MODERN PRINTS
1894 The Monotype of the Idol
2015 SOLD for £ 266K including premium
The technique of monotype has not been widely used. Creating a single copy, it is paradoxical compared to the engraving whose purpose is to allow for a wide dissemination of images. William Blake created monotypes to anticipate the effect of his projects of prints. Edgar Degas, always keen to do the opposite of everyone else, wanted to use it for a work of art.
In 1894, Paul Gauguin has returned from his first trip to Tahiti, with a renewal of his mystical themes and of his dreamlike impulses. He is very interested in prints whose proper artistic possibilities have recently been demonstrated by Edvard Munch.
The line of Gauguin's drawing is sharp and his bold colors meet the partitioning. The Polynesian mystery deserves better. Gauguin is neither Manet or Monet and he is even less Van Gogh. Probably too impatient to put by the brush the delicate shades of colors, he seeks a solution through the monotype.
On September 16 in London, Christie's sells a monotype 27 x 24 cm made by Gauguin in 1894, lot 17 estimated £ 200K. Three other proofs are known from the same basic drawing but are the result of different monotypes, probably made with the same glass plate that had been successively cleaned.
A thoughtful young woman sitting beside a pool is ambushed by an idol behind the columns. The deliberately less readable background probably hides other ghosts. This work enters the Arearea no varua ino series (the spell of the devil), suggesting that this observer is a tempting spirit.
This monotype was prepared on a glass plate in watercolor or gouache interspersed with various pigments in a thick texture that left mixed traces on the paper of the final print. The handling pressure created the blurring effect sought by the artist for this supernatural scene.
This print was recently discovered. It is mounted in a frame made by Degas who was probably its first owner. Its disassembly was exciting. It is demonstrated in the video shared by Christie's.
In 1894, Paul Gauguin has returned from his first trip to Tahiti, with a renewal of his mystical themes and of his dreamlike impulses. He is very interested in prints whose proper artistic possibilities have recently been demonstrated by Edvard Munch.
The line of Gauguin's drawing is sharp and his bold colors meet the partitioning. The Polynesian mystery deserves better. Gauguin is neither Manet or Monet and he is even less Van Gogh. Probably too impatient to put by the brush the delicate shades of colors, he seeks a solution through the monotype.
On September 16 in London, Christie's sells a monotype 27 x 24 cm made by Gauguin in 1894, lot 17 estimated £ 200K. Three other proofs are known from the same basic drawing but are the result of different monotypes, probably made with the same glass plate that had been successively cleaned.
A thoughtful young woman sitting beside a pool is ambushed by an idol behind the columns. The deliberately less readable background probably hides other ghosts. This work enters the Arearea no varua ino series (the spell of the devil), suggesting that this observer is a tempting spirit.
This monotype was prepared on a glass plate in watercolor or gouache interspersed with various pigments in a thick texture that left mixed traces on the paper of the final print. The handling pressure created the blurring effect sought by the artist for this supernatural scene.
This print was recently discovered. It is mounted in a frame made by Degas who was probably its first owner. Its disassembly was exciting. It is demonstrated in the video shared by Christie's.
1895 The Ritual Passage of Fertility
2015 SOLD for $ 730K including premium
The two masterpieces in the imaging of Edvard Munch, The Scream and Madonna, were conceived in the same year, 1893. Anxiety and fertility express the great question of life and it is tempting to view them as a pair.
Madonna is a pretty woman whose model Dagny Juel was admired by the artist. She is nude and standing, displayed down to the hips. The head is tilted back and the closed eyes are waiting for pleasure. The red lips express pain according to the explanation provided by the artist and bring this ambiguous idol close to the Vampyr, another of the favorite themes of Munch at the same time. The sinister background marks the uncertainty of the future.
Munch designed for his first Madonna painting the red blood frame on which sperms are slipping and which is broken at the bottom left to display the fetus, a symbol of death since it is lethal outside a woman's body. This unique frame was not kept.
The painting is preceding the lithograph in black and white, which is the subject of various color trials by the artist for choosing the best balance for his future color lithographs.
The original edition of the Madonna lithograph was printed in 1895 in an image size 61 x 46 cm. The prints hand colored by the artist are probably all different. One of them was sold for £ 1.25M including premium by Bonhams on July 13, 2010. Another picture in more tragic colors is estimated $ 1M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 23, lot 96.
In 1902, the seventh and final state is edited in the same size with strident red and blue. A print is estimated $ 450K by Sotheby's as lot 97 in the same sale.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM :
1895 hand colored print : $ 730K
1902 color print : $ 590K
Madonna is a pretty woman whose model Dagny Juel was admired by the artist. She is nude and standing, displayed down to the hips. The head is tilted back and the closed eyes are waiting for pleasure. The red lips express pain according to the explanation provided by the artist and bring this ambiguous idol close to the Vampyr, another of the favorite themes of Munch at the same time. The sinister background marks the uncertainty of the future.
Munch designed for his first Madonna painting the red blood frame on which sperms are slipping and which is broken at the bottom left to display the fetus, a symbol of death since it is lethal outside a woman's body. This unique frame was not kept.
The painting is preceding the lithograph in black and white, which is the subject of various color trials by the artist for choosing the best balance for his future color lithographs.
The original edition of the Madonna lithograph was printed in 1895 in an image size 61 x 46 cm. The prints hand colored by the artist are probably all different. One of them was sold for £ 1.25M including premium by Bonhams on July 13, 2010. Another picture in more tragic colors is estimated $ 1M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 23, lot 96.
In 1902, the seventh and final state is edited in the same size with strident red and blue. A print is estimated $ 450K by Sotheby's as lot 97 in the same sale.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM :
1895 hand colored print : $ 730K
1902 color print : $ 590K
“A lot of what we’re drawn to are things that feel authentic to the artist" - @PublicSchoolNYC on #SothebysPrints pic.twitter.com/yrWyVWTxG5
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) November 13, 20151895 The Scream (Skrik)
2008 Unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The "Scream" (in Norwegian, "Skrik"), painted by Edvard Munch in 1893, is one of the most famous works of art history. The artist made four versions of this painting.
Edvard Munch is also one of the engravers who are the most sought after. His Madonnas, Angst (anxiety) and Vampyrs were already the subject of an article in French in this group in May. Some among the best prints are valued around $ 1 million.
So, the presentation by Sotheby's in New York on October 31 of the "Scream" by Munch in a lithographic issue of 1895 is an event. The press release tells us that, out of 25 known examples, only three (including the example to be sold) are still in private hands. The picture is very close to the painting, but without colors.
I have not found a reference at auction for other copies of this work. Although black and white, its characteristics as an icon of art history and as a rarity can really make it reach the estimated price announced by the auction house, $ 2 million.
The "Scream" (in Norwegian, "Skrik"), painted by Edvard Munch in 1893, is one of the most famous works of art history. The artist made four versions of this painting.
Edvard Munch is also one of the engravers who are the most sought after. His Madonnas, Angst (anxiety) and Vampyrs were already the subject of an article in French in this group in May. Some among the best prints are valued around $ 1 million.
So, the presentation by Sotheby's in New York on October 31 of the "Scream" by Munch in a lithographic issue of 1895 is an event. The press release tells us that, out of 25 known examples, only three (including the example to be sold) are still in private hands. The picture is very close to the painting, but without colors.
I have not found a reference at auction for other copies of this work. Although black and white, its characteristics as an icon of art history and as a rarity can really make it reach the estimated price announced by the auction house, $ 2 million.
1896 The Ghosts of the Fjord
2019 SOLD for $ 830K including premium
In 1894 in Berlin, Edvard Munch is tempted by the edition of his works. The most significant among these first trials takes up the theme of the two lonely characters, prepared with the dry point.
In the next year he is very prolific including among others the original lithographs of The Scream, Madonna and Vampyr. The Norwegian public does not follow. Happy that The Scream was published by La Revue Blanche, Munch comes to try his luck in Paris where he arrives in February 1896.
Now working with Clot, Munch is perfecting his approach to color lithography. Angst (anxiety) is inspired by an oil on canvas of the same title painted in 1894 on the theme of the funeral procession.
All of them looking in the direction of the observer while ignoring each other, these bereaved characters have small hallucinated eyes. They turn their backs from the fjord. The tormented sky which occupies all the upper half of the image makes this work a counterpart to The Scream. The artist is not mistaken : describing much later the preparatory phase of his Frieze of Life, he puts forward these two works along with Madonna and Vampyr.
After a first state, Vollard chooses Angst among the images to be published in his ambitious album of color lithographs titled Les Peintres-Graveurs. This second and final state of Angst is printed in 1896 by Clot in 100 copies 41 x 39 cm on wove paper 57 x 43 cm. This lithograph is in two tones, a dismal black for the whole figurative part and a scary blood red for the sinuous lines that fill the sky.
The two top auction results for this image were recorded by Sotheby's : $ 900K including premium on May 1, 2008 and $ 830K including premium on October 27, 2016. A copy with full margins is estimated $ 600K for sale by Christie's in New York on April 18, lot 151.
LATER COMMENT (ERRATUM)
The original edition of Angst is not a lithograph but a woodcut.
The second edition, which is the subject of the above discussion, is not a chromolithograph but a two-colored woodcut. This error is made in most of the literature that I have consulted. In the table of contents of Les Peintres-Graveurs, this image is identified by Vollard as MUNCH - Le Soir : bois en deux couleurs.
In the next year he is very prolific including among others the original lithographs of The Scream, Madonna and Vampyr. The Norwegian public does not follow. Happy that The Scream was published by La Revue Blanche, Munch comes to try his luck in Paris where he arrives in February 1896.
Now working with Clot, Munch is perfecting his approach to color lithography. Angst (anxiety) is inspired by an oil on canvas of the same title painted in 1894 on the theme of the funeral procession.
All of them looking in the direction of the observer while ignoring each other, these bereaved characters have small hallucinated eyes. They turn their backs from the fjord. The tormented sky which occupies all the upper half of the image makes this work a counterpart to The Scream. The artist is not mistaken : describing much later the preparatory phase of his Frieze of Life, he puts forward these two works along with Madonna and Vampyr.
After a first state, Vollard chooses Angst among the images to be published in his ambitious album of color lithographs titled Les Peintres-Graveurs. This second and final state of Angst is printed in 1896 by Clot in 100 copies 41 x 39 cm on wove paper 57 x 43 cm. This lithograph is in two tones, a dismal black for the whole figurative part and a scary blood red for the sinuous lines that fill the sky.
The two top auction results for this image were recorded by Sotheby's : $ 900K including premium on May 1, 2008 and $ 830K including premium on October 27, 2016. A copy with full margins is estimated $ 600K for sale by Christie's in New York on April 18, lot 151.
LATER COMMENT (ERRATUM)
The original edition of Angst is not a lithograph but a woodcut.
The second edition, which is the subject of the above discussion, is not a chromolithograph but a two-colored woodcut. This error is made in most of the literature that I have consulted. In the table of contents of Les Peintres-Graveurs, this image is identified by Vollard as MUNCH - Le Soir : bois en deux couleurs.
1896 Munch and Bonnard with Vollard
2019 SOLD for £ 540K including premium
Ambroise Vollard becomes an art dealer in Paris in 1890. He is passionate about the avant-gardes and builds his know-how with the purchase and sale of paintings and drawings, the second market of prints and the organization of exhibitions in his gallery.
In the 1890s the prints begin to be considered as a major art, inviting to a mural display. Vollard has no scruples. In 1896 he prepares an album and an exhibition under the title Les Peintres-Graveurs, plagiarizing the name of the Société des Peintres-Graveurs Français created in 1889 which has at that time a temporary decline of activity.
The project is ambitious, artistically and technically. Vollard collaborates with Auguste Clot, the best art printer in Paris, to promote chromolithography. As for the artists, he chooses the Nabis and the foreigners, two groups that were little represented in the plagiarized Société.
The portfolio is published in 110 copies of which 100 are serialized. It consists of 22 images made by 22 different artists. Color lithography was used for 11 images, the other 11 being scattered over a wide variety of techniques, in colors and in black and white. Most artists sign all copies of their image.
This set includes two major artworks. Edvard Munch is in Paris where he has just released with Clot or Lemercier a woodcut of his masterpiece Angst. By printing the volutes of the clouds in red blood, Vollard and Clot bring to this opus re-titled Le Soir the dramatic expression that had escaped the smokey black version. Bonnard prepared La Petite Blanchisseuse, a work with a deep social meaning in a daring oblique diving.
The sale of the portfolios is a commercial failure and Vollard gives up publishing other issues under the same title. The operation is however a great personal success for the dealer, because he has trained the young artists in his circle and their friends about the color printing processes.
Most portfolios were early split by Vollard for selling the prints individually. Yet a copy including the cover, the table of contents and the 22 images has just surfaced. Its serialization is composite : this set was probably assembled by Vollard himself in the 1920s from his remaining stock of original copies. This is the only known complete collection of this outstanding edition. It is estimated £ 500K for sale by Sotheby's in London on September 17, lot 112. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In the 1890s the prints begin to be considered as a major art, inviting to a mural display. Vollard has no scruples. In 1896 he prepares an album and an exhibition under the title Les Peintres-Graveurs, plagiarizing the name of the Société des Peintres-Graveurs Français created in 1889 which has at that time a temporary decline of activity.
The project is ambitious, artistically and technically. Vollard collaborates with Auguste Clot, the best art printer in Paris, to promote chromolithography. As for the artists, he chooses the Nabis and the foreigners, two groups that were little represented in the plagiarized Société.
The portfolio is published in 110 copies of which 100 are serialized. It consists of 22 images made by 22 different artists. Color lithography was used for 11 images, the other 11 being scattered over a wide variety of techniques, in colors and in black and white. Most artists sign all copies of their image.
This set includes two major artworks. Edvard Munch is in Paris where he has just released with Clot or Lemercier a woodcut of his masterpiece Angst. By printing the volutes of the clouds in red blood, Vollard and Clot bring to this opus re-titled Le Soir the dramatic expression that had escaped the smokey black version. Bonnard prepared La Petite Blanchisseuse, a work with a deep social meaning in a daring oblique diving.
The sale of the portfolios is a commercial failure and Vollard gives up publishing other issues under the same title. The operation is however a great personal success for the dealer, because he has trained the young artists in his circle and their friends about the color printing processes.
Most portfolios were early split by Vollard for selling the prints individually. Yet a copy including the cover, the table of contents and the 22 images has just surfaced. Its serialization is composite : this set was probably assembled by Vollard himself in the 1920s from his remaining stock of original copies. This is the only known complete collection of this outstanding edition. It is estimated £ 500K for sale by Sotheby's in London on September 17, lot 112. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The rediscovery of a rare 19th century portfolio of prints made headlines this week □ Learn about its eminent Parisian publisher, Ambroise Vollard, here: https://t.co/KVu985U7SV #SothebysPrints pic.twitter.com/qJilXr5iNl
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) August 15, 2019
1896 The Old Story of Summer Time
2017 SOLD for $ 610K including premium
Edvard Munch was spending his summer vacation at the seaside near Christiania soon to become Oslo. Artists gather here and play the great game of life. In 1891, aged 28, Edvard watches his 21-year-old friend Jappe who becomes madly in love with a married woman ten years his senior.
The woman finally discards her lover. Such a story is not uncommon. Edvard views Jappe's despair as a mirror of his own affair with another girl a few years earlier. Eager to express extreme feelings, Edvard begins a series of paintings on the theme of Melankoli. We do not know if Edvard's creativity comforted Jappe but their friendship survived.
In 1895 and 1896 Edvard collected his most significant pictures to prepare engravings. The lines are in conformity with the paintings but the colors vary from one copy to another, certainly for the use of the artist himself who finds by such a process an easy way to master the emotional impact.
On October 23 in New York, Sotheby's sells Evening - Melancholy I realized in 1896, lot 95 estimated $ 850K. The woodcut print 38 x 46 cm was made from two blocks. This copy in black, gray and ocher is particularly gloomy. A more gentle copy was sold for £ 960K including premium by Sotheby's on September 17, 2013.
In 1902 Munch realized a new series in the same size, titled Melancholy III. The left-right composition is inverted from the 1896 version but in conformance with the original painting. A copy was sold for $ 420K including premium by Sotheby's on November 1, 2007. Another one is estimated $ 300K in the same sale as above on October 23, lot 84.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM :
Evening Melancholy : $ 610K
Melancholy III : $ 470K
The woman finally discards her lover. Such a story is not uncommon. Edvard views Jappe's despair as a mirror of his own affair with another girl a few years earlier. Eager to express extreme feelings, Edvard begins a series of paintings on the theme of Melankoli. We do not know if Edvard's creativity comforted Jappe but their friendship survived.
In 1895 and 1896 Edvard collected his most significant pictures to prepare engravings. The lines are in conformity with the paintings but the colors vary from one copy to another, certainly for the use of the artist himself who finds by such a process an easy way to master the emotional impact.
On October 23 in New York, Sotheby's sells Evening - Melancholy I realized in 1896, lot 95 estimated $ 850K. The woodcut print 38 x 46 cm was made from two blocks. This copy in black, gray and ocher is particularly gloomy. A more gentle copy was sold for £ 960K including premium by Sotheby's on September 17, 2013.
In 1902 Munch realized a new series in the same size, titled Melancholy III. The left-right composition is inverted from the 1896 version but in conformance with the original painting. A copy was sold for $ 420K including premium by Sotheby's on November 1, 2007. Another one is estimated $ 300K in the same sale as above on October 23, lot 84.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM :
Evening Melancholy : $ 610K
Melancholy III : $ 470K
@Sothebys Sale of Important Prints & Multiples of @cathywoodard & @NelsonBlitz, #NewYork,Oct 23 & 24https://t.co/QL41A6LWIe#Blouin_Artinfo pic.twitter.com/4RYKMC5KYR
— BLOUIN ARTINFO (@artinfodotcom) October 18, 2017
1896 Levitation in the North
2017 unsold
In search of feelings that are offbeat from the social conventions, Edvard Munch is much appealed by the theme of loneliness within the group. His allegory is a tall young standing woman with golden hair in a long immaculate white dress, turning her back to the viewer for looking at the sea.
In 1895 the artist realized a series of spectacular engravings synthesizing his haunted vision of the human condition : Scream, Madonna, Vampyr.
During his stay in Paris from 1890 to 1892 Munch had begun to take inspiration from post-impressionist styles to express his symbolism. Back to Paris in 1896 he reworked his Young woman on the beach by liberating her from any companion. A single person is indeed enough to express the loneliness. This quiet image is one of the artist's strongest messages.
The 1896 engraving of the lonely young woman on the beach in 29 x 22 cm image size is made in an aquatint burnished in imitation of a mezzotint which is then hand colored by the artist. Within a total of eleven or twelve impressions only, Gerd Woll distinguishes no fewer than seven color combinations that offer impressionistic variations comparable to Monet's practice.
A copy in the Woll 3 variant was sold for £ 2,13M including premium by Christie's on March 20, 2013. The woman offers a striking contrast against the saturated colors of shore and sea.
On October 23 in New York, Sotheby's sells a copy in the Woll 5 variant, lot 92 estimated $ 3M. Its pastel tones in which the surrounding details are again erased reduce the contrast but reinforce the psychic mystery of this young woman levitating out of space, time and society.
In 1895 the artist realized a series of spectacular engravings synthesizing his haunted vision of the human condition : Scream, Madonna, Vampyr.
During his stay in Paris from 1890 to 1892 Munch had begun to take inspiration from post-impressionist styles to express his symbolism. Back to Paris in 1896 he reworked his Young woman on the beach by liberating her from any companion. A single person is indeed enough to express the loneliness. This quiet image is one of the artist's strongest messages.
The 1896 engraving of the lonely young woman on the beach in 29 x 22 cm image size is made in an aquatint burnished in imitation of a mezzotint which is then hand colored by the artist. Within a total of eleven or twelve impressions only, Gerd Woll distinguishes no fewer than seven color combinations that offer impressionistic variations comparable to Monet's practice.
A copy in the Woll 3 variant was sold for £ 2,13M including premium by Christie's on March 20, 2013. The woman offers a striking contrast against the saturated colors of shore and sea.
On October 23 in New York, Sotheby's sells a copy in the Woll 5 variant, lot 92 estimated $ 3M. Its pastel tones in which the surrounding details are again erased reduce the contrast but reinforce the psychic mystery of this young woman levitating out of space, time and society.
Munch, Picasso, Kirchner & Johns prints from Catherine Woodard & Nelson Blitz Collection headline #SothebysPrints https://t.co/pSusfjZFbU pic.twitter.com/QUl5dpZX6q
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) October 10, 2017
1905 Saltimbanques and Harlequin
2012 SOLD 170 K€ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
On March 28 in Paris, Binoche et Giquello in association with Sotheby's will auction an exceptional collection of 32 books illustrated by Picasso, including the five oldest titles in this category.
The first and fourth, each estimated € 80K, are extremely rare.
In 1905, André Salmon, born in the same year as Picasso, is 24 years old. This is the time of the Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre, with its atmosphere of cooperation between artists and writers (Salmon moved there later). To support the project of his friend to publish his first book of poems, Picasso inserts his first illustration print, showing two young acrobats.
Only 25 copies of this book, 20 x 14 cm, were printed on deluxe paper and have benefited from this illustration. Very few remained intact.
Picasso liked to work with Max Jacob. In 1917, le Cornet à Dés, 22 x 16 cm, is their third project together. Picasso provides the image of a cubist Harlequin which, printed in 14 copies, is one of his rarest book illustrations.
POST SALE COMMENT
These early books supported by Picasso deserved to be discussed. Salmon's poems were sold € 170K including premium, and le Cornet à dés € 157K including premium.
The sale is presented in a video prepared by Sotheby's and Connaissance des Arts.
On March 28 in Paris, Binoche et Giquello in association with Sotheby's will auction an exceptional collection of 32 books illustrated by Picasso, including the five oldest titles in this category.
The first and fourth, each estimated € 80K, are extremely rare.
In 1905, André Salmon, born in the same year as Picasso, is 24 years old. This is the time of the Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre, with its atmosphere of cooperation between artists and writers (Salmon moved there later). To support the project of his friend to publish his first book of poems, Picasso inserts his first illustration print, showing two young acrobats.
Only 25 copies of this book, 20 x 14 cm, were printed on deluxe paper and have benefited from this illustration. Very few remained intact.
Picasso liked to work with Max Jacob. In 1917, le Cornet à Dés, 22 x 16 cm, is their third project together. Picasso provides the image of a cubist Harlequin which, printed in 14 copies, is one of his rarest book illustrations.
POST SALE COMMENT
These early books supported by Picasso deserved to be discussed. Salmon's poems were sold € 170K including premium, and le Cornet à dés € 157K including premium.
The sale is presented in a video prepared by Sotheby's and Connaissance des Arts.
1909 Dodo was a Modest Milliner
2008 SOLD 980 KCHF before fees
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
I have recently discussed some lithographs by Munch. With Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, we change of century and fashion. Gentle, colorful, stylized, these are the adjectives that come to describe this portrait of Dodo with Japanese umbrella, Dodo mit japanischem Schirm. It is a work of the artist's youth, printed no later than 1909.
Despite the small size of this print (39x34 cm on a sheet of 53x43 cm), Galerie Kornfeld expects 800 KFS from this colour lithograph, which is the lot number 63 in its sale of June 6 in Bern. The woman is sitting in a modest attitude, and it is the color balance that makes the value of this resolutely modern work.
A quick glance in Artvalue shows us that the auction house got from 1988 to 1999 some of the best results on lithographs by Kirchner, with prices around the estimate indicated above. However, it appears that very little works of this value passed recently at auction. This makes our friendly Dodo (Doris Grosse, a milliner from Dresden) the undisputed star of the section of the sale devoted to prints.
POST SALE COMMENT
Galerie Kornfeld recorded excellent results on lithographs by Kirchner.
Dodo stopped at 980 KCHF excluding fees. If we take into account costs, it exceeds the psychological threshold of one million, in the currency of the country.
Another lithograph, representing pines, was presented. It was sold 1.3 MCHF before fees from a low estimate of 900 KCHF.
I have recently discussed some lithographs by Munch. With Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, we change of century and fashion. Gentle, colorful, stylized, these are the adjectives that come to describe this portrait of Dodo with Japanese umbrella, Dodo mit japanischem Schirm. It is a work of the artist's youth, printed no later than 1909.
Despite the small size of this print (39x34 cm on a sheet of 53x43 cm), Galerie Kornfeld expects 800 KFS from this colour lithograph, which is the lot number 63 in its sale of June 6 in Bern. The woman is sitting in a modest attitude, and it is the color balance that makes the value of this resolutely modern work.
A quick glance in Artvalue shows us that the auction house got from 1988 to 1999 some of the best results on lithographs by Kirchner, with prices around the estimate indicated above. However, it appears that very little works of this value passed recently at auction. This makes our friendly Dodo (Doris Grosse, a milliner from Dresden) the undisputed star of the section of the sale devoted to prints.
POST SALE COMMENT
Galerie Kornfeld recorded excellent results on lithographs by Kirchner.
Dodo stopped at 980 KCHF excluding fees. If we take into account costs, it exceeds the psychological threshold of one million, in the currency of the country.
Another lithograph, representing pines, was presented. It was sold 1.3 MCHF before fees from a low estimate of 900 KCHF.
1912 Art and Music at the Blaue Reiter
2009 SOLD 37 K$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The "Almanach der Blaue Reiter", published in Munich in 1912, is a manifesto of modern art. This movement created by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in the previous year aimed to promote an art that would escape from the material world to express spiritual values.
This album includes texts by Kandinsky, Marc and Macke, musical scores of Schönberg, Berg and Webern, and hors texte prints including "The Archer" by Kandinsky and "Fabeltier" by Marc.
It was printed in 1200 copies. One of 50 deluxe copies bound in leather and including original color woodcuts of Kandinsky and Marc is coming at Christie's in New York on April 28 with an estimate that seems reasonable: 40 K$ only.
The idea of the founders was a yearly checking of the development of the Expressionist movement, but the almanac had no other following than a reissue in 1914.
POST SALE COMMENT
37 K$ including premium for this historical edition. It is far below the estimate, and it's almost a gift ...
The "Almanach der Blaue Reiter", published in Munich in 1912, is a manifesto of modern art. This movement created by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in the previous year aimed to promote an art that would escape from the material world to express spiritual values.
This album includes texts by Kandinsky, Marc and Macke, musical scores of Schönberg, Berg and Webern, and hors texte prints including "The Archer" by Kandinsky and "Fabeltier" by Marc.
It was printed in 1200 copies. One of 50 deluxe copies bound in leather and including original color woodcuts of Kandinsky and Marc is coming at Christie's in New York on April 28 with an estimate that seems reasonable: 40 K$ only.
The idea of the founders was a yearly checking of the development of the Expressionist movement, but the almanac had no other following than a reissue in 1914.
POST SALE COMMENT
37 K$ including premium for this historical edition. It is far below the estimate, and it's almost a gift ...
1913 entertainers from the période bleue
2018 SOLD for $ 125k including premium
A print 46 x 38 cm from the 1913 edition of 250 by Vollard of Le Repas Frugal was sold for $ 108K including premium by Swann Galleries in New York on September 24, 2009. It is now estimated $ 100K for sale by the same auction house on November 1, lot 332. This copy had been discussed in this column in 2009.
Le Repas Frugal had been in 1904 the first successful attempt by Picasso to transfer a deep emotion through a printed image. It was made at the end of the Période Bleue.
Le Repas Frugal is an allegory of poverty staging the meagre meal of a couple of acrobats whose job is to entertain the crowds in the circus. Both are desperately emaciated. The man is blind. The meal is finished but they are still hungry. They do not expect anything.
Vollard purchased the plates from the series of Saltimbanques in 1913. The job made by Picasso in 1904 was a masterpiece in terms of imaging but the printing was altogether beautiful and clumsy. The about thirty original prints of Le Repas Frugal had been made from a second-hand plate which Vollard had to make strengthened for preparing the edition of 250.
Le Repas Frugal had been in 1904 the first successful attempt by Picasso to transfer a deep emotion through a printed image. It was made at the end of the Période Bleue.
Le Repas Frugal is an allegory of poverty staging the meagre meal of a couple of acrobats whose job is to entertain the crowds in the circus. Both are desperately emaciated. The man is blind. The meal is finished but they are still hungry. They do not expect anything.
Vollard purchased the plates from the series of Saltimbanques in 1913. The job made by Picasso in 1904 was a masterpiece in terms of imaging but the printing was altogether beautiful and clumsy. The about thirty original prints of Le Repas Frugal had been made from a second-hand plate which Vollard had to make strengthened for preparing the edition of 250.
1913-1914 Discomfort in Berlin
2017 unsold
When he settles in Berlin in 1911, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is already a virtuoso of engraving. A copy of his 1909 color lithograph Dodo mit japanisches Schirm was sold for CHF 980K before fees by Galerie Kornfeld on 6 June 2008.
His stay in Berlin is a failure. The private school of modern painting which he creates with Pechstein closes almost immediately. The enthusiast of outdoor nudism is oppressed in the big city. He watches with a sorrow mingled with anxiety the anonymous passers-by in the street. Their stylized expression is unfriendly. Groups are tight but communication is absent.
The artist expresses this discomfort from 1913 in his Strassenszenen. An oil on canvas 122 x 91 cm painted in 1913-1914 in saturated colors was sold for $ 38M including premium by Christie's on November 8, 2006.
The woodcut engraving allows saturated blacks that match the rejection of city life by the artist. A Fünf Kokotten 52 x 39 cm printed in 1914 was sold for CHF 920K before fees by Galerie Kornfeld on 15 June 2012.
On October 23 in New York, Sotheby's sells the woodcut print 26 x 27 cm of a Strassenszene, lot 99 estimated $ 500K. It is marked 12 in pencil. This is not reliable as a date. The auction house dates the print from 1913-1914.
The discomfort is carried to its paroxysm by the vision in top down and by the fleeing perspective of the vertical edges. This picture is known in five copies. Among them the print for sale is the only one on which the artist added dark purple shadows with the technique of the monotype. By its stifling atmosphere this copy is a masterpiece of expressionist engraving.
His stay in Berlin is a failure. The private school of modern painting which he creates with Pechstein closes almost immediately. The enthusiast of outdoor nudism is oppressed in the big city. He watches with a sorrow mingled with anxiety the anonymous passers-by in the street. Their stylized expression is unfriendly. Groups are tight but communication is absent.
The artist expresses this discomfort from 1913 in his Strassenszenen. An oil on canvas 122 x 91 cm painted in 1913-1914 in saturated colors was sold for $ 38M including premium by Christie's on November 8, 2006.
The woodcut engraving allows saturated blacks that match the rejection of city life by the artist. A Fünf Kokotten 52 x 39 cm printed in 1914 was sold for CHF 920K before fees by Galerie Kornfeld on 15 June 2012.
On October 23 in New York, Sotheby's sells the woodcut print 26 x 27 cm of a Strassenszene, lot 99 estimated $ 500K. It is marked 12 in pencil. This is not reliable as a date. The auction house dates the print from 1913-1914.
The discomfort is carried to its paroxysm by the vision in top down and by the fleeing perspective of the vertical edges. This picture is known in five copies. Among them the print for sale is the only one on which the artist added dark purple shadows with the technique of the monotype. By its stifling atmosphere this copy is a masterpiece of expressionist engraving.
1914 The Kokotten Tribe
2012 SOLD 1.06 MCHF including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Kirchner could not fit into the big city. That is great for us because his street scenes in Berlin, viewed with a corrosive derision, are masterpieces of Expressionist printmaking.
On June 15 in Bern, Galerie Kornfeld sells a copy of Fünf Kokotten, estimated CHF 600K. Kirchner considered engraving as a major art and was a master of the color image. He practiced with an equal success the woodcut, and this sheet 52 x 39 cm made in 1914 is beautifully printed in deep blacks.
The five Kokotten are standing and waiting for the lover or the customer. This scene from almost one hundred years ago yet looks familiar and modern.
First, they wear extravagant feathered hats offering a parallel with the hairstyles of the fetishes of tribal art highly sought after by the European artists of that time. Then these half-worldly women are five figures like their Spanish colleagues from Carrer d'Avinyo (Avignon) immortalized on canvas by Picasso in 1907, and also have a face stylized to the extreme.
POST SALE COMMENT
Kirchner is one of the greatest masters of engraving. This print was sold CHF 920K before fees, CHF 1.06 million after calculating the premium announced by the auction house.
Kirchner could not fit into the big city. That is great for us because his street scenes in Berlin, viewed with a corrosive derision, are masterpieces of Expressionist printmaking.
On June 15 in Bern, Galerie Kornfeld sells a copy of Fünf Kokotten, estimated CHF 600K. Kirchner considered engraving as a major art and was a master of the color image. He practiced with an equal success the woodcut, and this sheet 52 x 39 cm made in 1914 is beautifully printed in deep blacks.
The five Kokotten are standing and waiting for the lover or the customer. This scene from almost one hundred years ago yet looks familiar and modern.
First, they wear extravagant feathered hats offering a parallel with the hairstyles of the fetishes of tribal art highly sought after by the European artists of that time. Then these half-worldly women are five figures like their Spanish colleagues from Carrer d'Avinyo (Avignon) immortalized on canvas by Picasso in 1907, and also have a face stylized to the extreme.
POST SALE COMMENT
Kirchner is one of the greatest masters of engraving. This print was sold CHF 920K before fees, CHF 1.06 million after calculating the premium announced by the auction house.
1918 Mädchen auf der Brücke by Munch
2013 SOLD for $ 850K by Christie's
Emotion is easily expressed through sound. Edvard Munch translated into graphic art the extreme feelings on the edge of madness. The silent scene with the three girls on the bridge, painted for the first time in 1901, is a continuation of the Scream. No one will see the real cause of the anguish of the screamer or why the three characters are so tightly grouped, one beside the other without communicating.
The three girls are a great theme for the new experiences of color printing realized by the artist in 1918. The chosen format is 52 x 43 cm.
Before printing the colors, Munch tried several variations by hand coloring black and white woodcut prints. One of them, with four colors in a rather lugubrious arrangement, was sold for $ 850K by Christie's on October 29, 2013, lot 98.
The final print used a mixing of woodblock for the black scars in sky and road, and of three to four zinc plates for the lithography of colors. Its production run was very small, perhaps because Europe still lived horrors far more immediate for the public than the psychological dramas of Munch. One of them was sold for £ 220K by Sotheby's on September 29, 2015, lot 66.
The three girls are a great theme for the new experiences of color printing realized by the artist in 1918. The chosen format is 52 x 43 cm.
Before printing the colors, Munch tried several variations by hand coloring black and white woodcut prints. One of them, with four colors in a rather lugubrious arrangement, was sold for $ 850K by Christie's on October 29, 2013, lot 98.
The final print used a mixing of woodblock for the black scars in sky and road, and of three to four zinc plates for the lithography of colors. Its production run was very small, perhaps because Europe still lived horrors far more immediate for the public than the psychological dramas of Munch. One of them was sold for £ 220K by Sotheby's on September 29, 2015, lot 66.
1918 The Silent Scream
2015 SOLD for £ 220K including premium
Emotion is easily expressed through sound. Edvard Munch translated into graphic art the extreme feelings on the edge of madness. The silent scene with the three girls on the bridge, painted for the first time in 1901, is a continuation of the Scream. No one will see the real cause of the anguish of the screamer or why the three characters are so tightly grouped, one beside the other without communicating.
The three girls are a great theme for the new experiences of color printing realized by the artist in 1918. He used a mixing of woodblock for the black scars in sky and road, and of three to four zinc plates for the lithography of colors. The chosen format is 50 x 42 cm.
Before printing the colors, Munch tried several variations by hand coloring black and white prints. One of them, with four colors in a rather lugubrious arrangement, was sold for $ 845K including premium by Christie's on October 29, 2013.
On September 29 in London, Sotheby's sells a color print of The Girls on the bridge, lot 66 estimated £ 200K.
In this version, the artist used the green, the blue and a strident red-orange that draws attention to the strong point of the composition. This red drowns any detail from the middle dress in a striking contrast of blood between the clear and dark clothing of the other two girls. Their attitude does not differentiate their feelings. Red extends the silent anguish to the entire group.
The three girls are a great theme for the new experiences of color printing realized by the artist in 1918. He used a mixing of woodblock for the black scars in sky and road, and of three to four zinc plates for the lithography of colors. The chosen format is 50 x 42 cm.
Before printing the colors, Munch tried several variations by hand coloring black and white prints. One of them, with four colors in a rather lugubrious arrangement, was sold for $ 845K including premium by Christie's on October 29, 2013.
On September 29 in London, Sotheby's sells a color print of The Girls on the bridge, lot 66 estimated £ 200K.
In this version, the artist used the green, the blue and a strident red-orange that draws attention to the strong point of the composition. This red drowns any detail from the middle dress in a striking contrast of blood between the clear and dark clothing of the other two girls. Their attitude does not differentiate their feelings. Red extends the silent anguish to the entire group.
Munch's rare woodcut of 'The Girls on the Bridge' leads our #London Prints sale next week http://t.co/BBUJ4UzqJP pic.twitter.com/G2I6X9BUBm
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) September 22, 20151943 Woman and Beast
2011 SOLD 720 K$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
For his Minotauromachie, Picasso wanted perfection. He got it in the seventh and final state. It was in 1935. I have already discussed in this group the copy sold £ 1.27 million including premium by Sotheby's on September 16, 2010. I explained that this tragic work foreshadowed Guernica.
Another copy of the same state is privileged to be included in the evening sale of modern art at Christie's on November 1 in New York. It is estimated $ 1.2 M. The picture measures 50 x 70 cm, on a 57 x 78 cm sheet. It is illustrated in the catalog.
In 1939, the Spanish civil war is over. The crying woman does not cry any more. Picasso takes up hope, despite the threat from the international events. Master of his new medium, he produces one of his masterpieces, la Femme au tambourin. The naked woman walking while holding a small drum is a symbol of joy.
The copy of the fifth state of la Femme au tambourin for sale by Christie's in New York on October 25 is very nice.The contrasts are of exceptional richness. This is probably a proof of that final state of 1943, preparing the edition in thirty serialized copies by the Galerie Louise Leiris.
This picture of 66 x 51 cm on a 77 x 57 cm sheet is estimated $ 500K, and illustrated in the catalog, as usual.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
Well deserved result for this exceptional copy of La Femme au Tambourin : $ 720K including premium.
2
The Minotauromachie remained unsold last night at Christie's, but La Femme qui Pleure I (Weeping Woman I), printed in 1937, seventh and final state, got the extraordinary price of $ 5.1 million including premium on an estimate of 1.5 M.
For his Minotauromachie, Picasso wanted perfection. He got it in the seventh and final state. It was in 1935. I have already discussed in this group the copy sold £ 1.27 million including premium by Sotheby's on September 16, 2010. I explained that this tragic work foreshadowed Guernica.
Another copy of the same state is privileged to be included in the evening sale of modern art at Christie's on November 1 in New York. It is estimated $ 1.2 M. The picture measures 50 x 70 cm, on a 57 x 78 cm sheet. It is illustrated in the catalog.
In 1939, the Spanish civil war is over. The crying woman does not cry any more. Picasso takes up hope, despite the threat from the international events. Master of his new medium, he produces one of his masterpieces, la Femme au tambourin. The naked woman walking while holding a small drum is a symbol of joy.
The copy of the fifth state of la Femme au tambourin for sale by Christie's in New York on October 25 is very nice.The contrasts are of exceptional richness. This is probably a proof of that final state of 1943, preparing the edition in thirty serialized copies by the Galerie Louise Leiris.
This picture of 66 x 51 cm on a 77 x 57 cm sheet is estimated $ 500K, and illustrated in the catalog, as usual.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
Well deserved result for this exceptional copy of La Femme au Tambourin : $ 720K including premium.
2
The Minotauromachie remained unsold last night at Christie's, but La Femme qui Pleure I (Weeping Woman I), printed in 1937, seventh and final state, got the extraordinary price of $ 5.1 million including premium on an estimate of 1.5 M.
1947 Jazz by Matisse
2019 SOLD for $ 860K by Sotheby's
Founder in 1937 of Verve magazine, Tériade was a great instigator of art. During the war, Matisse was sick. The intuition of Tériade was to appreciate that the creative impulses of the artist were intact and to convince him, which was not an easy task.
His health did not allow him to paint. Matisse invented for this project a new technique by which the color existed before the creation of the form: he cut with scissors gouache layered sheets in bright monochrome colors.
The result assembled by Matisse gave Tériade reason: the artist had regained the momentum and spontaneity of La Danse, painted in 1910. They had to find a title to this new hymn to joy. It could have been Le Cirque. It was Jazz.
Jazz was printed in 1947 in 20 plates on 44 x 67 cm sheets. Matisse had a requirement brilliant in its simplicity: he requested that the print colors are produced by the same gouaches, strictly from the same brand, which had served for the originals.
Tériade offered this set in two versions: portfolio, published in 100 copies, and book, published in 250 copies.
The portfolio, when it remains complete, is more prestigious because the sheets were not folded. The number 39/100 was sold for £ 410K by Christie's on March 20, 2013. The 50/100 was sold for $ 860K by Sotheby's on April 30, 2019, lot 31.
His health did not allow him to paint. Matisse invented for this project a new technique by which the color existed before the creation of the form: he cut with scissors gouache layered sheets in bright monochrome colors.
The result assembled by Matisse gave Tériade reason: the artist had regained the momentum and spontaneity of La Danse, painted in 1910. They had to find a title to this new hymn to joy. It could have been Le Cirque. It was Jazz.
Jazz was printed in 1947 in 20 plates on 44 x 67 cm sheets. Matisse had a requirement brilliant in its simplicity: he requested that the print colors are produced by the same gouaches, strictly from the same brand, which had served for the originals.
Tériade offered this set in two versions: portfolio, published in 100 copies, and book, published in 250 copies.
The portfolio, when it remains complete, is more prestigious because the sheets were not folded. The number 39/100 was sold for £ 410K by Christie's on March 20, 2013. The 50/100 was sold for $ 860K by Sotheby's on April 30, 2019, lot 31.
1948 Chagall inspired by the Arabian Nights
2008 SOLD for $ 445K including premium by Christie's
2014 UNSOLD
PRE 2014 SALE DISCUSSION
Marc Chagall is an image maker. His illustrations of the Bible made for Vollard in 1930 are etchings embellished with gouache.
In 1948, four years after the death of Bella, Chagall was haunted by the theme of lost love. Solicited by Pantheon Books in New York, he designed his first color lithographic images, entitled Four tales from the Arabian Nights. The great series published by Tériade such as Daphnis et Chloé and le Cirque are later.
Chagall had been deeply moved by the translation of the Arabian Nights edited by Richard Burton in 1884. Explorer of Africa, Burton was one of the best connoisseurs of worldwide erotic traditions and made also published in 1883 a translation of the Kama Sutra. Considered in his time as a pornographer, he braved the Victorian England.
The Four tales series consisted of twelve plates 37 x 28 cm on 43 x 33 cm sheets. Each image is accompanied by a quote from Burton on a separate sheet. The editor had the nice idea to disperse the proofs and clichés within some copies of this edition.
On October 28 in New York, Bonhams sells one of these copies, lot 48 estimated $ 300K, with original wrappers and slipcases. In addition to the 12 images of the final version, this set includes 23 proofs, most of them for plates 5 and 9 as well as for an additional plate numbered 13.
The same set 58/90 had been sold for $ 445K including premium by Christie's on April 29, 2008, lot 54. It had been described at that time with 16 additional unnumbered proofs.
Marc Chagall is an image maker. His illustrations of the Bible made for Vollard in 1930 are etchings embellished with gouache.
In 1948, four years after the death of Bella, Chagall was haunted by the theme of lost love. Solicited by Pantheon Books in New York, he designed his first color lithographic images, entitled Four tales from the Arabian Nights. The great series published by Tériade such as Daphnis et Chloé and le Cirque are later.
Chagall had been deeply moved by the translation of the Arabian Nights edited by Richard Burton in 1884. Explorer of Africa, Burton was one of the best connoisseurs of worldwide erotic traditions and made also published in 1883 a translation of the Kama Sutra. Considered in his time as a pornographer, he braved the Victorian England.
The Four tales series consisted of twelve plates 37 x 28 cm on 43 x 33 cm sheets. Each image is accompanied by a quote from Burton on a separate sheet. The editor had the nice idea to disperse the proofs and clichés within some copies of this edition.
On October 28 in New York, Bonhams sells one of these copies, lot 48 estimated $ 300K, with original wrappers and slipcases. In addition to the 12 images of the final version, this set includes 23 proofs, most of them for plates 5 and 9 as well as for an additional plate numbered 13.
The same set 58/90 had been sold for $ 445K including premium by Christie's on April 29, 2008, lot 54. It had been described at that time with 16 additional unnumbered proofs.
1948 The First Night of Sheherazade
2017 SOLD for $ 270K including premium
Marc Chagall wanted to be an illustrator. His great project sponsored by Vollard for the Bible is interrupted by war and exile.
In 1948 the artist is in New York. Pantheon Books invites him to illustrate the Arabian Nights. This portfolio is the best lithographic achievement in its time and the very first color engravings by Chagall.
Chagall prepared thirteen images which were printed in 37 x 28 cm size on loose individual sheets 43 x 33 cm (Mourlot 36-48). The first twelve illustrating four stories give the title of the regular portfolio (Four Tales from the Arabian Nights).
In addition to the regular edition of 90 numbered copies, a deluxe edition of 10 copies serialized in Roman numerals plus 11 copies out of commerce numbered from A to K are assembled. These 21 copies are complete of the thirteen images.
Chagall has thrown all his verve and his fantasy on this exotic theme : brilliant colors, fancy beings, languor of the lovers. The thirteenth image (Mourlot 48) is of course the most rare and also the most erotic. It illustrates the thread line of the 1001 episodes, when the king and Sheherazade are sleeping in their first night. In the imagination of the artist the couple tenderly embraced in full nudity is protected by a huge bird and by a benevolent mermaid.
On March 2 in New York, Swann sells the non commercial copy that had been kept by the publisher. This portfolio in a great freshness is complete of its thirteen color lithographs, texts, wrappers and slipcase. It is estimated $ 250K, lot 551.
In 1948 the artist is in New York. Pantheon Books invites him to illustrate the Arabian Nights. This portfolio is the best lithographic achievement in its time and the very first color engravings by Chagall.
Chagall prepared thirteen images which were printed in 37 x 28 cm size on loose individual sheets 43 x 33 cm (Mourlot 36-48). The first twelve illustrating four stories give the title of the regular portfolio (Four Tales from the Arabian Nights).
In addition to the regular edition of 90 numbered copies, a deluxe edition of 10 copies serialized in Roman numerals plus 11 copies out of commerce numbered from A to K are assembled. These 21 copies are complete of the thirteen images.
Chagall has thrown all his verve and his fantasy on this exotic theme : brilliant colors, fancy beings, languor of the lovers. The thirteenth image (Mourlot 48) is of course the most rare and also the most erotic. It illustrates the thread line of the 1001 episodes, when the king and Sheherazade are sleeping in their first night. In the imagination of the artist the couple tenderly embraced in full nudity is protected by a huge bird and by a benevolent mermaid.
On March 2 in New York, Swann sells the non commercial copy that had been kept by the publisher. This portfolio in a great freshness is complete of its thirteen color lithographs, texts, wrappers and slipcase. It is estimated $ 250K, lot 551.
1958 A Beauty from the Linoleum
2016 SOLD for $ 610K including premium
Pablo Picasso enjoys much free time in Vallauris. He diversifies his use of materials and techniques. In 1958 he tries the linocut.
The linocut is derived from the woodcut with its inking from the surfaces that were not previously hollowed. The linoleum has two advantages over wood : it is less hard and is not fibrous, allowing the execution in reserves of a sharper picture.
At that time Pablo does not hesitate any more to announce his inspirations drawn from art history, as masterfully demonstrated by the Women of Algiers after Delacroix. His choice of the Portrait of a Young Woman from Cranach the Younger is nevertheless by chance : he has just received from Kahnweiler a postcard illustrated by this image.
It is his first serious test in color linocut. He starts with two colors, observes that his process is under control and improves this work in five colors : sepia, yellow, red, blue and black. The printing is done by Arnéra in Vallauris and the Galerie Louise Leiris publishes it in 50 serialized copies with an image 64 x 53 cm on Arches wove paper 76 x 57 cm to which about 15 unnumbered artist's proofs are added.
An artist's proof signed and dedicated by Pablo to a friend is estimated $ 500K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on October 27, lot 26. One of the fifty commercial prints, also signed, was sold for $ 690K including premium in the same auction room of 20 April 2016 from a lower estimate of $ 400K, lot 38.
The linocut is derived from the woodcut with its inking from the surfaces that were not previously hollowed. The linoleum has two advantages over wood : it is less hard and is not fibrous, allowing the execution in reserves of a sharper picture.
At that time Pablo does not hesitate any more to announce his inspirations drawn from art history, as masterfully demonstrated by the Women of Algiers after Delacroix. His choice of the Portrait of a Young Woman from Cranach the Younger is nevertheless by chance : he has just received from Kahnweiler a postcard illustrated by this image.
It is his first serious test in color linocut. He starts with two colors, observes that his process is under control and improves this work in five colors : sepia, yellow, red, blue and black. The printing is done by Arnéra in Vallauris and the Galerie Louise Leiris publishes it in 50 serialized copies with an image 64 x 53 cm on Arches wove paper 76 x 57 cm to which about 15 unnumbered artist's proofs are added.
An artist's proof signed and dedicated by Pablo to a friend is estimated $ 500K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on October 27, lot 26. One of the fifty commercial prints, also signed, was sold for $ 690K including premium in the same auction room of 20 April 2016 from a lower estimate of $ 400K, lot 38.
1958 Dreaming the Bible
2015 SOLD for $ 280K including premium
Born near Vitebsk in Belarus to a deeply pious Jewish family, Marc Chagall dreamed the Bible throughout his life. The Old Testament is one of the oldest poems of humanity. The artist is inspired by the fabulous stories of Genesis and by the facts and words attributed to old prophets.
Ambroise Vollard knew to generate intense artistic impulses through major publishing projects. He invited Chagall to illustrate the Bible.
This project excites the artist who performs in 1931 a trip to Palestine to find the roots of Judaism and exacerbate his vision of antique lifestyle. Later, he studied the mystical art through Rembrandt and el Greco. During this phase, Chagall prepared the first 32 plates.
He continues. His synthesis between antiquity and modernity is dramatized by the events that make him compare the persecution of the Jews with the Passion of Christ. In 1956, a quarter century after the start of the project, Chagall executes the last picture of his Bible.
Vollard died in 1939 and it was left to Tériade to print in 1958 in 100 copies the 105 views of Chagall's La Bible. The artist's work is not finished: he hand colors the images and signs his initials in pencil. The image size is 25 x 31 cm on 39 x 53 cm Arches paper.
A complete album was sold for $ 295K including premium by Christie's on 1 May 2002. Also complete, a portfolio is estimated $ 250K for sale by Bonhams in San Francisco on October 20, lot 42.
Ambroise Vollard knew to generate intense artistic impulses through major publishing projects. He invited Chagall to illustrate the Bible.
This project excites the artist who performs in 1931 a trip to Palestine to find the roots of Judaism and exacerbate his vision of antique lifestyle. Later, he studied the mystical art through Rembrandt and el Greco. During this phase, Chagall prepared the first 32 plates.
He continues. His synthesis between antiquity and modernity is dramatized by the events that make him compare the persecution of the Jews with the Passion of Christ. In 1956, a quarter century after the start of the project, Chagall executes the last picture of his Bible.
Vollard died in 1939 and it was left to Tériade to print in 1958 in 100 copies the 105 views of Chagall's La Bible. The artist's work is not finished: he hand colors the images and signs his initials in pencil. The image size is 25 x 31 cm on 39 x 53 cm Arches paper.
A complete album was sold for $ 295K including premium by Christie's on 1 May 2002. Also complete, a portfolio is estimated $ 250K for sale by Bonhams in San Francisco on October 20, lot 42.
1960 Dissolution of the Flag
2019 unsold
In the 1950s Jasper Johns chooses some models of images whose meaning is obvious to the general public. He is with Rauschenberg one of the pioneers of pop art. With these figures devoid of any emotion, Johns varies techniques, materials, colors. The messages inscribed on the deep layers are hidden, reduced at best to a ghost iridescence.
In 1957 in West Islip NY, Tatyana Grosman created the Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE), exploiting her own know-how in all engraving techniques : aquatint, etching, lithography, offset, photolithography, screen printing, xylography.
Johns' unprecedented creativity is of interest to Grosman. In 1960 she invites him to try lithography. The artist understands that this technique will allow him to create multiples with the same complexity of structures as his paintings.
In this first year, ULAE publishes on various papers Johns' monochrome re-interpretations of his favorite themes : three versions of Flag successively in black, white and gray, Target, 0 through 9, as well as two variants of Coat Hanger. Flag I and III are printed on 56 x 76 cm Arches paper and Flag II on 61 x 81 cm Kraft paper.
On October 24 in New York, Sotheby's sells four sheets that demonstrate how Johns wiped out the visible elements of the flag. The first three are unique trials, the fourth is a copy of the final Flag III. This set is estimated $ 1.8M, lot 16. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The three unique prototypes were respectively printed on Kraft, laid paper and vellum. The Flag II and III trials are inked in white on white. The experimental Flag I still reveals a memory of the thirteen stripes of the US flag despite its strictly monochromatic impression of a regular texture. For the others, the flag is reduced to a removed step of the artistic process.
In 1957 in West Islip NY, Tatyana Grosman created the Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE), exploiting her own know-how in all engraving techniques : aquatint, etching, lithography, offset, photolithography, screen printing, xylography.
Johns' unprecedented creativity is of interest to Grosman. In 1960 she invites him to try lithography. The artist understands that this technique will allow him to create multiples with the same complexity of structures as his paintings.
In this first year, ULAE publishes on various papers Johns' monochrome re-interpretations of his favorite themes : three versions of Flag successively in black, white and gray, Target, 0 through 9, as well as two variants of Coat Hanger. Flag I and III are printed on 56 x 76 cm Arches paper and Flag II on 61 x 81 cm Kraft paper.
On October 24 in New York, Sotheby's sells four sheets that demonstrate how Johns wiped out the visible elements of the flag. The first three are unique trials, the fourth is a copy of the final Flag III. This set is estimated $ 1.8M, lot 16. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The three unique prototypes were respectively printed on Kraft, laid paper and vellum. The Flag II and III trials are inked in white on white. The experimental Flag I still reveals a memory of the thirteen stripes of the US flag despite its strictly monochromatic impression of a regular texture. For the others, the flag is reduced to a removed step of the artistic process.
1961 Daphnis et Chloé by Chagall
2019 SOLD for £ 735K by Sotheby's
A prolific painter, Marc Chagall works extremely slowly when it comes to illustration. Two of his greatest projects, La Bible and Daphnis et Chloé, were prepared by trips to Palestine and Greece respectively, during which he immersed himself in the landscapes and the atmosphere of the country.
La Bible was started in 1931 on an incitement from Vollard. When Vollard died in 1939, Tériade took over. Chagall finishes his iconographic preparation in 1956 and the set is published in 1958.
Tériade is from Lesbos, like Sappho and Longus. He would like Chagall to interpret his country based on the pastoral novel Daphnis et Chloé, previously set to music by Ravel. Chagall first refused because Bonnard had done a similar project.
For the painter of happy love, this idyllic theme is very tempting. In 1952, five years after Bonnard's death, he captures for the first time the dazzling light of a Greek summer. He returns to Greece in 1954. He prepares a set of 42 drawings in gouache and pastel.
The print by Mourlot is a technical feat whose work spans four years, from 1957 to 1961. Chagall does not accept any mistake in the lithographic printing on Arches of the 25 colors which he had used in his quest of the poetic perfection.
Daphnis et Chloé is published in 1961 by Tériade in loose portfolio in a regular edition of 250 copies and 20 artist proofs, plus 60 deluxe copies with large margins which are signed by the artist on each sheet. 16 of the 42 images are folded double pages. The standard size of an image is 44 x 34 cm.
The sets that remain complete are rare. A complete deluxe portfolio that had been kept by Tériade's family until 1995 was sold for £ 735K from a lower estimate of £ 400K by Sotheby's on February 27, 2019, lot 345.
La Bible was started in 1931 on an incitement from Vollard. When Vollard died in 1939, Tériade took over. Chagall finishes his iconographic preparation in 1956 and the set is published in 1958.
Tériade is from Lesbos, like Sappho and Longus. He would like Chagall to interpret his country based on the pastoral novel Daphnis et Chloé, previously set to music by Ravel. Chagall first refused because Bonnard had done a similar project.
For the painter of happy love, this idyllic theme is very tempting. In 1952, five years after Bonnard's death, he captures for the first time the dazzling light of a Greek summer. He returns to Greece in 1954. He prepares a set of 42 drawings in gouache and pastel.
The print by Mourlot is a technical feat whose work spans four years, from 1957 to 1961. Chagall does not accept any mistake in the lithographic printing on Arches of the 25 colors which he had used in his quest of the poetic perfection.
Daphnis et Chloé is published in 1961 by Tériade in loose portfolio in a regular edition of 250 copies and 20 artist proofs, plus 60 deluxe copies with large margins which are signed by the artist on each sheet. 16 of the 42 images are folded double pages. The standard size of an image is 44 x 34 cm.
The sets that remain complete are rare. A complete deluxe portfolio that had been kept by Tériade's family until 1995 was sold for £ 735K from a lower estimate of £ 400K by Sotheby's on February 27, 2019, lot 345.
1961 Chagall published by Tériade
2011 SOLD for JPY 26.6M including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Being originally an art critic, Tériade was influenced by Zervos and worked with Skira. He specializes in the publishing of art, creates for this purpose the magazine Verve in 1937 and cooperates with leading artists including Chagall.
On a suggestion made in 1952 by Tériade, Chagall provides his vision of Daphnis and Chloe, the bucolic romance novel from the antiquity. The artist was of course attracted by this theme of the meeting of two lovers, but he took his time, even visiting Greece in order to better live its atmosphere.
In 1961, Tériade publishes the 42 illustrations prepared in gouache and pastel by Chagall for Daphnis et Chloé. 60 copies are printed on Arches paper, 54 x 38 cm for single images and 58 x 78 cm for 14 double images including broad margins. These sets were often separated, and a complete series signed by the artist constitutes the apex of the lithographic art of Chagall.
The regular edition was printed in 250 copies, 42 x 32 cm with no margins, conditioned as a slipcase portfolio. The copy 175/250 was sold for $ 444K including premium by Sotheby's on May 3, 2007.
The copy 169/250 is reasonably estimated 円 (yen) 18M, for sale by Mallet in Tokyo on January 28.
Tériade and Chagall also published together Le Cirque in 1967. In the same sale, a complete set of the 38 lithographs, numbered 248/250, is estimated 円 (yen) 12M.
POST SALE COMMENT
Daphnis et Chloé is confirmed as the most important set of lithographs by Chagall. The lot was sold for 円 (yen) 24 million before fees.
Le Cirque was sold for 円 (yen) 14 million before fees.
Being originally an art critic, Tériade was influenced by Zervos and worked with Skira. He specializes in the publishing of art, creates for this purpose the magazine Verve in 1937 and cooperates with leading artists including Chagall.
On a suggestion made in 1952 by Tériade, Chagall provides his vision of Daphnis and Chloe, the bucolic romance novel from the antiquity. The artist was of course attracted by this theme of the meeting of two lovers, but he took his time, even visiting Greece in order to better live its atmosphere.
In 1961, Tériade publishes the 42 illustrations prepared in gouache and pastel by Chagall for Daphnis et Chloé. 60 copies are printed on Arches paper, 54 x 38 cm for single images and 58 x 78 cm for 14 double images including broad margins. These sets were often separated, and a complete series signed by the artist constitutes the apex of the lithographic art of Chagall.
The regular edition was printed in 250 copies, 42 x 32 cm with no margins, conditioned as a slipcase portfolio. The copy 175/250 was sold for $ 444K including premium by Sotheby's on May 3, 2007.
The copy 169/250 is reasonably estimated 円 (yen) 18M, for sale by Mallet in Tokyo on January 28.
Tériade and Chagall also published together Le Cirque in 1967. In the same sale, a complete set of the 38 lithographs, numbered 248/250, is estimated 円 (yen) 12M.
POST SALE COMMENT
Daphnis et Chloé is confirmed as the most important set of lithographs by Chagall. The lot was sold for 円 (yen) 24 million before fees.
Le Cirque was sold for 円 (yen) 14 million before fees.
1962 Picasso hollows the Linoleum
2017 SOLD for $ 250K including premium
Picasso's first significant attempt of a linocut print is the Portrait of a young woman after Cranach the Younger in 1958. The result contributes to renew Picasso's engraved iconography but this achievement is a technical feat due to the difficulty in positioning accurately the individual blocks that bring the colors.
Pablo now lives throughout the year in the south of France far away from the Parisian printers and for some years his engraving activity in the more traditional techniques is limited.
He gradually invents an improvement that greatly facilitates the linocut. Instead of working with previously cut elements, he uses a single linoleum plate which he slices progressively before each inking of a new color.
His masterpieces in this new technique are a Déjeuner sur l'herbe printed in 50 copies in 1962 and a Nature morte avec un verre sous la lampe printed in the same year in 50 copies plus some artist's proofs in an image format 53 X 64 cm on a 62 x 75 cm sheet of Arches paper.
Two full-margin copies of the Nature morte come separately in New York. Each lot is estimated $ 200K. On April 18 Phillips sells the 31/50, lot 8. On April 19 Christie's sells the 44/50, lot 36.
RESULTS
Phillips : SOLD for $ 250K including premium
Christie's : unsold on April 19, SOLD on October 25 in same location for $ 250K including premium, lot 199.
Pablo now lives throughout the year in the south of France far away from the Parisian printers and for some years his engraving activity in the more traditional techniques is limited.
He gradually invents an improvement that greatly facilitates the linocut. Instead of working with previously cut elements, he uses a single linoleum plate which he slices progressively before each inking of a new color.
His masterpieces in this new technique are a Déjeuner sur l'herbe printed in 50 copies in 1962 and a Nature morte avec un verre sous la lampe printed in the same year in 50 copies plus some artist's proofs in an image format 53 X 64 cm on a 62 x 75 cm sheet of Arches paper.
Two full-margin copies of the Nature morte come separately in New York. Each lot is estimated $ 200K. On April 18 Phillips sells the 31/50, lot 8. On April 19 Christie's sells the 44/50, lot 36.
RESULTS
Phillips : SOLD for $ 250K including premium
Christie's : unsold on April 19, SOLD on October 25 in same location for $ 250K including premium, lot 199.
1963 0-9 Series by Jasper Johns
2017 SOLD for $ 970K by Sotheby's
At the time of the development of Pop Art, Jasper Johns is already famous for his Flags and his Targets. A lover of Rauschenberg, he belongs to the circle of Castelli. His quest for the annihilation of the meaning of art is of interest for the avant-gardes of New York.
Johns destroys everything : figuration, format, meaning, emotion. To go still further, he studies the variation in the perception of a painted or printed drawing with various techniques on various materials.
In 1960 Tanya Grosman invited him to experiment with her the lithography at the Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) in West Islip NY. At that time Johns worked on the numbers 0 to 9 that he superimposed, each figure covering the entire surface of a sheet to create an illegible but colorful magma. The engraving makes an additional contribution to his theories. He is convinced.
In 1963 ULAE publishes in portfolio the numbers 0-9 by Johns. Now each figure is printed on a separate sheet 52 x 40 cm. A single stone is used for the whole series, a new figure replacing the previous one with three passes per numeral : black, gray and a different color for each number. Despite the mechanical preparation of the artwork, the achieved readability is different for each figure.
The edition is composed of 10 black portfolios, 10 gray portfolios and 10 color portfolios. The text is written by the art critic Robert Rosenblum convinced of the importance of the innovative vision of Johns. Rosenblum's copy of the very rare 0-9 color portfolio was sold for $ 970K from a lower estimate of $ 600K by Sotheby's on April 27, 2017, lot 87.
The paradox continues. This artist without a message becomes the best illustrator of his time with regard to the printing technique. His masterpiece is the 1973 Flags I where the lithography executed with 31 screens reaches the texture quality of a painted work.
Johns destroys everything : figuration, format, meaning, emotion. To go still further, he studies the variation in the perception of a painted or printed drawing with various techniques on various materials.
In 1960 Tanya Grosman invited him to experiment with her the lithography at the Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) in West Islip NY. At that time Johns worked on the numbers 0 to 9 that he superimposed, each figure covering the entire surface of a sheet to create an illegible but colorful magma. The engraving makes an additional contribution to his theories. He is convinced.
In 1963 ULAE publishes in portfolio the numbers 0-9 by Johns. Now each figure is printed on a separate sheet 52 x 40 cm. A single stone is used for the whole series, a new figure replacing the previous one with three passes per numeral : black, gray and a different color for each number. Despite the mechanical preparation of the artwork, the achieved readability is different for each figure.
The edition is composed of 10 black portfolios, 10 gray portfolios and 10 color portfolios. The text is written by the art critic Robert Rosenblum convinced of the importance of the innovative vision of Johns. Rosenblum's copy of the very rare 0-9 color portfolio was sold for $ 970K from a lower estimate of $ 600K by Sotheby's on April 27, 2017, lot 87.
The paradox continues. This artist without a message becomes the best illustrator of his time with regard to the printing technique. His masterpiece is the 1973 Flags I where the lithography executed with 31 screens reaches the texture quality of a painted work.
1964 Look at La Joconde
2017 SOLD for € 630K including premium
The Dada movement demands a resolutely anti-conformist artistic language. La Joconde (Mona Lisa) is a favorite target for caricaturists and theorists. Already in 1914 Malevich flogged this symbol of bourgeois art. Its theft from the Louvre in 1911 had ranked it with the heroines of adventure novels.
In 1919 Marcel Duchamp draws a mustache and a goatee beard on a picture of Mona Lisa in postcard format. This irreverent act is very well targeted. The title L.H.O.O.Q. is both a homophone of Look in the meaning of voyeurism when reading the word and of the titillating Elle a chaud au cul when spelling the letters, as a great example of a successful bilingual pun.
Art allows any audacity. L.H.O.O.Q. is also a symbol of the mingling of genders. In 1910 Sigmund Freud had managed to observe in the ambiguous face of this woman a proof of Leonardo's homosexuality. The feminization of Marcel Duchamp as Rrose Sélavy in 1920 is an interesting continuation of that debate.
L.H.O.O.Q.. accompanies Duchamp's reputation as an innovator throughout his short career as a creative artist and his long retirement devoted to chess. Replicas and imitations are numerous.
In 1964 a friend of Duchamp prepares a monograph to be published in 35 copies. He invites the artist to insert an artwork therein. Duchamp buys 38 identical lithographs 30 x 23 cm. On each of them he reworks the face in pencil and erases in white gouache the reference to Leonardo and to the Louvre while maintaining the original title La Joconde. He adds L.H.O.O.Q. as the subtitle, signs and numbers all copies.
One of these recuperation prints was sold for $ 1.2M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2016 over a lower estimate of $ 400K. Another copy is estimated € 400K for sale by Sotheby's in Paris on October 21, lot 105.
In 1919 Marcel Duchamp draws a mustache and a goatee beard on a picture of Mona Lisa in postcard format. This irreverent act is very well targeted. The title L.H.O.O.Q. is both a homophone of Look in the meaning of voyeurism when reading the word and of the titillating Elle a chaud au cul when spelling the letters, as a great example of a successful bilingual pun.
Art allows any audacity. L.H.O.O.Q. is also a symbol of the mingling of genders. In 1910 Sigmund Freud had managed to observe in the ambiguous face of this woman a proof of Leonardo's homosexuality. The feminization of Marcel Duchamp as Rrose Sélavy in 1920 is an interesting continuation of that debate.
L.H.O.O.Q.. accompanies Duchamp's reputation as an innovator throughout his short career as a creative artist and his long retirement devoted to chess. Replicas and imitations are numerous.
In 1964 a friend of Duchamp prepares a monograph to be published in 35 copies. He invites the artist to insert an artwork therein. Duchamp buys 38 identical lithographs 30 x 23 cm. On each of them he reworks the face in pencil and erases in white gouache the reference to Leonardo and to the Louvre while maintaining the original title La Joconde. He adds L.H.O.O.Q. as the subtitle, signs and numbers all copies.
One of these recuperation prints was sold for $ 1.2M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2016 over a lower estimate of $ 400K. Another copy is estimated € 400K for sale by Sotheby's in Paris on October 21, lot 105.
1968 Campbell's Soup
2020 SOLD for $ 930K by Sotheby's
The success of the Marilyn portfolio is encouraging. Warhol retrieves his masterpiece of minimalist figurative art from 1962 : Campbell's Soup images differing only by the label indicating the nature of the condensed. The original series included 32 paintings on canvas. Warhol selects ten of them in his 1968 Soups, printed on 89 x 59 cm sheets with the same production run as the Marilyn, 250 copies plus 26 artist's proofs.
He still has much reserve ! A new edition made in the following year offers ten other soups, this time with a few fancy graphics. The labelling is new but this operation is otherwise strictly identical to the previous edition.
The complete set 192/250 of the Campbell's Soup I was sold for $ 930K by Sotheby's on October 22, 2020, lot 25.
He still has much reserve ! A new edition made in the following year offers ten other soups, this time with a few fancy graphics. The labelling is new but this operation is otherwise strictly identical to the previous edition.
The complete set 192/250 of the Campbell's Soup I was sold for $ 930K by Sotheby's on October 22, 2020, lot 25.
1968 Soup Time
2015 SOLD for $ 480K including premium
The method used by Andy Warhol of mixing painting and silkscreen was effective for the multiplication of images. However there is much more simple and the solution has been known for centuries: printing.
This new phase in Andy's career began in 1967. He edited in 250 copies numbered 1 to 250 and 26 artist's proofs numbered A to Z ten identical portraits of Marilyn in ten different colors, on 91 x 91 cm sheets.
The success is encouraging. He retrieved his masterpiece of minimalist figurative art from 1962 : Campbell's Soup images differing only by the label indicating the nature of the condensed. The original series included 32 paintings on canvas. Warhol selects ten of them in his 1968 Soups, printed in the same quantity as above on 89 x 59 cm sheets.
He still has much reserve! A new edition made in the following year offers ten other soups, this time with a few fancy graphics. The labelling is new but this operation is otherwise strictly identical to the previous edition.
A complete copy of each of these sets was sold by Christie's on 13 November 2014. The results including premium were $ 2.2M for Marilyn, $ 550K for Campbell's Soup I and $ 490K for Campbell's Soup II.
Another complete set of the 1968 Campbell's Soup I is estimated $ 400K for sale on May 17 in Los Angeles by Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA), lot 180. See it also on LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
This new phase in Andy's career began in 1967. He edited in 250 copies numbered 1 to 250 and 26 artist's proofs numbered A to Z ten identical portraits of Marilyn in ten different colors, on 91 x 91 cm sheets.
The success is encouraging. He retrieved his masterpiece of minimalist figurative art from 1962 : Campbell's Soup images differing only by the label indicating the nature of the condensed. The original series included 32 paintings on canvas. Warhol selects ten of them in his 1968 Soups, printed in the same quantity as above on 89 x 59 cm sheets.
He still has much reserve! A new edition made in the following year offers ten other soups, this time with a few fancy graphics. The labelling is new but this operation is otherwise strictly identical to the previous edition.
A complete copy of each of these sets was sold by Christie's on 13 November 2014. The results including premium were $ 2.2M for Marilyn, $ 550K for Campbell's Soup I and $ 490K for Campbell's Soup II.
Another complete set of the 1968 Campbell's Soup I is estimated $ 400K for sale on May 17 in Los Angeles by Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA), lot 180. See it also on LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
1972 The Perfect Face by Chuck Close
2012 Unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Perfectionist photographer, hyperrealist painter, Chuck Close understood that he would have to overcome some ordeals before success. He became a portraitist. For anyone other than him, it would have been a commonplace.
Consciously or not, at least in the early stages, the artist thus shared his own universe, different from the others: he issuffering from a psychophysiological abnormality that prevents him to recognize faces.
Close specializes in very large format well above life size, since a normal vision does not suit his purpose. He assembles close-up photos of his sitter, each one dealing with a different part of the face. His painting reveals thegrain of the film, and later the pixel. He even tried Daguerreotypy.
We do not usually see faces on that way. Close's communication is successful: all his friends look similar, and look like him.
In 1972, Chuck Close made his first print. He chose the mezzotint process, unused for centuries but once renownedfor its difficulty and quality. Even more demanding than the ancient masters, Close required a very large size. It was atechnological challenge.
The portrait of Keith is his first mezzotint work. The huge plate, 113 x 89 cm, did not work beyond the 18th copy.One of them, on a 130 x 107 cm sheet, is estimated $ 600K, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 2. Here is the link to the catalog.
Perfectionist photographer, hyperrealist painter, Chuck Close understood that he would have to overcome some ordeals before success. He became a portraitist. For anyone other than him, it would have been a commonplace.
Consciously or not, at least in the early stages, the artist thus shared his own universe, different from the others: he issuffering from a psychophysiological abnormality that prevents him to recognize faces.
Close specializes in very large format well above life size, since a normal vision does not suit his purpose. He assembles close-up photos of his sitter, each one dealing with a different part of the face. His painting reveals thegrain of the film, and later the pixel. He even tried Daguerreotypy.
We do not usually see faces on that way. Close's communication is successful: all his friends look similar, and look like him.
In 1972, Chuck Close made his first print. He chose the mezzotint process, unused for centuries but once renownedfor its difficulty and quality. Even more demanding than the ancient masters, Close required a very large size. It was atechnological challenge.
The portrait of Keith is his first mezzotint work. The huge plate, 113 x 89 cm, did not work beyond the 18th copy.One of them, on a 130 x 107 cm sheet, is estimated $ 600K, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 2. Here is the link to the catalog.
1973 The Many Flags of Jasper Johns
2009 SOLD 386 K$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
In 1954, a young man of 24, familiar of the New York avant-gardes and close to Rauschenberg, decides to start his career with a bang. His name is Jasper Johns.
The subject of his first painting is the US flag, copied on a canvas in full frame with no border. The artist resolutely ignores the abstraction. He does not use the object, so his art is not a ready made. This painting shows an object that everyone can recognize, with a technique that the next generation would have described as hyperrealistic.
Since then, Johns has provided many variants of his original idea. In 1973, he produced a painting showing two similar flags, side by side vertically, identical except that one is painted in oil and the other in encaustic. This large size canvas, 133 x 176 cm, was sold $ 7.15 million including charges by Christie's in May 1999.
In 1973 also, he edited to 72 copies (including 7 artist's proofs) an engraving on the same theme, 70 x 89 cm, which is now considered one of the finest achievements of his printed work.
Coincidence: the serial number 36 is on sale at Christie's on October 28 and number 60 the next day October 29 at Sotheby's. The two copies will be auctioned in New York, with the same estimate: 350 K$.
The image of Christie's is shared by AuctionPublicity. We note with amusement that, against the artist intention, the flags are represented horizontally. I leave you to control the number of stars and stripes.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
I expected no surprises. Here is one, and it is bad: Christie's did not find a buyer for their copy.
2
Here is now the answer from Sotheby's: K $ 386 including premium.
In 1954, a young man of 24, familiar of the New York avant-gardes and close to Rauschenberg, decides to start his career with a bang. His name is Jasper Johns.
The subject of his first painting is the US flag, copied on a canvas in full frame with no border. The artist resolutely ignores the abstraction. He does not use the object, so his art is not a ready made. This painting shows an object that everyone can recognize, with a technique that the next generation would have described as hyperrealistic.
Since then, Johns has provided many variants of his original idea. In 1973, he produced a painting showing two similar flags, side by side vertically, identical except that one is painted in oil and the other in encaustic. This large size canvas, 133 x 176 cm, was sold $ 7.15 million including charges by Christie's in May 1999.
In 1973 also, he edited to 72 copies (including 7 artist's proofs) an engraving on the same theme, 70 x 89 cm, which is now considered one of the finest achievements of his printed work.
Coincidence: the serial number 36 is on sale at Christie's on October 28 and number 60 the next day October 29 at Sotheby's. The two copies will be auctioned in New York, with the same estimate: 350 K$.
The image of Christie's is shared by AuctionPublicity. We note with amusement that, against the artist intention, the flags are represented horizontally. I leave you to control the number of stars and stripes.
POST SALE COMMENTS
1
I expected no surprises. Here is one, and it is bad: Christie's did not find a buyer for their copy.
2
Here is now the answer from Sotheby's: K $ 386 including premium.
1981 Myths
2014 SOLD for $ 1.08M by Christie's
After the Athletes series of canvases started in 1977, the prints edited by Andy Warhol entered a new phase. Each portfolio still consists of ten prints in a unique format 96 x 96 cm, but the set covers a theme with images different from each other. Colors may vary from one copy to another. An example is the Myths series from 1981.
Myth is thus made of ten screenprints in colors, for a total edition of 200 plus 30 artist's proofs. There were also 30 sets of trial proofs prepared before the edition for the selection of the colors.
The complete set T.P. 17/30 was sold by Christie's on November 13, 2014 for $ 1.08M from a lower estimate of $ 500K, lot 387.
The complete set 72/200 including nine with diamond dust, was sold for $ 870K by Sotheby's on October 22, 2020 from a lower estimate of $ 500K, lot 22.
Myth is thus made of ten screenprints in colors, for a total edition of 200 plus 30 artist's proofs. There were also 30 sets of trial proofs prepared before the edition for the selection of the colors.
The complete set T.P. 17/30 was sold by Christie's on November 13, 2014 for $ 1.08M from a lower estimate of $ 500K, lot 387.
The complete set 72/200 including nine with diamond dust, was sold for $ 870K by Sotheby's on October 22, 2020 from a lower estimate of $ 500K, lot 22.
1987 The Deafman's Gaze
2020 SOLD for £ 275K including premium
In the last months of his life, Andy Warhol still finds themes recognizable by everyone. The portrait of Lenin, in painting in 1986 and in prints in 1987, is stylized to the extreme. Next comes Beethoven. After Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange in 1971, this series is an additional reference to the composer's modernity.
Warhol uses the portrait of Beethoven painted by Stieler in 1820, after the first four years of total deafness of the musician. The face is powerful under the lion's mane. The gaze is incisive and the closed mouth is both impatient and grumpy.
Stieler had shown Beethoven writing the Missa Solemnis. Screen printing allows an easy impression of the music staves over the portrait. Warhol chooses the Moonlight Sonata.
His Beethoven consists of four prints in different colors on a black background. This set is edited in 1987 in an individual image format 102 x 102 cm, in 60 copies numbered from 1 to 60 plus 20 copies numbered from I to XX including 15 artist's proofs.
The complete set number III/XX was sold for £ 300K including premium by Phillips on June 7, 2017 over a lower estimate of £ 120K. The set 51/60 is estimated £ 200K for sale by Sotheby's in London on March 19, lot 188. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Warhol uses the portrait of Beethoven painted by Stieler in 1820, after the first four years of total deafness of the musician. The face is powerful under the lion's mane. The gaze is incisive and the closed mouth is both impatient and grumpy.
Stieler had shown Beethoven writing the Missa Solemnis. Screen printing allows an easy impression of the music staves over the portrait. Warhol chooses the Moonlight Sonata.
His Beethoven consists of four prints in different colors on a black background. This set is edited in 1987 in an individual image format 102 x 102 cm, in 60 copies numbered from 1 to 60 plus 20 copies numbered from I to XX including 15 artist's proofs.
The complete set number III/XX was sold for £ 300K including premium by Phillips on June 7, 2017 over a lower estimate of £ 120K. The set 51/60 is estimated £ 200K for sale by Sotheby's in London on March 19, lot 188. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1994 The Blonde with Blue Hair
2016 SOLD for $ 450K including premium
From 1993 the figures of blonde women mark both the synthesis and the ultimate development in the art of Roy Lichtenstein.
Same as in his beginnings he uses images taken from comic books and dots imitating the printing pattern. Nudity is new in his art, suitable to confront the wave of the body shape with a rigorous geometric construction.
These theoretical advances provide as usual an opportunity for printed editions. In association with Tyler Graphics in New York, the artist uses the technique of relief print in which a mechanical preparation of the paper defines depressed areas that will be saved from ink.
The best print of this series is a nude in bust length with blue hair done in 1994 in two states of the same size: 130 x 80 cm image on 147 x 95 cm sheet. It is gradually becoming one of the icons of modern engraving and its prices at auction rise steadily.
The state I is printed in 10 copies plus 6 artist's proofs. The lines are blue and the flatness of the hair is not colored. Serial number 6/10 was sold for $ 320K including premium by Christie's on October 30, 2013.
In the other state the lines are black. The uniformly sky blue hair draws the attention to the head rather than to the breasts, supporting the intention of the artist to provide an image of the modern young woman. This state is edited in 40 copies plus 12 artist's proofs.
The number 23/40 was sold for $ 580K including premium by Christie's on October 24, 2014 over a lower estimate of $ 150K. The 16/40 is estimated $ 300K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on April 20, lot 27.
Same as in his beginnings he uses images taken from comic books and dots imitating the printing pattern. Nudity is new in his art, suitable to confront the wave of the body shape with a rigorous geometric construction.
These theoretical advances provide as usual an opportunity for printed editions. In association with Tyler Graphics in New York, the artist uses the technique of relief print in which a mechanical preparation of the paper defines depressed areas that will be saved from ink.
The best print of this series is a nude in bust length with blue hair done in 1994 in two states of the same size: 130 x 80 cm image on 147 x 95 cm sheet. It is gradually becoming one of the icons of modern engraving and its prices at auction rise steadily.
The state I is printed in 10 copies plus 6 artist's proofs. The lines are blue and the flatness of the hair is not colored. Serial number 6/10 was sold for $ 320K including premium by Christie's on October 30, 2013.
In the other state the lines are black. The uniformly sky blue hair draws the attention to the head rather than to the breasts, supporting the intention of the artist to provide an image of the modern young woman. This state is edited in 40 copies plus 12 artist's proofs.
The number 23/40 was sold for $ 580K including premium by Christie's on October 24, 2014 over a lower estimate of $ 150K. The 16/40 is estimated $ 300K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on April 20, lot 27.
