NEW YORK, NY.- Heritage Auctions will present iconic works by leading modern and contemporary artists in its Spring Modern and Contemporary Art sale in New York City on May 22.
Collectors of Robert Motherwell will be presented with two diverse works. Nemesis, 1981-82 (Est. $500,000-$700,000), which bears witness to his long relationship with the color black and gestural drawing and Cor Anglais, 1976 (Est. $100,000-$150,000), Motherwell's collage and ode to Beethoven. Motherwell highlighted Beethoven's music only three times in his collage series, making Cor Anglais that much more unique.
Ed Ruscha's Evolution/Revolution from 2013 will be offered with an estimate of $300,000-$500,000, as well as his 1981 depiction of the Hollywood sign, estimated at $80,000-$120,000. Hollywood is striking for its logo-like simplicity. Unlike other works by the LA-based artist, this one is pointedly understated: an almost yearning whisper rather than a cinematic shout.
A unique work by Jasper Johns from 1998 titled Untitled (Red, Yellow, Blue) will be included at an estimate of $150,000-$250,000. A particularly novel variation on the painted-over theme, we find the artist's fingerprint in the "blue" frame of this intimate work. Untitled (Red, Yellow, Blue) is an extraordinary metamorphosis of print into painting and attests to Johns' versatility as an artist and methodical probing of a particular theme.
An impressive series of works by the German-born abstract expressionist painter Hans Hofmann will also be offered. Works include Pink Phantasie, 1950 (Est. $40,000-$60,000), The Heinzelman, 1946 (Est. $50,000-$70,000),and Untitled, 1962 ($15,000-$25,000).
Further highlights are sculptures by acclaimed female artists, Lynda Benglis and Louise Nevelson. Nevelson's Little Mansion, circa 1955 (Est. $40,000-$60,000) establishes her commitment to the color black, yet is unlike her other works in that it includes a splash of bright orange. Benglis' Abu, 1980 (Est. $30,000-$50,000) belongs to a suite of works from the early 1980s in which she tackled the vitality of goldleaf.
Other important lots in the sale include:
• Robert Ryman, Part 17, 1993: Est. $200,000-$300,000
• Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Box (Chicken Noodle), 1986: Est. $200,000-$300,000
• Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Box (Chicken Rice), 1986: Est. $200,000-$300,000
• Victor Brauner, Denombrement III, 1938-39: Est. $80,000-$120,000
• Wayne Thiebaud, Untitled Landscape, 1965: Est. $80,000-$120,000
• Friedel Dzubas, Morning Crow, 1979: Est. $40,000-$60,000
