LONDON.- Christie’s announced From the Studio: Part Two, part of an ongoing partnership with amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. This encompasses a group of nine contemporary artworks, offered as part of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale taking place on 2 July 2021 in London. Proceeds generated by From the Studio: Part Two will benefit amfAR and its research efforts to develop effective treatments for COVID-19.

From the Studio: Part Two presents contemporary artworks that have been generously donated by artists for this initiative, debuting works that have never been seen before by the public. They have been sourced with the help of Michael Nevin, director of The Journal Gallery, and include artworks by Jenna Gribbon, Michael Kagan, Katherine Bradford, Nicole Wittenberg, Eleanor Swordy, Cristina de Miguel, Christina Quarles, Cristina BanBan and Jonathan Chapline.

Highlights include Michael Kagan’s work, The Action Is The Juice (2021, estimate: £40,000-60,000) a new painting, created especially for this sale. In addition Nicole Wittenberg’s Water Birch is presented (2021, estimate: £4,000-6,000), her work has been included in the Albertina Museum, Vienna; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A number of unique figurative paintings are also included: Cristina de Miguel’s Samba Fan (2021, estimate: £4,000-6,000), Eleanor Swordy’s, Contact (2021, estimate: £3,000-5,000), Cristina BanBan’s, Dos Modelos (Two Models) (2021, estimate: £3,000-5,000) and Jonathan Chapline’s, Untitled (Swimmers) (2021, estimate: £10,000-15,000). A further highlight is Christina Quarles’s drawing, My God I Need a Break Today (2021, estimate: £8,000-12,000). Her work is currently being shown at an eponymously titled exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

“After the resounding success of our first auction last summer, we are thrilled to be launching From the Studio: Part Two in support, once again, of the amfAR Fund to Fight COVID-19,” said amfAR Chief Executive Officer Kevin Robert Frost. “And once again we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Christie’s and to all of the outstanding artists for their generous support of our work.”

Isabel Millar, Associate Specialist Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s London: “I am thrilled to be collaborating with amfAR to raise critical funds for COVID-19 research. From the Studio: Part Two provides a unique opportunity to acquire quality contemporary artworks that have never been seen before by the public while supporting a vital cause. I would like to thank all of the artists who generously contributed artworks for this important initiative.”

As a leader in infectious disease research, early on in the COVID-19 pandemic amfAR made a strategic decision to apply its experience and expertise to this new crisis. In April 2020, amfAR temporarily expanded its efforts to include research on the coronavirus, establishing the amfAR Fund to Fight COVID-19.