By Carter B, Horsley

The inclusion of a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, the most famous "Old Master," in Christie's major Contemporary Art auction this season, has puzzled and surprised some observers who also note that the auction houses are fooling around with traditional scheduling as well as their veteran experts.

Auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen as seen in the Woods room on television at the final bid in the main salesroom of $400,000,000, a moment some observers thought worthy of a cellphone picture!

Nonetheless, the decision was a roaring success as the oil on panel fetched $450 million including the buyer's premium, smashing the record for a work of art at auction that had been set in beating the $76.7 million achieved in 2002 at Sotheby's for "The Massacre of the Innocents" by Rubens.

This auction total was $785,942,250 with 9 of 58 offered lots not selling.

People queuing up outside Christie's on 49th Street to catch a glimpse of "The Last DaVinci"

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In a November 2, 2017 article in The New York Times, Scott Reyburn wrote that "With his visionary designs for tanks, helicopters and airplanes, Leonardo da Vinci had a creative genius that was, as we know, far ahead of his time. But does that mean his work belongs in an auction of contemporary art?"

"Christie’s thinks so," the article continued, adding that "the auction house is including the Leonardo painting “Salvator Mundi,” or “Savior of the World,” dating from around 1500, in its Nov. 15 sale of postwar and contemporary art in New York, along with works by Mark Rothko and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Christie’s has finessed the jarring incongruity by marketing the old master alongside Andy Warhol’s Leonardo-inspired silk-screen 'Sixty Last Suppers.' This 1986 painting...is more than 30 feet wide...."

Loïc Gouzer, co-chairman of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s

The article quoted Loïc Gouzer, co-chairman of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s, as declaring that “The work of Leonardo is just as influential to the art that is being created today as it was in the 15th and 16th centuries. "

It went on, however, to quote Todd Levin, an art adviser and curator based in New York, who buys contemporary and old master works on behalf of clients, as declared he was “stunned” by the move.  “This is an old master painting,” he said. “But because it’s extraordinarily highly valued, they inserted it into their biggest-ticket auction and artificially tried to create context with the Warhol.”

Christie’s has noted that “Salvator Mundi” is the last Leonardo painting in private hands and Mr. Reyburn's article said that "The much-restored and abraded oil-on-panel shows Christ, half-length, as savior of the world, his right hand raised in blessing and his left holding a crystal orb," adding that "it is certain to sell for at least $100 million, thanks to a guarantee from a third-party backer."

Mr. Reyburn then wrote about the painting's legal disputes:

"The painting is being sold by the family trust of the Russian billionaire collector Dmitry E. Rybolovlev, who purchased it in May 2013 for $127.5 million through Yves Bouvier, a Swiss art dealer and businessman. Mr. Bouvier had recently bought the painting for $80 million from Sotheby’s, which brokered a private sale on behalf of three New York art dealers. One of them had spotted the work eight years earlier at an estate auction in the United States, and had bought it for less than $10,000.

"Mr. Bouvier’s move to resell the work within days at a markup of more than $40 million prompted a litigious response from both Mr. Rybolovlev and the New York art dealers.

"The Russian collector claims in a continuing multijurisdictional lawsuit that he was fraudulently overcharged by Mr. Bouvier for the Leonardo and 37 other major-name artworks, for which he paid about $2 billion. Mr. Bouvier denies the accusations. Mr. Rybolovlev’s family trust sold four of the works at Christie’s in March, unprotected by guarantees. The pieces by Gauguin, Magritte, Rodin and Picasso had been purchased from Mr. Bouvier for a total of $174 million. They recouped $43.7 million.

"After the filing of Mr. Rybolovlev’s suit in 2015, Mr. Bouvier was arrested in Monaco and released on bail of 10 million euros, or about $11.6 million at current exchange rates. He subsequently counterclaimed that the Monaco judiciary was biased in favor of Mr. Rybolovlev. In September, Monaco’s minister of justice, Philippe Narmino, resigned after the French newspaper Le Monde published text messages indicating that he had been influenced by Mr. Rybolovlev and his legal team. With his own legal costs mounting, Mr. Bouvier sold the Geneva branch of his art storage business last month.

"The three dealers who sold “Salvator Mundi” through Sotheby’s, aggrieved by the scale of Mr. Bouvier’s profit, threatened last year to sue the auction house. In November, Sotheby’s moved to block the lawsuit with a declaratory judgment action, but it has since been withdrawn and the matter resolved.

Mr. Reyburn suggested that given the rarity of the artist's work, the valuation this painting "should be more like $200 million," but added that "the painting's condition is a problem,"  nothing that Luke Syson, the curator of a 2011 exhibition at the National Gallery in London that identified the painting as a "long lost work" once owned in the 17th Century by Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I of England, said in a catalogue essay that the painting had been "aggressively over-cleaned...especially in the face and hair of Christ."

The painting, an oil on walnut panel, measures abut 25 by 17 inches.  There are about 20 known versions of the painting, which had been consigned to an 1958 auction where it sold for 45 pounds!

In 2007, an extensive restoration of Salvator Mundi  was undertaken by Dianne Dwyer Modestini, Senior Research Fellow and Conservator of the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation at the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

An article by Megan Doll in the Fall 2011 edition of the NYU Alumni Magazine provides more background:

"Dianne Dwyer Modestini had just finished cleaning and restoring Andrea del Sarto’s Madonna and Child when, in 2005, gallerist and art historian Robert Simon brought a new project to her Upper East Side home. The recently acquired work, a 16th-century oil painting on a walnut panel, was believed to be a common copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s lost Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World). Though damaged and obscured by crude overpaint from earlier attempts at restoration, both Modestini and Simon could see passages of extremely high quality....

"The panel arrived at Modestini’s home in poor condition. Earlier restoration attempts had yielded dubious results: At one point restorers had repaired the cracked and bowed panel by using stucco fill, gluing it to another backing, and painting over the suture. When Modestini removed the layers of varnish and overpaint with a mixture of acetone and petroleum spirits, she found the original paint to be quite damaged. She also uncovered an interesting pentimento (vestiges of an artist’s reconsidered compositional ideas) on Christ’s blessing hand: a layer of bright pink underpaint indicating that the thumb was originally laid in at a more vertical position. For Simon, it was this evidence of the artist’s revision that convinced him of Leonardo’s authorship. (This pentimento was photographed but eventually covered in the retouching process, as per Leonardo’s intention.)

An article by Anna Brady in the November 21, 2017 edition of theartnewspaper.com that Thomas Campbell, the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art sparked a controversy after the $450.3 million sale of the Salvator Mundi by posting an image of the painting before restoration on Instagram with the caption "450 million dollars?! Hope the buyer understands conservation issues."  The article noted that Robert Simon and "fellow New York-based dealers Alex Parish and Warren Adelson, bought the painting after it appeared at a small provincial auction in the US in 2005," adding that "the consortium, known as the R. W. Chandler company, then tasked New York-based restorer Dianne Dwyer Modestini with conserving the painting.

In the comments below Campbell’s Instagram post, @robertsimonfineartwrote: “Dr. Campbell, this is an incredibly ill-informed and mean-spirited comment about one of the most respected painting conservators in the world, one who incidentally spent many years diligently working at your former institution. I personally observed the conservation process on the Salvator Mundi and can attest to the absolute honesty, modesty, and respect that Dianne Modestini brought to her work on the painting—carried out at the highest ethical standards of the profession. Given the prevalence of so many foolish remarks in both serious and social media, I have refrained from responding, but feel compelled to do so now.”  Campbell then responded: “I have [the] greatest respect for Modestini. Was simply remarking, as so many others have, on extensive amount of conservation. Seems to be a lot of over-sensitivity out there.”

The article added an update the following day, stating that 'Robert Simon says his reaction was triggered by Campbell's response to a comment from Brett Gorvy, the art dealer and former chairman and international head of post-war and contemporary art at Christie's, who wrote 'Would love to see the condition report on the Mona Lisa or the Last Supper.' Campbell responded, 'that’s one way of looking at it. Another is that, inch for inch, conservator Dianne Modestini must be among the most highly-valued living artists in the world!'"

Alex Rotter, the chairman of Christie's Post-Modern & Contemporary Art department, who made the winning bid, at the post-auction press conference

The bidding on the lot began at $70 million and took 19 minutes to reach its final bid of $400,000,000 not counting the buyer's premium.  Alex Rotter, the chairman of Christie's Post-Modern & Contemporary Art department on several occasions "jumped" the bidding beyond normal increments in an attempt to "bully" other bidders and was finally successful. At the end, he was trading bids with Francis de Poortere, the head of Christie's old master paintings.

An article by Robin Pogrebin and Scott Reyburn in the November 16, 2017 edition of The New York Times with the Page One headline of "Art World Gasps as a Leonardo with Flaws Tops $450 million" noted that "some art experts pointed to the painting's damaged condition and its questionable authenticity," adding that some experts said "the auction house put the artwork in a contemporary sale to circumvent the scrutiny of old master experts, many of whom have questioned the painting's authenticity and condition."  "The composition doesn't come from Leonardo," said Jacques Franck, a Paris-based art historian and Leonardo specialist.  "He preferred twisted movement.  It's a good studio work with a little Leonardo at best and it's very damaged," the article continued.

An adjoining "Critic's Notebook" article by Jason Farago called the painting "a proficient but not especially distinguished religious picture from turn-of-the-century Lombardy, put through a wringer of restorations," adding that "there's a meekness and monotony to 'Salvator Mundi' that can't be redeemed by these marginally engaging details.  The savior of the world appears in this painting as a soft, spumy cipher....This Jesus, far from saving the world, might struggle to save himself a seat on a crosstown bus."

The next day, The Times ran an editorial on "The da Vinci Lode" and asked why "the images passing through the crystal orb in Jesus' hand not inverted, as a keen scientific observer like Leonardo would surely have noted?"

A November 13, 2017 article by Kelly Crow in The Wall Street Journal noted that "Old Master dealer Richard Feigen said he believed the work is genuine but its canvas has undergone such extensive restoration that 'there's only a skeleton of da Vinci left on the canvas."  "There's not enough of his original brushstrokes to convince me to ever recommend anyone buy it," he added.

The bottom line is that this painting does not have the hallmark of da Vinci's genius of composition and exquisite sense of beauty and its restoration has severely compromised its collectibility notwithstanding the fine marketing by Christie's.  This is not an Old Master painting that a collector can be very proud of but then who said lovers of contemporary art were connoisseurs.

A Page One article from London by David D. Kirkpatrick in The New York Times December 7 said that Saudi prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, "a little known Saudi prince from a remote branch of the royal family with no history as a major art collector," was the "mystery" buyer of the "Salvator Mundi," according to documents reviewed by the newspaper.

The next day, however, The Times ran an article by Mr. Kirkpatrick, Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmidt that "Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, acting through a friend and distant cousin, was the true buyer," adding that "Prince Bader, in a statement published Thursday in a Saudi newspaper owned by a company he leads, said he had 'read with great surprise the report published about me in The New York Times newspaper and the strange and inaccurate information it contained."

On December 9, The Times ran another article, this time only by Mr. Kirkpatrick and Mr. Schmidt, with the headline "Saudi Arabia Denies Claim Crown Prince Brought Art."  The article stated that "the Saudi Embassy in Washington on Friday offered a new explanation for the record-breaking $450.3 million purchase last moth of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci."

"Disputing reports that the 32-year-old Saudi crown prince had brought the painting through a little-known distant cousin, an embassy spokesman said in a statement that the cousin had instead acted as an agent for the ministry of culture of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.  The painting will hang there in a newly opened branch of the Louvre," the article continued.

Lot 13B, "Sixty Last Suppers," by Andy Warhol, acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 116 by 393 inches, 1986

Lot 13B is a 393-inch long acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) entitled "Sixty Last Suppers."  It was painted in 1986.

The huge auction catalogue provides the following commentary:

"The final tour-de-force of Andy Warhol’s illustrious career, Sixty Last Suppers reclaims the ghosted image of the painting that ushered in the Renaissance—challenging Leonardo as to whose canvases was fresher and more powerful. Made in the last year of the artist’s life, Sixty Last Suppers emerges as a final encapsulation of many of the tenets which defied the artist’s celebrated career. In 1985, Andy Warhol was commissioned by his friend and dealer, Alexandre Iolas to create a series of works based on the Last Supper for an exhibition in Milan. The works were shown in a space for the Italian bank, Credito Valtellinese in the former refectory of the Palazzo delle Stelline, which was located directly across the street from Leonardos Renaissance masterpiece in the refectory of the Santa Maria delle Grazie. For Warhol, who had riffed off da Vinci’s Mona Lisa decades earlier, the opportunity to confront Leonardo in this setting was an irresistible opportunity that proved to be the impetus for the Pop master’s last great burst of creativity."

"...the photograph of the venerated mural that Warhol implemented as the basis for his silkscreened pictures was a reproduction of an engraving that is most closely linked to a widely-distributed copy of theoriginal Leonardo done by Raphael Morghen in the 1800s. Warhol’s decision to use a copy of the original was in part due to necessity. As his studio assistant at the time, Rupert Smith explained, “Andy worked on the project on and off for a year from photographs, but I could never get a really great photograph out of the real Last Supper books because the images were always so dark” (R. Smith, quoted in J. Schellmann, Andy Warhol: Art from Art, Cologne, 1994, p. 77). However, Warhol soon becameenamored with the quest to find cheap knockoffs of the Renaissance masterpiece. In one…updated Vasari type book,” Smith continued, “we found line drawings of every famous painting. Andy used that because it gave a clear definition. He also used a kind of maquette, a sculpture of The Last Supper we found on the New Jersey turnpike in one of those gas stations; it was white, made to look like marble, but it was really plastic. I think I paid $13 for it. And then Andy found another one in the Time Square area where the Mediterranean Iranian rug dealers sell Christian paraphernalia and towels and electronic gear on the side. He said to pay a couple thousand for it; it was big and all enameled. Andy photographed this one thinking we would use it, but the actual photo of The Last Supper he used I bought at a Korean religious store next to the factory. It was one of those copies of the 19th century version that had been re-done, like you’d buy in Woolworths”

The lot, which was exhibited widely on tour with the "Da Vinci," had an estimate on request.  It sold for $60,875,000.

Lot 10B, "Il Duce," by Jean-Michel Basquiat, acrylic, oilstick and spray paint on canvas, 60 inches square, 1982

Lot 10B is a large painting of "Il Duce" by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988).  The acrylic, oilstick and spray paint on canvas measures 60 inches square and was painted in 1982.

It has an estimate of $25,000,000 to $35,000,000.  It was passed at $24,000,000.

Lot 21B, "Light Mechanic," by Franz Kline, oil on canvas, 92 by 67 5/8 inches, 1960

Lot 21B is a great abstract oil on canvas by Franz Kline (1910-1962) entitled "Light Mechanic."  It measures 92 by67 5/8 inches and was painted in 1960.  It is one of several works from the Eppler Family Collection that the auction house termed "The Defining Gesture."

The catalogue provides the following commentary:

"Perhaps more than any other art of the period, the paintings of Franz Kline have come to be regarded as the embodiment of Abstract Expressionism. His broad sweeps of paint and dramatic black-and-white gestures combine to produce enigmatic forms that evoke the aggressive dynamism of the urban landscape. Yet, for Kline, the physical act of painting is not a means to capture or replicate the energy of New York or his native Pennsylvania; it is an experience in and of itself—an act in which the artist commits to canvas his emotional reaction to the modern metropolis.

"At nearly eight feet tall, Light Mechanic belongs to a group of monumental canvases that Kline painted between 1950 and the early 1960s. In both physical size and artistic scope, it skillfully captures the masculine energy that epitomized Abstract Expressionism, as onto this large canvas Kline lays down bold architectural swaths of paint. Vertically, horizontally, and at oblique angles, this arrangement of muscular linear markings coalesces into a form that immediately recalls the towers and girders of the iconic Williamsburg or Brooklyn Bridges, or any of the other monolithic structures that traverse New York’s skyline. In addition to these melodramatic signs, the forthright masculinity of the composition is also in part achieved by the primal nature of his surface as Kline includes intentional voids as an integral part of the composition. These areas reveal only the primed canvas, creating a sense of space and depth, and when tempered by the sweeps of the artist’s brush, a canvas of unrivaled motion and energy.

"As with his contemporaries (Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock), Kline’s signature style harnessed the gestural brush stroke to execute a vision that filled the canvas with what Meyer Shapiro called “… the mark, the stroke, the brush, the drip, the quality of substance of the paint itself, the surface of the canvas as a texture and field of operation—all signs of the artist’s active presence....

"As Robert Mattison points out in his book Franz Kline: Coal and Steel, the relationship between Kline’s painting and the black-and-white photographs of Siskind and Frank goes far deeper than the abstract nature of their monochromatic palette. All are concerned with compositional concerns too, including the simplification of form, the representation of space, off-balance arrangements, and an understanding of the depiction of energy, speed, and dynamism. In addition, Mattison continues “The photographers that are sometimes referred to as the New York School of photography were interested in capturing the rapidity of change in the modern era. Their works often concern the swift rise of the American industrial age and the contrast between ideal models of industry and the reality of working environments. They suggest both the constructive and desolate character of the machine age”

The lot has an estimate on request.  It sold for $20,000,000.

Lot 18B, "Shattered Light," by Lee Krasner, oil and paper collage on Masonite, 34 by 48 inches, 1954

Another very fine work from the Eppler collection is Lot 18B, "Shattered Light," by Lee Krasner (1908-1984),  An oil and paper collage on Masonite, it measures 34 by 48 inches and was created in 1954.  It was included in her retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1983-5.

The catalogue entry provides the following commentary:

"...unlike many of her peers, who fashioned themselves as romantic iconoclasts or misanthropic outcasts, Krasner adopted an approach to art-making devoid of ego, in that it was essentially opposed to objectified individuality. While so many Abstract Expressionists would eventually develop a signature style, inevitably becoming static and predictable, Krasner remained committed throughout her artistic career to exploration, permutation and pure freedom.

"Emblematic of this commitment is the artist’s recollection of how she began making collage: 'It started in 1953—I had the studio hung solidly with drawings... floor to ceiling all around. Walked in one day, hated it all, took it down, tore everything and threw it on the floor, and when I went back—it was a couple of weeks before I opened that door again—it was seemingly a very destructive act. I don’t know why I did it, except I certainly did it. When I opened that door and walked in, the floor was solidly covered with these torn drawings that I had left and they began to interest me and I started collaging. Well, it started with drawings. Then I took my canvases and cut and began doing the same thing, and that ended in my collage show in 1955.'"

The lot has a modest estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000.  It sold for $5,487,500, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 40, "Almost Grown," by Peter Doig, oil on canvas, 80 3/4 by 116 1/4 inches, 2000

Lot 40, "Almost Grown," is a large oil on canvas by Peter Doig (b. 1959) that was painted in 2000.  It measures 80 3/4 by 116 1/4 inches. 

The catalogue entry notes that

"While Doig’s work is always tethered to recognizable experiences in the real world, it engages with the idea that painting is ultimately a creative activity; unlike photography, it lends itself willingly to subjectivity and fantasy. With its opulent coloration that pertains to a forest fire or a blazing sunset, Almost Grown intensifies the unexpected drama that the natural world can provide. Following in the 18th century tradition of the sublime, it seeks to evoke a sense of being awe-inspired, and even transformed, by an encounter with a landscape. The diminutive figure in Almost Grown not only connects the viewer with the artist, but creates an unsettling sense of man’s ultimate insignificance before nature."

The lot has an estimate of $10,000,000 to $15,000,000.  It sold for $10,437,500.

Lot 15B, "Untitled," by Cy Twombly, acrylic on canvas, 128 by 194 1/2 inches, 2005

Lot 15B is a huge, untitled acrylic on canvas by Cy Twombly (1928-2011).  It measures 128 by 194 1/2 inches and was painted in 2005.

The catalogue provides the following commentary:

"Towering over the viewers and enveloping them in a tumultuous, spiraling web of flesh-andblood- colored form that seems to simultaneously climb and fall across the surface of the canvas, Untitled, 2005, is one of Cy Twombly’s last great works. It was executed using a large brush drenched in rich, vermilion paint and affixed to the end of a long pole which Twombly maneuvered with great skill and effort in a manner not unlike that used by Henri Matisse in his last years when painting his chapel in Vence. Here, Twombly has manipulated the brush to push, pull, drip, daub, and splash his rich red color over a warm, flesh-colored ground so that its line appears to both rise and fall, pour and drip, (in the manner of blood or wine) and generate one, single, cohesive and inexorable, spiraling field of form. The result is a fiery, magisterial mass of burgeoning, painterly form and energy that both dwarfs the viewers and impresses upon them an elemental, almost primordial, sense of power, rhythm, and grandeur. 

"The painting stands over ten feet high (3.25m) and extends over sixteen feet (4.94 m) in length. As such it is the largest example from an epic group of similarly, giant scaled paintings on a theme which Twombly, at the age of seventy-five, made in a sudden and intensely physical burst of creativity that began in 2003 around the time of the US invasion of Iraq and ended in 2008 with the artist’s donation of three of these great works to the Tate Modern in London.

"Founded upon the spiraling use of a graphic loop of linear form - reminiscent of his so-called “blackboard” lasso-loop paintings of the late 1960s, but here more expanded into a wilder and more visceral form - this great series, (known as the Bacchus), is one that marks the culmination of Twombly’s fifty years of painterly practice and a final summation of the epic and perennial theme of scrawling, whirling, writing/drawing that the artist had regularly invoked at various points throughout his career. The theme of these paintings was that of Bacchus/ Dionysus - the classical god of wine and drinking - as well as of the intertwined nature and closely related polarities of ecstasy and rage, inspiration and madness, intoxication, and debauchery that the “Dionysian” force within life also embodies."

The lot has an estimate on request.  It sold for $46,437,500.

Lot 16B, "Summer Kitchen Still Life," by Philip Guston, oil on canvas, 32 1/8 by 36 inches, 1979

Lot 16B, "Summer Kitchen Still Life," is an oil on canvas by Philip Guston (1913-1980).  It measures 32 1/8 by 36 inches and was painted in 1979.  It has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000.  It sold for $6,612,500.

        

Lot 6B, "Saffron," by Mark Rothko, oil on canvas, 69 by 53 3/4 inches, 1957

Lot 6B, "Saffron," is a 1957 rather weak oil on canvas by Mark Rothko (1903-1970) that measures 69 by 53 3/4 inches.  It has been widely exhibited and published.  It has an estimate of $25,000,000 to $35,000,000.  It sold for $32,375,000.

Lot 36B, "Untitled," by Rothko, oil on paper laid down on canvas, 52 3/4 by 40 inches, 1969

A far better and bnlliant Rothko is Lot 36B, an untitlled oil on paper laid down on canvas that measures 52 3/4 by 40 inches.  It was painted in 1969.  It is property of the Collection of Nancy Lee and Perry B. Bass.  It sold for $11,000,000, a world auction record for the artist in that medium.

Lot 35B, "Enigma," by Hans Hofmann, oil on canvas, 36 1/2 by 84 inches, 1963

Another good Bass work is Lot 35B, "Enigma," by Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), a 1963 oil on canvas that measures 36 1/2 by 84 inches.

The catalogue entry provides the following commentary:

"Enigma is a triumphant example of Hans Hofmann’s significant contribution to the 20th century art historical canon. The blocks of contrasting colors that appear to float across the surface of the canvas represent the culmination of his theory of 'push'' and 'pull', whereby color and form interact to produce an energetic painterly surface which reverberates with chromatic intensity. A highly influential painter and theorist, Hofmann successfully developed a way of depicting space while at the same asserting the primacy of the flat canvas. Here, his blocks of thickly applied color accentuate the horizontal and flat nature of the canvas, but at the same time creating the illusion of depth as color and form that seems to retreat and recede as they reverberate across the canvas. Painted just three years before his death in 1966, Enigma becomes a lasting epitaph to one of the most important and influential abstract painters of his generation....

"Enigma is the culmination of a theory which Hofmann first began to develop in the early 1940s. He believed fervently that a modern artist must remain faithful to the flatness of the canvas support. To suggest depth and movement in the picture, he theorized that artists should create contrasts of color, form, and texture. The result was his 'push' and 'pull' theory, which he first introduced in an essay called Search for the Real and Other Essays, which he published in 1948. 'Push and Pull are expanding and contracting forces which are activated by carriers in visual motion” he said. 'Planes are the most important carriers, lines, and points less so…the picture plane reacts automatically in the opposite direction to the stimulus received; thus action continues as long as it receives stimulus in the creative process. Push answers with pull and pull with push…. At the end of his life and at the height of his capacity, Cézanne understood color as a force of push and pull. In his pictures, he created an enormous sense of volume, breathing, pulsating, expanding, contracting through his use of colors” (H. Hofmann, quoted by L. Barnes, 'Push and Pull,' in L. Barnes & J. Hülsewig-Johnen (ed.), Creation in Form and Color: Hans Hofmann, exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bielfeld, 2016, p. 149).

"Hofmann studied in Paris during the flourishing eras of Cubism, Fauvism and German Expressionism, and elements of his paintings can be traced directly to those sources as influences. His doctrinal reliance on the plane as the principal component of his compositions is rooted in the precedence set by modern masters like Braque, Klee and Mondrian, all of whom had a prodigious influence on him. As Hofmann’s style evolved over time, and his shapes began squaring off into identifiable geometric forms that acted as both visual cues and spatial organizers, this influence became more and more evident. When devising the composition’s structure, for example, Hofmann would often pin rectangles of colored paper to the canvas to ensure the accurate placement of the forms and a successful interplay among them all - a method borrowed directly from Braque, the father of Cubism. Meanwhile, his vivid and often unorthodox choice of colors derive from the Fauves and the German Expressionists. In Enigma, he oscillates between using complementary colors that reinforce the presence of one another - sometimes a pleasant contrast, other times a jarring dissonance - and opting for colors that are so similar to one another that the distinction is only identifiable by a textural interruption in the thick impasto of paint. These subtle differentiations only strengthen the use of his technique of 'push and pull' by both creating and destroying the illusion of depth on the canvas.

"1963, the year in which the present work was painted, was an important year for the artist. He was honored with a major retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Curated by William Seitz, the exhibition cemented the artist’s reputation as one of the most important and individual artists of his generation. In the introductory essay to the catalogue, Seitz wrote, 'Hans Hofmann, now working at the peak of production few younger artists could sustain, is one of our major masters. He is a symbol of both the international origins of American painting and its subsequent world influence. It is a sign of greatness, in the career of an artist, when his personal development cannot be separated from that of his epoch; such is the case with Hofmann. He is both a synthesist, who in his work and theory has concentrated the tradition of which he is a part, and a radical inventor who has given impetus to three generations of artists' (W. Seitz, quoted by L. Barnes, 'Push and Pull,'in L. Barnes & J. Hülsewig-Johnen (ed.), Creation in Form and Color: Hans Hofmann, exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bielfeld, 2016, p. 150).

"In 1962, the year before the present work was painted, Hofmann summed up his career with the following statement. 'My aim in painting, is to create pulsating, luminous and open surfaces that emanate a mystic light, determined exclusively through painterly development, and in accordance with my deepest insight into the experience of life and nature' (H. Hofmann, quoted by L. Barnes, 'Push and Pull' in L. Barnes & J. Hülsewig-Johnen (ed.), Creation in Form and Color: Hans Hofmann, exh. cat., Kunsthalle Bielfeld, 2016, p. 150). As such, Enigma, acts as a vital embodiment of the artist’s philosophy, the pinnacle of the Abstract Expressionist’s art, packed with chromatic and textural dynamism."

The lot has an estimate of $3,000,000 to $5,000,000.  It sold for $2,412,500.

Lot 37B, "Untitled," by Barnett Newman, oil on canvas, 36 1/8 by 24 1/8 inches, 1945

One of the most beautiful works in the auction is Lot 37B, an untitled oil on canvas, by Barnett Newman (1905-1970) that measures 36 by 24 1/4 inches.  It was painted in 1945 and was once in the collection of Evelyn D. Haas of San Francisco. It has been widely exhibited and published.  When it was auctioned at Christie's New York in the Spring of 2012, it has a modest estimate of $3,000,000 to $4,000,000 and was sold for $3,218,500.  At this auction, it has an estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,500,000.  It sold for $4,092,500.

Lot 42B, "Vielle Reine et Courtesan," by Jean Dubuffet, oil on canvas, 45 3/8 by 34 1/2 inches, 1961

Lot 42B is a very colorful, 1961 oil on canvas by Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) entitled "Vielle Reine et Courtesan."  It measures 45 3/8 by 34 1/2 inches.  It was once owned by Dr. Mortimer D. Sackler of New York.  It has an estimate of $2,500,000 to $3,500,000.  It failed to sell.

   

Lot 32B, "Voltron XXIV," by David Smith, steel, 98 inches high, 1963, left; Lot 26B, "Calderoulette," by Alexander Calder, brass, wire and thread, 28 inches wide, circa 1941, right

Lot 32B is a strong steel sculpture by David Smith (1906-1965) entitled "Voltron XXIV."  It is 98 inches high and was created in 1963.  It has been widely exhibited and published.  It has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000.  It sold for $5,375,000.

Lot 26B is an interesting mobile by Alexander Calder (1898-1976) called "Calderoulette."  It was created circa 1941 and is 28 inches wide.  It has an estimate of $3,200,000 to $3,800,000.  It sold for $2,892,500.

Lot 2B, "My Room is Another Fish Bowl," by Philippe Parreno, mylar and helium fish, 2016, the second artist's proof from an edition of three and two artist's proofs

The most joyful and colorful work in the auction if Lot 2B, "My Room is Another Fish Bowl," by Philippe Parreno (b. 1964), mylar and helium fish, 2016, the second artist's proof from an edition of three and two artist's proofs.  Another example was exhibited in 2016 at the Brooklyn Museum.

The catalogue entry provides the following commentary:

"Taking the exhibition as a medium, Parreno has radically redefined the exhibition experience by exploring its possibilities as a coherent “object” rather than as a collection of individual works. To this end, he conceives his shows as a scripted space where a series of events unfolds. The visitor is guided through the galleries by the orchestration of sound and image, which heightens their sensory experience. This is a question of creating, in a given volume, as much space and time as possible by folding and unfolding the space onto itself. In Philippe Parreno’s mesmerizing and immersive installation My Room is Another Fishbowl (2016), up to one thousand Mylar fish-shaped balloons delicately hover and surround the viewer. Five different species float within a given space, positioned according to atmospheric changes, producing what may be seen as a large architectural fishbowl. These artificial animals become a participatory artwork, gently ascending and descending depending on the touch of the audience, and the amount of heat and light within the space. As the objects begin to function independently, they gain their own agency to act as automatons that guide the human viewer, blurring the boundary between living and non-living beings. An unpredictable narrative unfolds within the room, pushing the understanding of artwork beyond just the visual, and into the experiential. In this way, Parreno encourages a deeper reflection on art as a way of measuring one’s sense of time and space. This artwork requires a performance for and by its audience, rather than a passive gaze. As we walk amongst them, the elegantly suspended, multi-colored fish balloons invite reflection and contemplation. They engender a dreamlike scenario in which the artwork produces a fictional environment within a real space."

The lot has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000.  It sold for $516,600, a world auction record for the artist.

Lot 48B, "Untitled," by Lee Bontecou, graphite and soot on muslin, 60 by 57 inches, 1962

Lot 48B is an untitled 1962 work by Lee Bontecou (b. 1931) of graphite and soot on muslin.  It measures 60 by 57 inches.

The catalogue provides the following commentary:

"The artist, who frequently worked in sculpture, was also renowned for her ability to convey precise, beautifully evocative, and detailed drawn compositions.

"Applied directly onto muslin, the velvety richness of the central design is accentuated by a deep black circle at its core, then echoed in the three smaller black circles at the center of the central horizontal elements, which serve to delineate between the figurative center and more abstract background. The outer ring is similarly mechanical in appearance, summoning thoughts of engine turbines or propellers spinning in rapid motion, or the visual expression of speed in flight. Somehow, it also recalls natural phenomena, as if in the inner part of a shell or the wing of a bird, the whole resulting in a sublimely moving work that appears to flow through space and time.

"Bontecou possesses unparalleled skills at conveying beautifully rendered details and a richness in tone, by virtue of her use of a soft fabric base and expertly applied black soot. The artist’s signature method for this arose from her sculptural practice, in which she discovered that she could use a welding torch, with the flame turned off, to build up careful layers of soot by channeling the compressed air onto the pictorial surface. From there, she would work to erase and remove the black pigment with brushes, erasers, razor blades, and her fingers, creating a layered composition that is akin to sculpting on a flat surface...."

The lot has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000.  It sold for $708,500.

The auction set several records for some artists including Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955) for "Still lIfe with Wedding Portrait" that sold for $5,037,500; Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) for "Olmec & Muse" that sold for $4,981,250; Vija Celmins (b. 1938) for "Lead Sea #2" that sold for $4,212,500; Julian Schnabel (b. 1951) for "Ethnic Type #14" that sold for $1,452,500; and William Baziotes (1912-1963) for "Phantasm" that sold for $1,332,500.

See The City Review article on the Fall 2012 Impressionist & Modern Art auction at Sotheby's New York
See The City Review article on the Fall 2012 Impressionist & Modern Art day auction at Sotheby's New York
See The City Review article on the Spring 2012 Impressionist & Modern Art auction at Sotheby's
See The City Review article on the Spring 2012 Impressionist & Modern Art auction at Christie's
See The City Review article on the Fall 2011 Impressionist & Modern Art auction at Sotheby's
See The City Review article on the Fall 2011 Impressionist & Modern Art auction at Christie's
See The City Review article on the Spring 2011 Impressionist & Modern Art auction at Sotheby's
See The City Review article on the Spring 2011 Impressionist & Modern Art auction at Christie's
See The City Review article on the Fall 2010 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Sotheby's
See The City Review article on the Fall 2010 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Christie's
See The City Review article on the Spring 2010 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Sotheby's
See The City Review article on the Spring 2010 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Christie's
See The City Review article on the Fall 2009 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Sotheby's
See The City Review article on the Fall 2009 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Christie's
See The City Review article on the Spring 2009 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Sotheby's
See The City Review article on the Spring 2009 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Christie's
See The City Review article on the Fall 2008 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Christie's
See The City Review article on the Fall 2008 Impressionist & Modern Art evening auction at Sotheby's

See The City Review article on the Sotheby's evening auction May 10, 2000 of Impressionist & Modern Art
See The City Review article on the May 11, 2000 auction at Sotheby's of Impressionist & Modern Art, Part 2
See The City Review article on the Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Auction, Part I, Nov. 11, 1999
See The City Review article on Part Two of the Sotheby's auction November 11, 1999 of Impressionist & Modern Art
See The City Review article on the Christie's Nov. 8, 1999 evening sale of Impressionist & Post Impressionist Art
See The City Review article on the morning auction Nov. 9, 1999 of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Art at Christie's
See The City Review article on the afternoon auction Nov. 9, 1999 of Impressionist and Twentieth Century Works on Paper at Christie's
See The City Review article on the Christie's Nov. 9, 1999 evening auction of Twentieth Century Art
See The City Review article on the Christie's Nov. 10, 1999 day auction of Twentieth Century Art
See The City Review analysis of Part 1 of the Sotheby's auction May 11, 1999 of Impressionist and Modern Art
See The City Review analysis of Part 2 of the Sotheby's May 12, 1999 auction of Impressionist and Modern Art
See The City Review article on the Christie's May 12, 1999 auction of Impressionist Art and 19th Century Art
See The City Review of the Christie's May 13, 1999 auction of 20th Century and Modern Art
Recap of the Spring 1998 Impressionist and Modern Auctions