By Carter B. Horsley

This auction of Latin American Art at Sotheby's November 18 and 19, 2009 is highlighted by good works by Fernando Botero, Rufino Tamayo and Matta and fine examples by Julio Alpuy, Javier Marin, Irene Sierra Carreno, Sergio Camargo, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Julio Larraz, Mariano Rodriguez, Adriana Varejao, Diego Rivera and Leonora Carrington.

Lot 41 is a fine bronze sculpture by Fernando Botero (b. 1933) that is 45 inches high and is entitled "Ballerini, Piccolo Donna su Gradino." It is number 2 of 2 and was created in 2006. It has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $626,500 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.

The evening auction was very successful with 50 of the 58 offered lots selling for $14,764,250 nicely over the pre-sale high estimate.

August O. Uribe, the auctioneer, said at a news conference after the sale that he was "absolutely ecstatic" about the results, adding that there was "extremely deep" bidding." He said that it was "the third best sell-through of the past decade" for the department. Bidding was in some instances very prolonged and Mr. Uribe noted that there were bidders from Russian, Indonesia and South Africa as well as America, Latin America and Europe.

Lot 32 is a very fine painting of a picador by Fernando Botero (b. 1933). An oil on canvas, it measures 60 5/8 by 48 inches and was created in 1984. It has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $752,500.

Lot 10 is a simple but strong composition by Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) entitled "Constelacion. An oil and sand on canvas, it measures 22 by 40 3/4 inches and was painted in 1947. It has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It was formerly in the collections of Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Heinz II of New York and Mr. and Mrs. David Rockefeller of New York. It sold for $470,500.

Lot 37 is a very fine and subtle and large oil and sand painting on canvas entitled "Pareja en gris" by Tamayo. It measures 70 3/4 by 48 1/2 inches and was painted in 1983. It has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It is property from the collection of Mary Schiller Myers and Louis S. Myers. It sold for $494,500.

Lot 11, "Endless Nudes," is an unusual Matta in that elements of the human body can be discerned. It was once in the collection of Philip Johnson and Associates and the Seagram Collection.. An oil on canvas, it measures 28 ½ by 36 inches and was executed 1941-2. It was offered at Christie's in Spring, 2003 with an estimate of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 when it sold for $1,687,500, the highest lot of the auction. At this auction, it has an estimate of $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. It sold for $2,490,500.

The catalogue for the 2003 auction provided the following commentary on this work by Hayden Herrera:

"In Endless Nudes the movement of paint, handled with Matta's characteristic ease and fluency, stands for the rhythms of the human organism. Pigment is first poured and then rubbed with rags in a free improvisational manner. Matta was a proponent of the Surrealist technique of `psychic automatism,' a kind of visual stream of consciousness that aimed to go beyond habit and rational thinking and to discover the `real functioning of the mind.' After laying down broad areas of color, Matta applied transparent veils of white, which he called `a caress.' His brush unearthed shapes in the movement of the paint and transformed these shapes into precise, yet ambiguous biomorphs. Endless Nudes lures us into a uterine landscape where sinking and swelling forms suggest themes of germination and birth. Because Matta has not yet abandoned the horizon line in Endless Nudes, there is an implication of earth and sky, but both spheres are full of fleshy folds that sometimes become nude bodies. On the lower right, just on the threshold of recognition, is a recumbent embracing couple. In the sky above them the movement of clouds creates what looks like a male torso seen from the back and, lying beside him, must be a female. (We see only her bent knee.) The painting's orgiastic energy also belongs to the mineral world: in spring 1941 Matta traveled to Mexico where he was impressed with the brilliance of color and light and where he witnessed the birth of the volcano Paricutin. The paintings he made upon his return to New York reflect his apprehension of the earth's terrifying power, a power that echoed his own spiritual eruptions: dreams, he said, are `images of our volcanic experiences.' And, beyond that, Endless Nudes' upheaval of form and its lava flow of color was perhaps also a response to the cataclysm of war. Matta's genius lay in his ability to keep us reinventing his fantastic landscapes"

The catalogue entry for this auction for this lot provides the following commentary by Martica Sawin, noting that its exhibition in 1942 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York "caused ripples of excitement because of the new and unorthodox approach to painting it announced":

"Having moved sideways into painting from architecture Mattas was not encumbered by academic training and approached painting in an unorthodox way to produce previously unseen effects. According to Onslow Ford, he dabbed pigment on the canvas with his fingers and then used a sponge or turpentine soaked cloth to spread the painting in thin layers, then wiped off the excess and in places scraped small areas with a palette knife....This explains why we see no marks of a brush or any trace of the artist's hand in Endless Nudes. Instead there is an overall swelling and heaving motion of the diaphoanous layers which occasionally part to allow jewel-like bits of dense pigment to show through like glimpses of the earth's interior fires."

Lot 54 is an unusual but sharply delineated composition by Matta that was painted in 1986. Entitled "Magik," it is an oil on canvas that measures 69 by 93 1/2 inches. It has a modest estimate of $70,000 to $90,000. It sold for $143,500.

In 1939, Matta (1911-2002) made a gift of this colored crayon, black crayon and graphite on paper, Lot 9, to Elizabeth Onslow Ford Rouslin, the sister of Gordon Onslow Ford, in appreciation for her teaching him English when he arrived in Europe in the late 1930s. Its title, "I, said the sparrow," is the first line of the old English poem Who Killed Cock Robin? The title is hidden in the composition. The catalogue notes that in 1939 Matta joined Gordon Onslow Ford and his sister Elisabeth along with a group of the Surrealists including Andre Breton and the artists Yves Tanguy, Kay Sage and Esteban Frances at the Chaeau de Chemilieru, where Bathus had spent the previous summer. The lot has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $206,500.

Lot 40 is a strong work by David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) that is entitled "Nahual." It is pryoxilin on paper laid down on wood and measures 39 3/4 by 26 1/4 inches. It was painted in 1968. It has a modest estimate of $35,000 to $45,000. It sold for $37,500.

Lot 14 is a simple oval still life by Diego Rivera (1886-1957) that is slightly angled. It was painted circa 1915-6. An oil on canvas, it measures 29 by 24 inches. This attractive still life has a muted but lovely palette and was executed in Paris when the artist was experimenting with Cubism. The cover illustration of the Sotheby's May 29, 2002 Latin American Art auction's catalogue, it had a somewhat ambitious estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $475,000. This time It has an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000. It sold for $812,500.

Lot 57 is a quite bold and extremely colorful work by Mariano Rodriguez (1912-1990). An oil on canvas, it measures 24 1/4 by 20 inches and it was painted in 1943 and is entitled "Guajiro con Gallo (Muchacho con Gallo)." It has an estimate of $125,000 to $175,000. It sold for $482,500. The catalogue notes that this painting "Boy with a Rooster" was a highlight of a 1944 exhibition on Modern Cuban painters at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Lot 12 is an oil on canvas by Leonora Carrington that is entitled "Le Grand Adieu." It measures 19 3/4 by 39 1/2 inches and was executed in 1958. It has an ambitious estimate of $400,000 to $600,000 since it has little of her normal eccentric creatures. It sold for $632,500.

Lot 19 is a handsome painting by Julio Alpuy (1919-2009) entitled "Constructivo." An oil on canvas, it measures 37 3/8 by 29 5/8 inches and was executed in 1950. It has an estimate of $35,000 to $45,000. It sold for $53,125.

One of the more colorful works in the auction is Lot 190, "Viaje en la Corteza," by Irene Sierra Carreno (b. 1965). An acrylic on canvas, it measures 28 1/4 by 36 inches, it was painted in 2001. The painting has a delightful sense of nature. It has an estimate of $35,000 to $45,000. It failed to sell.

One of the most charming and striking works in the auction is Lot 123, "Pronunciamiento," by Julio Larraz (b. 1944). An oil on canvas, it measures 40 1/2 by 48 3/4 inches. The asymmetrical composition is very bold and accented by its large scale and the diminutive and curious monkey. It has an estimate of $60,000 to $70,000. It sold for $50,000.

Lot 92 is a very lovely painting by Hector Poleo (1918-1989) entitled "Soledad Infinita No. 24." An oil on canvas, it measures 20 by 24 inches and was painted in 1967. It has an estimate of $18,000 to $22,000. It sold for $17,500.

One of the most stunning works in the auction is Lot 29, "Raices," a painted wood sculpture by Frans Krajcberg (b. 1921) that measures 85 by 69 by 17 inches. It was created circa 1980. It has an estimate of $80,000 to $100,000. It sold for $146,500.

Lot 15 is an impressive work by Mathias Goeritz (1915-1990). It is gold painted performd metal on painted wood that measures 36 1/2 by 174 1/2 inches and was created i8n 1979. It was recently deacessioned by the Denver Art Museum and previously had been in the Atlantic Richfield Colllection in Denver. The catalogue notes that this was one of two works that the artist created to decoratd the ARCO headquarters in Denver. It has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $254,500.

Lot 5 is a large painted wood sculpture by Sergio Camargo (1930-1990) created in 1964. It measures 67 by 45 7/8 inches. It has an estimate of $350,000 to $450,000. It sold for $1,594,500, more than three times the artist's previous world auction record.

Lot 30 is a striking painting by Adriana Varejao (b. 1964) entitled "Figua de convite." An oil on canvas, it measures 66 3/4 by 51 inches and was painted in 1995. It has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $110,000. The artist depicts various decorative bathroom tiles to create her image.

Lot 192 is a impressive sculpture of a male torso by Javier Marin (b. 1962). It is 96 inches high and was created in 1995. It has a modest estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $62,500.