By Carter B. Horsley

This Latin American Art auction at Sotheby's November 19 and 20, 2003 is highlighted by several fine works by Claudio Bravo, a superb landscape by Diego Rivera, a major work by José Clemente Orozco, some excellent works by Wilfredo Lam, a great Remedios Varo and two nice paintings by Rufino Tamayo.

Claudio Bravo (b. 1936) is a sensational realist painter best known for his trompe l'oeil depictions of packages, drapes, and still lifes. Lot 51, "Before The Game," is a masterful, bravura composition of soccer players in a pre-game room. The 78 1/2-by-94 1/2-inch oil on canvas was executed in 1973. It was once in the collection of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation and has an estimate of $450,000 to $650,000. It sold for $433,600 including the buyer's premium as do all the results mentioned in this article.

Another major Bravo is Lot 30, "Self-Portrait," in which the artist poses nude like the man in a famous drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci, "Proportions of the Human Figure," also know as the "Vitruvian Man," which, the catalogue notes, "demonstrated how all proportions in nature could be ascribed to the circle and the square." The 79 1/2-by-59-inch oil on canvas was executed in 1970 and has an estimate of $250,000 to $300,000. It sold for $276,800.

Lot 11, "White Package," is one of Bravo's famous "package" paintings. Executed in 1967, the oil on chipboard measures 14 by 10 5/8 inches. It has been consigned by the Bill Blass Foundation and has an estimate of $90,000 to $120,000. It sold for $220,800.

Several Bravos have been consigned for the benefit of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston including Lot 25, "Red Turban," a 32 1/4-by-25 1/4-inch oil on canvas, which has an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000. It sold for $198,400 and drew a round of applause.

Lot 5 is a marvelous landscape by Diego Rivera (1886-1957) of Toledo and its angular, tortured geometric view would most likely enchant El Greco, whose famous view of the same Spanish city hangs at the Metropolitan Museum (see The City Review article). Rivera spent a few years in Paris where he developed his own very colorful Cubist style that he would eventually abandon for his more famous social realism murals. Cézanne, too, would admire this very fine oil on canvas that measures 24 1/8 by 20 1/4 inches. Executed in 1913, it has a modest estimate of $600,000 to $700,000. It sold for $512,00.

For those on a more restricted budget, Lot 97, "Illustration for Ilya Ehrenburg's 'The Tale of Nadiunka," is a very strong ink on rice paper by Diego Rivera. It was executed in 1916 and measures 7 1/2 by 5 1/4 inches. It has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $13,200.

Lot 7 is an important work by José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949) that is entitled "Prometeo." An oil on masonite, it measures 35 1/2 by 41 inches and is a rectilinear version of the artist's important ogival arch fresco of Prometheus at Pomona College. The catalogue notes that the Pomono College fresco is cited by experts as "a turning point" in Orozco's career, "fusing all of is previous training and boldly announcing a breakthrough to full artistic maturity." "Prometheus pulsates withrebellion," it continued, adding that Jackson Pollock "repeatedly referred to Orozco as 'the real man' and consistently remarked that Prometheus...was 'the greatest painting in North America." It has a modest estimate of $300,000 to $350,000. It sold for $534,400, setting a new world's auction record for the artist. It was shown only in reproduction at the exhibition as it is part of the National Heritage of Mexico and not allowed to leave that country.

The cover illustration of the auction catalogue is Lot 8, "Femme Cheval," a superb oil on canvas by Wilfredo Lam (1902-1982). Dated 1955, it measures 49 by 42 5/8 inches and has an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000. It sold for $579,200. The catalogue offers the following commentary by Julia Herzberg:

"In an attempt to move beyond a mere appropriation of Picasso's animal forms, Lam fused diverse zoological elements within one human figure, including the horse's snout, pointed ears, mane, buttock, and tail. The resulting amalgams are articulated in a fully developed Cubist space of multiple viewpoints and overlapping forms. Surrealism freed Lam from traditional representation and opened up the possibilities for subversion of the naturalistic that results in endless surprise and delight....The horse motif should be understood in the context of Afro-Cuban culture, in which it resonates with meaning. Its presence alludes to an important religious phenomenon, the process of being possessed."

Lam's palette sometimes tends to sold, but Lot 8 is richly saturated as is Lot 32, another Lam, which is entitled "Sans Titre (Idoli 9)." An oil on canvas that measures 35 by 29 inches, it is dated 1962 and has a conservative estimate of $125,000 to $175,000. It is notable for its mutli-colored vertical banding at the right. It failed to sell and was passed at $90,000.

Lot 121, "Totem," is a vibrantly colorful and strong abstraction by Lam. An oil on canvas that measures 31 1/2 by 23 3/8 inches, it was painted in 1972 and has a modest estimate of $80,000 to $100,000. It sold for $90,000.

Lot 10, "Morphologie Pscyhologique de L'Attente," is an important early work by Matta (1911-2002). An oil on canvas, it measures 28 by 35 7/8 inches and was executed in 1938. It has an ambitious estimate of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. It sold for $792,000 and was the highest price attained in the evening portion of the auction, which totalled $7,249,600, about the middle range of the pre-sale estimates of $6,500,000 to $8,600,000. Kirsten Hammer, one of the specialists in Sotheby's Latin American Art Department, said the auction's success reflected an improving market and noted that there was "very enthusiastic bidding." Of the 54 offered lots in the evening section of the auction, 44 sold, or 81.48 percent.

Remedios Varo (1908-1963) was one of the great woman artists of the 20th Century whose mystical fantasies are supremely Surrealist. Lot 9, "Caminos Tortuosos," is a fine small gouache on heavy paper by Varo that measures 18 1/2 by 10 7/8 inches. Painted in 1957, it has been widely published and has a conservative estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $187,200.

The auction has two good "pink" paintings by Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991). Lot 38, "Hombre," is a very fine oil and sand on canvas that measures 28 3/4 by 35 1/2 inches. Executed in 1961, it has a modest estimate of $200,000 to $250,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $170,000.

Lot 17, "Hombre en Rojo," is a larger Tamayo that was done 15 years after Lot 38. Entitled "Hombre en Rojo," it is an oil and sand on canvas that measures 31 1/2 by 39 7/8 inches. Like Lot 38, its dominant color is pink, but it is a more distinctly painted and formal composition that does not have the fabulous texture of Lot 38, nor its intense deep blue accents. This lot has an estimate of $300,000 to $350,000. It sold for $411,200.

Lot 88 is a very lovely gouache on paper by Mario Carreño that is entitled "Mujer con Guitarra." Executed in 1947, it measures 21 by 27 1/2 inches and has an modest estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $32,400.

Lot 107, "Katos," is a very strong pyroxylin on panel by David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974). It was executed in 1963 and measures 23 7/8 by 18 inches and has a modest estimate of $30,000 to $40,000. It sold for $54,000.

Fernando Botero (b. 1933) is represented by Lot 36, "Cardenal (Niño de Guevara," an enormous oil on canvas that he executed in 1984. It measures 67 1/4 by 70 inches and has a modest estimate of $175,000 to $225,000. It sold for $198,400.