NEW YORK, N.Y.- Phillips de Pury & Company's New York Fall 2011 Contemporary Art Part I Sale will take place on November 7 and will present 45 superb works with a pre-sale estimate of $66,560,000 - 97,970,000, representing major artistic movements across the category. Significant works by Post-War masters Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Serra and Cy Twombly will be offered alongside highly sought-after works by Contemporary artists such as Richard Prince, Christopher Wool, Anish Kapoor, Cindy Sherman and Jacob Kassay.
Zach Miner, Head of the Part I sale, states: “Phillips de Pury & Company is honored to have been able to assemble an outstanding selection of seminal paintings and sculptures from the brightest luminaries of 20th and 21st century art. Phillips November 2011 Part I sale will present a uniquely broad span of master works that is perfectly attuned to the discerning tastes of today’s globally active market. From the bold post-war abstractions of Calder, Twombly, de Kooning, Guston and Francis to the visual power and wit of Warhol, Lichtenstein and Ruscha; through the perceptual rigor of Kelly, Serra, Judd and Andre; to the precision and humor of Koons, Prince, Wool, Sherman, Hirst, Kapoor, Cattelan and Fischer; Phillips November 2011 Part I auction will offer collectors a singular opportunity to acquire artworks of the finest quality and of exceptional rarity across a wide spectrum of styles and schools."
The Dominion of Warhol: Phillips de Pury will offer five works by Andy Warhol and one work in collaboration with Jean-Michel Basquiat. The cover lot of the sale, Nine Gold Marilyns (Reversal Series) from 1980 features Warhol's most iconic subject. Estimated at $7,000,000-10,000,000 million, the repeated silk-screened images signal the high-water mark of Warhol's portraits. Joining this seminal work is the pop master's Knives, 1982 (Estimate: $3,000,000-5,000,000)—rendered in glowing blood-red and black. And the artist's starkly revealing Self-Portrait (Estimate: $4,000,000-6,000,000) from 1986 elicits the same powerful response today as it did 25 years ago, when it was painted.
The Post-War Masters: Features brilliant works from Post-War leaders such as Alexander Calder, Richard Serra, Willem de Kooning, Cy Twombly, Philip Guston and Sam Francis in one sale. The pieces from these artists not only represent the finest execution of form and technique, but they are prime examples from the artists' mature periods. Over eight feet tall, Alexander Calder's majestic Trepied, 1972 (Estimate $5,000,000-7,000,000) stands as one of the most important outdoor Calders to be offered in recent memory. Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XVIII, 1984, in its achromatic background adorned with dashing blue, red and black lines, is a prime example of the artist’s late work. It’s inclusion in the sale coincides seamlessly with the retrospective currently on view at The Museum of Modern Art in New York (Estimate: $4,000,000 – 6,000,000. Cy Twombly's Untitled, a looping monument from 2006, stands as a triumphant culmination of the artists six decade long career (Estimate: $8,000,000-12,000,000). Twombly, who died earlier this summer at the age of 83, was lauded for his undiminished brilliance and innovation that he sustained until the end of his life.
The Advance of Contemporary Art: Richard Prince, Christopher Wool, and Cindy Sherman are a small sample of the provocative contemporary artists included in this sale. Prince's ravishing Runaway Nurse, 2006 (Estimate: $5,000,000-7,000,000) celebrates the artist's fascination with mid-century pulp fiction, and is the most compelling work from his storied series. Three outstanding works by Wool—Untitled (P 177), 1993 (Estimate: $1,200,000-1,800,000), Untitled (P 63), 1988 (Estimate: $700,000-900,000), Untitled (P 71), 1988 (Estimate: $1,000,000-1,500,000)—all hailing from the same American collection will likely reshape the current market for the artist. Cindy Sherman’s Untitled (#88), 1981 (Estimate: $1,200,000-1,800,000) with its tight framing renders her subject both shocking and vulnerable. As one of the most important examples of her oeuvre, it will come under renewed attention as the major retrospective of her work, the first in over a decade, sets to open at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2012.
The 2011 Guggenheim International Gala Contemporary Art Benefit Auction for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation will take place on November 7 at 6.30pm and will comprise 22 important works from leading contemporary artists, affiliated to the museum, who have donated their work to benefit the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Highlights include Maurizio Cattelan’s Others, 2011, comprised of eleven taxidermied pigeons, recently exhibited at The International Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale. Additional participating artists include Anselm Kiefer, Subodh Gupta, George Condo, Christopher Wool, Richard Serra, and Richard Phillips. This auction will be the first of its kind to be held outside of the Museum.
Richard Armstrong, Director The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and foundation says, “On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to thank Phillips de Pury & Company for generously hosting our benefit auction in conjunction with - and in advance of the annual Guggenheim International Gala on November 10. I am profoundly grateful to all the artists that have made this auction possible with the contribution of their extraordinary works. With the global reach of Phillips de Pury, not to mention the inimitable Simon de Pury, the auction will certainly be an exciting part of our gala celebration.”
“Phillips de Pury is thrilled to lend its support to the Guggenheim Museum. Over the years I had the privilege of conducting a number of auctions during the annual Guggenheim Galas. This year we will precede our Part I evening sale with a special auction entirely devoted to raising funds for this great institution. This will allow collectors from all over the world to buy great art while contributing to the global activities of the Guggenheim.” Simon de Pury, Chairman, Phillips de Pury & Company
CONTEMPORARY ART PART II
Contemporary Art Part II will comprise 161 lots with a pre-sale estimate of $8,084,000 - 11,799,000.
“With this November Part II sale we are thrilled to have such a fine selection of well-established pop to emerging, sought- after younger artists. The market demand for highly curated, well-priced works from these genres is high and we look forward to showcasing them in our galleries for the public eye."
Sarah Mudge, Head of Part II Contemporary Art Sales.
Highlights of the Part II sale include Sturtevant’s Lichtenstein, Frighten Girl, 1966,(Estimate:$250,000-350,000), which represents the artist’s aesthetic discourses on Pop and Conceptualism and captures her brilliant understanding of both movements. Jenny Holzer’s Untitled, 1990, (Estimate: $120,000-180,000) exemplifies the artist’s use of literary phrases from common myths or texts and presents both explicit content and minimalist aesthetics which make profound statements about the world of advertising and consumer society today. Sigmar Polke’s Untitled, 1996, (Estimate: $250,000-350,000) exhibits the evolution of his later work in which he produced gestural paintings combining figurative and abstract imagery, and displays his experimentation of mixing together traditional pigments with untraditional solvents to produce a unique and often illusory quality.
