By Carter B. Horsley
Philips de Pury's evening auction of Contemporary Art May 15, 2008 has several important masterpieces by Anselm Kiefer, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, and Wayne Thiebaud and stellar works by Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Anish Kapoor and all presented magnificently in the auction house's very impressive and large catalogues.
Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945) is probably the world's greatest living artist, capable of introducing and tackling great and mighty and difficult themes and using a limited and usually unusual palette and producing works of great drama, if not beauty. Lot 131, "The Secret Life of Plants," is a classic and very fine Kiefer. An oil and acrylic on lead, with wire and plaster coated branches on canvas in two parts. The work measures 110 1/2 by 347 by 7 1/2 inches and was executed in 2001. It has a modest estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. It sold for $1,833,000 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. Of the 64 lots offered for sale, 55 sold for $59,001,000.
The catalogue entry provides the following commentary:
"Beginning in the mid-1960s, kiefer began developing a visual language that challenged the absence of a collective memory in Germany culture. These predominant themes of national identity and myth represent the artist's approach to understanding and conceptualizing the past. In these early years, Kiefer's style developed out of a response to the fascist use of images of national identity and culture as symbols of power. In reclaiming these images, the aritst was explicitly pointing to the absence of adequate cultural images in post-war Germany. Kiefer's medium - painting - focuses the viewer to take a stance, to associate or dissociate with a historical meta-marrative....As an artist, Kiefer's talent lies in his ability to move between these referential spaces, manipulating the philosophical and poltical myths that occupy Westen mythology. These myths are crucial allegories for expression within Kiefer's visual language, as they represent an artistic effort to reconcile a rupture withi the icons, myths, and themes of German culture. The Secret Life Of Plants represents Keifer's ability to construct highly complex metaphors rich with layers of personal experience and collectve memory. The present lot, which derives its name from an eponymously titled book, is a fascinating account of the physical, emotional, and spiritual relations between plants and man. Within Kiefer's working method, quotation is a strategy for resurrection."
All that may be true, but Kiefer's relevance is not confined to Germany and its myths and traumas, nor is it contained by theories and "meta-narratives."
Lot 121 is a memorable work by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) entitled "Untitled (Fallen Angel)." An acrylic and oilstick on canvas, it measures 66 by 78 inches and was executed in 1981 when as the grafitti artist known as SAMO he shifted to canvas, "skillfully adopting the purlieus where he learned to become an artist to the more formal gallery environs," according to the catalogue entry for this lot.
"Making the transition from the street to the studio," the entry commented, "is a crucial component of Basquiat's visual language during these early moments of this career. The nervous, frenetic, and fierce style that Basquiat cultivated was emblematic of his desire to know everything and express his accumulated knowledge through visual symbols. During the cultural sonic of the early 1980s, the artist's style and iconography capture the charisma and dynamism with impressive authorial assuredness, negotiating the critical boundary between pictorial cacophony and compositional genius. This astounding energy in the nascent period of Basquiat's artistic career would become a definitive strategy of creative deconstruction. Splicing and juxtaposing images and ideas from the two worlds he straddled during 1981 would eventually establish his signature style....Unparalleled in its ambition, the preset lot represents Basquiat's earliest crowning achievement as an accomplished artist."
The lot has an estimate of $8,000,000 to $12,000,000. It sold for $11,200,000.
Lot 111 is a marble self-portrait by Jeff Koons (b. 1965) that is 37 1/2 by 20 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches. It is from an edition of three plus one artist's proof and it was made in 1991. It has an estimate of $6,000,000 to $8,000,000. The work comes from the artist's series Made in Heaven that was a sensaton at the Sonnabend Gallery in 1991. It sold for about $2 million when it was offered at Phillips in November, 2002 and at this auction it sold for $7,500,000.
The catalogue provides the following commentary:
"Self-Portrait offers an idealized likeness of the artist in the form of a traditional art-historical marble bust. The artist continues to deftly mix the high culture signatories of classical art with the low brow aesthetics of pornography in this work, a quinessential piece from the Made in Heaven series. Koons co-opts the bust-length portrait, for use in his over-the-top kitsch way, referencing a long history of portraiture generally reserved for gods, emperors, kings and saints, to display the artist as a god-like figure."
Lot 116 is a stainless-steel caboose, 9 1/4 by 14 1/2 by 6 5/8 inches, filled with bourbon and it comes from Jeff Koons's 1986 exhibition "Luxury and Degradation." The workis from an edition of three and one artist's proof. It has an estimate of $1,200,000 to $1,800,000. It sold for $1,200,000.
Lot 101 is a large and interesting collage, acrylic paint and felt tip pen work on canvas by Mark Bradford (b. 1961), entitled "I Thought You Knew." It measures 72 1/4 by 84 1/4 inches and was executed in 2001.
"Bradford seeks to establish his own identiy in his work by drawing on notions of beauty and ethnicity. Thelma Goldin, curator at the Studio Museum Harlem, used the term 'postblack' to describe the latest output of work by young African-American artists in a recent exhibition titled Freestyle which included Bradford's work. Bradford's artistic practice is influenced by his personal experience growing up and eventually working in a beauty salon in South Los Angeles. He uses overlapping squares of cellophane and paper in ways that mimic the various dying, straightening and curling processes of the salon. Layered over salvaged remnants of posters and alongside collaged images from hairstyling magazines, the artist's canvas is a composition of shimmering, variegated forms that shine through the uneven surface grid."
The lot has an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $325,000.
One of the more striking works is Lot 104, "Skeletal Implosion #3," by Steven Parrino (1958-2005). Enamel paint and gesso on canvas, it measures 84 1/4 inches in diameter and was painted in 2001. The artist has pulled the painted canvas away from its stretcher to create a sculptural object. The lot has an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000. It sold for $657,000.
Lot 107 is a humorous sculpture by Tom Friedman (b. 1965), that measures 60 by 39 by 22 1/2 inches. Entitled "Garbage Can," it was executed in 2003. It has an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It sold for $505,000.
Lot 117 is a very dazzling circular "stained-glass" work created by Damien Hirst with butterflies and gloss household paint. The work is 72 inches in diameter and was created in 2006, some 15 years after his first butterfly paintings were exhibited in his first solo show at the Woodstock Gallery in London in 1991. It has an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. The title comes from poem by Philip Larkin. It sold for $1,600,000.
Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) is represented in the auction by Lot 119, a 78 7/8-inch square oil on canvas that he painted in 1986. The "abstract" landscape has, according tothe catalogue, affinities with Max Ernst and Piet Mondrian and Kasimir Malevich. It is extremely painterly, as all almost all his works, but unlike many of his "abstract" works this one has considerable specificity in the sunset and waterfall sections although the dense, rich, lush thickery at the right is very impressive. The lot has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000. It sold for $4,500,000.
Lot 144 is a fine acrylic on canvas by Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920). Entitled "Cat and Traffic," it measures 15 3/4 by 20 inches and was executed in 1993. It has an estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000. It failed to sell.
"Cat and Traffic captures the unique San Francisco landscape using Thiebaud's renowned compositional talent and grasp of appealing colors. Thiebaud focuses on the basic shapes of urban scenery, the high arch of the interstate in the distance, the long shadow of the high-rise building, the corner of the apartment balcony overlooking it all. Images of city life are a natural extension of the pop imagery Thiebaud was closely associated with in the 1960s. During this era, Thiebaud produced a series of paintings of consumer goods found in storefront windows - icons of the new American middle-class lifestyle. Much like his contemporaries - Warhol, Lichtenstein and Ruscha - Thiebaud's work exhibits a curiosity about popular culture, a relatively new phenomenon in the early post-war years. Thiebaud's shift away from the serial repetition of his Pop iconography results in a studied exploration of the juxtaposition between city life and nature, a celebration of modern civilization. Thiebaud's artistic talents lie in the ability to construct tightly composed images that guide the viewer's eye through the image. Like a storyteller, Thiebaud's brushstrokes carefully narrate the scene, evolving a dialogue through the pictorial space."
This is a superb Thiebaud that is monumental despite its relatively small size. The intimidating cityscape is nicely guarded and moderated by the calm cat on the edge of the balcony.
This auction has several works that focus on architectural. Lot 149, "Rudera," is a lavish andlarge depiction of a golden space of struts and pergolas by Martin Kobe (b. 1973). An acrylic on canvas, it measures 110 1/4 by 177 1/4 inches and was paited in 2006. It has an estiamte of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $205,000.
Lot 150, "House (13 floors)," is an oil on canvas by Dirk Skreber (b. 1961). Executed in 1990, it measures 80 3/4 by 38 1/4 inches and has an estimate of $120,000 to $180,000. It sold for $121,000.
Lot 152 is a strong composition by Thomas Scheibitz (b. 1968) that is entitled "Rosenweg." An oil on canvas, it measures 78 3/4 by 110 1/4 inches and was executed in 1999. The catalogue provides the following commentary:
"Thomas Scheibitz's hyper-futuristic abstractions appropriate the concepts of digitalization into the medium of painting. Scheibitz constructs a universally recognizable idea of reality though the language of technological coding. Yet, painterly gestures and drips remind the viewer that the human hand is the source of creation speaking on behalf of the imagination. Rosenweg fuses organic shapes with geometric lines in a panoptic landscape that is further developed through overlapping layers and scaling. ...As an imaginative vision of the locale where nature and technology meet, Rosenweg represents a synthetic concept of reality."
The lot has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $169,000.
Julian Schnabel (b. 1951) outdid himself in 2007. Not only did he produce a widely praised motion picture but he also built a Venetian-style palazzo in the Far West Village, both two of the most interesting projects of the year. He also decorated the interiors of the Gramercy Hotel facing Gramercy Park, which quickly become one of the city's premier watering holes for the young and well-off. Lot 141 is a classic broken-plate painting for which the artist is famous. Entitled "Tomorrow I Shave," it is acrylic and ceramic pieces on wooden panel in two parts. The work measures 102 3/4 by 96 inches and was created in 1987. It has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $241,000.
See The City Review article on the Christie's, May 20, 1999 Contemporary Art Part 2 auction