By Carter B. Horsley This evening sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's May 14, 2003 is highlighted by major works by Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Joseph Cornell, Frank Stella and Larry Rivers.
Lot 13, "No. 9 (White and Black on Wine)," is a very large, horizontal oil on canvas by Mark Rothko (1903-1970) (see The City Review article on a Rothko exhibition). Painted in 1958, it measures 105 by 166 inches and was once in the collection of Ben Heller of New York. It has an estimate of $8,000,000 to $12,000,000. It sold for $16,359,500 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. The sales price broke the former world auction record for Rothko of $14,305,750 for "Yellow over Purple," sold at Sotheby's New York May 17, 2000. In 1983, "No. 9 (White and Black on Wine)" sold for $1,800,000, setting an auction record for the artist at the time.
"No. 9 (White and Black on Wine) was been consigned by François Pinault. In an article in the April 30, 2003 edition of The New York Times, Carol vogel wrote that "This year Mr. Pinault bought a group of important Rothkos that were on loan to the National Gallery in Washington from Bunny Mellon, the widow of Paul Mellon, whose father, Andrew W. Mellon, helped found the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The reason Mr. Pinault is selling this one, experts say, is that he does not believe it is as good as the ones from Mrs. Mellon." According to the catalogue, this is "the only work by the artist to have been identified as belonging to the first series of mural paintings that Rothko made for the Four Seasons Restaurant on the ground floor of the prestigious Seagram building in Manhattan" (see The City Review article on the Seagram Building). "The story of Rothko's Seagram murals is one of the central legends of his career," the catalogue continued, "and has become the kind of fable that impregnates and often threatens to dominate the history of any great artist's life. It is however nonetheless a remarkable and particularly pertinent story because the Seagram commission and the unfolding drama that surrounded Rothko's eventual rejection of it - after having worked on the project for nearly two years - encapsulates and reveals two important parameters of Rothko's character and artistic temperament. The Seagram commission threw Rothko's long held personal keenness to create a complete painterly environment into direct conflict with his deep-rooted socialist principles. Ultimately, the overt luxury of the Four Seasons restaurant proved too offensive to Rothko's conscience and this, alongside the fact that he feared that the solemn paintings that [he] had devised for it would come to be seen as mere decoration, led to his pulling out of the project. Rothko had mad around forty panels as a part of this project.In all there had been what Rothko described as 'three sets of panels,' but as his assistant Dan Rice has pointed out, in addition to these, there had also been 'a lot of individual paintings that were done almost in exact terms' and 'it would be very difficult to say that one was intended as part of the murals and one was not.'" When Rothko withdrew from the Seagram commission, he returned the money and the murals were eventually acquired by others including the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art in Japan, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Tate Gallery in London. The commission had its origins in the acquisition of another painting in this auction, Lot 35, shown at the top of this article, "Brown and Blacks in Reds," by Phyllis Lambert, an architect and member of the Bronfman family that was the majority owner of Joseph E. Seagram & Sons. She bought it from the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1958 and since then, according to the catalogue, "it has formed the centerpiece of this remarkable collection hanging in the executive reception area on the fifth floor of Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson's celebrated masterpiece of modern architecture." "When Phyllis Lambert bought Brown and Blacks in Reds she was seeking to assemble a collection of the finest contemporary art in the world to adorn what many people were saying was the most beautiful building in the world. It was her intention that the Seagram building should come to be regarded as a cultural institution with its collections, exhibitions, and its program of public art reflecting what she has described as the company's 'sense of responsibility to the public in New York and the rest of the world.' Lambert had known Rothko's work since 1954 and, thrilled with her purchase of Brown and Blacks in Reds, she conceived a major commission for the artist. In the early part of 1958, along with Philip Johnson, who had recently been told by Alfred Barr that Rothko was 'the greatest living painter,' Lambert commissioned Rothko to produce a series of paintings for the smaller of two planned dining rooms at the Four Seasons Restaurant." "Brown and Blacks In Reds" is an oil on canvas measures 90 by 60 inches and was painted in 1957. It has an estimate of $6,000,000 to $8,000,000. It sold for $6,727,500.
Lot 21 is an important work by Franz Kline (1910-1962). An oil on canvas, it measures 92 1/2 by 67 3/4 inches and was executed in 1961. It has an estimate of $1,800,000 to $2,400,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $1,700,000. The painting, according to the catalogue "is marked by the brawn and power of his best work, bursting with painterly passages that appear to continue outside the edges of the canvas." The artist sometimes painted studies on pages of telephone books and such a study for this work exists.
Lot 37A, "Year after Year," is a 1947 work by Arshile Gorky (1904-1948). The 34 5/8-by-40 7/8-inch oil on canvas has an "estimate on request." The painting was sold 10 years ago at Christie's for about $3.8 million and it has been reported by Carol Vogel in The New York Times that its asking price is now $13,000,000 to $15,000,000. Bidding started at $10,000,000 but the lot failed to sell and it was passed at $13,000,000.
Despite the disappointment of the Gorky, the sale was relatively successful with 72 percent of the lots selling for $69,788,625. Christopher Burge, the auctioneer, said it was "a pretty, exciting night, a very exciting night with lots of activity," adding that "for the most part there was strong bidding, in some cases furious bidding." There were 17 lots that sold for more than $1 million and 19 lots exceeded their high estimate while only 5 were under their low estimates, indicating, Mr. Burge said, "a very strong market."
Lot 16, "Marlon," is a 1966 silkscreen ink linen by Andy Warhol (1928-1987). It measures 41 by 46 1/4 inches and was executed in 1966. It has an estimate of $4,000,000 to $6,000,000 and depicts Marlon Brando, the actor, in his role in 1953 movies "The Wild Ones." The catalogue notes that the artist did a "silver" version of Marlon three years earlier and that there were about half a dozen images executed in 1966. It sold for $5,047,500. The estate of Burton Tremaine Jr., has consigned "Campbell's Soup Can (Pepper Pot)," by Warhol, a 20-by-16-inch casein and graphite on canvas. Lot 5, it was painted in 1962 and has an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. It sold for $2,415,500.
Lot 30, "Bethlehem's Hospital," is a large enamel paint on canvas executed by Frank Stella (b . 1936) in 1959. The 84-by-132-inch work has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000. It sold for $4,375,500. Part of the artist's "Black Paintings" series, the title of this work refers to the famous London asylum known as "Bedlam."
Lot 57 is a very fine concentric square painting by Frank Stella entitled "Sacramento No. 6." The 103-inch square acrylic on line was painted in 1978 and has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $320,000.
Lot 45, "Reflections: Mystical Painting," is a strong oil and magna on canvas, 56 by 75 inches, by Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997). Executed in 1989, it has an estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000. It sold for $1,183,500.
Another good Lichtenstein is Lot 14, "Stretcher Frame with Vertical Bars," an oil and magna on canvas that measures 36 by 68 inches. Created in 1968, it has an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. It sold for $1,575,500.
Joseph Cornell (1903-1973) is represented in the auction by two excellent examples of his "box constructions," Lots 7 and 40. The former is entitled "M'lle Faretti," and measures 11 by 8 by 2 inches. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000. It sold for $343,500. The catalogue notes that this work has been in the same private collection since its creation and is one of the artist's earliest extant boxes. It was executed one year after his public debut with some collages in a group exhibition on Surrealism at the Julian Levy Gallery. Cornell did not consider himself a Surrealist and is quoted in the catalogue as not sharing "in the subconscious and dream theories of the Surrealists," adding that "While fervently admiring much of their work, I have never been an official surrealist, and I believe that surrealism has healthier possibilities than have been developed. Cornell was friendly with some dancers and made a number of works in homage to them. This work consists of a photograph of the ballerina Faretti behind a "curtain" of string and beneath a shelf of "bouquets." The work, according to the catalogue "has all of the magic and innocence of Cornell's best work, and is imbued with an indescribable nostalgia."
Lot 40, "Untitled (For Mylène Demongeot)," is one of Cornell's aviaries that features a parrot, one of his favorite subjects. The wood box construction, which has a drawer, was created circa 1954-5 and measures 17 3/4 by 11 by 4 1/2 inches. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000. It sold for $343,500. Mylène Demongeot is the name of a movie actress who appeared in "It's a Wonderful World" (1956).
The Seagram Collection has consigned Lot 41, "The Accident," by Larry Rivers (1923-2002), a very impressive oil on canvas that measures 82 by 90 1/2 inches. Painted in 1957, it has a conservative estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $410,700. The catalogue provides the following quotation about this work by Sam Hunter in his 1989 book on the artist: "'Nothing in River's work before 1960 looks more contemporary even today than The Accident of 1957 for it presents a fresh vision of the agitated mosaic of urban life that has continued to stimulate our consciousness. The episodic and filmic action revolves around successive scenes of an auto accident on the New York street; an injured victim is helped onto a stretcher and placed in an ambulance, detectives take notes, the life of the city goes on. Competitive with the depicted action are an intruding, lively jumble of realistic references to locale, printed legends in diminutive scale and fully painted passages in juicy impasto. The colliding realities of art and life coexist.'" Rivers, the catalogue, observed, "has long been viewed as one of the key bridges between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. The Accident perfectly illustrates this reputation. Rivers employed both painterly surfaces as well as an explosion of quotidian references to convey the experience of The Accident. His painterly interest, best demonstrated in the lush surface of The Accident, and his fracturing of its images evoke the heroic gesture of Abstract Expressionism. What Franz Kline or Jackson Pollock sought to convey through an art of raw emotion and abstract works, Rivers conveys by not letting the narrative unravel in a single coherent picture but instead in emotional vignettes. Rivers incorporated signage and contemporary society, two hallmarks of Pop Art, into his paintings. Rivers' assemblage of disparate approaches to art production gives The Accident a completeness and truer sense of life than either Abstract Expressionism or Pop Art can offer individually."
Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) (see The City Review article on a recent exhibition of his work at the Museum of Modern Art) is represented by several good works. Lot 53, "Seestuck mit Vogel," is a quite lyrical cloud picture with a bird in flight. The 67-inch-square oil on canvas was painted in 1970 and has an estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $650,000. Lot 44, "Abstrakes Bild," is a very intense and colorful abstraction that Richter painted in 1987. The 98 3/8-by-157 1/2-inch oil on canvas has an estimate of $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. It sold for $3,367,500.
Lot 9 is one of Richter's better blurry landscapes. Entitled "Laacher Wiese (Laacher Meadow), the oil on canvas measures 34 1/4 by 48 inches and was painted in 1987. It has an estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,000,000. It sold for $2,359,500.
Lot 4, "Miss ko2," is a 74-inch-high painted fiberglass sculpture by Takashi Murakami (b. 1962). It was executed in 1996 and is number one of an edition of three with two artist's proofs. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000. It sold for $567,500 establishing a new auction record for the artist. The previous record of $427,500 was set at Christie's New York May 15, 2002 and tied at Christie's New York Nov. 13, 2002.
A world auction record was also set for Chuck Close (b. 1940) for his large portrait of photographer Cindy Sherman, Lot 15, entitled "Cindy II," which was executed in 1988. It sold for $1,463,500, eclipsing the previous record of $1,212,400 for the same work set at Christie's New York Nov. 16, 1999.
A new auction record was also set for Duane Hanson (b. 1925) for his "Housewife (Homemaker)," Lot 22. It sold for $343,500, breaking the artist's previous record of $314,000 set at Christie's New York Nov. 15, 2001.
Lot 38, "Achrome," by Piero Manzoni (1933-1963), sold for $1,015,500, breaking the artist's previous auction record when the same monochrome work of kaolin on burlap was sold for $914,442 at Sotheby's London Dec. 9, 1998.
An auction record was also set for Phillip Taafe (b. 1955) whose "Adam, Eve," a linoprint collage and acrylic on paper diptych, Lot 58, sold for $175,000, considering above the previous record of $146,040 set at Sotheby's London June 29, 2000.
A blue sponge work entitled "RE2" by Yves Klein (1928-1962), Lot 39, sold for $5,271,500.