The first auction of the evening is "A Discerning Eye: Latin American Masterpieces from a Private Collection," a group of 14 works highlighted by a superb landscape by Diego Rivera, a very fine work by Rufino Tamayo, a tiny self-portrait by Frida Kahlo and some very good works by Fernando Botero.

 Lot 6, "The Old Hamlet, Toledo," by Rivera (1886-1957) is a 1913 oil on canvas that measures 32 by 39 3/8 inches that is very reminiscent of landscapes by Cézanne.

The catalogue entry by Professor Luis-Mrtin Lozano provides the following commentary:

"From 1912 to 1923..., Rivera explored cubism carefully, approaching it through composiitional solutions he experimented with in a series of landscape paintings of the plains of Castilla and surroundings of the city of Toledo. He particularly focused his interest on the modulation of space, fragmenting it into geometric forms according to the consructions and natural topography he found on the landscape. He thus achieved a more enveloping and dynamic composition consisting of curvilinear perspectives and...disagonal lines like those he had seen in works by El Greco. In this way La Vieha Aldea reveals Rivera's experiment with the avant-garde, as much for its use of Cubism as a theoretical reference as for its study and reinterpretation of the great masters, proving that in art, the avant -garde and the traditional are not always incompatible."

The work has a modest estimate of $800,000 to $1,000,000. It sold for $992,500 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.

 

 

Lot 13, "Mujer en Extasis," by Rufino Tamayo, oil and sand on canvas, 51 3/8 by 76 5/8 inches, 1973

Lot 13 is a very strong painting by Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) that has been widely exhibited and published,. Entitled "Mujer en Extasis," it is an oil and sand on canvas that measures 51 3/8 by 76 5/8 inches and it was the frontispiece of Emily Genauer's 1974 book on Tamayo.

In her catalogue essay, Rachel Tobol notes that the female lies on a stone altar protected by two humanoid figures, one a mountain man and the other a cactus man.

The lot has an estimate of $900,000 to $1,200,00. It sold for $962,500.

 

Lot 4, "Morphology of Desire (Pscyhological Morphology No. 37), oil on canvas, 28 7/8 by 36 1/4 inches, 1938

Lot 4 is "Morphology of Desire (Psychological Morphology No. 37) by Matta (1911-2002), one of his most important works. An oil on canvas, it measures 28 7/8 by 36 1/4 inches and was painted in 1938. It has been widely exhibited.

Matta got a degree in architecture in Chile before settling in Paris where he worked in the studio of Le Corbusier. "Ultimately," the catalogue entry said, "he gave up his work as an architect and devoted himself full-time to experimenting with collage, as well as drawing with colored crayons, graphite and colored pencils. Once Matta was ride of the constraints imposed by his rigid architectural training, his fluid line developed to create mesmerizing work. His depictions of mathemtically derived landscapes became eloquent vistas based on the algebraic models of the mathematicis of Jules-Henri Poincaré (1884-1912) that were published in Cahiers d'Art.

The work of photograghers Blossfeldt and Renger-Patsch, who captured the cell during mitosis, also caught the attention of Matta. To the uninitated, these photographs went beyond encapsulating the gelatinious minute life forms suspended in plasma, to mirror the vast expanse of the universe. Matta's artistic exploration of these images created celestial worlds that depict the conception, gestaton, birth, life and death of a star exploding in a supernova in the same space-time. Conversely, these worlds asusme microscopic proportions, as incubated genetic material replicating in mucous membranes. Matta's quest to capture metamorphosis and to depict objects in transformation in the same space and time has continued to remain a preoccupation throughout his prolific career.

In 1938, at the suggestion of Gordon Onslow-Ford, Matta attempted to paint with oils. Matta's early paintings were executed using some of the techniques and ideas of other Surrealists with whom he was in contact. One such tecnique was automatism, the automatic drawing or painting that is achieved by the unconscious movement of the artist's hand, pencil or brush working faster than the mind can think. Each of the Surrealists experimented with and ultimately developed their own form of automatism.

By the late 1930s, new images inspired by the automatic processes were appearing in the works of the Surrealists, the furnages of Wolfgang Paalen, the decalomania of Oscar Dominguez, the collages of Gordon Onslow-Ford, and the grattages of Esteban Frances, among others.

The Surrealists decidated their art to making a liason between the waking state and the world of dreams. In 1938, Matta took Surrealism a step further, by depicting the world beyond dreams and the waking state. He called this word Psychological Morphology. The term Pscyhological Morphology describes an adventure into an alternative reality with its own space-time.

In conjunction with the Surrealists André Breton,Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst, Andre Masson, Matta and Gordon Onslow-Ford left Paris for the United States during World War II. It was the arrrival of these exiles and émigrés that heralded the transition of the center of the art world to New York, where it remains today. Artistic production was spurred by New York art patrons Peggy Guggenheim and Gertrude Stein, who facilitated the flowof ideas between the recent émigrés and their American compatriots.

Long overlooked within the study of this wartime creative atmosphere has been the significant contributions made by the automatism to the development of Action Painting and Abstract Expresionism in the United States. Post-war artists such as Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Robert Motherwell and Franz Kline are deeply indebted to the work of the Surrealists. Matta's masterpiece Morpholopgy of Desire and other works both drawn and painted in Brittany and Paris during 1938-39 are the builing blocks whose spirit and technique inspired these painters as well as others who later became monumental artists in their own right.

Morphology of Desire was the first painting by Matta to be reproduced in color. It appeared in the Surrealist Review Miotaure No. 12-13 in 1939.

At the time Morphology of Desire was paintied, Matta had been reading the French art critic Elie Fauré who proposed the theory that in every masterpiece there were four main components: (1) a natural object; (2) an animal; (3) a human being; (4) some form of human creation.

Morphology of Desire features: (1) a stone, situated bottom right; (2) a bird, upper right; (3) a human personage on the left; (4) an architectural construction, center bottom. Matta has depicted these four entities and their inter-relations in the marvelous space-tme of what he called Pyscholoigical Morphology.

A note on the techniques in the painting Morphology of Desire:

First the canvas was automatically covered with a thin ground of warm and cool greys of varying tones. Then Matta placed small quantiies of different colours next to each other along the blade of a palette knife and made a rapid palette knife gesture on the canvas. This was repeated with different colours for each of the four components of the painting.

Over the next week and even months, the next stage of the pianting took place. The painting was contemplated and the physical inter-relationships between the four objects and the whole were modeled as they appeared with brushes and fingers and slowly and inevitably took on form.

(1) The stone is shown in its life-span as it became transformed from gaseous, to liquid, to solid state, being shaped by the give and take from the enevironment near and far.

(2) The bird is shown in song, silence in flight, in nesting, in migration, in relation to other forms of life. The life of a bird shown in a single form.

(3) The pink and red human being shows a drama of human relations, the interaction of matter and mind, the continual dance of events with other human beings and Mother Earth. All told in a single form.

(4) The architectural construction is shown as an essence of straight lines and auras in impact with the environment and human evoloution.

Finally there are the relationships between the four components of the painting that in this space-time become visible and take on subtle forms. As consciousness grows over the years, so does the mystery of Morphology of Desire.

The tehnical aspect of Matta's palette knife gestures of painting were an immmediate influence on Action Painting and Asbstract Expressionism that appeared in New York City in the 1940s. The subtle poetry and the intimation of other realities in depth, that to be seen, fequire contemplation are now being appreciatede by more and more people.

Matta would probably have spoken of Morphology of Desire using other words. This painting has been a presence in my mind ever since it was painted, and I hope my words have come close to its spirit.

Gordon Onslow-Ford, April 5, 2001

He had acquired it  from the artist in 1938 and sold it at Sotheby's May 31, 2001. It sold at Christies New York July 1, 2008. It sold at Christie's London July 1, 2008.

The lot has an estimate of $700,000 to $900,000. It sold for $902,500.

 

Lot 12, "Autorretrato en Miniatura," by Frida Kahlo, oil on thin panel with tin border, 2 by 1 5/8 inches

Lot 12 is a tiny self-portait in oil on thin panel with no border by Frida Kahlo (1910-1954). It has an estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000. It failed to sell.

In her 1983 biography of the artist, Hayden Herrera wrote that "within this tiny oval she has packed a charge of energy that brings to mind the Surrealist poet André Breton's desciption of her art as a "ribbon around a bomb."

The lot sold at Sotheby's November 20, 2000

Lot 12 failed to sell.

Fernand Botero: A Celebration

Lot 18, "El Poeta," by Fernando Botero, oil on canvas, 36 3/4 by 47 inches, 1970, front;   Lot 26, "Woman Eating Ice Cream," by Fernando Botero, bronze, 13 1/2 inches high, numbered 9/9, 1985, front

The second Latin American Art auction the evening of May 25 was"Fernand Botero: A Celebration."  It has a pre-sale estimate of $6,700,000 to $9,300,000.  Its offerings totalled $7,456,125.

Lot 18 is a large bucolic scene by Fernando Botero (b. 1932) of a man lying on grass enjoying "a solitary picnic." An oil on canvas, it measures 36 3/4 by 47 inches and was painted in 1970. It has an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It sold for $602,500.

The catalogue provides the following commentary:

"The representation of pure joie de vivre is undoubtedly one of the most significant underlying motifs in Fernando Botero's oeuvre.  Inspired by Manet's Dejeuner sur l'Herbe of 1863, Botero frequently revisited the Sunday picnic scene from 1966 to 1973. We find the poet, a recurring outsider in the artist's catalogue of social characters, on a solitary picnic.  The poet, a man dressed in a dark suit and tie, a flower in his lapel, a hankerchief in the pocket and a hat atop his head, reclines and occupies the forefront of the composition in this and in the many other variant paintings representing this archetype.  Some of Botero's poets exhibit attributes associated with a lettered man: books, paper and pencil.  Like many of the picnic figures, this early version of the poet...presents the reclining figure of a man in a moment of contemplation against a backdrop of lush green trees and lawn of a city park.  In search of inspiration, he has just smoked a cigarette and is enjoying a drink straight from the bottle.  A volcano fumes behind the trees and the hills of grass, an allusion to the ideas formenting in the mind of this gentleman and also to the cigarette which has just been extinguished.  As perhaps the only sign of disruptive natural activity, the volcano breaks the tranquility of the scene and opens the otherwise dense composition far into the horizon.  In this dreamy vignette, Botero has presented us not with a resting poet but with an invitation to consider the portrait of a common man turned fugitively into a poet by the grace of the moment that he is enjoying so placidly."

Botero's plump, inflated, bloated world is charming and intimidating and a remarkable attack on the "thinness" craze of much of the Western world in the post-World War II era.  His oeuvre, furthermore, is consistently stylish and very recognizable, perhaps more so than any other artist's.  In this composition, it is very easy to overlook, if not completely miss, the volcano in the background, or the cigarette on the lawn, or the very small green bottle in the "poet's" hand.  

The poet's expression is blasé.  His eyes are open and he is probably day-dreaming and certainly is oblivious to the volcano's eruption behind him.  One senses that Botero probably likes Velasquez's cynical take on pompous royalty.

 

Lot 24, "Pedro on a Horse," by Fernando Botero, epoxy, resin and synthetic hair, 58 1/2 inches high, numbered 4/6, 1977, left; Lot 27, "A Family," by Fernando Botero, oil on canvas, 74 inches square, 1972, right

Lot 21, "Cat," by Fernando Botero, bronze, numbered 1/6, 43 inches long, 1981

Lot 21 is an alert and probably mischieveous "Cat," a 1981 bronze by Botero that is numbered 1/6 and is 43 inches long.  It has an estimate of $350,000 to $450,000.  It sold for $434,500.

Latin American Art

May 25, 2011 

Lots 36-69

May 26, 2011

Lots 71-270

Lot 41, "Les Oiseaux Voilés." by Wilfredo Lam, oil on canvas, 43 5/8 by 49 1/2 inches, 1945

The third part of the Latin American Art auction at Sotheby's New York the evening of May 25, 2011 was the first part of the regular Latin American Art auction featuring Lots 39 through 69.  Lots 71 through 250 were auctioned the next day.

The back-cover illustration of the auction catalogue is Lot 41, "Les Oiseaux Voilés," by Wilfredo Lam (1902-1982).  An oil on canvas that measures 43 3/8 by 49 1/2 inches, it was painted in 1945.  It has an estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000.  It sold for $1,022,500.

According to the catalogue entry by Julia P. Herzberg, this painting belongs to "a cohesive group of works distinguighed by delicately drawn lines and impressionatically dappled paint."  "Les Oiseaux Voilé's exquisite coloration - blues, touches of light greens and reds - is held together by alternating light and dark black lines that imbue the animated forms with a sense of movement and buoyancy.  The jewel-like surface features, winged beings (the 'veiled birds'), crescents or moonshapes, and triangles.  Two eggs are anchored in the foreground, a candle sits in the middle of a cone-shaped form, and the ever present round head appears supported by the barely drawn lines of a hand...The familiar motifs allude to beliefs and/or ceremonies in Afro-Cuban culture and at the same time re-create a sense of a lush tropical landscape."

Lot 208, Untitled, by Lam, pastel on paper, 20 1/4 by 28 1/8 inches, 1974




Lot 197, "Untitled," by Lam, charcoal and pastel on Fabriano paper, 18 5/8 by 26 5/8 inches, 1969, top; Lot 196, "Untitled" by Lam, charcoal and pastel on paper, 18 7/8 by 25 3/4 inches,1970, bottom

Lot 47, "Personajes Cogidos de la Mano," by Rufino Tamayo, oil on canvas, 76 1/8 by 51 inches, 1971

Lot 47 is a very fine oil on canvas by Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) that is entitled "Personajes Cogidos de la Mano."  It measures 76 1/8 by 51 inches and was painted in 1971.  It has an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 67, "Re-Encuentro(Danzantes)," by Rufino Tamayo, oiland sandoncanvas, 51 3/8 by 38 3/8 inches, 1972

Lot 67 is an excellent oil andsand on canvas by Tamayo entitled "Re-Encuentro (Danzantes)."  It measures 51 3/8 by 38 3/8 inches and was painted in 1972.  It has a modest estimate of $350,000 to $450,000.  It failed to sell!

Lot 42, "El Arbol de la Vida," by Leonora Carrington, oil on canvas, 36 1/4 by 25 3/4 inches, 1960

Lot 42 is a large oil on canvas by Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) entitled "El Arbol de la Vida."  It measures 36 1/4 by 25 3/4 inches and was painted in1960.  It has an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000.  It sold for $578,500.

Lot 44, "Mujer Sentada," by David Alfaro Siqueiros, oil on burlap, 28 1/2 by 16 1/2 inches, 1931

Lot 44 is an oil on burlap by David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) that is entitlted "Mujer Sendata."  It measures 28 1/2 by 16 1/2 inches and was painted in 1931.  It has an esimate of $250,000 to $350,000.  It sold for $314,500.

The catalogue entry notes that the technique in this work was typical of his output while living under house arrest in Taxco form November 1930 to April 1932 in which he used a gunny-sacking made of maguey fiber as a  canvas and coated it with lime. and then shaved the fibers smooth before coating.  In his published memoirs, the artist recalled that 'one day a peasant woman came to my door, she was about 60 years old.  When I opened the door she said, 'They have told me you do portraits of people.  And I want to have a portrait done in oil....She was so beautiful and interesting that I would have painted her anyway, just for me.'  The woman found it strange that I wanted her to come several times to pose.  I think she once was at the point of saying 'you know [the photographer] does this a lot quicker.'  With an extraodinary punctuality she came every day, sat in the assigned place, and never asked to see what I was doing...I remember that she had a dark green skirt and a pinkish rebozo.  The old woman was completely austere, with that hieratic expression of the Mexican pesantry....Without a doubt, it is one of my small works done with tenderness."

Lot 103, "Untitled," by David Alfaro Siqueiros, gouache and pyroxilin on masonite, 22 5/8 by 30 3/4 inches, 1963

Lot 103 is a strong untitled landscape by David Alfaro Siqueiros.  A gouache and pyroxilin on masonite, it measures 22 5/8 by 30 3/4 inches and was painted in 1963.  It has been consigned by the Los Angeles County Museum of  Art to benefit acquisitions of Latin American Art.  It has an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000.  It sold for $37,500.

Lot 151, "El Mar de Lurin," by Fernando de Szyszlo, oil and charcoal on canvas, 65 1/4 by 50 3/8 inches, 1990

Lot 191, "Serie de Los Reyes," by Ides Kihlen, paper and canvas collage,  oil on canvas, 21 3/4 by 25 1/2 inches

Lot 193, "Nobody ever..." by Sarah Grilo, oil on canvas, 49 5/8 inches square, 1966

Lot 193 is a very impressive oil on canvas by Sarah Grilo (b. 1920) that is entitled "Nobody ever..."  It measures 49 5/8 inches square and was painted in 1966.  It has a modest estimate of $18,000 to $20,000.   It sold for $34,375.

Lot 69, "Oceanes Tempetes," by Matta, oil on canvas, 78 by 117 1/8 inches

Lot 69 is a large and vibrant oil on canvas by Matta (1911-2002) entitled "Oceanes Tempetes." It measures 78 by 117 1/8 inches.  It has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000.  It sold for $146,500.

Lot 160, "Bonheur Solide," by Matta, oil on canvas, 69 3/8 by 83 3/4 inches,1997

Lot 160 is a large oil on canvas by Matta (1911-2002) entitled "Bonheur Solide."  It measures 69 3/8 by 83 3/4 inches and was painted in1997.  It has an estimate of $120,000 to $180,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 164, "Blanco-Verde-Azul-Rojo," by Gunther Gerzso, oil on masonite, 32 1/4 by 33 1/8 inches, 1980

Lot 164 is a lovely abstraction by Gunther Gerzso (1915-2000) entitled "Blanco-Verde-Azul-Rojo."  An oil on masonite, it measures 32 1/4 by 33 1/8 inches and was painted in1980.  It has an estimate of $80,000 to $100,000.  It sold for $134,500.

Lot 66, "Estela Azul," by Gunther Gerzso, oil on masonite, 28 3/4 by 19 5/8 inches, 1959

Lot 135, "Verde-Azul-Naranja," by Gunther Gerzso, oil on masonite, 18 1/8 by 25 1/2 inches, 1968

Lot 135 is a complex abstraction by Gerzso entitled"Verde-Azul-Naranja."  an oil on masonite, it measures 18 1/8 by 25 1/2 inches and was created in 1968.  It has  an estimate of $80,000 to $100,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 256A, "Untitled," by Gunther Gerzso, oil on masonite, 6 7/8 by 7 1/8 inches, 1977, top; Lot 247, "Naranja-Amarillo-Azul-Verde-Rojo," by Gerzso, acrylic on paper, 12 7/8 by 17 1/8 inches, 1975

Gerzso's compositions work well even at small scale.  Lot 256A, for example, is an untitled oil on masonite that measures 6 7/8 by 7 1/8 inches and was painted in 1977.  it has an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000.  It sold for $30,000.

Lot 247 is an acrylic on paper by Gerzso entitled "Naranja-Amarillo-Azul-Verde-Rojo."  It measures 12 7/8 by 17 1/8 inches and was painted in 1975.  It has an estimate of $18,000 to $22,000.  It sold for $23,750.

Lot 116, "Tataniuh," by Gunther Gerzso, sterling silver, 9 7/8 inches high. numbered 7/11

Lot 116 is a lovely sterling silver abstract sculpture by Gerzso that is entitled "Tataniuh."  It is 9 7/8 inches high and is numbered 7/11.  It has an estimate of $20,000 to $25,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 111, "Laboratorio en Papel No. 76," by Rodolfo Nieto, mixed media and paper collage on paper, 25 1/2 by 19 5/8 inches, circa 1967-8, left; Lot 255, "Untitled,' by Rodolfo Nieto, oil on canvas, 35 1/4 by 28 3/4 inches, 1964-5, center; Lot Lot 110, "Laboratorio en Papel No. 67," mixed media and paper collage, 25 1/2 by 19 5/8 inches, circa 1967-8, right

Lot 111 and 110 are mixed media and paper collage compositions by Rodolfo Nieto (1936-1988) that were executed circa 1967-8 and measure 25 1/2 by 19 5/8 inches and each has anestimate of $12,000 to $18,000.  Lot 111 sold for $12,500 and Lot 110 failed to sell.

Lot 255 is an untitled Nieto oil on canvas that measures 35 1/4 by 28 3/4 inches and was created in 1964-5 and has an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000.  It sold for $15,000.

Lot 227, "Untitled," by Kcho, oil and charcoal on canvas, 46 by 61 1/2 inches, 2004

Lot 227 is a dramatic, untitled oil and charcoal on canvas by Kcho (b. 1970) that depicts a boat with a few people about to bump into the ladder of a circular swimming pool that is not big enough to contain their vessel.  It measures 46 by 61 1/2 inches and was created in 2004.  It has a modest estimate of $12,000 to $18,000.  It sold for $12,500.

Lot 146, "Selva," by Armando Morales, oil on paper laid down on canvas, 18 by 15 inches, 1992

Lot 146, "Selva," is a nice, dense forest scene by Armando Morales (b. 1927).  An oil on paper laid down on canvas, it measures 18 by 15 inches and was created in 1992.  It has an estimate of $45,000 to $55,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 199, "Tropical Flower," by Alejandro Obregon, oil on masonite, 11 3/4 by 7 5/8 inches, 1954

Lot 199 is a very nice oil on masonite of a "Tropical Flower" by Alejandro Obregon (1920-1992).  It measures 11 3/4 by 7 5/8 inches and was painted in 1954.  It has an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 49, "Fourteenth Street (Business Town)," by Joaquin Torres-Garcia, oil on board, 21 7/8 by 17 7/8 inches, 1920

The cover illustration of the auction catalogue is Lot 49, "Fourteenth Street (Business Town)," by Joaquin Torres-Garcia (1974-1949).  An oil on board, it measures 21 7/8 by 17 7/8 inches and was painted in 1920.  It has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000.  It sold for $362,500.  It was the cover illustration of the 2009 exhibition at El Museo del Barrio in New York entitled "Nexus New York: Latin American Artists in the Modern Metropolis."

Lot 230, "A La Deriva," by José Bedia, mixed media on arrate paper, 47 1/2 by 93 3/4 inches, 1998

Lot 230 is a very large mixed-media work on arrate paper by José Bedia (b. 1959) entitled "A La Deriva."  It measures 47 1/2 by 93 3/4 inches and was created in 1998.  It has an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000.  It sold for $10,000.

Lot 226, ""Working for Freedom," by The-Merger: Mario Miguel Gonzalez, Niels Moleiro and Alain Pino, stainless steel, 50 3/4 inches long, number 1/7

Lot 226 is a stainless steel, two-handed saw whose "cutting edge" consists of a arch of 12 silhouettes of the top of the Statue of Liberty.  It was created by The-Merger: Mario Miguel Gonzales (b. 1971), Niels Moleiro Luis (b. 1970), Alain Pino (b. 1974).   The work is 50 3/4 inches long and is number 1/7.  It has an estimate of $18,000 to $22,000.  It sold for $26,250.

Lot 172, "The Rain-maker," by Marcelo Bonevardi, acrylic and wood on canvas, 70 by 50 inches, 1965

Lot 172 is a very fine work entitled "The Rain-Maker," by Marcelo Bonevardi (1929-1994).  An acrylic and wood on canvas, it measures 70 by 50 inches and was created in 1965.  It has an estimate of $18,000 to $22,000.  It sold for $25,000.

See The City Review article on the Fall 2010 Latin American Art auction at Sotheby's 

See The City Review article on the Fall 2010 Latin American Art auction at Christie's

See The City Review article on the Spring 2010 Latin American Art auction at Sotheby's