LOS ANGELES, CALIF.- On Tuesday, October 25, 2022, at 4:00pm PST,
John Moran Auctioneers will present She Made It, their inaugural sale dedicated to female artists and makers in a wide variety of styles, mediums, and subjects. Featuring jewelry, fine art, furniture, sculpture, this sale has a range of estimates well-suited to the emerging as well as the established collector.
After having recently achieved a World-Auction Record of $187,500 (including buyer’s premium) in Moran’s Summer Modern & Contemporary auction, Alice Baber will be offered again with her work, Swirl of Sounds -Wind, Rock and Sun, 1975. Baber was an American artist and a lesser-known figure from the Abstract Expressionist but has since garnered mass appeal. With an estimate of $30,000-50,000, this large 103” H x 71.75” W oil on canvas is another example of her signature rich hues painted as semi-transparent ovoids. This sale will also include two Baber serigraphs: Blue X, 1970 and Untitled, both with $1,000-2,000 estimates.
Joining Baber as a highlight for fine art comes from the Modernist landscape artist, Henrietta Berk (1919-1990, American). Berk was famed for her still-life paintings of flowers, interiors, and abstract landscapes, and has been exhibited in galleries worldwide. Celebrities including Julie Andrews, Blake Edwards, and Kim Novak collected her works. Floral Still Life comes with an estimate of $3,000-4,000.
Headlining the sculpture presented in this sale is an aluminum and copper piece by Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas. Galactic Lens Year 2000, estimated $15,000-20,000, is an example of the highly polished materials in which her sculptures are recognized. "Creation begins with a wish, a desire to do something, to make something, to see beyond the immediate reality. If we are lucky, it will open a door to a stream of thought that is inspiration." – From Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas's, "Art Essay: Thoughts on Creation," ART TIMES, Spring 2013.
For collectors getting ready to host for the holidays, take notice of the rare, silver-plated brass cocktail shaker from 1929. This piece exemplifies the prominent Art Deco influence found in Elsa Tennhardt's work. Tennhardt was an American artist and designer during the mid-20th century, influenced by the sleek lines and shiny surfaces of the Art Deco period. Designers during this time prized the modern look of smooth lines, geometric figures, and symmetrical details defined by the Art Deco style. The mirrored and shiny surfaces of the silver-plated brass material found in Tennhard's cocktail shaker, estimated $3,000-5,000, can also be seen in her cocktail glasses, salt and pepper shakers, and ice buckets. Her work is currently on display in the Brooklyn Museum in New York.
Representing jewelry is a stunning piece by the French artist, Claude Lalanne (1924-2019, French), one of the art world’s longest-standing surrealist pioneers. Having designed for Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, her work is both striking and accessible, possessing a whimsical, seductive, and delicate beauty as well as a utilitarian function. Lalanne’s necklace presented in this sale is a vermeil necklace in the form of a realist mimosa branch of leaves and flowers with leaf-shaped links and has an estimate of $5,000-7,000. This piece was made before Lalanne’s passing in 2019, so it was created by hand. Also, notably the pieces from the 1980s and 1990s, such as this one, are always rare and cherished by collectors.
Another woman inspired by Art Deco was Eileen Gray (1878-1976, Irish), a prominent furniture designer and architect of the early 20th century. In conjunction to the Art Deco period, she was part of the modernism movement, a time when other leading designers were almost all males. Soon to be on the block is her “brick” screen, circa 1970s, made with lacquered wood, steel, and brass, and estimated $2,000-3,000.
Having just shy of 100 lots, this sale will also include works by Ynez Johnston, Judy Chicago, Marion Kavanagh Wachtel, Jay Milder, Corita (Sister Mary) Kent, and Joan Strauss Carl.
