By Carter B. Horsley

One of the worst mistakes that many people new to art make is to pigeon-hole cultures and regions and to think that an individual artist's best work is formulaic, adhering to a relatively easy to identify style.

Such common but naive approaches tend to overlook the fact that pupils sometimes surpassed their masters, that derivative art and influenced art can still be superb, and that some artists actually have "off" days, or diverse interests and experimental forays.

We look at Latin American art, for example, and are tempted to look for "indigenous" characteristics that perhaps reflect the artistic heritage of Pre-Columbian cultures, or the environmental influence of rainforests and volcanos, or the socio-political heritage of revolutions and dictatorships. These are all, of course, legitimate themes for art, and regional differences can be interesting.

In an increasingly global world, of course, there is tremendous cross-fertilization of ideas and cultures, enough, in fact, to spur more attention to the intellectual and artistic preservation and advancement of specific heritages.

Lot 25, "Viaje Galaxico," by Alejandro Xul Solar (1887-1963), a watercolor on paper, 4 3/4 by 8 1/3 inches, shown above and the endpapers illustration in the catalogue, is a fine example of a work that combines different influences but also brilliantly captures and evokes regional culture.

The catalogue provides the following commentary on this lot and Lot 26, a slightly larger work by the same artist:

"Xul Solar's dialogue and exposure to the theories of the avant-garde, along with his unique sensibility and intelligence, embarqued [sic] him upon a search for his own means of artistic expression and into a unique world that would embrace literature, metaphysics and science. His imagery and style fully developed while the artist was still living in Euirope bewtween the years 1918 and 1923. During this period, the artist was constantly exposed to the work of the European Expressionists, Futurists, Cubists and other nonfigurative paintrs such as the Russian vanguards. He studied the works of contmporary authors like H. P. Blavatsky and Rudolph Steiner, and those of classic mystical masters like Jakob Bohme and Emanuel Swedenborg but especially of the poet and painter William Blake. Upon his return to Argentina, he become one of the most influential and original thinkers of the avant-garde. Xul depicted his innermost visions as a self-referential exercise employing a visual vocabulary of text, bright flat color forms, and imaginary characters. He would mount these compositions on colored paper further exploring the meanings of color. All of the above mentioned elements imbued with esoteric and symbolic content, were employed by the artist as referential signs or 'visual peoms' that delved into his subconscious."

Both lots have estimates of $60,000 to $80,000. They each were sold for $78,000, not including the buyer's premium, easily exceeding the $70,700 auction record for the artist.

Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) is one of the greatest Latin American artistss and Lot 28, "Venus Negra," a 39 1/2-by-32-inch oil on canvas, is one of his major works.

The catalogue's description of the work includes the following:

"The artist's stylized figures and heavy, rotond forms all have their origin in pre-Hispanic and popular Mexican art. The Venus Negra of 1965 resembles a fertility goddess by the exaggerated form of her breasts and hips. Moreover, because of the color of the canvas, the generous rounded bulkiness is erotic. This idea is accentuated by the postion of the Venus who is standing in claro obscuro in a threshold that implies a warm, protective interior. At her shoudlers is a cool light that suggsts an exterior garden. There is a dual visual gam in the bodyof the venus. Af first glance, we see a corpulent figure. However, if we look at the delicately scratched lines that reveal the whtie under-painting of the canvas, we discover the stylized body of a woman."

The lot has an ambitious high estimate of $600,000. It sold for $420,500 including the buyer's premium.

Lot 34 is a very pleasing, fresco-like Tamayo painted with a bluer than usual palette. Entitled, "The Circus," the 17 5/8-by-23 5/8-inch oil and canvas has a high estimate of $350,000. It sold for $310,500 including the buyer's premium to a U. S. private collector.

Another Tamayo, Lot 40, "Imagen en el espejo (Mujer ante el espejo) is more abstract and very painterly. Executed in 1961, it has a marvelous texture and Tamayo's strong palette of pinks, white and oranges. The 39 3/8-by-31 1/2-inch work has a high estimate of $280,000. It sold for $244,500 including the buyer's premium to a U. S. private collector. Lot 108 is another large strong Tamayo and it has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $156,500 including the buyer's premium.

Lot 61 is a very strong sculpture by Tamayo with a high estimate of $180,000. It sold at its low estimateof $140,000 not including the buyer's premium.

Francisco Toledo (b. 1940) is another major artist whose works have a very distinctive texture. Lot 27, "Pescado de San Mateo," is a lovely, 39 1/2-by-47 3/8-inch oil and sand on canvas, executed in 1979.

"Toledo has often been referred to as the greatest modern Mexican artist since Rufino Tamayo and was born like Tamayo, in the state of Oaxaca. Similarly, the artist is also a Zapotec Indian (as was Tamayo) and his art primarily reflects his indigenous roots. After having completed art studies in Mexico, Toledo spent years working in Paris where he perfected his skills as an artist and a print-maker. While never abandoning his ties to Mexico, he wandered the world, working in New York, Spain and again, in Paris. His works convey many forms of the human condition, linking our natural surroundings to the supernatural and intertwining relationships between man and nature. The images of animal forms is a recurrent theme in Toledo's paintings, as the folkloric tales of his Juchetan childhood. Turtles, iguanas, toads, rabbits and insects appear in never-ending interpretations in watercolours, etchings and paintings. Using native amate paper, oils, sand, bark and even ceramics, Toledo creates an imaginary world in which man and beast interact....Everything in the composition including the shape of the fish, the texture of the work, the light and shadow on the surface, gives the spectator both the feeling of a prehistoric cave-drawing as well as a modern touch."

The lot has an ambitious high estimate of $320,000. It sold for $310,500 including the buyer's premium.

Another good Toledo is Lot 41, "Tortuga," which has a high estimate of $200,000. It sold for $210,000 not including the buyer's premium.

Lot 42 is a good example of the work of Vicente do Rego Monteiro (1899-1970). Entitled "O Menino e a Tartaruga," the 17 5/8-by-14 7/8-inch oil on canvas was painted in 1924 and has an estimate of $180,000 to $220,000. It was passd at $130,000.

The catalogue notes that Rego Monteiro was "one of Brazil's most interesting modern painters" and provides the following commentary;

"During the 20s, he lived and worked in Paris and was linked to L'Effort Moderne, a group led by Amidie [Amedee] Ozenfant, a purist and Jean Metzinger a cubist. His involvement with the European avant-garde led him towards the development of a thematic and stylistic language that was closely linked to Brazilian motifs derived from native artistic manifestations. O Menino e a Tartaruga is a fine example of the artist's concern with these issues. It is rendered in the abstract and geometric style that is reminiscent to Pre-Columbian objects found in the region of Maraca, Brazil. It also represents a human figure with an animal, an iconographic element that later enriched the mythical world of th artist. The final composition resembles shallow relief carvings, an effect that is further accentuated by the monochromatic aspect of the paintings. Again, the use of these earth-tone colors is a tribute to Brazilian indigenous motifs. It recalls the pigmentation of the local inhabitants."

The man and the animal in this reddish study have inflated forms that would later appear in the work of Fernando Botero.

One of the auction's highlights is Lot 30, "Encuento tropical," by Diego Rivera (1886-1957). This 41 1/2-by-78 3/8-inch oil on canvas was commissioned in 1944 for the Celebrity Bar at the Old Hearst Ranch in California. The work shows the new owners of the ranch who were converting it into a luxury resort on either side of the artist. The ambitious estimate is $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $442,500 including the buyer's premium to a European private collector.

Lot 146, "Movimento espacial," by David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), oil on board, 43 1/4 by 35 5/8 inches, 1967, is a stunning abstract work that has a conservative high estimate of $90,000. It sold for $57,500 including the buyer's premium. Another Siguieros is Lot 39, "Laconesa," a very interesting and strong work of women in pink dresses with men in tall hats behind them. The very dynamic painting has a conservative high estimate of $200,000. It sold for $140,000, not including the buyer's premium.

Wilfredo Lam (1902-1982) is one of the great Latin American masters. Lot 43, "J'arrive (Figura)," a 50 3/8-by-43 3/4-inch oil on canvas is a fine large abstract work in grays, blue-gray and white and has a high estimate of $250,000. It passed at $190,000 just below its low estimate of $200,000. Lot 105 is a stronger Lam that is a 23 7/8-by-28 7/8-inch oil on canvas, executed in 1970 and which carries a conservative high estimate of $90,000. It failed to sell.

Matta (b. 1911) is another master and is represented in the auction with several works, the best of which is Lot 60, an untitled oil on canvas, 65 1/2 by 131 1/4 inches, that has a conservative estimate of $220,000 and is a fine example of his sci-fi, high-tech Surrealist imagery. It sold for $150,000.

Leonora Carrington (b. 1917) is one of the most imaginative Latin American Surrealists and Lot 98, "Belfry," is an example of her art. The 14 3/8-by-29 1/2-inch oil on masonite was painted in 1988 and has a high estimate of $80,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 33 is a superb white marble sculpture of a man in a bowler standing with a cane atop a naked female lying on her stomach with her legs crossed and raised by Fernando Botero (b. 1932). The 47 5/8-inch high sculptureis wonderful and has a conservative high estimate of $400,000. It was withdrawn.

Another fine Botero is Lot 21, a large bronze sculpture of a nude woman, which also has a $400,000 high estimate. It sold for $380,000 not including the buyer's premium.

One of the most interesting works in the auction is Lot 38, "Consumatum Est," a 20 7/8-by-23 1/4-inch tempera on masonite by Juan O'Gorman (1905-1982). This work is an apocalyptic vision of an imaginary landscape with great viaducts and structures and ruins and skeletons. O'Gorman studied and collaborated with Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and other masters and the catalogue maintains that "O'Gorman's sublime style appears to be addressing his Mexican people about change and othr liberal ideas that were supported by the Mexican revolutionaries. It has an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $130,000 not including the buyer's premium.

The salesroom for the evening auction was packed but there were relatively few bidders in the room and the results were generally disappointing with rather low prices and with 21 passes out of 76 lots offered. The audience, however, burst into applause several times, the strongest being for Lot 16, a large painting by Guillermo Kuitca that had an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000 and was sold for $210,000 not including the buyer's premium, easily breaking the artist's auction record of $156,500. The audience also applauded the sale for $160,000 not including the buyer's premium of Lot 24, a work by Armando Reveron that had had a high estimate of $150,000. Applause was also generated by the $170,000 price not including the buyer's premium for Lot 70, a work by Francisco Rodon Elizalde that had had a high estimate of $160,000, and for lot 69, a Botero that sold for $420,000 and had had a high estimate of $350,000 and for Lot 74, a lovely full length portrait by an Anonymous Cuzco School artist that sold for $38,000 not including the buyer's premium and had had a high estimate of $16,000. A large Matta, Lot 47, that had had a low estimate of $150,000 was passed at $95,000, and a strong work by Wolfgang Paalen, Lot 48, which had a low estimate of $80,000 was passed at $55,000.

Barbara Strongin conducted the auction with wit, style, elegance and pace in the best traditions of the affable, ebullient and sharp Christopher Burge.

Of the 76 lots offered in the evening sale, 55 sold for a total of $8,112,025 with auction records set for nine artists including $233,500 for Lot 16, "Siete ultimas canciones," a 1986 painting by Guillermo Kuitca. "Tonight we saw across the board buying on an international level and the prices realized confirm that the market for Latin American art is strong and growing steadily," remarked Juan Varez, the head of Christie's Latin American Art Department in New York, adding that 24 lots sold above their high estimates."