LONDON.- Phillips announced highlights from the Evening & Day Editions auctions in London. Comprised of 250 works, a rich selection of editions by Modern, Contemporary, Pop and British artists will be on offer. The Day Sale [lots 60-250] will be held on 12 September at 2pm with the Evening Sale [lots 1-59] following at 6:30pm on the same day.
Among the Modern highlights is an exceptional group of portraits by Pablo Picasso, led by two important, and rare to auction, linocuts of his second wife, Jacqueline Roque: Portrait de Jacqueline au chapeau de paille multicolore and Portrait de Jacqueline au cheveux lisses, both 1962. Created whilst in his 80s in the South of France, these works demonstrate Picasso’s adroitness with the linocut process and his impressive ability to master a variety of printmaking techniques throughout his life. Two further examples demonstrate this variety: a 1934 etching from the Vollard Suite, inspired by Picasso’s earlier lover and muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter (Quatre femmes nues et tête sculptée), and an intimate lithograph portrait of a third muse and paramour, Françoise Gilot (Jeune femme au corsage à triangles, 1947).
From one master of innovation to another, the sale also presents an impressive variety of works by David Hockney including etchings, lithographs, iPad and computer drawings, photo-collages, and photocopier prints. Included in the Evening sale is a charming double-portrait by Hockney of himself in imaginary conversation with Picasso, entitled Artist and Model, 1973-74, in homage to Picasso’s often depicted scene.
Another work created in homage is Louise Bourgeois’ Sainte Sébastienne, 1992, which reimagines the familiar art historical trope of the bound and shot with arrows martyred male saint in monumental feminine form.
Unique works by European artists lead the Contemporary section including Quattro Colori, 2008, a lacquered wooden multiple in four unique colours by Gerhard Richter; Untitled [Mönchengladbach 1983], 1983, a lithograph with extensive unique additions in acrylic paint and varnish by Sigmar Polke; and Nove Quadrati, 1979, a set of nine unique watercolours on handmade paper by Alighiero Boetti. Contemporary British artists are represented by Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie, Grayson Perry and Bridget Riley ahead of her October 2019 retrospective at the Hayward Gallery, London.
American Pop is exemplified by two screenprints of Andy Warhol’s most iconic sitter, Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn, 1967), which are accompanied by Roy Lichtenstein’s Reflections on Girl, from Reflections Series, 1990, and two Keith Haring Pop Shop Quads. On offer in their footsteps are two Contemporary American artists creating relief prints: Jonas Wood’s set of Mixografía® Three Clippings, and Nina Chanel Abney’s Two Years and Counting, both from 2018.
The auction will be on view to the public from 5 to 12 September. In addition, highlights from the upcoming selling exhibition Andy Warhol’s Lenin, works from the Archive of Galerie Klüser, will be shown alongside the auction viewing. Comprised of eight editions and one work on paper, Andy Warhol’s Lenin will go on full view to the public from 26 September to 4 October.
Rebecca Tooby-Desmond, Head of Sale for Editions, said, “Following the success of our June single-owner collection auctioning Property from the Archives of Edition Schellmann, which far exceeded its pre-sale high estimate, we are excited to present our London Editions auctions in September for the first time. This selection celebrates innovation in edition-making across the Modern and Contemporary categories and offers exciting opportunities to grow or start a collection with works by blue-chip and emerging artists side by side.”
