By Michele Leight
Bright galleries and exquisite lighting set an up-beat mood at Sotheby's for desirable Post War and Contemporary Art set to go on the block at their Evening Sale on November 11, 2009 in New York. Illustrated above with Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art Sotheby's, is Andy Warhol's seminal "200 One Dollar Bills," of 1962, that has not been seen in public since Sotheby's sale of the Estate of Robert C. Scull in 1986.
Hard on the heels of the impressive result of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art Sale last week that realized $181,760,000 (estimate $115,000,000 to $163,000,000), there is plenty on offer here at tempting prices to entice even the most standoffish buyers. Artists whose work is represented in this sale include Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Joan Mitchell, Alexander Calder, David Hockney, Willem De Kooning, Donald Judd, among others, and several works by artists working today, including Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, and two stunning sculptures by Anish Kapoor.
Fifty-eight lots will be offered, leading with 20 from the Collection of Mary Schiller Myers and Louis S. Meyers that includes a luscious oil on canvas, "Untitled XV," Lot 15, (estimate $5,000,000 to $7,000,000), a formidable bronze "Large Torso," Lot 14, (estimate $4,000,000 to $6,000,000) both by Willem de Kooning, and Lot 19, an absolutely sumptuous and rare copper sculpture by Donald Judd, Lot 19,"Untitled," with an estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000.
Lot 15 sold for $6,130,500 and Lot 14, the de Kooning sculpture, sold for $5,682,500, breaking the artist's previous auction record of $3,936,000 for a sculpture.
The various owners' section of the sale includes Lot 29, ""Gray Numbers," (estimate $5,000,000 to $7,000,000) by Jasper Johns, Lot 25, "California Art Collector," (estimate $5,000,000 to $7,000,000) by David Hockney and Andy Warhol's 1962 masterpiece "200 One Dollar Bills," illustrated above, Lot 22, (estimate $8,000,000 to $12,000,000), from his first series of silkscreen paintings, featuring ink drawings on acetate of the front and back of a dollar bill. It is cited by Sotheby's as one of the most important works by the artist to ever appear at auction, in the stellar company of "Orange Marilyn," of 1964 and "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car)," which sold in 1997, and 2007 respectively, the latter in the May evening auction at Christie's for a staggering $71,720,000, including the buyer's premium. The price tag of "200 One Dollar Bills" appears nothing short of bargain basement by comparison. Despite the times, however, a work of this caliber will command a high price.
"200 One Dollar Bills" sold for $43,762,500 including the buyer's premium, as do all results mentioned in this article. There were at least 12 bidders for this painting, encouraged by an enthusiastic Tobias Meyer who said "It is a masterpiece"when one bidder was deep in thought about continuing. The atmosphere in the room was electrifying.
The auction was extremely successful with 52 of 54 offered lots selling for a total of $134,438,000. This was the best sale of Contemporary Art for Sotheby's since 1990, with the exception of 2004.
"After a year of not buying things, they are buying things. It (the sale) became about the paintings - not about the estimates," an elated Tobias Meyer.
Anthony Grant said: "The material was excellent." Clearly the buyers agreed.
The auction room was packed, and highly visible in the front row was Mario Valentino, the designer - elegant and urbane - attired in a grey flannel suit.
At the press preview Tobias Meyer, who was appropriately reverential of this painting, said "No one 'crops' like Andy," and drew our attention to the meticulous detail that leaves each dollar bill whole, nothing cut away; nothing is allowed to detract from the purity of the subject matter. Silkscreens and "series" are synonymous with the artist:
"Warhol painted what he loved: Campbell's soup cans - he loved money - and celebrities, so he painted stars," said Tobias Meyer.
Money is a recurring theme in Warhol's work, and there is an eerily poignant quality to both this painting, and the masterfully executed drawing illustrated here, Lot 23, "Untitled (Roll of Dollar Bills," (estimate $2,500,000 to $3,500,000) that capitalizes on the artists fascination with insatiable consumerism, greed and the power of money to establish status and "worth" in American and international society. Given all that has happened in the financial markets this past year, with greed - even gluttony - for money laid bare on a massive scale, the consumerism portrayed by the king of Pop Art now seems quaint by comparison. The dollar/money symbol has additional significance for the artist, as represents his second "series" after the famous Campbell's soup cans. Lot 23 sold for $4,226,500.
Tobias Meyer focused on meticulous cropping once again in a Warhol drawing - Lot 23, "Untitled (Roll of Dollar Bills)," painted in 1962. A stupendous yet soft drawing, it not only holds its own with his paintings, but also shows what a superb draughtsman he was despite the production line of "multiples" churned out in the Factory by assistants in silk-screen and printing ink, a talent honed during his early career as an illustrator in the advertising world.
One of the exciting new tools of the advertising trade at that time was the felt tip marker, used here with a humble pencil and graphite. The great draughtsmen of the Renaissance would approve. There is zero margin of error with a felt tip marker.
Non-judgmental, "Untitled (Roll of Dollar Bills)" captures our endless, sometimes flawed, fixation with money, that absolute necessity of life that Warhol intuitively and flagrantly exploited and capitalized on - images of money - making money? Andy Warhol has the last laugh, at our expense of course. This superb and deliberately ironic work of art does not come cheap, but should exceed its high estimate.
Tobias Meyer explained that an unusually buoyant self-portrait by Andy Warhol, Lot 24, illustrated here had been in a closet for 46 years:
"It is the only major painting the owner has. We shall work really, really hard to sell it!" The painting has a modest estimate of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 and Mr. Meyer was able to sell it for $6,130,500.
Also from the Pop Art contingent is a strong, early work by Robert Rauschenberg, (1958), "Untitled," Lot 21, (estimate $400,000 to $600,000), a wonderful example of the now signature "transfer" technique used by the artist, achieved by using turpentine to soak often layered images onto paper, as earlier Modernists had cobbled together scraps and objects to form collages. This painting was a gift from the artist to the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen in 1962, as a thank you for a musical score he composed for Rauschenberg. It sold for $962,500.
The intricacies of Jasper Johns "Gray Numbers," Lot 29, a mystical and enigmatic work, can only be appreciated in person as such works do not reproduce well. This compelling composition was painted early in the artist's career in 1957, and included in Leo Castelli's landmark exhibition of John's work in 1958. Although the all-over signs and symbols with which we associate Jasper Johns are present, they are encased in a heavily textured surface that was achieved by mixing wax with oil paint, laid down on unprimed canvas. For over 40 years "Gray Numbers" was in the collection of Dorothy Miller, the Museum of Modern Art's first curator, who was a witness to and instrumental in Jasper John's rise to prominence in 1958. Strikingly modern, it also evokes inscriptions on ancient walls and tombs, and hieroglyphs. It has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000. It sold for $8,706,500.
In a class by itself, and another gem from the Mary Schiller Myers and Louis Myers Collection is Donald Judd's incredible copper "Untitled," Lot 19, (estimate $800,000 to $1,200,000), one of three versions made in 1970. It sold for $1,650,500.
Also from the minimalist group is a fantastic flashing neon installation, Bruce Nauman's "Violins, Violence, Silence," Lot 27, (estimate $2,500,000 to $3,500,000) shown here with Anthony Grant. It sold for $4,002,500, shatting the artist's previous world auction record of $2,202,500.
At the press preview Anthony Grant said of David Hockney's "California Art Collector," Lot 25," illustrated above: "In headier times this painting would go for almost $13-14 million dollars." The painting has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000. It sold for $5,458,500. Anthony Grant enthusiastically described the strong influence of Piero Della Francesca in "Annunciation," and the impact that the light of Italy and Egypt had on Hockney's art before he arrived in America. It was a similar affinity for light that instantly drew the artist to California's sun-drenched climate and topography as soon as he arrived there. In the top left hand corner of "California Art Collector" is a sparkling, blue California swimming pool, which later became an iconic subject for Hockney, which helped establish him as a major player in the contemporary art world. This was the first painting in which he used acrylic paint.
Several superb works illustrated here come from the Collection of Mary Schiller Myers and Louis S. Meyers, including an important early "stabile" sculpture by Alexander Calder, "Extreme Cantilever," Lot 7, (estimate $1,000,000 to $1,500,000), William Baziotes's "Jungle Night," Lot 8, ($250-350,000), Isamu Noguchi's wonderful "Strange Bird," Lot 9, (estimate $400,000 to $600,000), Lee Krasner's sinuous "Twelve Hour Crossing, March Twenty-First," Lot 10, (estimate $400,000 to $500,000) and two marvelous compositions by Wayne Thiebaud: "San Francisco Street," Lot 1, (estimate $400,000 to $600,000), and "Hillside," Lot 20, (estimate $650,000 to $850,000) which should appeal to eco-conscious bidders.
Lot 1 sold for $458,500. Lot 7 sold for $842,500. Lot 8 sold for $338,500. Lot 9 was passed at $250,000. Lot 10 was sold for $722,500. Lot 20 was sold for $962,500.
From the "Various Owners" section of the sale, Lot 46, "Bathers" (estimate $450,000 $650,000), a steel sculpture by David Smith, was created toward the end of World War II, illustrated here with Lot 43, "Untitled," ($1,000,000 to $1,500,000), a widely exhibited, vibrant ink drawing that shows how central drawing was to Jackson Pollock's creative process. Sotheby's catalog notes:
"The artist experimented freely with drawing throughout his career, beginning with his early psychoanalytical drawings that incorporated Surrealist "automatism. In the late 1940s Pollock adopted his famous "drip" technique that revolutionized American art. In pouring or dripping his medium, Pollock gained the freedom that allowed him to create the all-over compositions that are the hallmark of his genius. The support - whether paper, masonite or canvas - was of little import to Pollock: the technique and process was the point and he made little distinction between painting and drawing."
Lot 43, the Pollock, sold for $2,882,500, an auction record for a work on paper by the artist. Lot 46 sold for $1,426,500.
Holding their own in this legendary company are exciting paintings and sculpture by artists working today, like Richard Prince's ""Doctor's Nurse," Lot 37, (estimate $1,000,000 to $1,500,000), and Damien Hirst's beautiful stained glass window that incorporates dazzling blue butterflies, and richly colored, intricate patterns, against a dark background, with his signature provocative titles, this called "The Old Fool's Paradise. Lot 53 has an estimate of $600,000 $800,000. Lot 37 sold for $1,706,500. Lot 53 sold for $1,022,500.
Two outstanding sculptures by Anish Kapoor, including "Turning the World Upside Down #4," Lot 36, (estimate $1,200,000 to $1,800,000) from his first series of large stainless steel globes (circa 1998) offered viewers great pleasure in Sotheby's galleries, where they could see themselves morph into various shapes in its highly reflective surface. Lot 36 sold for $1,874,500.
Much smaller in scale, Lot 55, "Untitled," (estimate $600,000-800,000), is a mysterious, glowing alabaster form reminiscent of oyster shells, a beautiful contemporary sculpture created more recently in 2007. It sold for $1,202,500.
Juan Munoz's (1952-2001), "Five Seated Figures," Lot 51, (estimate $800,000 $1,200,000), photographed in Sotheby's galleries, is a scene-stealer, and was exhibited at The Dia Center for the Arts, "A Place Called Abroad," in 1997, and at The Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Art Institute of Chicago and the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston from October 2001-March 2003. The Munoz sold for $1,202,500, far above the artist's previous auction record of $689,500.
Turning back the clock again to artists of the recent past is a wonderful 1961 painting by Jean Dubuffet in surprisingly sunny colors, Lot 48, "Trinite-Champs-Elysses," (estimate $4,000,000 to $6,000,000), that was exhibited in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Fondation Maeght, "Jean Dubuffet Retrospective: peintres, sculptures, dessins," in 1985. It sold for $6,130,500, setting a world's auction record for the artist.
Two luscious works by Joan Mitchell, with the artist's signature expressive, thickly applied paint strokes in different color palettes, recall Claude Monet, nature and the seasons, and are included in the "various owners" section of this sale. Illustrated above is Lot 41, "Untitled," (estimate $2,500,000 to $3,500,000) and below is Lot 44, "Untitled," with an estimate of $800,000 $1,200,000. Lot 41 sold for $2,546,500. Lot 44 sold for $1,314,500.
Much has been made of "bargain" prices this season, and prices do seem reasonable after some of the inflated, jaw-dropper price tags of the past. However, if Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art sale last week is anything to go by, quality still draws buyers willing to go the extra distance, even in these economic times, so many of the works on offer at Sotheby's Contemporary art sale will probably exceed their estimates.
It is a good time to be buying art, and, as is evident in the works of art featured here, the quality remains extremely strong.