By Carter B. Horsley
This Latin American Art auction at Sotheby's May 29 and 30, 2007 is highlighted by a fine Joaquin Torres-Garcia, two lovely paintings by Leonora Carrington, an important Mario Carreño, five works by David Alfaro Siqueros, a good Orozco, several works by Matta and Fernand Botero and good examples by Rufino Tamayo, Carlos Mérida, Maria Fernanda Cardoso, and Fernando de Szyslo.
Lot 18 is a strong painting by Joaquin Torres-Garcia, entitled "Composition." An oil on canvas, it measures 31 3/4 by 25 5/8 inches and was painted in 1932, two years after he and Michel Seuphor, a Belgian artist and poet, founded Cercle et Carré, an association of artists that promoted abstract art as an alternative to the increasing popularity of Surrealism. In 1934, Torres-Garcia returned to Montevideo after an absence of 43 years and established a teaching workshop that was, according to the catalogue, highly influential in shaping the future of modern art in Latin America. The artist's pictographs would later have an impact on such artists as Adloph Gottlieb, David Smith, Louise Nevelson. and Barney Newman. The lot has an estimate of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. It sold for $1,310,000 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. The artist's former world auction record was $940,000.
Lot 8 is an impressive and very strong work by Mario Carreño (1913-1999). Entitled "Danza Afro-Cubana," it is a duco and cloth and rope collage on wood panel that measures 64 7/8 by 47 7/8 inches. It was created in 1943 and was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in the 1944 exhibition "Modern Cuban Painters.
The catalogue provides the following commentary:
"Like fellow Cuban painter Wilfredo Lam, Mario Carreño's work reflects a cross cultural dialogue between vanguard modernist practices of the first half of the twentieth century with a unique subject matter rooted in the Caribbean's rich syncretic cultural heritage....Most notable among the Cuban art sources studied by Cuba's young vanguard artists were the highly accomplished works by the Frenchman Frédéric Miahle and the Spaniard Victor Patricio Landaluze. Lured to Havana in the mid-19th Century to work as commercial graphic artists at the service of the blooming tobacco industry and a burgeoning bourgeoisie, their prints, illustrations, caricatures, and paintings were some of the first to document and celebrate the beauty of Cuba's flora and fauna, its sugar and coffee plantations, and its customs and social types. Of particular note are Miahle and Landaluze's respective depiction of the Afro-Cuban celebration of the Catholic religious Feast of the Epiphany in Havana or Dia de los Reyes en La Habana - no doubt a historical antecedent to Cuba's modern day popular festivals or carnivals. Central to both compositions is the figure of the ñañigo or masquerade dancer - a member of the secret male society known as Abakuá that originated in the African Cross River region of Nigeria and Cameroon and was later introduced in the Carribbean through the slave trade. The rhythmic dance of the Abakuá is a significant source for the modern rumba as well as other Afro-Cuban derived musical forms.....In addition to these popular and regional sources, Danza Afro-Cubana reflects a plethora of art historical references and vanguard tendencies spanning cubist fragmentation of forms, the agitated and dynamic figural compositions of Futurism, the experimental use of paint and the often agressive and muscular forms of the Mexcian mural painter David Alfaro Siqueiros whom Carreño admired, Picasso's classical and primitivist periods, surrealism, and the ancient frescoes of Pompei."
The lot has an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000. It sold for $2,760,000. The artist's former world auction record was $456,000.
Lot 12 is a superb work by Leonora Carrington (b. 1917) entitled "El Grito." An oil on wood panel, it measures 15 3/4 by 35 3/8 inches and was painted in 1951. The work, according to a catalogue entry by Susan L. Aberth, is "indicative of a small number of semi-abstract paintings that Carrington executed between 1950 and 1952 and keenly demonstrates how her abstract work contains the same power and mythic spirit of her more figurative representations. The nebulous space portrayed in El Grito pulstates with a wide range of color and odd assortment of characters that seem to reference primitive markings from a variety of sources. The horizontal format of the canvas and the verticality of the markings resemble an abstract Egyptian Book of the Dead."
The lot has a modest estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $396,000.
Another fine, albeit more conventional, Carrington is Lot 15, "Peek-a-Boo." An oil on canvas that measures 39 1/4 by 31 3/8 inches, it was painted in 1961. In the catalogue entry, Susan L. Aberth notes that "curious things are occuring," adding that "A slender, red-robed figure elegantly rides sidesaddle atop a spectral lion, while plucking a rustic harp and singing." She notes that another tall slender figure appears to making a large blue-green apple fly and she observes that she believes "that the floating apple is a mischievous wink at Rene Magritte." The lot has an estimate of $200,000 to $250,000. It sold for $336,000.
Lot 137 is a delightful "battle" scene between some dragons and a castle by Remedios Varo (1908-1963). A gouache on paper mounted on board, it measures 15 by 10 7/8 inches and was painted in 1947/ It has a modest estimate of $40,000 to $50,000. It sold for $120,000.
Lot 112 is a strong work by David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) that is entitled "Implacable Lujuria (Nombre de un Personaje)." An oil on wood panel, it measures 18 by 11 7/8 inches and is dated 1963. While it is not as heavily impastoed as many of his works, it is bold and very dramatic. It has a modest estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $39,000.
Lot 9 is a large untitled work by Siqueiros that is pyroxilin on masonite and measures 49 by 31 1/2 inches. It has an estimate of $150,000 to $150,000. It sold for $144,000, an auction record for the artist.
Lot 114 is a superb study by David Alfaro Siqueiros for La Marcha de la Humanidad, Poliform Siqueiros, in Mexico City. This work is a gouache and acrylic on paper laid down on board. It measures 25 by 19 3/4 inches and is dated 1968. It is property of the collection of Bert Van Bork, a photographer and cinematographer who made a short film on Siqueiros released in 1969 by Encyclopedia Britannica Films. The lot has a modest estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It failed to sell.
A large Siqueiros, Lot 30, "Urbanizacion en El Altiplano," is part of the National Heritage of Mexico and cannot be permanently exported and therefore is being sold from the catalogue. It measures 47 7/8 by 39 3/8 inches and is pyroxilin on masonite. It has an estimate of $125,000 to $175,000. It sold for $216,000.
Lot 101 is a nice small gouache on paper by José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949). Entitled "Retrato de Mujer," it measures 15 by 11 inches and has an estimate of $18,000 to $22,000. It failed to sell.
There are several works in the auction by Matta (1912-2002). Perhaps the best is Lot 150, "Le Noyau du Vertige," a pastel and charcoal on paper that measures 69 3/8 by 63 7/8 inches and was executed circa 1990. It has a conservative estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It failed to sell.
Lot 50 is a good work by Matta entitled "Le Gout d'Apocalypse." An oil on canvas, it measures 44 3/4 by 57 1/4 inches and was executed 1957-8. It has an estimate of $225,000 to $275,000. It sold for $264,000.
Lot 26 is a strong work by Matta entitled "Le Coeur d'Helene. An oil on canvas, it measures 45 1/8 by 57 3/8 inches and was painted in 1957. It has an estimate of $175,000 to $225,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $160,000.
Lot 23 is a large and impressive abstraction by Matta entitled "Un Biennale." An oil on canvas, it measures 45 1/8 by 57 3/7 inches and was executed in 1957. Here, Matta appears to be smashing atoms with his usual pyrotechnical mastery. The lot has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $140,000.
Lot 146 is a striking albeit muted abstraction by Fernando de Szyslo (b. 1925) that is entitled "Mar de Lurín." An acrylic on canvas, it measures 59 inches square and is dated 1989. It has a modest estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. It sold for $21,600.
A much more vibrant Szyslo is Lot 149, "Noche Estrellada," an oil on canvas that measures 58 3/4 by 46 3/4 inches. It has a modest estimate of $20,000 to $25,000. It sold for $45,000.
Lot 56 is a good work by Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) that is entitled "Retrato Matrimoniale." An oil and sand on canvas, it measures 37 7/8 by 51 1/8 inches and was executed in 1967. It has been consigned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $350,000. It sold for $156,000.
Lot 155 is a heated and highly textured work by Francisco Toledo (b. 1940) that is entitled "Torero." An oil and sand on canvas, it measures 14 7/8 by 18 inches and was executed circa 1964. It has a conservative estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. It sold for $14,400.
Lot 56 is a bright and rather joyful abstraction by Pedro Coronel (1923-1985). An oil on canvas, it measures 64 by 38 inches and is dated 1977. It has an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000. It sold for $156,000.
Lot 183 is a good abstraction by Carlos Mérida (1891-1984) entitled "El Conjuro." Duco and acrylic on wood panel, it measures 27 1/2 by 20 1/4 inches and was painted in 1962. It is being sold by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and was once in the collection of Lester Wolfe of New York. It has an estimate of $35,000 to $45,000. It sold for $36,000.
Lot 198 is a nice mixed media and rice paper work by Paula Santiago (b. 1969). Entitled "Guerrero," it measures 32 by 21 1/8 inches and was executed in 1998. It has a modest estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It failed to sell.
Lot 49 is part of "Cemetery-Vertical Garden," a large wall installation of artificial white lilies that was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in its 2000 exhibition "Modern Starts: People, Places, Things" (see The City Review article). the remaining segments are in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego and several private collections. It has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $19,200.
Lot 215 is a very strong and colorful abstraction by Rodolfo Nieto (1936-1988). A collage and pastel on canvas, it measures 19 5/8 by 25 1/2 inches and is dated 1966. It has a modest estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $9,600.
The sale total for the two-day auction was $21,392,800, nicely over the pre-sale high estimate of $19,732,000.
Lot 17, "Desnudo de Victoria," a sculpture by Francisco Zuniga, sold for $936,000, setting an auction record for a sculpture by the artist.
Lot 4, "El Palito," by Pedro Figari, sold for $180,000, an auction record for the artist.
Lot 19, "Structures 3," by Carmelo Arden Quin, sold for $65,000, an auction record for the artist.
Lot 20, "Marco Recordato," by Juan Melé, sold for $70,000, an auction record for the artist.
Lot 21, "El Diario de Santos L'Ouverture," by Jorge de la Vega, sold for $360,000, an auction record for the artist.
Lot 25, an untitled work by Agustin Cárdinas sold for $110,000, an auction record for the artist.
Lot 40, "Composition in Blue," by Antonio Asis, sold for $40,000, an auction record for the artist.
Lot 27, "Paisaje," by Armando Reveron, sold for $380,000, an auction record for the artist.