Francis Bacon: Study of Nude with Figure in a Mirror
Gerhard Richter: Kerze
Zhang Xiaogang: Big Family nº1
SOTHEBY’S EVENING AUCTION OF CONTEMPORARY ART INCLUDES MASTERPIECES BY BACON, WARHOL, FONTANA AND RICHTER.
Important works by Bacon, Warhol, Richter, Koons and Fontana shine in Sotheby’s first February auction of contemporary Art
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Following intense growth of the Contemporary Art market over the last decade, SOTHEBY’S first February stand-alone week of Contemporary Art sales will be headlined by the finest ever collection of works in an Evening Auction in Europe on Wednesday, February 27th with important pieces by Gilbert & George, Bridget Riley, Andreas Gursky and, to coincide with their exhibitions at Tate, important works by Juan Muñoz and Peter Doig. Sales for the Evening Auction alone are estimated to reach in excess of £72 million – the highest ever pre-sale estimate for any auction of Contemporary Art in Europe.
Three Self Portraits, by Andy Warhol (1928-87) is a rare trinity of canvases dating from 1986. Their unveiling in London represents a homecoming for the portraits which were acquired by the owner directly from the artist’s landmark exhibition at the Anthony D’Offay Gallery in 1986, in a transaction completed the day before Warhol tragically died on February 22nd 1987. Only six self portraits were made in this size for the D’Offay show. Of these, the other three have been split up. Three Self Portraits is estimated to sell for in excess of £10 million.
Lucio Fontana’s (1899-1968) Concetto Spaziale, La fine di Dio of 1963 is widely regarded as one of Fontana’s greatest paintings. Emanating from his most important series, the Fine di Dio or End of God, the egg shaped canvas announce arguably the most important development in European abstract art of the 20th century. Its value is estimated in excess of £4 million and it is expected to beat the current record price for Fontana of £2.4 million.
Executed in 1969 at the height of his career, Study of Nude with Figure in a Mirror by Francis Bacon (1909-92) has been included in all of his major retrospective exhibitions to date. Renowned critic and art historian John Russell concluded that with this work: “We are left wondering if natural life – life as it is actually lived out, without packaging – has ever been portrayed more completely in painting.” The work sets up an intriguing narrative involving a rare full length nude portrait of his close friend Henrietta Moraes cast against a mysterious male figure in the mirror which could be the artist himself. The head of Moraes reminds us of Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon from 1907 and the figure in the mirror sets up an interesting relationship with Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergeres. The work is estimated to sell for in excess of £18 million. Also offered is a small portrait which is thought to be the very first portrayal of Bacon’s last great love John Edwards. It is estimated at £1,500,000-2,000,000.
The auction includes five major paintings from the oeuvre of
Gerhard Richter which chart his unmatched post modern exploration of style in painting. The most important is Kerze from 1983, which represents one of Richter’s most renowned Photo Paintings taking the age-old romantic still life image of a candle. Kerze is estimated at £1,800,000- 2,500,000.
Jeff Koons’ (born 1955) sculpture Kiepenkerl stands as a watershed between two of his most important series from the 1980s ‘Statuary’ and ‘Banality’. It is estimated at £1,500,000-2,500,000.
Measuring three metres in width, Big Family No. 1 is by far the largest work by Zhang Xiaogang to come to auction to date. Executed in 2001, it is the culmination of the artist’s highly acclaimed ‘Bloodlines’ series which he began in 1983 and as such ranks among the most important works in the series. It is a monumental embodiment of the revolutionary spirit of Chinese avantgarde art and encapsulates the mood of 20th century Chinese history. Its value is estimated at £1,500,000-2,000,000. Speaking about Zhang Xiaogang and Yue Minjun, collector Marcel Brient comments: “One day these painters will be in the leading collections and museums and, in their own way, telling us what happened and what, thanks to them, is changing. They have helped bring about this change.”
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