LOS ANGELES, CA.- Los Angeles Modern Auctions announced the date of its Winter auction: Sunday, February 25, 2018 at 12pm (PST).
The February 25, 2018 auction will represent a wide range of modern and contemporary fine art and design from some of the most important names of the last century. The auction will feature strong representation from New York contemporary and Pop artists, the Cool School, and Light & Space, as well as modern European masters. Specifically, artists such as Frank Stella, Nicole Eisenman, Ed Ruscha, Fred Eversley, and Alexej von Jawlensky will all be represented in LAMA’s Winter auction. A bold chair by Wendell Castle, classic designs by Charles & Ray Eames, and designs by Hans J. Wegner will also be featured in the upcoming auction.
The curated auction will feature a 1970 hand-colored work titled Rayy Sketch by Frank Stella. This piece was created the same year The Museum of Modern Art, New York presented the first retrospective of Stella’s work when the artist was only 33 years old. Ed Ruscha’s Cheese Mold Standard with Olive (1969) will also be on the auction block in February. The screenprint features the now-iconic image of a Standard fueling station Ruscha encountered when driving across the country.
Founder and Director of Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA), Peter Loughrey, is pleased to start the company’s second quarter century with such a strong line up. “I am thrilled to offer these two early works by Frank Stella (1970) and Ed Ruscha (1969) side by side, highlighting the unique freedom and time in which the two pieces were created. Despite working on opposite coasts, Stella and Ruscha each give reverence to everyday locations, using blunt coloring and hard lines to elevate a race track and fuel station. These works are distinctly representative of the development of New York Pop and the Los Angeles Cool School.”
A kinetic sculpture by Yaacov Agam is the top lot of the auction. The large, double-side work features the Op art aesthetic for which Agam is known. Continuity (1980) was a custom commission for a Los Angeles collector the same year the artist had a solo show at the Guggenheim. LAMA is also thrilled to present Note II, a 1967 trial proof etching by Cy Twombly which features the looped markings associated with the artist.
Los Angeles-based artist Fred Eversley was a NASA engineer before finding his calling in art, and this technical background is clear in his precise, geometric, resin works. LAMA is thrilled to present a polyester resin work by the artist that demonstrates his dedication to the Light & Space movement. A 1936 painting by Alexej von Jawlensky, a founder of Der Blaue Reiter, will round out the February 25th auction. This work on canvas is from the artist’s later work, which was decidedly abstract, and a break from his earlier, figurative works.
Additional fine art highlights by Frederick Hammersley, James Rosenquist, Richard Pettibone, Harry Bertoia, Frank O. Gehry, and Tara Donovan will also be offered.
Recent momentum surrounding Wendell Castle will be further highlighted in the upcoming auction as Abilene (2008), a stainless-steel chair, will be the top design lot. The use of polished metal, a departure from wood, in such a fluid form is representative of Castle’s oeuvre and mastery of design.
Additional design highlights include works by Jean Arp, Fabio Lenci, Zaha Hadid, and Hans Wegner.
