By Carter B. Horsley While Sotheby's evening Contemporary Art auction this fall was strong on Abstract Expressionism, this evening Post-War & Contemporary Art auction is strong on Pop Art.
Both auctions were highlighted by a solid group of works from one collection, Thomas Weisel's at Sotheby's, and the Israel Phoenix Insurance Company's at Christie's. The Israel Phoenix group includes works by Jasper Johns (b. 1930), Barnett Newman (1905-1970), Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925), Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Eva Hesse (1936-1970), Agnes Martin (b. 1912), Robert Ryman (b. 1930) and Gerhard Richter (b. 1932). The company's art collection was conceived in the early 1980s by Joseph Hackmey, the company's managing director, and son of David Hackmey, the company's chairman who founded it in 1949. Accoprding to the catalogue, the collection "comprises one of the world's most comprehensive grouping [s] of Israeli art. The company was sold in 2002 and the new management decided to sell the works in this auction.
Lot 44, "O Through 9," is an excellent oil on canvas, 54 by 41 ½ inches by Jasper Johns that was executed in 1961. It is a grayish version of a series of five similar paintings that superimpose the ten Arabic numbers. According to the catalogue, "this version is the most painterly version of the series" and one in the Hirschhorn Museum is highlighted with color, one in the Whitney Museum of American Art is highlighted with muted colors, one in the Tate Gallery is vibrantly colored and another in a private collection "highlights the use of color through painted versions of the color's names." This painting was once in the collections of S. I. Newhouse and Graham Gund and has an estimate of $6,000,000 to $8,000,000. It sold for $9,909,500 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. The catalogue provides the following commentary: "Johns's use of conventional things such as flags or targets and his use of non-hierarchical systems such as the alphabet or numbers formed the basic subject matter of his art during the 1950s. By superimposing each number on top of the other in 0 Through 9 however, Johns has developed his painterly subversion of these progressive systems further and to the point where the logical progression of the numbers 0 to 9 becomes self-defeating. At the same time, the logical sequence of numbers one on top of the other has become a visual as well as an historical record of Johns's painterly process. Beginning with the number `0' and working through the sequence to the point where the painting of number `9' completes the painting, this process allows Johns to build up the painting through a series of progressive and pre-determined stages. At each stage, Johns is forced to make a certain number of additions and yet at the same time is free - due to the increasing abstraction of the image to make a number of aesthetic decisions of his own. The process of painting has become an interactive game between the artist and his subject, and in the end, it is the nature of the game and of the process of painting that the finished work emphasizes rather than its systematic structure or beginnings. Through the process of being made the painting becomes something more than the sum of its parts. It becomes not only a visual record of its own creation but also an enigma, a manifestation of the mystery of art and the act of creation. Johns has createdan image that shimmers with life, with contradiction and with inconsistency. Its myriad of forms and shapes seemingly pointing to the infinite variety of possibility within even the most mundane of things that we take for granted."
The sale total was $66,921,785, nicely above the pre-sale low estimate of $60 million. The pre-sale high estimate was $105 million. Of the 75 offered lots, 62 sold, or 83 percent, a good ratio that was higher than Sotheby's the night before but a bit lower than that achieved by Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg earlier in the week.
After the long sale, Christopher Burge, the auctioneer described himself as "exhausted but happy" and said "it was a fantastic evening." He noted that while most of the buyers were private and 63 percent were American, 19 percent were European, 16 percent were Asian and 2 percent were 'other,' a strong Asian showing."
Another star of the Israel Phoenix group is Lot 14, "White Fire I," a 47 7/8-by-59 ¾-inch oil on canvas by Barnett Newman (1905-1970). Executed in 1954, this painting has an estimate of $4,000,000 to $6,000,000. It sold for $3,859,500, breaking the artist's former auction record of $3,027,500. The catalogue provides the following commentary: "White Fire I is the first of four paintings with the title White Fire which Newman painted at different points in his career. Although these four works share the same title this does not presuppose any formal similarity. Each is very different from the other. The title White Fire is a mystical term that relates directly to the Torah. As such it clearly invokes a profound sense of the spiritual that Newman sought to instill in the viewers of his paintings. This is not to say that Newman's was a religious art.Newman remained at heart an atheist whose existentialist view of life was permeated with a deeply spiritual sense of the uniqueness of man. He sought an art that invoked a sense of the sublime miracle of existence. As he had co-written with fellow artists Adolph Gottlieb and Mark Rothko in a letter to the New York Times in 1943, `There is no such thing as good painting about nothing. We assert that the subject is crucial and only that subject-matter is valid which is tragic and timeless.' Through the precise and exact painterly science that Newman mastered in which the flat color of the surface of his paintings is formed in direct proportion to the impressive scale of his works, Newman forged a visual language that aimed to provoke an existential sense of awe and wonderment in the viewer. Because of the exact nature of this science, a Newman painting can never be understood in reproduction. Its scale in relation to the viewer is crucial and the work has to be experienced at first hand. Despite their imposing scale Newman wished the viewers of his paintings to view his work from close to immerse themselves in the field of his color so that their vertical physical presence found an echo in the formal properties of the painting. Towards this end the `zip' the vertical strip of color that divides and yet at the same time makes sense of the work's field of color, was all-important. The `zip' is a singular vertical form that permeates the void suggested by the color field and asserts a striking dynamic presence that the viewer is unable to ignore. Essentially a line of vitality and energy that seems to assert the mystery of existence and the dynamism of life, its unassailable verticality in the midst of vast field of color often sparks a mystical connection with the verticality of viewer standing in front of the painting. In White Fire I Newman manages to attain a translucent sense of brightness."
Gerhard Richter is represented in the Israel Phoenix group by Lot 59, "Abstraktes Bild," a 69 by 98 ½ inch oil on canvas. Executed in 1992, this extremely fine abstraction of great depth and sensuous dark tones has an estimate of $700,000 to $900,000. It sold for $1,054,500. This auction also has a group of works from the Rita and Toby Schreiber collection including a fine Morris Louis (1912-1962), a good Donald Judd (1928-1994) and a great Alexander Calder.
A luscious, large oil on canvas by Morris Louis, Lot 21, has an estimate of $700,000 to $900,000 and sold for $1,659,500, breaking the artist's former auction record of $1,045,000. The 99-by-141 1/2-inch acrylic on canvas was executed in 1959-1960.
Lot 9, "Untitled," is a handsome Donald Judd sculpture composed of ten copper units, each 6 by 27 by 24 inches, stacked vertically with 6 inch spaces between them. Executed in 1969, it has an estimate of $900,000 to $1,200,000. It sold for $1,439,500.
Lot 19, "S-Shaped Vine," is a magnificent black mobile by Alexander Calder that is 98 1/2 by 69 inches and was executed in 1946. It has an estimate of $1,200,000 to $1,600,000 and sold for $2,594,500.
Other auction highlights include works by Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Ed Ruscha (b. 1937), Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) and David Hockney (b. 1937).
Lot 30, "Happy Tears," is a 38-inch-square magna on canvas by Roy Lichtenstein. The cover illustration of the auction's catalogue, it was executed in 1964, it has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000. It sold for $7,159,500, breaking for the artist's former auction record of $6,050,000.
Despite its relative success, this auction, like Sotheby's the night before, had its inconsistencies. Lot 49, "Woman Reading," was a large, handsome and very strong painting by Lichtenstein. It had an estimate of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 and failed to sell and was passed at $950,000. The catalogue reproduced a fine study drawing for this painting that indicated that the original composition did not cut off the ends of her foot and hand.
Andy Warhol's "Big Electric Chair," Lot 28, shown above, has an estimate of $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 and sold for $4,959,500. Lot 8, "Self-Portrait," a 1964 double portrait of the artist, has an estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,500,000 and sold for $2,869,500.
Ed Ruscha's works have soared recently and Lot 29 is a particularly bright work in which the artist painted the word "desire" in champagne color with trompe l'oeil caviar. It had an estimate of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 and sold for $1,769,500.
Lot 33, "Stroll," by Jean-Michel Basquiat, an acrylic and oilstick on canvas mounted on tied wood supports, has an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It sold for $$779,500.
Lot 17, "Mademoiselle Néon," by Jean Dubuffet, is a very vibrant and colorful oil and sand on canvas that was executed in 1948. It has an estimate of $900,000 to $1,200,000 and sold for $1,109,500.
Lot 51, "Portrait of Nick Wilder," by David Hockey, a 72-inch-square acrylic on canvas, has an estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,500,000. It was painted in 1966. It sold for $2,869,500, breaking the artist's former auction record of $2,200,000.
Lot 46, "Calliope (muse of epic poetry)," by Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), is a very bold, 72-by-60-inch oil on canvas, Executed in 1963, it has an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000 and sold for $570,000.
Lot 60, "Nettle," is a 1960 "combine" painting by Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925). It has an estimate of $1,200,000 to $1,800,000. It sold for $1,109,500. Lot 15, "No. 18," is a 55 ½-by-47 7/8-inch oil on canvas by Mark Rothko (1903-1970) that was executed in 1948. It has an estimate of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. It sold for $1,219,500. Unlike his classic canvases of a few horizontal bands of color this dark red work has many shapes and forms. Lot 41 is an untitled work by Eva Hesse (1935-1970). The 8-inch-square sculpt-metal over steel washers and wood was executed in 1967 and has an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000. It sold for $405,000. Lot 52 is a subtle and large work by Agnes Martin (b. 1912). Entitled "Untitled #14," is a 72-inch-square acrylic and graphite on canvas. Painted in 1980, it has an estimate of $700,000 to $800,000. It sold for $1,054,500. Lot 53 is a very handsome untitled work by Robert Ryman (b. 1930). The 10 ¼-inch-square oil on linen was painted in 1965 and has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $383,500.