NEW YORK, NY.- The FIRST OPEN/NYC Summer edition of Post-War and Contemporary Art will present an exciting selection of approximately 350 lots estimated in the region of $4-6 million, which represent the full spectrum of Post-War and Contemporary Art. The sale will present works by an array of artists featured in the recent May auctions, but with price points that are accessible to a wide range of collectors. A great choice of works by blue chip artists such as Alexander Calder, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama and Kazuo Shiraga. But also a great selection of works by European artists Yves Klein, Lucio Fontana, Günther Förg, Imi Knoebel and Niki de Saint Phalle. The highlights of photography comprise works by Cindy Sherman, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Richard Prince. This season Christie's will present a selection of works from the collection of Ruth Horwich, as well as some museum consignments from the Bass Museum in Miami and the Seattle Museum, sold to benefit their Acquisitions Funds. All the works will be exhibited before the auction at Christie’s Rockefeller Center Galleries from July 18 to 21.

Leading the sale is a magnificent painting titled Ougi by Kazuo Shiraga, (estimate: 80,000-120,000). With its vigorous surface, vibrant chromatic range and spontaneous composition, Ougi captures the spirit of the pioneering Japanese artist, Kazuo Shiraga. A founding member of the influential avant-garde Japanese art collective, the Gutai Art Association (1954-1972), Shiraga’s work embodies the group’s aesthetic vision: to break with the conventions of traditional materials in search of innovation and originality. Completed in 1968, Ougi was a classic work that is archetypal of Shiraga's style.

Another highlight is Yayoi Kusama’s Fruits, executed in 1998, (estimate: $50,000-70,000). Yayoi Kusama's avant-garde artistic creations are diverse - from her soft sculptures to happenings, she is admired as one of the most established contemporary artists in Japan and has close ties with artists such as Donald Judd and Claes Oldenburg of the 1960s New York art scene. Fruits is a visually playful sculpture using shimmering gold fabric, the tentacle-like soft sculpture is a reminder not only of her early creations of soft sculpture in New York but also of her reflections on human sexuality, particularly of being a female artist in a male-dominated world.

FIRST OPEN/ONLINE
The FIRST OPEN/ONLINE: SUMMER EDITION sale consists of a selection of over 150 lots and complements the works being offered in our live auction. Highlights from this sale are included in the live auction catalogue and will be on view at Christie’s Rockefeller Center Galleries. Collectors will have the opportunity to bid on works from this online sale starting July 16 through to July 28. Among the highlights to be sold in the online sale are an exquisite oil on paper by Raymond Pettibon, a watercolor by Lawrence Weiner, a painting by James Rosenquist and photographs by Andres Serrano, William Klein, Nan Goldin, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Pierson. A selection of works will be sold to benefit Art of Elysium.