALE COMMENT
The heartfelt lot of my blogging friend was a good choice. This tree has far exceeded the expected price.It was sold £ 450K before fees.
London is a privileged city where they can follow live the trends of artistic creation. Phillips de Pury, the best specialist in contemporary art auction, makes its next sale there on 27 and 28 June.
The exhibition is open. I visited it in the online company of a young trendy blogger. As you will see, the new generation does not even look at the more established artists such as Basquiat, Tansey or Sherman. All artworks cited in this blog post have been made during the last ten years.
One of the showrooms is dominated by a tree 4.57 m tall in cast aluminum and white enamel made in 2006 by Ugo Rondinone, and estimated £ 200K.
This artist became known very long time ago (it was in 2001!) by rainbow neons with provocative titles such as Hell,yes! Our tree is an olive tree whose leafless tormented branches are expressing another mystic message: Get up girl a sun is running the world. It is illustrated on the catalog page shared by the auction web provider LiveAuctioneers.
Ugo Rondinone was born in Switzerland, from Neapolitan parents. The Swiss connection brings a strong and original vision to contemporary international art, particularly in installation art. Rondinone is younger than Fischli and Weiss,and older than Urs Fischer.
POST SALE COMMENT
The heartfelt lot of my blogging friend was a good choice. This tree has far exceeded the expected price.It was sold £ 450K before fees.
2006 seduction by the foot
2015 sold for $ 270K including premium
The art of Marilyn Minter aims to the seduction by the body. In an approach closer to the punk movement than to tattoo, she displays in an extreme magnification some tiny details heavily rouged: eyelids, lips.
She works from her own photographs that she assembles into new pictures in the darkroom before transferring into enamel on metal. The sensual quality of her enamel paint is further enhanced by a final brushing by a finger to soften the lines.
The woman's foot with colored nails in a sandal is one of her favorite themes. The model foot may have been painted but also have undergone color changes through an exhaustion by disco dancing.
On March 3 in New York, Phillips sells a foot hitting a puddle by Minter, 187 x 145 cm, lot 9 estimated $ 300K. This artwork painted in 2006 is titled Wave. The essay in the catalog suggests that it is an abbreviation for Wave of shame, echoing the artist's pride to explore unprecedented themes with a strong erotic trend.
She works from her own photographs that she assembles into new pictures in the darkroom before transferring into enamel on metal. The sensual quality of her enamel paint is further enhanced by a final brushing by a finger to soften the lines.
The woman's foot with colored nails in a sandal is one of her favorite themes. The model foot may have been painted but also have undergone color changes through an exhaustion by disco dancing.
On March 3 in New York, Phillips sells a foot hitting a puddle by Minter, 187 x 145 cm, lot 9 estimated $ 300K. This artwork painted in 2006 is titled Wave. The essay in the catalog suggests that it is an abbreviation for Wave of shame, echoing the artist's pride to explore unprecedented themes with a strong erotic trend.
2006 after the birth of venus
2018 unsold
Inspired by the preparation of a calendar, Jeff Koons designs in 1994 and 1995 monumental sculptures to be edited in five copies of different colors, each version thus becoming unique. The themes will be simple and universally recognizable symbols. A perfectly reflective surface will integrate the work into its exhibition environment. The series that also includes oils on canvas is named Celebration.
The project requires technological developments and the delays accumulate, leading the workshop to the brink of bankruptcy. In 2000 the edition of three monochrome works, Balloon flower, Balloon dog and Moon, validates the feasibility.
The other themes planned by Koons present additional difficulties that are gradually overcome. In 2004 Tulips is the first multi-color assembly, also in five different color versions. In the following year Diamond is two-colored.
In 2006 the workshop succeeds in producing complex shapes including the Hanging heart with its fragile ribbon. The magenta-gold version was sold for $ 23.6M including premium by Sotheby's on November 14, 2007.
Also in 2006 the Cracked egg split in two parts is the first installation. The overturned egg's top placed on the floor moves the artist who compares this work with the shell of the Birth of Venus by Botticelli.
The two elements 165 x 159 x 159 cm and 100 x 159 x 159 cm are empty with a silvery inner surface. The cracked edges have irregular shapes that would match together without gaps. The thinness of the walls is visible, contrary to all the previous themes, adding an impression of delicacy.
Cracked Egg (Magenta) was sold for £ 14M including premium by Christie's on February 13, 2014. Cracked Egg (Blue) is estimated £ 10M for sale by Christie's in London on October 4, lot 18. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
The project requires technological developments and the delays accumulate, leading the workshop to the brink of bankruptcy. In 2000 the edition of three monochrome works, Balloon flower, Balloon dog and Moon, validates the feasibility.
The other themes planned by Koons present additional difficulties that are gradually overcome. In 2004 Tulips is the first multi-color assembly, also in five different color versions. In the following year Diamond is two-colored.
In 2006 the workshop succeeds in producing complex shapes including the Hanging heart with its fragile ribbon. The magenta-gold version was sold for $ 23.6M including premium by Sotheby's on November 14, 2007.
Also in 2006 the Cracked egg split in two parts is the first installation. The overturned egg's top placed on the floor moves the artist who compares this work with the shell of the Birth of Venus by Botticelli.
The two elements 165 x 159 x 159 cm and 100 x 159 x 159 cm are empty with a silvery inner surface. The cracked edges have irregular shapes that would match together without gaps. The thinness of the walls is visible, contrary to all the previous themes, adding an impression of delicacy.
Cracked Egg (Magenta) was sold for £ 14M including premium by Christie's on February 13, 2014. Cracked Egg (Blue) is estimated £ 10M for sale by Christie's in London on October 4, lot 18. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
2006 back to the destroyed temples
2016 unsold
For the first time in its history, the continuity of the Chinese artistic tradition is severely disrupted by the Cultural Revolution. Even at the worst time of the Opium Wars such an extreme situation had been avoided. The son of a poet persecuted by the Cultural Revolution, Ai Weiwei chooses art and appropriation to express his political dissent.
A photographic self-portrait in triptych from 1995 shows Ai deliberately breaking a Han urn. A print 136 x 109 cm per element made in 2004 was sold for £ 760K including premium by Sotheby's on February 10, 2016. The antique wares participate again in his political message when he paints them in bright colors that cancel their original features.
Ai is an architect. He makes tables that are impossible to use, either because the legs are not parallel or because the top is obstructed by an oblique beam. This phase in Ai's career predates his international fame obtained for his loud speaking participation in the Olympic Stadium in Beijing and in the relief operations after the Sichuan earthquake.
An example of a Map of China clearly demonstrates the similarity of inspiration of this series with his three leg tables. Realized in 2004 or shortly earlier, it has a 51 x 55 cm top over an extravagant pattern of 3.80 m high legs. This artwork was sold for HK $ 9M including premium by Sotheby's on April 5, 2014.
Ai's Maps of China are made in fragments of ironwood also named tieli recovered in the ruins of temples destroyed by the Cultural Revolution. The elements are assembled by a traditional Chinese technique of nail-less carpentry as a jigsaw whose external border shapes the Chinese map. The size of the top and the height of the legs are variable.
A Map of China 80 x 160 x 160 cm dated 2006 is estimated £ 1M for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 28, lot 29.
Ai continued to produce pieces from that model with the same woods from the temples. The largest, realized in 2008, is 4 meter long and weighs 635 kg. A Map of China 124 x 100 x 104 cm made in 2009 was sold for $ 2.5 million including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2016.
A photographic self-portrait in triptych from 1995 shows Ai deliberately breaking a Han urn. A print 136 x 109 cm per element made in 2004 was sold for £ 760K including premium by Sotheby's on February 10, 2016. The antique wares participate again in his political message when he paints them in bright colors that cancel their original features.
Ai is an architect. He makes tables that are impossible to use, either because the legs are not parallel or because the top is obstructed by an oblique beam. This phase in Ai's career predates his international fame obtained for his loud speaking participation in the Olympic Stadium in Beijing and in the relief operations after the Sichuan earthquake.
An example of a Map of China clearly demonstrates the similarity of inspiration of this series with his three leg tables. Realized in 2004 or shortly earlier, it has a 51 x 55 cm top over an extravagant pattern of 3.80 m high legs. This artwork was sold for HK $ 9M including premium by Sotheby's on April 5, 2014.
Ai's Maps of China are made in fragments of ironwood also named tieli recovered in the ruins of temples destroyed by the Cultural Revolution. The elements are assembled by a traditional Chinese technique of nail-less carpentry as a jigsaw whose external border shapes the Chinese map. The size of the top and the height of the legs are variable.
A Map of China 80 x 160 x 160 cm dated 2006 is estimated £ 1M for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 28, lot 29.
Ai continued to produce pieces from that model with the same woods from the temples. The largest, realized in 2008, is 4 meter long and weighs 635 kg. A Map of China 124 x 100 x 104 cm made in 2009 was sold for $ 2.5 million including premium by Christie's on May 11, 2016.
2007 Subodh Gupta pushes his Cart
2008 SOLD 1.1 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
A good sign for the value of an artist is when we find him suddenly everywhere at the top. The perpetual renewal that characterizes contemporary art enables to continuously make new discoveries. I present to you today an artist in his forties: Subodh Gupta, from India, born in 1964.
An oil on canvas is estimated 20 MRs ($ 500 K) in SaffronArt, lot 53 of the online sale of 2 to 4 September.SaffronArt runs a gallery and an auction house in Mumbai. Their business is very dynamic.
At Christie's in New York on September 16 four works by Subodh Gupta are included, amon them an accumulation of steel utensils ($ 600 K, lot 123) and a painting ($ 800 K, lot 112).
The program on September 18 in New York at Sotheby'sincludes "One cow" by Subodh Gupta ($ 600 K, lot 121).
In a modern inspiration and large size, close to the ready made, Gupta produces in several copies some trivial subjects of contemporary life. One of those most often seen is an airport carrier supporting baggage.
He also creates paintings of large dimensions around the same themes. The One cow to sell at Sotheby's represents a bicycle equipped with milk utensils, 168 x 228 cm, the format commonly used by Gupta. The painting for sale at SaffronArt represents baggage on the gallery of a car, with dimensions nearly identical to the previous one.
Prices achieved by Gupta show a sharp growth for both types of works, with perhaps a preference for paintings: already three of them exceeded $ 1.2 million. These results are divided between the three same auction houses as above, but in different locations, a sign that Gupta is a new star of international art.
For $ 1.2 million (£ 600 K), we also had an accumulation of steel utensils, sold at Christie's London on June 11.
The 11 highest Gupta results have been recorded since April this year. It was in Paris that he reached his full dimension of international artist, on April 3, when Artcurial sold 500 K € costs included a steel showing an airport carrier with removable baggage, 55% above the previous top price of the artist.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
The results of the lots that I had spotted start well for Gupta. Saffronart has sold its painting around the high estimate.
It was paid 30 MRs costs included. The auction house has translated this figure in dollars: 750 K $.
2
At Christie's, Gupta continues to increase HIS rating: $ 1.1 million including fees for Lot 112, and $ 1 million including fees for lot 123. The two other works have also sold well, at 960 K $ inclusive for an oil on canvas showing an airport carrier surrounded by people, 168 x 228 cm, and at 200 K $ for an aluminum baggage, 45 x 45 x 64 cm.
At Saffronart on September 4, another oil on canvas doubled its estimate, reaching 43 MRs costs included. It shows utensils, 168 x 256 cm. This painting got a higher result than the work I had described, which had the highest estimate of the sale.
3
Perhaps a little too atypical, 'One Cow' has been sold without much discussion: 660 K$ fees included.
We have not finished with tracking of paintings by Gupta: at Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 4, an oil on canvas showing an airport taxi (2 x 4.2 m) is estimated 12 MHK$. This lot has some good characteristics (its subject, its large size) to achieve a higher price.
4
Our taxi at airport, which should please the fans of Gupta, has not been sold.
A good sign for the value of an artist is when we find him suddenly everywhere at the top. The perpetual renewal that characterizes contemporary art enables to continuously make new discoveries. I present to you today an artist in his forties: Subodh Gupta, from India, born in 1964.
An oil on canvas is estimated 20 MRs ($ 500 K) in SaffronArt, lot 53 of the online sale of 2 to 4 September.SaffronArt runs a gallery and an auction house in Mumbai. Their business is very dynamic.
At Christie's in New York on September 16 four works by Subodh Gupta are included, amon them an accumulation of steel utensils ($ 600 K, lot 123) and a painting ($ 800 K, lot 112).
The program on September 18 in New York at Sotheby'sincludes "One cow" by Subodh Gupta ($ 600 K, lot 121).
In a modern inspiration and large size, close to the ready made, Gupta produces in several copies some trivial subjects of contemporary life. One of those most often seen is an airport carrier supporting baggage.
He also creates paintings of large dimensions around the same themes. The One cow to sell at Sotheby's represents a bicycle equipped with milk utensils, 168 x 228 cm, the format commonly used by Gupta. The painting for sale at SaffronArt represents baggage on the gallery of a car, with dimensions nearly identical to the previous one.
Prices achieved by Gupta show a sharp growth for both types of works, with perhaps a preference for paintings: already three of them exceeded $ 1.2 million. These results are divided between the three same auction houses as above, but in different locations, a sign that Gupta is a new star of international art.
For $ 1.2 million (£ 600 K), we also had an accumulation of steel utensils, sold at Christie's London on June 11.
The 11 highest Gupta results have been recorded since April this year. It was in Paris that he reached his full dimension of international artist, on April 3, when Artcurial sold 500 K € costs included a steel showing an airport carrier with removable baggage, 55% above the previous top price of the artist.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
The results of the lots that I had spotted start well for Gupta. Saffronart has sold its painting around the high estimate.
It was paid 30 MRs costs included. The auction house has translated this figure in dollars: 750 K $.
2
At Christie's, Gupta continues to increase HIS rating: $ 1.1 million including fees for Lot 112, and $ 1 million including fees for lot 123. The two other works have also sold well, at 960 K $ inclusive for an oil on canvas showing an airport carrier surrounded by people, 168 x 228 cm, and at 200 K $ for an aluminum baggage, 45 x 45 x 64 cm.
At Saffronart on September 4, another oil on canvas doubled its estimate, reaching 43 MRs costs included. It shows utensils, 168 x 256 cm. This painting got a higher result than the work I had described, which had the highest estimate of the sale.
3
Perhaps a little too atypical, 'One Cow' has been sold without much discussion: 660 K$ fees included.
We have not finished with tracking of paintings by Gupta: at Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 4, an oil on canvas showing an airport taxi (2 x 4.2 m) is estimated 12 MHK$. This lot has some good characteristics (its subject, its large size) to achieve a higher price.
4
Our taxi at airport, which should please the fans of Gupta, has not been sold.
2007-2008 THe Gilded Heads of Ravinder Reddy
2010 SOLD 1.15 Rs crore including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The monumental heads are not a novelty. The ancient Egyptians and the ancient Romans used this medium to glorify their rulers and make their faces familiar to the public.
Closer to our time, Modigliani carved the ideal woman. Today, G. Ravinder Reddy creates a series of portraits of Indian women. Made in polyester resin and fiberglass, his heads are painted and gilded.
His women are nice: eyes wide open, straight look, eyebrows raised, smiling slightly. A good example 2 meters high was sold 1.5 crores including fees by Saffronart in Mumbai on March 7, 2007.
From the same series, another work dating from 2007-2008, 216 x 211 x 152 cm, is to sell by the same auction house. After an exhibition in Mumbai, the auction takes place on the web on 8 and 9 September. The lower estimate is 1 crore. The auction house tells that this amount corresponds to 222 K $.
A crore corresponds, in the numbering system specific to India, to Rs 1,00,00,000.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good result, around the lower estimate: 1.15 crore including premium.
The monumental heads are not a novelty. The ancient Egyptians and the ancient Romans used this medium to glorify their rulers and make their faces familiar to the public.
Closer to our time, Modigliani carved the ideal woman. Today, G. Ravinder Reddy creates a series of portraits of Indian women. Made in polyester resin and fiberglass, his heads are painted and gilded.
His women are nice: eyes wide open, straight look, eyebrows raised, smiling slightly. A good example 2 meters high was sold 1.5 crores including fees by Saffronart in Mumbai on March 7, 2007.
From the same series, another work dating from 2007-2008, 216 x 211 x 152 cm, is to sell by the same auction house. After an exhibition in Mumbai, the auction takes place on the web on 8 and 9 September. The lower estimate is 1 crore. The auction house tells that this amount corresponds to 222 K $.
A crore corresponds, in the numbering system specific to India, to Rs 1,00,00,000.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good result, around the lower estimate: 1.15 crore including premium.
2008 Rising Down by Mehretu
2013 SOLD for $ 3.1M by Sotheby's
Julie Mehretu is an Ethiopian artist working in New York.
On the immense surface of her paintings, she begins by positioning an elegant multitude of colored signs. This work initially abstract, as hermetic as a Kandinsky, is not enough for her and she decides to provide it with a life in time and space. The finishing of a painting by Mehretu is a tight pattern of barely perceptible lines adding an unlimited urban structure onto the lighter areas of the image.
On September 25, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 1M Untitled 1, 152 x 213 cm, made in 2001. On November 9, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.3M a painting made in 2004 in ink and acrylic, 285 x 630 cm, titled The Seven Acts of Mercy.
On April 22, 2013 in Doha, Sotheby's sold at lot 15 for US $ 3.1M from a lower estimate of $ 2M a painting made in 2008 in ink and synthetic polymers, 244 x 366 cm. It is titled Rising Down, a contradiction worthy of Miro that expresses the desire of the artist to fill the space and dominate her world.
Then aged 38, Mehretu no longer needed patches of bright colors to express her message. The balance of the tangled lines provides to the work a great lightness.
On the immense surface of her paintings, she begins by positioning an elegant multitude of colored signs. This work initially abstract, as hermetic as a Kandinsky, is not enough for her and she decides to provide it with a life in time and space. The finishing of a painting by Mehretu is a tight pattern of barely perceptible lines adding an unlimited urban structure onto the lighter areas of the image.
On September 25, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 1M Untitled 1, 152 x 213 cm, made in 2001. On November 9, 2010, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.3M a painting made in 2004 in ink and acrylic, 285 x 630 cm, titled The Seven Acts of Mercy.
On April 22, 2013 in Doha, Sotheby's sold at lot 15 for US $ 3.1M from a lower estimate of $ 2M a painting made in 2008 in ink and synthetic polymers, 244 x 366 cm. It is titled Rising Down, a contradiction worthy of Miro that expresses the desire of the artist to fill the space and dominate her world.
Then aged 38, Mehretu no longer needed patches of bright colors to express her message. The balance of the tangled lines provides to the work a great lightness.
2008 Yoshitomo Nara between Manga and Art
2009 sold 4 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
I like to define contemporary art as one that directly expresses the society in which we live. The mangas are popular drawings close to comics, in which the Japanese love to find their qualities and their defects, and above all their hopes.
The child is king in Japan. Yoshitomo Nara shows him in a style clearly inspired by manga, with a large head, expressive like a serious adult occupied with contemporary activities.
On October 6, Sotheby's Hong Kong is auctioning a work out of standards, estimated 3.8 MHK$. It is a large wood panel, 1.72 x 3.72 m, an exceptional size in the work of this artist.
The composition is also unusual. The child is in the right side. He plays guitar, climbed onto a little platform on which is inscribed the title "It's everything" (there's nothing else that matters). The background is striped like a musical stave, and the left side shows only the figures 1.2.3.4. symbolizing the rhythm.
Nara is a fan of punk music, as everyone knows. This nice work done in 2008 is making reference to a truly contemporary social theme.
POST SALE COMMENT
I thought this lot would exceed the estimate: it was not the case. Result: 4 MHK$ premium included. The unusual format has not been enough to excite the market, probably rightly because the whole left side was so empty. So let the artist return to more classical compositions.
I like to define contemporary art as one that directly expresses the society in which we live. The mangas are popular drawings close to comics, in which the Japanese love to find their qualities and their defects, and above all their hopes.
The child is king in Japan. Yoshitomo Nara shows him in a style clearly inspired by manga, with a large head, expressive like a serious adult occupied with contemporary activities.
On October 6, Sotheby's Hong Kong is auctioning a work out of standards, estimated 3.8 MHK$. It is a large wood panel, 1.72 x 3.72 m, an exceptional size in the work of this artist.
The composition is also unusual. The child is in the right side. He plays guitar, climbed onto a little platform on which is inscribed the title "It's everything" (there's nothing else that matters). The background is striped like a musical stave, and the left side shows only the figures 1.2.3.4. symbolizing the rhythm.
Nara is a fan of punk music, as everyone knows. This nice work done in 2008 is making reference to a truly contemporary social theme.
POST SALE COMMENT
I thought this lot would exceed the estimate: it was not the case. Result: 4 MHK$ premium included. The unusual format has not been enough to excite the market, probably rightly because the whole left side was so empty. So let the artist return to more classical compositions.
2008 Mohammad Ehsai, Iranian Calligrapher
2009 sold 360 K$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Calligraphy is an art that Muslims have brought to perfection over the centuries. The sacred words are represented with a sense of the curve that gives them a remarkable artistic impact, since the illuminated Koran pages from the first century of the Hegira to the gigantic contemporary artworks.
Mohammad Ehsai is a user of very large formats, and one of the main participants in the revival of the calligraphic art. He turns 70 this year, but his top auction results have focused on very recent works (2007 and 2008), showing him a bit like a new movement leader.
The current calligraphers know how to depart from the strict letter, to exploit the beauty of line. See the oil on canvas, also made in 2008, entitled Afarinesh (Creation) that Sotheby's will sell in Doha on March 18. Leaving aside the gigantism of the work, 204 x 394 cm, we imagine viewing a nice drawing of entangled sinuosities in black ink.
The estimate, 300 KUS$, is prudent. Some works by this artist have achieved much higher price last year. The contemporary Islamic art market is changing, as I showed last October in an article where I waited for Zenderoudi beautiful results that eventually did not come. But it is so pleasant, because it shows that there is still a major part of passion in this area of contemporary art.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is in line with the estimate: 360 KUS $ premium included. It's good, because it confirms the value of one of the most interesting artists in his category.
Calligraphy is an art that Muslims have brought to perfection over the centuries. The sacred words are represented with a sense of the curve that gives them a remarkable artistic impact, since the illuminated Koran pages from the first century of the Hegira to the gigantic contemporary artworks.
Mohammad Ehsai is a user of very large formats, and one of the main participants in the revival of the calligraphic art. He turns 70 this year, but his top auction results have focused on very recent works (2007 and 2008), showing him a bit like a new movement leader.
The current calligraphers know how to depart from the strict letter, to exploit the beauty of line. See the oil on canvas, also made in 2008, entitled Afarinesh (Creation) that Sotheby's will sell in Doha on March 18. Leaving aside the gigantism of the work, 204 x 394 cm, we imagine viewing a nice drawing of entangled sinuosities in black ink.
The estimate, 300 KUS$, is prudent. Some works by this artist have achieved much higher price last year. The contemporary Islamic art market is changing, as I showed last October in an article where I waited for Zenderoudi beautiful results that eventually did not come. But it is so pleasant, because it shows that there is still a major part of passion in this area of contemporary art.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is in line with the estimate: 360 KUS $ premium included. It's good, because it confirms the value of one of the most interesting artists in his category.
2008 The Stencil at the Gas Station
2013 SOLD 204 K$ before fees
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The world of Banksy is the street or the public place, same as Basquiat in his teens. His identity is unknown although it seems obvious that he is from Bristol. But the real challenge in his art is the positioning of the individual against theconstraints of modern society overwhelmed by the need for security.
Banksy does not offer a political solution. He is reluctant to any authority, simply. He proceeds to his art for fifteenyears as only a graffiti artist can do it: the street is constantly changing and an artwork left in its original location isunder an obvious threat of destruction or modification. This is part of the game.
Banksy is not the only street artist but his socially biting humor and the variety of his topics highlight him. Collectors begin to collect his original murals that form the essence of his message.
In 2008, he came to Hollywood. On the pavement, he appreciated the names of the stars trampled all along the day by anonymous feet as an example of street art, altogether trivial, involuntary, ephemeral and inviting to some moresubversive extension.
He chose the wall of a local gas station to execute in black ink his Flower girl made by aerosol stenciling. The small girl went out to put flowers in her basket and stopped to look at a video surveillance camera pointing at her from the top of a plant taller than her.
This work is announced with a size of 2.7 by 2.4 m which is probably the dimension after being detached. It will be sold by Julien's in Beverly Hills on December 5. It is illustrated in its original place on the press release shared by AuctionPublicity.
I invite you to play the video shared on YouTube by Darren Julien.
POST SALE COMMENT
The platform julienslive.com recorded a winning bid of $ 204K for this lot that was interesting but a bit bulky.
The world of Banksy is the street or the public place, same as Basquiat in his teens. His identity is unknown although it seems obvious that he is from Bristol. But the real challenge in his art is the positioning of the individual against theconstraints of modern society overwhelmed by the need for security.
Banksy does not offer a political solution. He is reluctant to any authority, simply. He proceeds to his art for fifteenyears as only a graffiti artist can do it: the street is constantly changing and an artwork left in its original location isunder an obvious threat of destruction or modification. This is part of the game.
Banksy is not the only street artist but his socially biting humor and the variety of his topics highlight him. Collectors begin to collect his original murals that form the essence of his message.
In 2008, he came to Hollywood. On the pavement, he appreciated the names of the stars trampled all along the day by anonymous feet as an example of street art, altogether trivial, involuntary, ephemeral and inviting to some moresubversive extension.
He chose the wall of a local gas station to execute in black ink his Flower girl made by aerosol stenciling. The small girl went out to put flowers in her basket and stopped to look at a video surveillance camera pointing at her from the top of a plant taller than her.
This work is announced with a size of 2.7 by 2.4 m which is probably the dimension after being detached. It will be sold by Julien's in Beverly Hills on December 5. It is illustrated in its original place on the press release shared by AuctionPublicity.
I invite you to play the video shared on YouTube by Darren Julien.
POST SALE COMMENT
The platform julienslive.com recorded a winning bid of $ 204K for this lot that was interesting but a bit bulky.
2008 The Punch of Contemporary Turkish Art
2009 SOLD 70 K£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Sotheby's announces its first sale dedicated to contemporary Turkish art, to be held in London on March 4.
On the cover of the catalog, we see a boxer in action. Closed fists, ready to attack, he has the eyes fixed to his opponent out of the field. His face is covered with bloody cuts, but he is too concentrated for being concerned about the blood that flows in front of his mouth.
This hyperrealist painting is titled simply "Spiritual". This assesses the interest of the artist, Taner Ceylan, born in 1967, for subjects with high emotional intensity. Dated last year (2008), this oil on canvas is probably the start of a new style for the artist, more interesting than his previous homosexual paintings.
This artwork offers the major asset of contemporary art, as I repeat often in this group: it is fairly large (140 x 200 cm). It is estimated £ 30 K.
Starting a career at auction by the cover of a catalog of Sotheby's London is already a great achievement!
POST SALE COMMENT
This is an interesting result, to better situate this young artist: K £ 70 including fees.
Sotheby's announces its first sale dedicated to contemporary Turkish art, to be held in London on March 4.
On the cover of the catalog, we see a boxer in action. Closed fists, ready to attack, he has the eyes fixed to his opponent out of the field. His face is covered with bloody cuts, but he is too concentrated for being concerned about the blood that flows in front of his mouth.
This hyperrealist painting is titled simply "Spiritual". This assesses the interest of the artist, Taner Ceylan, born in 1967, for subjects with high emotional intensity. Dated last year (2008), this oil on canvas is probably the start of a new style for the artist, more interesting than his previous homosexual paintings.
This artwork offers the major asset of contemporary art, as I repeat often in this group: it is fairly large (140 x 200 cm). It is estimated £ 30 K.
Starting a career at auction by the cover of a catalog of Sotheby's London is already a great achievement!
POST SALE COMMENT
This is an interesting result, to better situate this young artist: K £ 70 including fees.
BY JACK VETTRIANO
2008 SALES
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The place on the art market of Vettriano, self-taught Scottish artist, was broken by an ugly dispute in 2005.
His favorite topics are based on the thrillers, with gangsters and sexy women. It is certainly a contemporary topic. People of today are interested in their time, not in pictures showing the court of William the Conqueror. But someone has been shocked in 2005 that the models made by Vettriano have been copied from a textbook.
These disputes are worthy of the past. Who today would resume the accusation against Utrillo to have recopied postcards? And who today would make a trial to Prince who photocopies his nurses from the covers of cheap books?
On 21 April 2004 at Sotheby's in Edinburgh, The Singing Butler, 71 x 91 cm, showing four people including a dancing couple, was sold £ 740 K costs included. This painting is one of those behind the scandal. Curiously, I does not find it in Artvalue database. Since then, no other painting of the artist has achieved such a value.
On 1 September 2004 at Gleneagles Hotel by Sotheby's, 28 paintings by Vettriano exceeded £ 2 million altogether. Curiously, I have not found a press release concerning the sale result on the site of Sotheby's (but all results are visible in their database).
The paintings of Vettriano come regularly at auction. This month, Bonhams and Sotheby's hold their Scottish sales, which respectively include nine and three of his works.
Sotheby's sale is made at Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, on August 26. This is the place where buyers have partially restored Vettriano, August 29, 2007, paying £ 470 K for Bluebird at Bonneville, a painting of 65x103 cm. Yet, this painting was necessarily inspired by a photo or a drawing on this historic event on the automobile speed, in memory of Donald Campbell. This year, low estimates of the nine paintings range between 15 and 80 K £.
At Bonhams on August 29 in Edinburgh, three works are estimated between 15 and 25 K £.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
The value of Vettriano is low but steady. On nine paintings presented at Sotheby's, only two have not been sold, and they were not the major ones (ranked four and five in the sequence of the estimates).
The other seven remained close to their low estimate, with the exception of the cheaper two who have mounted a bit more than expected. None has been sold at less than £ 22.5 K costs included.
2
Bonhams was less successful than its competitor. Only one of the three paintings was sold, at 17 K£ before fees.
The place on the art market of Vettriano, self-taught Scottish artist, was broken by an ugly dispute in 2005.
His favorite topics are based on the thrillers, with gangsters and sexy women. It is certainly a contemporary topic. People of today are interested in their time, not in pictures showing the court of William the Conqueror. But someone has been shocked in 2005 that the models made by Vettriano have been copied from a textbook.
These disputes are worthy of the past. Who today would resume the accusation against Utrillo to have recopied postcards? And who today would make a trial to Prince who photocopies his nurses from the covers of cheap books?
On 21 April 2004 at Sotheby's in Edinburgh, The Singing Butler, 71 x 91 cm, showing four people including a dancing couple, was sold £ 740 K costs included. This painting is one of those behind the scandal. Curiously, I does not find it in Artvalue database. Since then, no other painting of the artist has achieved such a value.
On 1 September 2004 at Gleneagles Hotel by Sotheby's, 28 paintings by Vettriano exceeded £ 2 million altogether. Curiously, I have not found a press release concerning the sale result on the site of Sotheby's (but all results are visible in their database).
The paintings of Vettriano come regularly at auction. This month, Bonhams and Sotheby's hold their Scottish sales, which respectively include nine and three of his works.
Sotheby's sale is made at Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, on August 26. This is the place where buyers have partially restored Vettriano, August 29, 2007, paying £ 470 K for Bluebird at Bonneville, a painting of 65x103 cm. Yet, this painting was necessarily inspired by a photo or a drawing on this historic event on the automobile speed, in memory of Donald Campbell. This year, low estimates of the nine paintings range between 15 and 80 K £.
At Bonhams on August 29 in Edinburgh, three works are estimated between 15 and 25 K £.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
The value of Vettriano is low but steady. On nine paintings presented at Sotheby's, only two have not been sold, and they were not the major ones (ranked four and five in the sequence of the estimates).
The other seven remained close to their low estimate, with the exception of the cheaper two who have mounted a bit more than expected. None has been sold at less than £ 22.5 K costs included.
2
Bonhams was less successful than its competitor. Only one of the three paintings was sold, at 17 K£ before fees.
2009 The Crumpled Mountain
2018 SOLD for £ 4.7M including premium
Rudolf Stingel knows that all art is autobiographical. He reuses four photographs of himself by Sam Samore to make giant self-portraits in oil on canvas, in an attitude without complacency. Untitled (after Sam) painted in 2006, 335 x 457 cm, was sold for $ 10.6M including premium by Christie's on May 17, 2017.
Pictorial art had managed to get freed from photographic realism. In 1963 Gerhard Richter took the opposite direction by using as his models some poor and damaged photos that provide a bridge of a strong social significance between banality and art. After his self-portraits Stingel also retrieves the photographic banality but in a less impersonal sense.
He was born in Merano in the Tyrolean Alps on the Italian side and shares his life between this town and New York City. He can of course observe the panorama but his childhood impression has vanished. He re-interprets it by recovering old photographs which he enlarges excessively to reveal all the defects from origin and conservation. He then copies them on canvas by scrupulously respecting the stains, creases, scratches and loss of density.
With these banal photos whose original author cannot be known, Stingel reveals to the visitor a fake corner of his world, without character and without foreground, and which is not even directly related to his memory. In the following of his career he will further blur his relationship with the collective and the anonymous with his graffiti plates.
On March 7 in London, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas painted in 2009 on the theme of the re-photographed Tyrolean mountains. With its 335 x 460 cm size this outdated view could be confronted with Andreas Gursky's hyper-sharp photographs. It is estimated £ 4M, lot 19.
Please watch the 'first look' video shared by Sotheby's.
Pictorial art had managed to get freed from photographic realism. In 1963 Gerhard Richter took the opposite direction by using as his models some poor and damaged photos that provide a bridge of a strong social significance between banality and art. After his self-portraits Stingel also retrieves the photographic banality but in a less impersonal sense.
He was born in Merano in the Tyrolean Alps on the Italian side and shares his life between this town and New York City. He can of course observe the panorama but his childhood impression has vanished. He re-interprets it by recovering old photographs which he enlarges excessively to reveal all the defects from origin and conservation. He then copies them on canvas by scrupulously respecting the stains, creases, scratches and loss of density.
With these banal photos whose original author cannot be known, Stingel reveals to the visitor a fake corner of his world, without character and without foreground, and which is not even directly related to his memory. In the following of his career he will further blur his relationship with the collective and the anonymous with his graffiti plates.
On March 7 in London, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas painted in 2009 on the theme of the re-photographed Tyrolean mountains. With its 335 x 460 cm size this outdated view could be confronted with Andreas Gursky's hyper-sharp photographs. It is estimated £ 4M, lot 19.
Please watch the 'first look' video shared by Sotheby's.
2009 Poor Billionaires
2019 SOLD for HK$ 21.7M including premium
Takashi Murakami is exploiting the consumer society while bringing to his art a typically Japanese style based on manga monsters. There is no limit in his approach to luxury. He collaborates since 2002 with Louis Vuitton, on an initiative by Marc Jacobs.
Murakami pays the closest attention to making his art instantly recognizable with recurring characters invented by him like Kaikai, Kiki or Mr Dob. He varies the techniques, and his objects span the whole range from microscopic to monumental.
Pharrell Williams is a musician and a producer. In 2003 he launched the BBC (Billionaire Boys Club) clothing brand in co-operation with Nigo. Nigo is also famous in contemporary art for his collaboration with KAWS.
The Simple Things is an installation by Murakami and Pharrell, exhibited at Art Basel in 2009 on the stand of the Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin. The steel and fiberglass painted sculpture 78 x 110 x 101 cm shows a Mr Dob with the mouth wide open and multicolored fangs, ready to swallow everything that is consumable. The back side includes a stylized self-portrait of the artist.
The inside of the mouth is arranged like a theater stage illuminated by fourteen spots, where are positioned seven models of objects chosen by Pharrell in his daily life. All except the cupcake have a famous brand. The sneaker is a direct advertisement for BBC. With a drink can, a baby lotion, a bottle of ketchup, a pack of chips and a box of condoms, this ambitious billionaire gives everyone a view onto the simplicity of his life.
The objects required about a year of work by the jeweler Jacob and Co. They are in white, yellow and pink gold inlaid with 26,000 precious stones : rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds.
The Simple Things is estimated HK $ 20M for sale by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 23, lot 58.
Murakami pays the closest attention to making his art instantly recognizable with recurring characters invented by him like Kaikai, Kiki or Mr Dob. He varies the techniques, and his objects span the whole range from microscopic to monumental.
Pharrell Williams is a musician and a producer. In 2003 he launched the BBC (Billionaire Boys Club) clothing brand in co-operation with Nigo. Nigo is also famous in contemporary art for his collaboration with KAWS.
The Simple Things is an installation by Murakami and Pharrell, exhibited at Art Basel in 2009 on the stand of the Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin. The steel and fiberglass painted sculpture 78 x 110 x 101 cm shows a Mr Dob with the mouth wide open and multicolored fangs, ready to swallow everything that is consumable. The back side includes a stylized self-portrait of the artist.
The inside of the mouth is arranged like a theater stage illuminated by fourteen spots, where are positioned seven models of objects chosen by Pharrell in his daily life. All except the cupcake have a famous brand. The sneaker is a direct advertisement for BBC. With a drink can, a baby lotion, a bottle of ketchup, a pack of chips and a box of condoms, this ambitious billionaire gives everyone a view onto the simplicity of his life.
The objects required about a year of work by the jeweler Jacob and Co. They are in white, yellow and pink gold inlaid with 26,000 precious stones : rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds.
The Simple Things is estimated HK $ 20M for sale by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 23, lot 58.
2009 The Iridescent Folds of Tauba Auerbach
2015 SOLD for £ 1.2M including premium
Tauba Auerbach is inspired by the geometric designs and bright colors of Op Art.
In 2008, aged 27, she experienced the relationship between the crumpled canvas and the regular networks of decorative motifs inspired by Bridget Riley. Crumple IV, 201 x 151 cm, was sold for $ 1.06M including premium by Christie's on May 14, 2014.
On the following year, her first strictly monochrome works have a geometrically rigorous fold like a cloth ready to be placed on the shelf. Once deployed, the wet canvas mechanically distributes the color, favoring the iridescences wanted by the artist.
Untitled Fold X, an acrylic on canvas painted in 2009, 159 x 122 cm, is estimated £ 1M for sale by Phillips in London on February 12, lot 7.
More recently, in a logical continuation of her approach, she realized monochrome works on folded and crumpled canvas, providing a more complex texture. An Untitled Fold 153 x 122 cm painted in 2010 was sold for $ 2.3 million including premium by Phillips on November 13, 2014.
In 2008, aged 27, she experienced the relationship between the crumpled canvas and the regular networks of decorative motifs inspired by Bridget Riley. Crumple IV, 201 x 151 cm, was sold for $ 1.06M including premium by Christie's on May 14, 2014.
On the following year, her first strictly monochrome works have a geometrically rigorous fold like a cloth ready to be placed on the shelf. Once deployed, the wet canvas mechanically distributes the color, favoring the iridescences wanted by the artist.
Untitled Fold X, an acrylic on canvas painted in 2009, 159 x 122 cm, is estimated £ 1M for sale by Phillips in London on February 12, lot 7.
More recently, in a logical continuation of her approach, she realized monochrome works on folded and crumpled canvas, providing a more complex texture. An Untitled Fold 153 x 122 cm painted in 2010 was sold for $ 2.3 million including premium by Phillips on November 13, 2014.
2009 The Qur'an of Dr. Moustafa
2009 sold 662 K$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Ahmed Moustafa is an artist and a scientist. In 1989 he received his PhD from St Martin's College of Art and Design in London.
His historical work focused on the seeking of perfection in calligraphy by the Abbasid minister Ibn Muqla. Moustafa decoded the geometric rigor that the Abbasid put into the design of letters. The name of Ibn Muqla had been forgotten, but his work is the origin of what is best in Islamic calligraphy for over a thousand years.
Moustafa believes that the letters are designed to be tied. He copies verses from the Qur'an onto large size areas, where huge letters intertwine together to form a mystical and abstract pattern with the same ideal proportions as his Abbasid predecessor brought to the design of individual letters.
In his recent works, the line is clearer and broader. In 2009 he created a diptych, 150 x 190 m for each element, respectively entitled Rembrance and Gratitude, two variations on a verse chosen for its universal and almost ecumenical significance. Rembrance rather than Remembrance: the exegetes of Dr. Moustafa have now to discuss the meaning of this word.
This work is for sale by Christie's in Dubai on October 27. It is estimated 600 KUS$. Here is the photo of one of the elements shared by AuctionPublicity. The other element, visible in the catalog of the auction house, is very similar to any observer who has not the extreme subtlety of the artist.
POST SALE COMMENT
Christie's had presented this work as the culmination of the artist's approach. The too recent works are always very difficult to sell. We therefore consider the result, 662 KUS$ including premium, as excellent.
Ahmed Moustafa is an artist and a scientist. In 1989 he received his PhD from St Martin's College of Art and Design in London.
His historical work focused on the seeking of perfection in calligraphy by the Abbasid minister Ibn Muqla. Moustafa decoded the geometric rigor that the Abbasid put into the design of letters. The name of Ibn Muqla had been forgotten, but his work is the origin of what is best in Islamic calligraphy for over a thousand years.
Moustafa believes that the letters are designed to be tied. He copies verses from the Qur'an onto large size areas, where huge letters intertwine together to form a mystical and abstract pattern with the same ideal proportions as his Abbasid predecessor brought to the design of individual letters.
In his recent works, the line is clearer and broader. In 2009 he created a diptych, 150 x 190 m for each element, respectively entitled Rembrance and Gratitude, two variations on a verse chosen for its universal and almost ecumenical significance. Rembrance rather than Remembrance: the exegetes of Dr. Moustafa have now to discuss the meaning of this word.
This work is for sale by Christie's in Dubai on October 27. It is estimated 600 KUS$. Here is the photo of one of the elements shared by AuctionPublicity. The other element, visible in the catalog of the auction house, is very similar to any observer who has not the extreme subtlety of the artist.
POST SALE COMMENT
Christie's had presented this work as the culmination of the artist's approach. The too recent works are always very difficult to sell. We therefore consider the result, 662 KUS$ including premium, as excellent.
2009 Monir within the Diamond
2015 SOLD for $ 395K including premium
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, born in Qazvin in northwestern Iran, had an early interest in modern Western art of which she met the avant-gardes during a decade long stay in New York. Back in Iran in 1957 with her husband Dr. Farmanfarmaian, she studied and collected the traditional arts.
In 1966, Monir is dazzled by the dome of Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz. This six centuries old monument brought her the impression of standing inside a multifaceted diamond and looking out at the sun, in her own words.
Afterward, she appropriates an old decorative technique of mirror mosaic and reverse glass painting. Its exceptional brilliance activates altogether the reflection and refraction of the light. She assembles the elements in three-dimensional structures whose geometry is inspired by the traditional aristocratic architecture of Persia.
The effect of wrapping the spectator in the artwork meets the targets of the abstract expressionism with a more specific influence from younger minimalists such as Frank Stella and Robert Morris and a conception close to Op art.
On March 18 in Dubai, Christie's sells Zarah's Image, lot 140 estimated US $ 350K. This artwork 185 x 135 x 19 cm executed in 2009 is a study for a monumental work in homage to a contemporary Iranian hero. The artist was then 85 years old.
In 1966, Monir is dazzled by the dome of Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz. This six centuries old monument brought her the impression of standing inside a multifaceted diamond and looking out at the sun, in her own words.
Afterward, she appropriates an old decorative technique of mirror mosaic and reverse glass painting. Its exceptional brilliance activates altogether the reflection and refraction of the light. She assembles the elements in three-dimensional structures whose geometry is inspired by the traditional aristocratic architecture of Persia.
The effect of wrapping the spectator in the artwork meets the targets of the abstract expressionism with a more specific influence from younger minimalists such as Frank Stella and Robert Morris and a conception close to Op art.
On March 18 in Dubai, Christie's sells Zarah's Image, lot 140 estimated US $ 350K. This artwork 185 x 135 x 19 cm executed in 2009 is a study for a monumental work in homage to a contemporary Iranian hero. The artist was then 85 years old.
2009 Jeff Koons celebrates Easter
2011 unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The monumental sculptures in the Celebration series pushed Jeff Koons at the highest level of contemporary artists.
Designed from 1994, they are distinguished by the simplicity of the subject which refers to child imaging, and by the extreme care in the preparation of the surface of very high reflectivity consisting of a chromed stainless steel coatedwith a transparent layer.
The best known works, produced in copies of different colors, delighted the art market. They are the Balloon Flowerfully monochrome, and the Hanging Heart equipped with a golden string.
Smaller, 195 × 158 × 212 cm, Smooth Egg with Bow is linked to the same source of childish inspiration. The chocolate egg is presented with a wide ribbon shaped in many scrolls. Completed in 2009, it will be sold by Seoul Auction in Hong Kong on November 28. It is shown in the release shared by AuctionPublicity.
Made in 2008, an orange Baroque Egg with Bow of same size with a magenta ribbon of less exuberant shape was sold $ 6.2 million including premium by Christie's exactly two weeks ago, on November 8.
I invite you to play the video shared on YouTube by the auction house.
POST SALE COMMENT
Unsold. I found this information in the Wall Street Journal, which also indicates that the estimate was HK $ 55M.
It was actually too expensive compared to the price recorded just before by Christie's on another egg.
The monumental sculptures in the Celebration series pushed Jeff Koons at the highest level of contemporary artists.
Designed from 1994, they are distinguished by the simplicity of the subject which refers to child imaging, and by the extreme care in the preparation of the surface of very high reflectivity consisting of a chromed stainless steel coatedwith a transparent layer.
The best known works, produced in copies of different colors, delighted the art market. They are the Balloon Flowerfully monochrome, and the Hanging Heart equipped with a golden string.
Smaller, 195 × 158 × 212 cm, Smooth Egg with Bow is linked to the same source of childish inspiration. The chocolate egg is presented with a wide ribbon shaped in many scrolls. Completed in 2009, it will be sold by Seoul Auction in Hong Kong on November 28. It is shown in the release shared by AuctionPublicity.
Made in 2008, an orange Baroque Egg with Bow of same size with a magenta ribbon of less exuberant shape was sold $ 6.2 million including premium by Christie's exactly two weeks ago, on November 8.
I invite you to play the video shared on YouTube by the auction house.
POST SALE COMMENT
Unsold. I found this information in the Wall Street Journal, which also indicates that the estimate was HK $ 55M.
It was actually too expensive compared to the price recorded just before by Christie's on another egg.
2010 The Contemporary Leopard
2011 SOLD 36 MHK$ with no buyer's premium applied
The initiative might seem strange, but in fact it is quite interesting. Just before its sales in Hong Kong, Christie's is devoting an exhibition titled "Being" to thirty very recent works by Zeng Fanzhi.
"Being" is the being that inhabits our planet. And Zeng, aged 47, has just changed his style and theme.
He is one of the top Chinese contemporary artists, best known for his portraits and scenes of ordinary characters who attract no empathy as they seem not to think about anything.
The new momentum of conservationism by Zeng is indeed in the same logic: the Earth does not belong to these useless people, but to the plants and animals that inhabit it for so long.
At the request of Christie's, the artist himself has chosen one of his works to be auctioned on May 28 on the benefit of environmental organizations. He donates a superb leopard, oil on canvas painted in 2010, 280 x 180 cm, shown on the release shared by Artdaily.
It is night. Flakes fall. The animal in the snow is on the lookout. It is right to be suspicious, because it is already joined by civilization. It is suddenly lit from below, as if it is in the headlights of a car. It is a work of great activist power, estimated HK $ 6M.
"Being" is the being that inhabits our planet. And Zeng, aged 47, has just changed his style and theme.
He is one of the top Chinese contemporary artists, best known for his portraits and scenes of ordinary characters who attract no empathy as they seem not to think about anything.
The new momentum of conservationism by Zeng is indeed in the same logic: the Earth does not belong to these useless people, but to the plants and animals that inhabit it for so long.
At the request of Christie's, the artist himself has chosen one of his works to be auctioned on May 28 on the benefit of environmental organizations. He donates a superb leopard, oil on canvas painted in 2010, 280 x 180 cm, shown on the release shared by Artdaily.
It is night. Flakes fall. The animal in the snow is on the lookout. It is right to be suspicious, because it is already joined by civilization. It is suddenly lit from below, as if it is in the headlights of a car. It is a work of great activist power, estimated HK $ 6M.
2010 The Animal Power
2015 SOLD for £ 3.45M including premium
The son of a poet persecuted by the Cultural Revolution, Ai Weiwei decides to become a nonconformist, resolutely supporting the people against the elite through an activism whose international visibility in turn annoys the government.
Chinese traditional artists knew to imitate the works of their predecessors in a process that incompetent Westerners denounced as fake and plagiarism. Ai recovers ancient themes with his humor that integrates the American Pop Art and Mickey Mouse.
In 2010, the theme of the twelve animals from the zodiac fountain of the imperial palace appeals to him both because it directly concerns the relations between China and the West and by the ambiguity of its social significance. This zodiac had been an issue with France in the previous year when two elements in the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection were offered at auction.
Ai carved the figures of the twelve heads, including the five that have not resurfaced after the sack of the palace of the Qing. He enhances the sculpture by detailing hair or feather in a texture unrelated to the original Chinese art.
The double title of this set, Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads, adds to the duality of the political message, modern and ancient, international and Chinese, symbolic and esoteric. It is perhaps also an allusion to the political fable in which Orwell gave the power to the animals.
In this zodiac, Ai does not only view the spoliation. He considers the difference between the imperial fountain offered to the pleasure of a restricted court and his own art that is exhibited to the general public during international tours.
The bronzes were made in two sizes. The smaller version is gold plated. It was edited in eight copies plus four artist's proofs. No. 7/8 was sold for £ 2.9 million including premium by Phillips on 12 February 2015.
The elements of the monumental version, not golden, vary around 3 meters high, or more when including the horns of the dragon and the crest of the rooster. It was edited in six copies plus two artist's proofs. The number 1/6 is estimated £ 3M for sale by Phillips in London on June 29, lot 23.
Chinese traditional artists knew to imitate the works of their predecessors in a process that incompetent Westerners denounced as fake and plagiarism. Ai recovers ancient themes with his humor that integrates the American Pop Art and Mickey Mouse.
In 2010, the theme of the twelve animals from the zodiac fountain of the imperial palace appeals to him both because it directly concerns the relations between China and the West and by the ambiguity of its social significance. This zodiac had been an issue with France in the previous year when two elements in the Saint-Laurent - Bergé collection were offered at auction.
Ai carved the figures of the twelve heads, including the five that have not resurfaced after the sack of the palace of the Qing. He enhances the sculpture by detailing hair or feather in a texture unrelated to the original Chinese art.
The double title of this set, Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads, adds to the duality of the political message, modern and ancient, international and Chinese, symbolic and esoteric. It is perhaps also an allusion to the political fable in which Orwell gave the power to the animals.
In this zodiac, Ai does not only view the spoliation. He considers the difference between the imperial fountain offered to the pleasure of a restricted court and his own art that is exhibited to the general public during international tours.
The bronzes were made in two sizes. The smaller version is gold plated. It was edited in eight copies plus four artist's proofs. No. 7/8 was sold for £ 2.9 million including premium by Phillips on 12 February 2015.
The elements of the monumental version, not golden, vary around 3 meters high, or more when including the horns of the dragon and the crest of the rooster. It was edited in six copies plus two artist's proofs. The number 1/6 is estimated £ 3M for sale by Phillips in London on June 29, lot 23.
2010 Ai Weiwei Rebuilds the Zodiac
2015 SOLD for £ 2.9M including premium
During a long stay in the United States, Ai Weiwei had met Allen Ginsberg and viewed the ready mades by Duchamp. He became a socially rebellious artist, often subject to reprisals by the Chinese government.
This dual Chinese and Western influences has made him sensitive to the scandal of the looting of the zodiac statues at the Imperial Palace in 1860. These elements of the fountain created for Qianlong from a design by Castiglione were a very rare example of art combining both cultures.
The controversy broke out in 2009 when Christie's offered at auction two animal heads from the fountain, rat and rabbit, then part of the Saint-Laurent-Bergé collection. The top biddings were made by a Chinese client who immediately refused to pay for these lots that the Chinese considered as an emblem. Pierre Bergé refused to negotiate and advanced arguments in favor of the respect for human rights in China.
In 2010, Ai Weiwei reinterprets the twelve animal heads, including the five that have not resurfaced, in two versions of different sizes. The figures mounted on a pedestal have become pleasant and smiling.
The installation of twelve gilded bronzes of the smaller version was published in 8 copies plus 4 artist's proofs. The group number 7 is estimated £ 2M for sale by Phillips in London on February 12, lot 8.
The rat and rabbit from Qianlong's fountain were eventually presented to China in 2013.
This dual Chinese and Western influences has made him sensitive to the scandal of the looting of the zodiac statues at the Imperial Palace in 1860. These elements of the fountain created for Qianlong from a design by Castiglione were a very rare example of art combining both cultures.
The controversy broke out in 2009 when Christie's offered at auction two animal heads from the fountain, rat and rabbit, then part of the Saint-Laurent-Bergé collection. The top biddings were made by a Chinese client who immediately refused to pay for these lots that the Chinese considered as an emblem. Pierre Bergé refused to negotiate and advanced arguments in favor of the respect for human rights in China.
In 2010, Ai Weiwei reinterprets the twelve animal heads, including the five that have not resurfaced, in two versions of different sizes. The figures mounted on a pedestal have become pleasant and smiling.
The installation of twelve gilded bronzes of the smaller version was published in 8 copies plus 4 artist's proofs. The group number 7 is estimated £ 2M for sale by Phillips in London on February 12, lot 8.
The rat and rabbit from Qianlong's fountain were eventually presented to China in 2013.
2011 S III Released to France Face 43.14 by Grotjahn
2017 SOLD for $ 16.8M including premium by Christie's
Inspired by Picasso's art, Mark Grotjahn begins with abstract paintings designed around two vanishing points spread over a central vertical. The radiating lines define triangles that are filled in several monochrome shades of a basic color. This is his series of Butterflies, offering the illusion of these insects with open wings.
He changes his theme in 2007. Vanishing points are now multiple, spread on the canvas to simulate a mouth, a nose and several eyes in a changing quantity. The radiant graphics are now flexible lines that get entangled in a thick impasto of many colors. The figurative elements disappear, as Pollock's preliminary drawings were doing under his dripping.
The colors are carefully chosen so that none of them is dominant. As for Rothko or Gaitonde, the artworks are glossy and their photographic reproductions are dull. Through the folds of the impasto, the viewer looks for the face as he searches for the hidden message with Mark Bradford or the truculent detail with Cecily Brown.
Painted in 2011, Untitled (S III Release to France Face 43.14), oil on cardboard mounted on canvas 257 x 187 cm, was sold for $ 16.8M including premium by Christie's on May 17, 2017, lot 36 B.
An Untitled (Yellow and Green Low Fall Face 41.80), 224 x 124 cm painted in the same year with the same technique, passed at Christie's on October 4, 2018.
He changes his theme in 2007. Vanishing points are now multiple, spread on the canvas to simulate a mouth, a nose and several eyes in a changing quantity. The radiant graphics are now flexible lines that get entangled in a thick impasto of many colors. The figurative elements disappear, as Pollock's preliminary drawings were doing under his dripping.
The colors are carefully chosen so that none of them is dominant. As for Rothko or Gaitonde, the artworks are glossy and their photographic reproductions are dull. Through the folds of the impasto, the viewer looks for the face as he searches for the hidden message with Mark Bradford or the truculent detail with Cecily Brown.
Painted in 2011, Untitled (S III Release to France Face 43.14), oil on cardboard mounted on canvas 257 x 187 cm, was sold for $ 16.8M including premium by Christie's on May 17, 2017, lot 36 B.
An Untitled (Yellow and Green Low Fall Face 41.80), 224 x 124 cm painted in the same year with the same technique, passed at Christie's on October 4, 2018.
2011 Prophetic Narration by Cecily Brown
2019 SOLD for $ 3.74M including premium
A painting makes a relationship between the artist and the voyeur. The artist is a storyteller, a stage designer. The viewer only expects to be captivated or titillated. From 1997 Cecily Brown creates a style imbued with mystery at the extreme border between abstraction and narrative. Like De Kooning before her, she animates her abstractions with blurry humanoid forms in flesh color.
Brown had her first successes by introducing group exhibitionism into her abstractions. In the mid-2000s decade, she changed her inspiration without changing her technique. Quotes from poetry replace the film titles and the references from the music hall. Like most contemporary artists, she works in very large formats.
Looking for the sources of communication, Brown does not like the isolation of the individual in the modern world. She finds the sensual passions in the paintings of Bosch or Bruegel or the Raft of the Medusa and manages to imitate the powerful palette of Rubens or Delacroix. She remains intimidated by the perfection of Titian.
The Sick Leaves, a triptych in oil on linen 260 x 630 cm overall dated 2009-2011, was sold for £ 1.8M including premium by Christie's on March 7, 2017.
On September 26 in New York, Sotheby's sells a triptych in oil on canvas 210 x 375 cm overall painted in 2011, lot 210 estimated $ 2M. The break of continuity between the three elements may be a reference to the triptychs of the Christian Renaissance. The title is the promise of divine bliss in the Book of Isaiah : Have you not known, have you not heard.
Brown had her first successes by introducing group exhibitionism into her abstractions. In the mid-2000s decade, she changed her inspiration without changing her technique. Quotes from poetry replace the film titles and the references from the music hall. Like most contemporary artists, she works in very large formats.
Looking for the sources of communication, Brown does not like the isolation of the individual in the modern world. She finds the sensual passions in the paintings of Bosch or Bruegel or the Raft of the Medusa and manages to imitate the powerful palette of Rubens or Delacroix. She remains intimidated by the perfection of Titian.
The Sick Leaves, a triptych in oil on linen 260 x 630 cm overall dated 2009-2011, was sold for £ 1.8M including premium by Christie's on March 7, 2017.
On September 26 in New York, Sotheby's sells a triptych in oil on canvas 210 x 375 cm overall painted in 2011, lot 210 estimated $ 2M. The break of continuity between the three elements may be a reference to the triptychs of the Christian Renaissance. The title is the promise of divine bliss in the Book of Isaiah : Have you not known, have you not heard.
2011 The Fingers of Cui Ruzhuo
2012 SOLD 23 MHK$ including premium
Christie's has the good practice to promote Chinese art when paint is barely dry. One year ago, the tribute of the auction house to Zeng Fanzhi got a resounding success.
On May 29 in Hong Kong, Christie's devotes a separate catalog to 28 recent landscapes and lotuses by Cui Ruzhuo. The artist offers a very pleasant atmosphere created by a wash painted directly with his fingers.
The top lot of this set is a landscape on a scroll of 144 x 370 cm entitled Beautiful Spring, painted in the winter of 2011, estimated HK $ 15M. Here is the link to the catalog.
Cui's rising to the heights of the art market is very recent. On November 29, 2011, Christie's sold HK $ 124M including premium a group of eight paintings of lotus with contorted shapes, 247 x 123 cm for each scroll, made in early summer of that year.
Some lotuses are also present in the next sale. The most outstanding is estimated HK $ 10M. This scroll 147 x 368 cm was painted in autumn 2011. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Here are the prices of these two very recent artworks: HK $ 23M including premium for Beautiful spring and 15.2M including premium for Lotus.
On May 29 in Hong Kong, Christie's devotes a separate catalog to 28 recent landscapes and lotuses by Cui Ruzhuo. The artist offers a very pleasant atmosphere created by a wash painted directly with his fingers.
The top lot of this set is a landscape on a scroll of 144 x 370 cm entitled Beautiful Spring, painted in the winter of 2011, estimated HK $ 15M. Here is the link to the catalog.
Cui's rising to the heights of the art market is very recent. On November 29, 2011, Christie's sold HK $ 124M including premium a group of eight paintings of lotus with contorted shapes, 247 x 123 cm for each scroll, made in early summer of that year.
Some lotuses are also present in the next sale. The most outstanding is estimated HK $ 10M. This scroll 147 x 368 cm was painted in autumn 2011. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Here are the prices of these two very recent artworks: HK $ 23M including premium for Beautiful spring and 15.2M including premium for Lotus.
2012 Reflective Graffiti with Stingel
2019 SOLD for $ 6.9M including premium
The 2017 spring sales of contemporary art in New York included two examples from the 2012 wall graffiti series by Rudolf Stingel.
The 240 x 240 cm four element wall was sold for $ 6.7M including premium by Christie's on May 17, 2017, lot 45 B. A similar opus had been sold for $ 4.8M including premium by Phillips on May 14, 2015. Another one will be later sold by Phillips, for £ 5.7M including premium on March 8, 2018.
The 240 x 360 cm six element wall is an exceptional configuration in that series. It was sold for $ 6.9M including premium by Sotheby's on May 18, 2017, lot 5. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before that sale. It is now estimated $ 6M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 14, lot 32.
I narrated the place of this 2012 series in art history as follows before the 2017 sales.
With Felix Gonzalez-Torres and later with Rudolf Stingel the viewer participates in the creation. We remember a Gonzalez-Torres carpet of candies from which a young child innocent of art took some samples.
In an early series Stingel displays on the floor the carpets in which the visitors of his exhibitions leave the mark of their footsteps. The effect is improved when the boots are previously dipped in lacquer.
In two exhibitions in Chicago and New York in 2007 he covers the walls with Celotex insulation panels and invites the amused crowd to scribble on this malleable surface.
In 2012 with the support of Gagosian he reuses the 2007 panels as screens for printing highly reflective gilded copper walls in assemblies of individual elements 120 x 120 cm and 4 cm thick.
The 240 x 240 cm four element wall was sold for $ 6.7M including premium by Christie's on May 17, 2017, lot 45 B. A similar opus had been sold for $ 4.8M including premium by Phillips on May 14, 2015. Another one will be later sold by Phillips, for £ 5.7M including premium on March 8, 2018.
The 240 x 360 cm six element wall is an exceptional configuration in that series. It was sold for $ 6.9M including premium by Sotheby's on May 18, 2017, lot 5. Please watch the video shared by the auction house before that sale. It is now estimated $ 6M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 14, lot 32.
I narrated the place of this 2012 series in art history as follows before the 2017 sales.
With Felix Gonzalez-Torres and later with Rudolf Stingel the viewer participates in the creation. We remember a Gonzalez-Torres carpet of candies from which a young child innocent of art took some samples.
In an early series Stingel displays on the floor the carpets in which the visitors of his exhibitions leave the mark of their footsteps. The effect is improved when the boots are previously dipped in lacquer.
In two exhibitions in Chicago and New York in 2007 he covers the walls with Celotex insulation panels and invites the amused crowd to scribble on this malleable surface.
In 2012 with the support of Gagosian he reuses the 2007 panels as screens for printing highly reflective gilded copper walls in assemblies of individual elements 120 x 120 cm and 4 cm thick.
2012 Gilt Graffiti by Rudolf Stingel
2015 SOLD for $ 4.8M including premium
Rudolf Stingel was not satisfied with his monochromatic art. His exhibitions reserve rooms inviting visitors to carve their emotions into soft aluminum walls. The artist then chooses some inscribed areas which he molds to carry out his final work, pushing away the conventional boundaries between art and its spectator.
Stingel is also a theorist who cares to reveal his intentions to better demystify the role of the artist in the creation of art. Recovering a message without consistency from the crowd, he goes beyond the proto-writing of Twombly.
In 2012, his works have been finished in gold through a nickel layer on an electrolytic copper substrate. Gold exacerbates the trivial message of the anonymous crowd in this collective creation where the artist is now a foreman responsible for the choice of the final assembly. The slightly undulating surface brings contrasts of light.
An example 118 x 120 cm was sold for £ 840K including premium by Phillips on July 2, 2014.
The artwork for sale by the same auction house on May 14 in New York is more ambitious. It consists of a square of four panels 120 x 120 x 3.8 cm each of them entirely covered with many graffiti. It is estimated $ 4M, lot 10.
Stingel is also a theorist who cares to reveal his intentions to better demystify the role of the artist in the creation of art. Recovering a message without consistency from the crowd, he goes beyond the proto-writing of Twombly.
In 2012, his works have been finished in gold through a nickel layer on an electrolytic copper substrate. Gold exacerbates the trivial message of the anonymous crowd in this collective creation where the artist is now a foreman responsible for the choice of the final assembly. The slightly undulating surface brings contrasts of light.
An example 118 x 120 cm was sold for £ 840K including premium by Phillips on July 2, 2014.
The artwork for sale by the same auction house on May 14 in New York is more ambitious. It consists of a square of four panels 120 x 120 x 3.8 cm each of them entirely covered with many graffiti. It is estimated $ 4M, lot 10.
2012 The Lies of the Maps
2016 SOLD for $ 3.5M including premium
Mark Bradford had his first job in the hair salon of his mother in Leimert Park, a residential area of Los Angeles which is also a focal point of the local African-American culture.
Becoming an artist, the young man wants to express his vision of the social lie. He finds the material of his art in the wasted prospectus with brilliant colors that he finds in the store. He sticks them in subsequent layers on canvases of large size, before making cutaways and shears in which the unveiling of the lower strata gives an idea of the decay.
Mark Bradford is fascinated by the maps but he knows that they are lying, to transmit the ideas and social priorities of the cartographer. He realizes tight patterns that look like city maps but are not identifiable to any neighborhood. Less dense areas give the illusion of the boundaries of the urban area.
The art of Bradford is assimilated in a movement named Post-Black, meaning that in the opposite of Basquiat the claim is more social than racial, and also more intellectual than violent. He is close to the statement of David Hammons regretting that blacks must adapt to an industrial civilization that was created against their will.
These two artists generate a growing interest in the art market. Let us remain here below with Bradford : Constitution IV, 335 x 305 cm, made in 2013, was sold for £ 3.8M including premium by Phillips on 14 October 2015. Smear, 244 x 183 cm, made in 2015, was sold for $ 4 4M including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015.
Building the Big White Whale, 265 x 366 cm, made in 2012, is estimated $ 3M to be sold by Phillips in New York on May 8,lot 7. Made in the following year in a very similar theme and size, Biting the book, previously discussed in this column, was sold for £ 2.55M including premium by Phillips on 12 February 2015.
I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house.
Becoming an artist, the young man wants to express his vision of the social lie. He finds the material of his art in the wasted prospectus with brilliant colors that he finds in the store. He sticks them in subsequent layers on canvases of large size, before making cutaways and shears in which the unveiling of the lower strata gives an idea of the decay.
Mark Bradford is fascinated by the maps but he knows that they are lying, to transmit the ideas and social priorities of the cartographer. He realizes tight patterns that look like city maps but are not identifiable to any neighborhood. Less dense areas give the illusion of the boundaries of the urban area.
The art of Bradford is assimilated in a movement named Post-Black, meaning that in the opposite of Basquiat the claim is more social than racial, and also more intellectual than violent. He is close to the statement of David Hammons regretting that blacks must adapt to an industrial civilization that was created against their will.
These two artists generate a growing interest in the art market. Let us remain here below with Bradford : Constitution IV, 335 x 305 cm, made in 2013, was sold for £ 3.8M including premium by Phillips on 14 October 2015. Smear, 244 x 183 cm, made in 2015, was sold for $ 4 4M including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015.
Building the Big White Whale, 265 x 366 cm, made in 2012, is estimated $ 3M to be sold by Phillips in New York on May 8,lot 7. Made in the following year in a very similar theme and size, Biting the book, previously discussed in this column, was sold for £ 2.55M including premium by Phillips on 12 February 2015.
I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house.
2012 Banksy against Child Slavery
2018 sold for $ 730k including premium
Banksy castigates abuses and complacency of society. His anonymity makes him appear even more as a rebel. Like newspaper cartoonists, he offers juxtapositions of themes that meet current news.
In 2012 Great Britain waits for two social events of the highest magnitude, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympic Games. Among the poor of the planet, the difficulties persist. The use of sweatshops to create souvenirs is suspected. The Sunday Times denounces the working conditions of a seven-year-old child in India. His workshop is indirectly part of the suppliers of the Poundland chain, the largest discounter in UK.
An artwork by Banksy appears on the outside wall of a London Poundland store. A young boy is kneeling in front of a sewing machine with which he produces a string of small Union Jacks. This confrontation of British pride with Third World is titled Slave Labour (Bunting Boy).
The black and white aerosol on concrete 132 x 145 cm was framed and transformed into an installation by the linking of tiny plastic Union Jacks just released from the sewing machine.
This piece of Street art is estimated $ 600K for sale by Julien's in Los Angeles (Beverly Hills) on November 14, lot 170.
In 2012 Great Britain waits for two social events of the highest magnitude, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympic Games. Among the poor of the planet, the difficulties persist. The use of sweatshops to create souvenirs is suspected. The Sunday Times denounces the working conditions of a seven-year-old child in India. His workshop is indirectly part of the suppliers of the Poundland chain, the largest discounter in UK.
An artwork by Banksy appears on the outside wall of a London Poundland store. A young boy is kneeling in front of a sewing machine with which he produces a string of small Union Jacks. This confrontation of British pride with Third World is titled Slave Labour (Bunting Boy).
The black and white aerosol on concrete 132 x 145 cm was framed and transformed into an installation by the linking of tiny plastic Union Jacks just released from the sewing machine.
This piece of Street art is estimated $ 600K for sale by Julien's in Los Angeles (Beverly Hills) on November 14, lot 170.
2013 The Art of the Five Vidyas
2015 SOLD for $ 10.2M before fees
The Vidyas are the concepts that oppose ignorance to explain the universe. The five major Vidyas are logic, healing, communication, art and enlightenment. Wan Ko Yee is a master of the Vidyas. Doctor in Buddhism, philosophy, art, calligraphy and painting in 1999, he is also a fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts. He lives in California.
This highly respected personality is recognized since 2008 as an incarnation of the most important Buddha and is now named His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III. In 2011 he received the World Peace Prize, an interfaith prize that is often awarded to heads of state. A museum is dedicated to his art and to his cultural work in Covina CA.
His graphic art is varied and fits into the modern world while respecting traditional techniques. His favorite themes are plants, animals and landscapes. His use of inks in vibrant colors is in the following of the Chinese art of the twentieth century by Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian and Wu Guanzhong, for example.
The figuration of simple themes is an opening to the complexity and subtlety of nature. Lotus Ink expresses how beauty can come out of chaos. This artwork was sold for $ 16.5 million before fees by Gianguan Auctions in March 2015.
On September 12 in New York, Gianguan Auctions sells Loquat, ink and color 80 x 70 cm on paper hanging scroll painted in 2013, lot 79 here linked on the Invaluable bidding platform, estimated $ 9M.
The image shows the fruits, leaves and branches of a loquat. The intention of the artist is to demonstrate that perfection can be reached in a light and airy composition. It is confirmed by a calligraphic text that subtly takes the shape of an additional branch of the plant.
His Holiness is a skilled artist whose hand does not shake. Loquat was realized without a preliminary drawing and without rework, with a nice contrast of ink density in twigs and leaves.
This highly respected personality is recognized since 2008 as an incarnation of the most important Buddha and is now named His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III. In 2011 he received the World Peace Prize, an interfaith prize that is often awarded to heads of state. A museum is dedicated to his art and to his cultural work in Covina CA.
His graphic art is varied and fits into the modern world while respecting traditional techniques. His favorite themes are plants, animals and landscapes. His use of inks in vibrant colors is in the following of the Chinese art of the twentieth century by Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian and Wu Guanzhong, for example.
The figuration of simple themes is an opening to the complexity and subtlety of nature. Lotus Ink expresses how beauty can come out of chaos. This artwork was sold for $ 16.5 million before fees by Gianguan Auctions in March 2015.
On September 12 in New York, Gianguan Auctions sells Loquat, ink and color 80 x 70 cm on paper hanging scroll painted in 2013, lot 79 here linked on the Invaluable bidding platform, estimated $ 9M.
The image shows the fruits, leaves and branches of a loquat. The intention of the artist is to demonstrate that perfection can be reached in a light and airy composition. It is confirmed by a calligraphic text that subtly takes the shape of an additional branch of the plant.
His Holiness is a skilled artist whose hand does not shake. Loquat was realized without a preliminary drawing and without rework, with a nice contrast of ink density in twigs and leaves.
2013 Motherhood
2019 SOLD for £ 4.2M including premium
The observation of the flesh is the only purpose of Jenny Saville's paintings. Her early works are a disapproval of the artificial representation that women build from their own bodies. She turns to a horror vision the voluntary but nevertheless mutilating transformations of plastic surgery.
The relationships between several bodies interest her also. Her masterpiece of this second phase, Shift, is also a reference to the Demoiselles d'Avignon. This oil on canvas 330 x 330 cm completed in 1997 was sold for £ 6.8M including premium by Sotheby's on June 28, 2016.
In her observation of the bodies, Jenny Saville comes to reduce the difference between man and woman, between normal and pathological, between natural and artificial, between immobility and movement. She admits trans-gender as a third state whose population is increasing in the contemporary world.
The human being does not exist without body but the individuality is questioned by an intimate relation indispensable to the continuation of mankind : the pregnancy. Jenny Saville is emotionally shocked by her two maternities, in 2007 and 2008 : she had created flesh inside her own body.
From this stage her art changes. The head, often a self-portrait, was pushed away to the background in her previous works. It becomes the major theme. The eyes and the mouth are the main support of the communication of a human being with the world. The rest of the face is only a kind of frame for which any color may be used in a heavy impasto as Francis Bacon often did.
Appreciating this trend, Gagosian organized an exhibition in London in April 2019 on the influence of a Rembrandt self-portrait on contemporary artistic creation. The self portrait (after Rembrandt) painted in 2019 by Jenny Saville masterfully explains the evolution of her vision.
On June 26 in London, Sotheby's sells Shadow Head, lot 8 estimated £ 3M. This oil on canvas 270 x 220 cm is monumental when considering that the image is limited to a face. Completed in 2013, this work was dated 2007-2013 by the artist to make it clear that it must be attached to her phase of maternal sensitivity.
The relationships between several bodies interest her also. Her masterpiece of this second phase, Shift, is also a reference to the Demoiselles d'Avignon. This oil on canvas 330 x 330 cm completed in 1997 was sold for £ 6.8M including premium by Sotheby's on June 28, 2016.
In her observation of the bodies, Jenny Saville comes to reduce the difference between man and woman, between normal and pathological, between natural and artificial, between immobility and movement. She admits trans-gender as a third state whose population is increasing in the contemporary world.
The human being does not exist without body but the individuality is questioned by an intimate relation indispensable to the continuation of mankind : the pregnancy. Jenny Saville is emotionally shocked by her two maternities, in 2007 and 2008 : she had created flesh inside her own body.
From this stage her art changes. The head, often a self-portrait, was pushed away to the background in her previous works. It becomes the major theme. The eyes and the mouth are the main support of the communication of a human being with the world. The rest of the face is only a kind of frame for which any color may be used in a heavy impasto as Francis Bacon often did.
Appreciating this trend, Gagosian organized an exhibition in London in April 2019 on the influence of a Rembrandt self-portrait on contemporary artistic creation. The self portrait (after Rembrandt) painted in 2019 by Jenny Saville masterfully explains the evolution of her vision.
On June 26 in London, Sotheby's sells Shadow Head, lot 8 estimated £ 3M. This oil on canvas 270 x 220 cm is monumental when considering that the image is limited to a face. Completed in 2013, this work was dated 2007-2013 by the artist to make it clear that it must be attached to her phase of maternal sensitivity.
2013 The Inner Layers of Social Abstraction
2015 SOLD for £ 2.55M including premium
Mark Bradford is not an artist of the past. Rejecting the principle of the closed studio, he sees around him the flashy and colorful details of a world where advertising is seeking by all means to get our attention.
Bradford does not paint. He prepares his work by drawing lines that will shape the image while mapping the social world. He sticks, scratches off and erases the mixed materials that he had collected and chopped, paper and plastics, until the color balance becomes beautiful. His art is a blast, as were once the paintings of Joan Mitchell.
He gives to his style the name of social abstraction, which allows him to claim an influence from Asger Jorn while rejecting the abstract expressionism that had been developed by white Americans.
The art of Bradford is popular. In 2013, Biting the Book, 260 x 367 cm, was made to order for an exhibition on the US highway system. The erosion of urban poor districts by the roads is demonstrated through a visibility into the inner layers prepared by the artist.
Biting the Book is estimated £ 1M for sale by Phillips in London on February 12, lot 11.
Bradford does not paint. He prepares his work by drawing lines that will shape the image while mapping the social world. He sticks, scratches off and erases the mixed materials that he had collected and chopped, paper and plastics, until the color balance becomes beautiful. His art is a blast, as were once the paintings of Joan Mitchell.
He gives to his style the name of social abstraction, which allows him to claim an influence from Asger Jorn while rejecting the abstract expressionism that had been developed by white Americans.
The art of Bradford is popular. In 2013, Biting the Book, 260 x 367 cm, was made to order for an exhibition on the US highway system. The erosion of urban poor districts by the roads is demonstrated through a visibility into the inner layers prepared by the artist.
Biting the Book is estimated £ 1M for sale by Phillips in London on February 12, lot 11.
2014 Apocalypse Yesterday
2020 SOLD for £ 4.2M including premium
Adrian Ghenie is a humanist of our time. His art refers to disturbing characters, for good or for evil, of our civilization : Darwin, Van Gogh, Duchamp, Rothko, monkeys, dictators, Elvis. He considers the 20th century as a period of humiliation which continues today. He devotes his art to questioning how we got there, including self-portraits located in periods when he did not live.
Josef Mengele, the SS doctor of Auschwitz, occupies a special place in Ghenie's art. He is the real character of absolute horror, like the bushranger Ned Kelly painted by Sidney Nolan.
Dr. Mengele was not disturbed by the Nuremberg tribunal because the Allies believed that he was dead. He lived in South America, even managing to obtain a German passport with his real identity in 1956. Died in Brazil in 1979, he had never expressed remorse and had not been caught.
On February 11 in London, Sotheby's sells The Arrival, oil on canvas 210 x 165 cm painted by Ghenie in 2014, lot 5 estimated £ 2.5M. A deleterious atmosphere is brought by a fragmentation of surfaces in the style of Boccioni.
In a jungle, a man arrives with a vibrant yellow suitcase. The face is blurred, as for the most sinister characters in Ghenie's paintings on the theme of the nomenklatura. The mustache is the same as on the 1956 passport. The character is Mengele and the jungle symbolizes South America.
The figure has lost its mystery to generate repulsion : his arrival is an announcement of terrible projects. The suitcase is an allusion to Mengele's escape when the Allies liberated Auschwitz. He had taken two cases of samples and documents from his experiments which, according to him, demonstrated the superiority of the Aryan race. It is difficult to be more abject.
Josef Mengele, the SS doctor of Auschwitz, occupies a special place in Ghenie's art. He is the real character of absolute horror, like the bushranger Ned Kelly painted by Sidney Nolan.
Dr. Mengele was not disturbed by the Nuremberg tribunal because the Allies believed that he was dead. He lived in South America, even managing to obtain a German passport with his real identity in 1956. Died in Brazil in 1979, he had never expressed remorse and had not been caught.
On February 11 in London, Sotheby's sells The Arrival, oil on canvas 210 x 165 cm painted by Ghenie in 2014, lot 5 estimated £ 2.5M. A deleterious atmosphere is brought by a fragmentation of surfaces in the style of Boccioni.
In a jungle, a man arrives with a vibrant yellow suitcase. The face is blurred, as for the most sinister characters in Ghenie's paintings on the theme of the nomenklatura. The mustache is the same as on the 1956 passport. The character is Mengele and the jungle symbolizes South America.
The figure has lost its mystery to generate repulsion : his arrival is an announcement of terrible projects. The suitcase is an allusion to Mengele's escape when the Allies liberated Auschwitz. He had taken two cases of samples and documents from his experiments which, according to him, demonstrated the superiority of the Aryan race. It is difficult to be more abject.
2014 The Original Recipe of Wayne Thiebaud
2021 SOLD for $ 2.44M including premium
Wayne Thiebaud's painting is made up of colors and geometries, like for any other artist. He seeks an original style excluding altogether nature and abstraction. The drawing is simple, without an excessive attention to perspective. He avoids all inscriptions which could equate his art with advertising : he is not really one of the founders of pop art.
His seminal work, in 1961, displays four rows of cakes on an endless counter. It is titled Pies Pies Pies. During the first six decades of his career, he tries many other themes for which a wide variety of colors is making sense : food, lollipop, ice cone, meringue, tie.
He tirelessly returns to pastry, where shape, color and texture directly evoke taste and indirectly pleasure. Under the influence of Magritte, he remains lucid : the painting of a pi(p)e is not a pi(p)e.
On March 12 in New York, Sotheby's sells Dark Heart Cake, oil on board 61 x 61 cm painted in 2014, lot 6 estimated $ 1.8M. The subject is a unique heart-shaped piece of pastry. The glossy paste evokes a jelly. It is adorned with a creamy ripple. The upper side of the heart is a cream with a foliated texture surrounded by a colored double border. The shadow of the cake on the dark background brings a three-dimensional effect.
Wayne Thiebaud celebrated his 100th birthday in November 2020, with new projects and a desire to learn more. We look forward to his next delicacies.
His seminal work, in 1961, displays four rows of cakes on an endless counter. It is titled Pies Pies Pies. During the first six decades of his career, he tries many other themes for which a wide variety of colors is making sense : food, lollipop, ice cone, meringue, tie.
He tirelessly returns to pastry, where shape, color and texture directly evoke taste and indirectly pleasure. Under the influence of Magritte, he remains lucid : the painting of a pi(p)e is not a pi(p)e.
On March 12 in New York, Sotheby's sells Dark Heart Cake, oil on board 61 x 61 cm painted in 2014, lot 6 estimated $ 1.8M. The subject is a unique heart-shaped piece of pastry. The glossy paste evokes a jelly. It is adorned with a creamy ripple. The upper side of the heart is a cream with a foliated texture surrounded by a colored double border. The shadow of the cake on the dark background brings a three-dimensional effect.
Wayne Thiebaud celebrated his 100th birthday in November 2020, with new projects and a desire to learn more. We look forward to his next delicacies.
2015 Abstraktes Bild 940-7 by Gerhard Richter
2021 SOLD for HK$ 95M by Phillips in association with Poly
The very long way of Gerhard Richter is a gradual exploration of the limits between figurative and abstract. For more than two decades his abstract pictures have lost any nature-related form but the confrontation of the colors brings that reminiscence of nature which is eagerly sought by viewers. His abstract art is not hermetic.
Indeed his maturity in still increasing. He painted the Abstraktes Bild 940-7 at 83 in 2015. The cascade of colors is determined as previously by the movements of the squeegee but a full range of colors mingles snow, waterfall and fire, endeavoring to reach the limits of human perception and interpretation.
This oil on canvas 140 x 160 cm was sold for HK $ 95M by Phillips in association with Poly on June 8, 2021, lot 13. Please watch the video shared by Phillips.
The 940-2, 117 x 96 cm, was sold for $ 5.1M by Phillips on June 23, 2021, lot 26.
Indeed his maturity in still increasing. He painted the Abstraktes Bild 940-7 at 83 in 2015. The cascade of colors is determined as previously by the movements of the squeegee but a full range of colors mingles snow, waterfall and fire, endeavoring to reach the limits of human perception and interpretation.
This oil on canvas 140 x 160 cm was sold for HK $ 95M by Phillips in association with Poly on June 8, 2021, lot 13. Please watch the video shared by Phillips.
The 940-2, 117 x 96 cm, was sold for $ 5.1M by Phillips on June 23, 2021, lot 26.
2015 Blurred Faces and Long Coats
2016 SOLD for $ 3.95M including premium
Adrian Ghenie lived his childhood during the dictatorship of Ceausescu. He understands and expresses the fragility of modern life where political horror remains possible.
The men in his paintings, with their old-fashioned hats and long coats, destroyed their own lives by destroying the others. The artist replaces the face by a swollen flesh without a detail. In the difficulty of defining an acceptable life, he did the same in his self-portraits.
Nickelodeon shows a group from the Nomenklatura in an atmosphere of anxiety. This painting 238 x 414 cm executed in 2008 was sold for £ 7.1 million including premium by Christie's on October 6, 2016.
The artist continues with the same style. On November 15 in New York, Christie's sells The Bridge, oil on canvas 230 x 200 cm painted in 2015, lot 19 A estimated $ 1.5M.
The old bridge over the river in an unidentified city is focused. The rest of the image including the traffic on the bridge is clouded by undulating lines. The silhouette of a lone man emerges : he is standing and watches the water. Why would he have stopped his activity except to think about his suicide ? He has no identity and his life had been useless.
The men in his paintings, with their old-fashioned hats and long coats, destroyed their own lives by destroying the others. The artist replaces the face by a swollen flesh without a detail. In the difficulty of defining an acceptable life, he did the same in his self-portraits.
Nickelodeon shows a group from the Nomenklatura in an atmosphere of anxiety. This painting 238 x 414 cm executed in 2008 was sold for £ 7.1 million including premium by Christie's on October 6, 2016.
The artist continues with the same style. On November 15 in New York, Christie's sells The Bridge, oil on canvas 230 x 200 cm painted in 2015, lot 19 A estimated $ 1.5M.
The old bridge over the river in an unidentified city is focused. The rest of the image including the traffic on the bridge is clouded by undulating lines. The silhouette of a lone man emerges : he is standing and watches the water. Why would he have stopped his activity except to think about his suicide ? He has no identity and his life had been useless.
2017 Tall Dutch Trees after Hobbema by Hockney
2021 SOLD for £ 6.8M by Sotheby's
Tall Dutch Trees after Hobbema (Useful Knowledge) is an oil painting made by Hockney in 2017 as an assembly of six canvases of irregular shapes for an overall dimension of 165 x 370 cm. The road has been removed by clipping, accentuating the impression of symmetry around the double perspective. This work was sold for £ 6.8M by Sotheby's on March 25, 2021, lot 117.
The old artist loves experimentation, which he identifies with the subtitle Useful Knowledge. Perspective can be overcome if its distortion is not exaggerated. He rediscovers at the National Gallery an avenue of trees painted by Hobbema in 1689, constructed on two vanishing points, the road and the treetops, to draw the gaze to the sky and enlarge the space. Van Gogh had commented on this effect on that specific painting.
The old artist loves experimentation, which he identifies with the subtitle Useful Knowledge. Perspective can be overcome if its distortion is not exaggerated. He rediscovers at the National Gallery an avenue of trees painted by Hobbema in 1689, constructed on two vanishing points, the road and the treetops, to draw the gaze to the sky and enlarge the space. Van Gogh had commented on this effect on that specific painting.
2021 Genesis Replicator by Mad Dog Jones
2021 SOLD for $ 4.15M by Phillips
The Genesis Replicator was sold for $ 4.15M by Phillips on April 23, 2021, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
According to its designer and author the Canadian artist Michah Dowbak, aka Mad Dog Jones, Replicator is the story of a machine through time. Up to a recent past it should have been considered as an experiment or as an experience. In the revolution in progress of the digital art, it is an artwork, of an unprecedented design.
It takes the form of an NFT supported Genesis file that generates NFT supported copies in a predefined and limited sequence. By random some copies are lethal, leaving an uncertainty on the total number of the output of this generator.
In his digital work, the artist explores effects of light within a natural or fantastic staging. The basic image of Replicator displays a photocopier in the middle of an office with a night scenery of the Los Angeles skyscrapers.
The features of Replicator are defined as follows on the dedicated website of the artist. It is indeed not so simple. I prefer copying it instead of trying to re-interprete.
According to its designer and author the Canadian artist Michah Dowbak, aka Mad Dog Jones, Replicator is the story of a machine through time. Up to a recent past it should have been considered as an experiment or as an experience. In the revolution in progress of the digital art, it is an artwork, of an unprecedented design.
It takes the form of an NFT supported Genesis file that generates NFT supported copies in a predefined and limited sequence. By random some copies are lethal, leaving an uncertainty on the total number of the output of this generator.
In his digital work, the artist explores effects of light within a natural or fantastic staging. The basic image of Replicator displays a photocopier in the middle of an office with a night scenery of the Los Angeles skyscrapers.
The features of Replicator are defined as follows on the dedicated website of the artist. It is indeed not so simple. I prefer copying it instead of trying to re-interprete.
- One Genesis REPLICATOR NFT is being minted and auctioned.
- There are up to 7 Generations of REPLICATOR NFT’s.
- Each REPLICATOR NFT can create a limited number of "prints", which are NFT’s themselves.
- The time between each print is 28 days.
- Each print will either be a next generation REPLICATOR NFT or a Jammed print NFT, based on contract probabilities.
- Each generation of NFT's will be unique, telling the story of the photocopier through time.
- If a print is a Jam, it can be one of multiple variants, but can no longer create more NFT's.
- Any print created by a REPLICATOR goes to the owner of that REPLICATOR.
- Each REPLICATOR NFT or Jammed print NFT can be resold at any time. If resold on OpenSea, 10% of the proceeds of the sale will go to Mad Dog Jones.
2021 Revolution
2021 SOLD for $ 1.355M
The NFT will soon be everywhere. This technology derived from the cryptocurrency blockchain unalterably encodes the authenticity of an object, whatever it is, real or digital. The global ethical debate of this decade will be its application to the identity of individuals.
In 2021 this virtual token is transforming the art world because it represents the first technology that prevents the falsification of a digital work. A co-operation is possible between designers and producers on the one hand, and auction houses on the other. The former benefit from the marketing experience of the latter for media stunts.
The digital artwork authenticated by NFT can take any form : static, dynamic, virtual reality, augmented reality, or simple video footage. The work itself can be unique or edited in thousands of copies, the NFT having in this case a role comparable to the serialization of a real item.
Creativity is unlimited, for art, its implementation and its offer on the market. Basically the NFT is not elitist. NBA-edited basketball videos supersede sports cards while bringing good visual quality to spectacular actions by top champions.
The operation conducted by the Nifty Gateway platform in association with Sotheby's has some unprecedented characteristics. It includes the purchase of an artwork in an unlimited edition, the allocation of limited editions for its top buyers and the auction of two unique items. This whole set has been developed by a unique designer identified as Pak.
The marketing is dynamic, with a very limited sales schedule. The operation had been announced for several days under the title The Fungible Collection but the items were not unveiled until April 12, for their fixed price sales and auction to close on April 14. Here is the link to the dedicated Sotheby's mini-site.
The basic piece, Cube, was sold in time windows of 15 minutes, for $ 500 on the first day, $ 1,000 on the second day and $ 1,500 on the third day. The total sold was 23151 Cubes.
The two unique works at auction are The Switch and The Pixel.
The Switch is dynamic. The virtual figure is an assembly of hollow cubes, on two crossed axes. The virtual revolution around the subject successively gives visibility from all angles.
The Pixel is static and conceptual. They had to dare, and Pak did it. This symbolic visualization of a single pixel brings somehow the contemporary technologies to the White square on white background of our great-grandparents.
The Pixel SOLD for $ 1.355M
The Switch had a HIGH BID of $ 1.444M
In 2021 this virtual token is transforming the art world because it represents the first technology that prevents the falsification of a digital work. A co-operation is possible between designers and producers on the one hand, and auction houses on the other. The former benefit from the marketing experience of the latter for media stunts.
The digital artwork authenticated by NFT can take any form : static, dynamic, virtual reality, augmented reality, or simple video footage. The work itself can be unique or edited in thousands of copies, the NFT having in this case a role comparable to the serialization of a real item.
Creativity is unlimited, for art, its implementation and its offer on the market. Basically the NFT is not elitist. NBA-edited basketball videos supersede sports cards while bringing good visual quality to spectacular actions by top champions.
The operation conducted by the Nifty Gateway platform in association with Sotheby's has some unprecedented characteristics. It includes the purchase of an artwork in an unlimited edition, the allocation of limited editions for its top buyers and the auction of two unique items. This whole set has been developed by a unique designer identified as Pak.
The marketing is dynamic, with a very limited sales schedule. The operation had been announced for several days under the title The Fungible Collection but the items were not unveiled until April 12, for their fixed price sales and auction to close on April 14. Here is the link to the dedicated Sotheby's mini-site.
The basic piece, Cube, was sold in time windows of 15 minutes, for $ 500 on the first day, $ 1,000 on the second day and $ 1,500 on the third day. The total sold was 23151 Cubes.
The two unique works at auction are The Switch and The Pixel.
The Switch is dynamic. The virtual figure is an assembly of hollow cubes, on two crossed axes. The virtual revolution around the subject successively gives visibility from all angles.
The Pixel is static and conceptual. They had to dare, and Pak did it. This symbolic visualization of a single pixel brings somehow the contemporary technologies to the White square on white background of our great-grandparents.
The Pixel SOLD for $ 1.355M
The Switch had a HIGH BID of $ 1.444M
