By Carter B. Horsley

This Latin American Art auction at Christie's May 31 and June 1, 2007 is highlighted by three great Mattas, a very strong David Alfaro Siqueiros, some excellent Francisco Toledos and a fine Gunther Gerzso.

Lot 30 is a sensational, large Matta entitled "Tige verte (Les Possessions)." An oil on canvas, it measures 43 1/2 by 55 1/2 inches and was painted in 1943.

A masterpiece, it has an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. It sold for $2,168,000 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.

It is what the artist called an "inscape," intended to serve as analogy for states of consciousness in perpetual transformation, the catalogue entury by Susan L. Aberth notes.

"Possessing an extraordinarily complex surface," Ms. Aberth continued, "Tige verte opens onto a vast, dimensionless, metaphysical void. everywhere is contradiction, flux, and chaos. Planes of opaque color emphasize the canvas surface while nearby translucent areas suggest three-diminsional space. Glowing red mineral shapes are interspersed with swirls of yellow light, white lines seem scratched onto the surface, and flame-like little tongues of color flicker fitfully here and there. Electrical currents flowing through water, mathetical calculations being washed off a chalkboard, life forming in primordial seas."

Another stunning Matta masterpiece is Lot 202, "Imaschus," a 50-by-58-inch oil on canvas that was painted in 1948. Unlike the dark, amorphous and mysterious world of Tige verte, "Imaschus" is bright and organic and no less terrifying. Presumably de Kooning would have liked this one very much. It has a very modest estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $456,000.

If one were to combine Tige verte and Imaschus you might get Lot 36, "Composición," by Matta, a 25 3/8 by 31 5/8 inch oil on canvas that was painted in 1949. A very painterly work, this has a sense of order but remains explosive. It has a very conservative estimate of $180,000 to $220,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $160,000.

Lot 52 is an interesting work by Leonora Carrington (b. 1917) entitled "Illeidos (Ships Engendered from Metallic Seeds)." An oil on canvas, it measures 23 7/8 by 35 3/8 inches and was executed in 1965. The lot has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $168,000.

Lot 21 is an impressive large work by David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974). Entitled "Autorretrato (El Machete)," it was the cover illustration of Mario de Micheli's 1985 book on Siqueiros. A pyroxilin on wood, it measures 48 by 45 1/4 inches and was painted in 1968.

The catalogue provides the following commentary by Irene Herner:

"This self-portrait is a re-examination of the artist's life and mission. 'Our movement was in favor of public art, which for the first time gave rise to a new type of artist, the citizen-artist, a new engaged artist, opposed to the traditional Mexican artists from before the Revolution.' In 1923, the Artist's Union, led by Xavier Guerrero and Siqueiros, founded the new paper El Machete. Although titled after an agricultural tool and an instrument of labor, the machete would come to symbolize a weapon in the defense of the worker: 'The moving murals of our great muralist painting movement.' Siqueiros's self-portraits bear witness to his 'hieroglyphic contentiousness.' Each mural encapsulates the goals of the muralist mission on behalf of revolutionizing art itself. ...The entire surface of the composition is made up of a geometrical structure rendered dynamic in sequence....In the self-portrait, the placement of the spears and/or the lines of tension is interupted by a sequence of highly synthetic, almost abstracted naked bodies with arms stretched upwards and whose rhythmical march is upstaged by the form of a cyclone wire-like Maya figure, at the center of the composition. From there, the innovative use of an anonymous snaking march erupts towards the viewer like explosive lava. Siqueiros's face emerges from one of these nudes with a distant look and massive features - a raised hand and a clenched fist like a comic strip super hero joining the fight with a gigantic machete in hand - a phallic symbol of endless power."

The lot has a very conservative estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $240,000.

Lot 19 is a large and impressive work by Alfredo Ramos Martinez (1872-1946) that is entitled "Flowers of Mexico." An oil on canvas, it measures 63 1/4 by 44 1/8 inches and was executed circa 1938. It has an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000. It sold for $4,072,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 9 is a very good work by Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) entitled "Personnage (Man in Red)." An oil and sand on canvas that measures 31 1/2 by 40 inches, it was painted in 1968. It has been consigned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $504,000.

Lot 34, "The Frog," is a nice and relatively simple work by Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991). An oil and sand on canvas, it measures 23 3/4 by 20 inches and was painted in 1946. It has been consigned by "a royal European family" and has an estimate of $350,000 to $450,000. It sold for $611,200.

Lot 8 is a very good gouache, pen and ink on heavy Arches paper by Francisco Toledo (b. 1940). Entitled "El Cangrejo Azul," it measures 30 by 22 inches. It has an estimate of $90,000 to $120,000. It sold for $264,000, an auction record for a work on paper by the artist.

Lot 56 is a superb work by Francisco Toledo. Entitled "Cangrejo," it is an oil and sand on canvas that measures 39 1/2 by 47 1/4 inches and was executed in 1979. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000. It sold for $622,400, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 59 is an excellent oil and sand on canvas by Gunther Gerzso (1915-2000). Entitled "Origen I," it measures 21 1/4 by 29 3/4 inches and was executed in 1996. It has an estimate of $55,000 to $75,000. It sold for $62,400.

Lot 76 is a very handsome work by Marcelo Bonevardi (1929-1994) that is entitled "Blue Habitat." An acrylic on stitched burlap and wood construction with textured substrate, it measures 98 1/2 by 49 1/4 inches. It was created in 1981. It has a modest estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $62,400, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 69 is a delightful large work by Antonio Segui (b. 1934) entitled "Mi pueblo, mi casa, mi todo." An acrylic and collage on canvas, it measures 69 by 101 3/4 inches and was executed in 1989. It has an estimate of $70,000 to $90,000. It sold for $90,000.

Lot 4, "A Letter from Theo," by Julio Larraz, sold for $240,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 16, "La Novia Vendida," by Juan Soriano, sold for $96,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 18, "Nina con perico," by Jesus Guerrero Galvan, sold for $96,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 23, "Waiting for the Coffee," by Antonio Gattorno, sold for $120,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 24, "El Rapto," by Carlos Enriquez," sold for $114,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 41, "Acueducto de Chapultepec," by Edouard Pingret, sold for $240,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 42, "Valley of Mexico from the Hacienda Morales," by Conrad Wise Chapman, sold for $312,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 68, untitled, "by Alberto Greco, sold for $54,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 70, "Untitled (Pintura Madi)," by Gyula Kosice, sold for $38,400, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 74, "Integrales No. 2 and 3," by Kazuya Sakai, sold for $54,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 75, "Atmosphere Chromoplastique No. 703," by Luis Tomasello, sold for $50,400, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 77, untitled, by Rogelio Polsello, sold for $84,000, an auction record for the artist.

Lot 84, "Bird/Red/White," by Victor Rodriguez, sold for $132,000, an auction record for the artist.

Christie's sold 78 percent of the 314 offered lots for a total $28,909,640.