LONDON.- On 6 March 2019,
Christies Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction will be led by David Hockneys intimate yet monumentally-scaled 1969 portrait of Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, from the collection of Barney A. Ebsworth (estimate in excess of £30 million). Standing among Hockneys most celebrated works, Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott will mark a fitting conclusion to the collection of Barney A. Ebsworth, which has thus far achieved a running total of $323,508,250. The painting will be unveiled and on view in New York from 8 to 12 February before going on view in London from 2 to 6 March 2019. The Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction is a key part of 20th Century at Christies, a season of sales taking place in London from 22 February to 7 March 2019.
Marc Porter, Chairman, Christies Americas, remarked: It is an honour to present Hockneys double portrait of Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, which is not only an extraordinary example from the artists most celebrated series, it is also a poignant representation of one of the 20th centurys greatest curators. Hockney captured Geldzahler at a particularly decisive moment when the curator was organizing his most revolutionary exhibition. Officially titled New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970, the exhibition received such a high degree of fanfare that it would soon become universally known as Henrys Show. 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of that survey, which would ultimately alter the course of both Geldzahlers career and art history as we now know it, making the sale of this painting extremely timely. Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott was among Barney Ebsworths most treasured works of art, and marks one of the rare exceptions to Mr. Ebsworths rule of only acquiring the work of American Artists. The stunning success that this collection has achieved thus far, speaks to the collectors remarkable eye for quality, and this work absolutely epitomizes that.
Katharine Arnold, Head of Evening Sale, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christies London, continued: David Hockneys double portraits are undoubtedly some of the finest paintings the artist ever realised. Created on a 7 by 10 foot format, these paintings invite the viewer to enter the intimate settings of some of Hockneys closest friends. In Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, we meet the celebrated curator and his partner in their 7th avenue apartment in New York City. What strikes me as extraordinary is Hockneys use of naturalistic technique. Here Hockney has mastered paint to conjure up glass in four different ways: the glass window looking out onto the cityscape, Geldzahlers neat reading spectacles, the modern glass table with a beautiful glass vase of tulips. Reflection, transparency and light are Hockneys subjects. Structured like a devotional triptych, the intimately observed composition comprises a blush pink Art Deco sofa from Geldzahlers living room, the view from Scotts study, the glass table from Hockneys studio in London and the signature vase of tulips, often interpreted as symbolising the artist himself. An unspoken narrative exists between the two lovers, which adds the element of human drama so characteristic of Hockneys greatest work. Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott will appear at auction for the first time since 1992 and follows the record set for Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) in New York in November.
Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott is a glowing meditation on human and visual relationships. Hockneys closest friend Henry Geldzahler the legendary curator, critic and king of the New York art world dominates the centre of the composition, framed by soaring skyscrapers. Christopher Scott, his then-boyfriend, hovers to the right like a fleeting apparition. Painted in 1969, it is the third work in the career-defining series of seven double portraits that Hockney created between 1968 and 1975. With four held in museum collections, these seven-by-ten-foot canvases represent the culmination of the artists naturalistic style. Another example from this series, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), was sold at Christies New York in November 2018 for $90.3 million, setting a new world auction record for any work by a living artist.
Though focused on Geldzahler and Scott, the work ultimately celebrates the relationship between Geldzahler and Hockney: two artistic giants at the heights of their powers. Geldzahler stares out from the canvas like an icon at the centre of an altarpiece, observing the painters every move. Hockneys return gaze is palpable in the works sharp, clear perspective, and seemingly affirmed by the addition of tulips his favourite flower, and a deeply personal motif. The pair met in Andy Warhols studio in 1963, and quickly became friends. At the time of the painting, Geldzahler a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was working on his landmark exhibition New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970, which quickly came to be known as Henrys Show. This revolutionary survey of contemporary American art would ignite his career, leading one journalist to describe him as the most powerful and controversial art curator alive. 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of Geldzahlers landmark exhibition. Hockney, too, was on the brink of international acclaim, buoyed by the success of the double portraits that he had already completed.
The works provenance, along with its extensive exhibition history, is exceptional. In 1969, it was unveiled in Hockneys solo show at André Emmerich Gallery, where it was described as truly amazing and totally hypnotizing by New York Magazine (J. Gruen, Open Window, New York Magazine, 12 May 1969, p. 57). It was acquired from the gallery that year by Harry N. Abrams, the renowned art book publisher and distinguished collector, and remained in his family collection until 1992. Under this stewardship, it was featured in a number of significant exhibitions, including Pop Art Redefined one of the earliest shows at the newly-founded Hayward Gallery in 1969.
In 1997, it became one of the final pieces to enter the prestigious Ebsworth collection, offering a rare British addition to one of the worlds greatest assemblages of 20th century American art. Long admired by the collector, it took its place alongside Edward Hoppers 1929 masterpiece Chop Suey, as well as important works by artists such as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Georgia OKeefe. For twenty-two years, the painting hung in Ebsworths home, and starred in notable museum shows most recently Hockneys eightieth birthday touring retrospective originating at the Tate Britain, London (2017-18).
In an auction world first, the sale of the Ebsworth Collection marks the first time an art auction at this price level has been recorded on a blockchain. Christies and Artory, a leading art-centric technology provider, partnered to create a secure digital registry for the sale of the Ebsworth Collection, in the spirit of the innovation and entrepreneurship that guided Mr. Ebsworth career. The introduction of this technology for this sale continues Christies legacy of leading the industry by introducing technology innovations in the context of major collections, for the ultimate benefit of our clients. David Hockneys Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, will be recorded along with all other lots sold as part of the Ebsworth collection.