David Hockney’s double portrait of Geldzahler, a
curator at The Met, and his partner, painter Christopher Scott, helped
to secure his reputation. In March this masterpiece from the Barney A.
Ebsworth Collection will be offered in London.
David Hockney (b. 1937), Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, 1969. Acrylic on canvas, 84 x 120 in (214 x 305 cm). Estimate on request. Offered in Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 6 March 2019 at Christie’s in London. Artwork © David Hockney
The series, which began with paintings of the English writer Christopher Isherwood and his partner, the American artist Don Bachardy, and the American collectors Fred and Marcia Weisman, has come to be known as Hockney’s ‘Double Portraits’.
Each depicting a pair of sitters (mostly absent from one another’s attention), they are set in domestic locations and painted in the bold, Pop Art palette that Hockney adopted after his arrival in California in the early Sixties.
Inspired by this newfound discourse, Hockney was already planning a third double portrait by October, depicting his friend, the influential curator Henry Geldzahler, and his partner Christopher Scott.
Complete story
‘It’s
a watershed painting’, said Geldzahler. ‘In this picture David finally
gave up the idea of being a “modern artist” and decided, instead, to be
the best artist he could be’ (H. Geldzahler, quoted in P. Richard, ‘The
Painter and His Subject’, The Washington Post, 30 March 1979, p. 8).
LONDON – On
6 March 2019, Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction
will be led by David Hockney’s intimate yet monumentally-scaled 1969
portrait of Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott,
from the collection of Barney A. Ebsworth (estimate in excess of £30
million). Standing among Hockney’s most celebrated works, Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott
will mark a fitting conclusion to the collection of Barney A. Ebsworth,
which has thus far achieved a running total of $323,508,250. The
painting will be unveiled and on view in New York from 8 to 12 February
before going on view in London from 2 to 6 March 2019. The Post-War and
Contemporary Art Evening Auction is a key part of 20th Century at Christie’s, a season of sales taking place in London from 22 February to 7 March 2019.
Marc Porter, Chairman, Christie’s Americas, remarked: “It is an honour to present Hockney’s double portrait of Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott,
which is not only an extraordinary example from the artist’s most
celebrated series, it is also a poignant representation of one of the 20th
century’s greatest curators. Hockney captured Geldzahler at a
particularly decisive moment when the curator was organizing his most
revolutionary exhibition. Officially titled New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970, the exhibition received such a high degree of fanfare that it would soon become universally known as Henry’s Show. 2019 will mark the 50th
anniversary of that survey, which would ultimately alter the course of
both Geldzahler’s career and art history as we now know it, making the
sale of this painting extremely timely. Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott was
among Barney Ebsworth’s most treasured works of art, and marks one of
the rare exceptions to Mr. Ebsworth’s rule of only acquiring the work of
American Artists. The stunning success that this collection has
achieved thus far, speaks to the collector’s remarkable eye for quality,
and this work absolutely epitomizes that.”
Katharine Arnold, Head of Evening Sale, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s London, continued: “David
Hockney’s double portraits are undoubtedly some of the finest paintings
the artist ever realised. Created on a 7 by 10 foot format, these
paintings invite the viewer to enter the intimate settings of some of
Hockney’s closest friends. In Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, we meet the celebrated curator and his partner in their 7th
avenue apartment in New York City. What strikes me as extraordinary is
Hockney’s use of naturalistic technique. Here Hockney has mastered paint
to conjure up glass in four different ways: the glass window looking
out onto the cityscape, Geldzahler’s neat reading spectacles, the modern
glass table with a beautiful glass vase of tulips. Reflection,
transparency and light are Hockney’s subjects. Structured like a
devotional triptych, the intimately observed composition comprises a
blush pink Art Deco sofa from Geldzahler’s living room, the view from
Scott’s study, the glass table from Hockney’s studio in London and the
signature vase of tulips, often interpreted as symbolising the artist
himself. An unspoken narrative exists between the two lovers, which adds
the element of human drama so characteristic of Hockney’s greatest
work. Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott will appear at auction for the first time since 1992 and follows the record set for Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) in New York in November.”
Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott
is a glowing meditation on human and visual relationships. Hockney’s
closest friend Henry Geldzahler – the legendary curator, critic and king
of the New York art world – dominates the centre of the composition,
framed by soaring skyscrapers. Christopher Scott, his then-boyfriend,
hovers to the right like a fleeting apparition. Painted in 1969, it is
the third work in the career-defining series of seven double portraits
that Hockney created between 1968 and 1975. With four held in museum
collections, these seven-by-ten-foot canvases represent the culmination
of the artist’s naturalistic style. Another example from this series, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures),
was sold at Christie’s New York in November 2018 for $90.3 million,
setting a new world auction record for any work by a living artist.
Though
focused on Geldzahler and Scott, the work ultimately celebrates the
relationship between Geldzahler and Hockney: two artistic giants at the
heights of their powers. Geldzahler stares out from the canvas like an
icon at the centre of an altarpiece, observing the painter’s every move.
Hockney’s return gaze is palpable in the work’s sharp, clear
perspective, and seemingly affirmed by the addition of tulips – his
favourite flower, and a deeply personal motif. The pair met in Andy
Warhol’s studio in 1963, and quickly became friends. At the time of the
painting, Geldzahler – a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art – was
working on his landmark exhibition New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970, which
quickly came to be known as “Henry’s Show”. This revolutionary survey
of contemporary American art would ignite his career, leading one
journalist to describe him as ‘the most powerful and controversial art
curator alive’. 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of
Geldzahler’s landmark exhibition. Hockney, too, was on the brink of
international acclaim, buoyed by the success of the double portraits
that he had already completed.
The
work’s provenance, along with its extensive exhibition history, is
exceptional. In 1969, it was unveiled in Hockney’s solo show at André
Emmerich Gallery, where it was described as ‘truly amazing’ and ‘totally
hypnotizing’ by New York Magazine (J. Gruen, ‘Open Window’, New York Magazine,
12 May 1969, p. 57). It was acquired from the gallery that year by
Harry N. Abrams, the renowned art book publisher and distinguished
collector, and remained in his family collection until 1992. Under this
stewardship, it was featured in a number of significant exhibitions,
including Pop Art Redefined – one of the earliest shows at the newly-founded Hayward Gallery in 1969.
In
1997, it became one of the final pieces to enter the prestigious
Ebsworth collection, offering a rare British addition to one of the
world’s greatest assemblages of 20th century American art. Long admired by the collector, it took its place alongside Edward Hopper’s 1929 masterpiece Chop Suey,
as well as important works by artists such as Willem de Kooning,
Jackson Pollock and Georgia O’Keefe. For twenty-two years, the painting
hung in Ebsworth’s home, and starred in notable museum shows – most
recently Hockney’s eightieth birthday touring retrospective originating
at the Tate Britain, London (2017-18).
In
an auction world first, the sale of the Ebsworth Collection marks the
first time an art auction at this price level has been recorded on a
blockchain. Christie’s and Artory, a leading art-centric technology
provider, partnered to create a secure digital registry for the sale of
the Ebsworth Collection, in the spirit of the innovation and
entrepreneurship that guided Mr. Ebsworth career. The introduction of
this technology for this sale continues Christie’s legacy of leading the
industry by introducing technology innovations in the context of major
collections, for the ultimate benefit of our clients. David Hockney’s Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, will be recorded along with all other lots sold as part of the Ebsworth collection. Further details of the collaboration are included here.