Today, We Share With You Our Auction Selection From The Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale at Christie's New York
(May. 17, 2024)
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HELEN FRANKENTHALER (1928-2011)
CATS GREEN, 1967
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
44 ½ X 25 ½ IN. (112 X 64.8 CM.)
“What concerns me when I work, is not whether the picture is a landscape, or whether it's pastoral, or whether somebody will see a sunset in it. What concerns me is - did I make a beautiful picture?” Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler was an American painter and printmaker known for her unique method of staining canvas with thin veils of color. Her practice can be seen as a bridge between the Abstract Expressionists of the 1950s and the Color Field painters of the 1960s. – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 250,000 – USD 350,000
SAM GILLIAM (1933-2022)
UNTITLED, 2021
WATERCOLOR ON WASHI PAPER
71 ½ X 39 ¼ IN. (180.6 X 99.3 CM.)
Sam Gilliam was an African-American painter associated with the Washington Color School movement. Gilliam’s hallmark “drape paintings,” are regarded as major contributions to the development of abstract painting in the United States. “We need to continue to think about the whole of what art is, what it does,” he once explained. “Even though my work is not overtly political, I believe art has the ability to call attention to politics and to remind us of this potential through its presence.” – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 120,000 - USD 180,0000
FRANK STELLA (1936-2024)
MOULTONBORO IV, 1966
FLUORESCENT ALKYD AND EPOXY ON SHAPED CANVAS
109 ½ X 120 ¼ IN. (277.1 X 305.1 CM.)
Frank Stella is an American artist best known for his use of geometric patterns and shapes in creating both paintings and sculptures. Arguably one of the most influential living American artists, Stella’s works utilize the formal properties of shape, color, and composition to explore non-literary narratives. “Abstraction didn't have to be limited to a kind of rectilinear geometry or even a simple curve geometry. It could have a geometry that had a narrative impact. In other words, you could tell a story with the shapes,” he explained. – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 400,000 - USD 600,000
JOHN CHAMBERLAIN (1927-2011)
EPIC HAIRLINE III, 2006
PAINTED AND CHROMIUM-PLATED STEEL
13 ½ X 14 5/8 X 13 ¾ IN. (34.3 X 37.2 X 34.9 CM.)
"The definition of sculpture for me is stance and attitude. All sculpture takes a stance. If it dances on one foot, or, even if it dances while sitting down, it has a light-on-its-feet stance. What I do doesn’t look like heavy car parts laid up against a wall." – John Chamberlain
John Chamberlain was an influential American sculptor best known for his large-scale, crumpled scrap metal works. – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 120,000 - USD 180,000
RICHARD TUTTLE (B. 1941)
SCHEGGIA I-XVI, 1977
GOUACHE AND ACRYLIC GESSO ON HOMASOTE, IN 16 PARTS
EACH: 1 ½ X 3/4 X 1/2 IN. (3.8 X 2 X 1.4 CM.)
APPROXIMATE INSTALLATION DIMENSIONS: 12 ½ X 56 ¼ X 1/2 IN. (31.7 X 142.5 X 1.4 CM.)
“If you’re going to be a visual artist, then there has to be something in the work that accounts for the possibility of the invisible, the opposite of the visual experience.” Richard Tuttle
Richard Tuttle is an influential contemporary American artist. Working across media and disciplines, his works are characterized by their thoughtful subtlety. Tuttle’s compositions are formed through the carefully considered relationships between form, color, and material, generating a universe of intimate connections bridging the gaps between art, life, and thought.
– Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 15,000 - USD 20,000
JAMES TURRELL (B. 1943)
2-O-R, 2005
HOLOGRAM AND GLASS CONSTRUCTION
23 1/8 X 34 1/8 IN. (58.7 X 86.6 CM.)
James Turrell is an American artist known for his large-scale, immersive light installations. Interested in all aspects of human perception, among the most famous and ambitious of Turrell’s works is Roden Crater (1977–present), an ongoing project of transforming a natural Arizona crater into a naked-eye observatory. “My work is about your seeing,” he once explained. “There is a rich tradition in painting of work about light, but it is not light—it is the record of seeing. My material is light, and it is responsive to your seeing.” – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 50,000 - USD 70,000
ROBERT RYMAN (1930-2019)
UNTITLED, SURFACE VEIL 13 1/2" X 11 3/4”, CIRCA 1970
FIBERGLASS: 10 X 9 7/8 IN. (25.4 X 24.6 CM.)
WAXED PAPER: 13 ½ X 12 5/8 IN. (33.2 X 31.7 CM.)
Robert Ryman was an American painter known for his rigorous formal investigation of monochromatic painting. Ryman’s iconic works examine the limited palette of white on white, painted on a variety of surfaces that include linen, fiberglass, vinyl, jute, and wallpaper. His abstract paintings never attempt to create an image, and instead present endless variations of paint as subject matter in and of itself. – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 300,000 - USD 500,000
DAN FLAVIN (1933-1996)
UNTITLED (TO ILEANA AND MICHAEL SONNABEND), 1970
BLUE, YELLOW AND PINK FLUORESCENT LIGHT
WIDTH: 96 IN. (243.8 CM.)
“I like art as thought better than art as work. I've always maintained this. It's important to me that I don't get my hands dirty. It's not because I'm instinctively lazy. It's a declaration: art is thought.” – Dan Flavin
Dan Flavin was an American artist and pioneer of Minimalism, best known for his seminal installations of light fixtures. His illuminated sculptures offer a rigorous formal and conceptual investigation of space and light, wherein the artist arranged commercial fluorescent bulbs into differing geometric compositions. – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 250,000 - USD 350,000
AGNES MARTIN (1912-2004)
UNTITLED, 1985
SIGNED WITH THE ARTIST'S INITIALS 'AM' (LOWER RIGHT)
WATERCOLOR, RABBIT-SKIN GLUE WITH PIGMENT AND GRAPHITE ON PAPER
IMAGE: 9 X 9 in. (22.8 X 22.8 CM.)
SHEET: 12 X 12 in. (30.5 X 30.5 CM.)
Agnes Martin was an American-Canadian painter known for her pared-down geometric abstractions. In pale swathes of color lined with pencil, Martin’s art emerged out of the ethos of Abstract Expressionism while preceding Minimalism’s sparse intensity. “Nature is like parting a curtain, you go into it. I want to draw a certain response like this,” she once stated. “My paintings are about merging, about formlessness.” – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 60,000 - USD 80,000
ALIGHIERO BOETTI (1940-1994)
UNA PAROLA AL VENTO, DUE PAROLE AL VENTO, TRE PAROLE AL VENTO, 100 PAROLE AL VENTO (A WORD TO THE WIND, TWO WORDS TO THE WIND, THREE WORDS TO THE WIND, 100 WORDS TO THE WIND) 1989
SIGNED 'ALIGHIERO E BOETTI' (ON THE OVERLAP)
EMBROIDERY ON LINEN
33 ½ X 9 ¾ IN. (85 X 24.8 CM.)
Alighiero Boetti was an Italian Conceptual artist and member of the Arte Povera movement. He used a wide variety of materials for his work—including ball point pens and postal stamps—to make a series of maps and graphical charts of the world. – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 60,000 - USD 80,000
GEORG BASELITZ (B. 1938)
NACH UNTEN, 2016
SIGNED, TITLED AND DATED '2.VI.016 NACH UNTEN G BASELITZ' (ON THE REVERSE)
OIL ON CANVAS
122 X 78 ¾ IN. (310 X 200 CM.)
“I begin with an idea, but as I work, the picture takes over. Then there is the struggle between the idea I preconceived and the picture that fights for its own life.” Georg Baselitz
Georg Baselitz is a German artist known for his Neo-Expressionist paintings rendered with distinctive brushwork and often exhibited upside down. His practice, which includes sculpture and printmaking, explores what it means to be a German artist in the postwar era, and is characterized by bold colors, forceful brushstrokes, and the incorporation of folkloric or archetypal subject matter. - Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 400,000 - USD 600,000
ROBERT MANGOLD (B. 1937)
FOUR FIGURES (I, II, III, IV), 1996
SIGNED AND DATED 'R. MANGOLD 19960 (LOWER LEFT OF EACH SHEET);
INSCRIBED RESPECTIVELY 'I-II-III-IV' (LOWER RIGHT OF EACH SHEET)
CONTE' CRAYON, BLACK PENCIL AND GRAPHITE ON PAPER, IN FOUR PARTS
EACH: 41 ½ X 29 ½ IN. (105.4 X 74.9 CM.)
Rhythmic and illusionistic tensions are evident throughout Four Figures (I, II, III, IV). The title signals the four separate arched windows in which gesturally twined lines live, creating what can be described as a choreographed interplay of geometrical visual elements.
According to Mangold, the Four Figure series eventually revealed itself as a seminal body of work within the realm of minimalist art. Consisting of geometrically precise paintings, this series explores the relationship between form, color, and space through the repetition of basic shapes such as squares, rectangles, and circles. Mangold's meticulous attention to detail and his exploration of subtle variations within a strict formal framework imbue these works with a sense of quiet contemplation, inviting viewers to engage with the fundamental elements of visual perception. – Christie's Lot Essay
ESTIMATE: USD 200,000 - USD 300,000
STERLING RUBY (B. 1972)
WIDW. LIXIVIANT, 2020
SIGNED WITH THE ARTIST'S INITIALS AND DATED 'SR20' (ON THE BACKING BOARD)
ACRYLIC, OIL, ELASTIC, CARDBOARD AND TREATED FABRIC ON CANVAS
84 X 48 IN. (213.4 X 121.9 CM.)
Sterling Ruby is a contemporary American artist. Working in a multidisciplinary practice, Ruby often pulls from a wide range of socio-economic topics to create politically charged work. – Artnet
ESTIMATE: USD 80,000 - USD 120,000
CHARLINE VON HEYL (B. 1960)
UNTITLED, 2006
SIGNED, INSCRIBED AND DATED "'WALTZ IN THE BRANCHES"
CHARLINE VON HEYL 2006' (ON THE REVERSE)
ACRYLIC AND OIL ON CANVAS
86 X 82 IN. (218.4 X 208.3 CM.)
I will run with the painting, like it’s a dog on a leash, chasing and almost falling behind it. That is also the space where I forget myself, where painting becomes something that I don’t control, neither emotionally nor intellectually” - Charline von Heyl (J. Farago, “An Interview with Charline von Heyl”, Even Magazine, no. 7, 2017, online). Christie's Lot Essay
ESTIMATE: USD 300,000 - USD 500,000
OSCAR MURILLO (B. 1986)
MANIFESTATION, 2020-2021
SIGNED TWICE AND DATED TWICE 'OSCAR MURILLO 2021 OSCAR MURILLO 2021'
(ON THE REVERSE)
OIL, OILSTICK, COTTON THREAD, GRAPHITE, SPRAY PAINT
AND PRINTED PAPER COLLAGE ON CANVAS AND LINEN
47 ¼ X 45 ¼ IN. (120 X 115 CM.)
Oscar Murillo leaves his calligraphic, mixed-media canvases on his studio floor to gather dirt and dust; the resulting paintings explore incompletion, transformation, and the realities of maintaining a studio practice. Murillo repurposes discarded scraps of previous works, turning his gestural abstractions into layered palimpsests that meditate on time and process. The artist’s inventive, itinerant practice also spans drawing, sculpture, installation, video, and performance and often considers notions of circulation and globalization. – Artsy
ESTIMATE: USD 50,000 – USD 70,000
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