Sotheby’s New York has announced the 17 November Contemporary Art Evening Auction . The sale commences with a selection of works from The Triumph of Painting: The Steven & Ann Ames Collection , a spectacular single - owner sequence comprised of masterworks of recent art history. In addition to superlative examples from titans of the 20th Century including Gerhard Richter, Willem de Kooning, David Hockney, Andy Warhol, and Jean- Michel Basquiat. The exhibition opens to the public 4 November 2016,
Richter’s unparalleled genius for abstraction, and his ability to compose, combine and balance color, is beautifully illustrated in
A.B., Still from 1986 (estimate $20/30 million) and
A.B., St. James from 1988 (estimate $20/30 million)
while de Kooning’s mastery and contribution to Abstract Expressionism is showcased in his
Untitled oil on canvas from 1976 -77 (estimate $8/12 million). I
The sale will offer a rare and important work by “The Radiant Child” of the art world, Jean -Michel Basquiat.
Jean - Michel Basquiat Brother’s Sausage 1983 48 by 187 ½ in., 121.9 by 476.2 cm.
Composed by the artist in1983, at the height of his career, Brother’s Sausage is a frieze of six panels. Infused with themes of inequality, prejudice, wealth and corporate greed, the artwork incorporates many of the artist’s signature details – poetic expression and extensive layering. Featured on the cover of Basquiat’s catalogue raisonné, and formerly hung in the Parisian home of Enrico Navarra, publisher of the catalogue raisonné and champion of the artist, Brother’s Sausage comes to auction this November with an estimate of $15/20 million.
Measuring 72 by 144 inches, Woldgate Woods, 24, 25, and 26 October 2006 is a monumental work by a pillar of post-war British art, David Hockney. Making use of six canvases, Woldgate Woods beautifully captures the light and color of the Yorkshire landscape. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in the 2012 blockbuster exhibition, David Hockney: A Bigger Picture , the sale of this large-scale painting comes ten years after Sotheby’s redefined the market for the artist with
The Splash .
With an estimate of $9/12 million, Sotheby’s is once again set to establish a new record for Hockney at auction.
From what has been called one of the most important series of his career,
Andy Warhol’s Self - Portrait (Fright Wig) is an iconic and enduring image of the artist, captured just months prior to his untimely death in February 1987 (estimate $20/30 million). Among the last works ever produced by Warhol, Self- Portrait (Fright Wig) is also striking for its monumental scale, monochromatic elegance and unmatched sharpness of its silkscreened image.
