By Carter B. Horsley

This auction of Latin American Art at Christie's in the Spring of 2009 is highlighted by a major work by Leonora Carrington, several fine paintings by Rufino Tamayo, a group of superb Mattas, a self-portrait by Diego Rivera, two fine paintings by Wilfredo Lam and a large work by Mario Carreno.

Lot 29 is a large typical mystical work by Leonora Carrington (b. 1917) entitled "The Giantess." It is also known as "The Guardian of the Egg." A tempera on wood panel, it measures 47 1/4 by 27 1/4 inches. It has an estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000. It sold for $1,482,500, includig the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article, more than doubling the artist's previous world auction record.

The catalogue provides the following commentary:

"An ingenious fabulist and a humanist in the most universal sense, Carrington has for more than eighty years plumbed the myteries of an intimate, hermetic universe of her own creation. As mysterious to herself as she is to others, she once acknowledged, her\paintings explore themes of enchangttment and transformation, descrbing a reality at once magical and miraculous."

Lot 10, "Fuego en el batey," is a large painting by Mario Carreno (1913-1999) from the collection of Milton and Nona Ward. A Duco and oil on wood panel, it measures 48 1/4 by 65 1/2 inches and was painted in 1943. It has an estimate of $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. It sold for $2,188,100. Marreno was introduced to Duco by David Alfaro Siqueiros came to Cuba in 1943 and settled at the Sevilla-Biltmore Hotel in Havana where he painted a panel for the ceiling of the hotel's restaurant and then secured the help of Carenno who was married at the time to Cuban heiress Maris Luisa Gomez Mena and Carreno paid Siqueiros's hotel bill and the family to live with him and his wife at their modern home.

Lot 145 is a very striking graphite, ink and gouache on cardboard by Mario Carreno that has almost a three-dimensional surface that is quite fascinating. It measures 16 by 20 inches and was executed in 1945. It has an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 15 is a very good work by Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) entitled "Personajes frente a la ventana." An oil and sand on canvas, it measures 51 1/2 by 38 inches. It has an estimate of $350,000 to $450,000. It sold for $280,000.

The best of the Tamayos offered at this auction is Lot 23, "Dialogo, an oil and sand on canvas that measures 38 1/2 by 51 1/4 inches. It was painted in 1971 and is being sold by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to benefit acquisitions of Latin American art. It has been widely published and exhibited and has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $170,000.

Lot 27 is an oil and sand on canvas by Tamayo entitled "Child Playing." It measures 49 1/4 by 39 inches. It is another work being sold by the Los Angele County Museum of Art. It has an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $320,000.

Lot 2, "Paraja sobre la terraza," is a pleasant painting by Tamayo. An oil and sand on canvas, it measures 51 by 71 inches. It has an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $420,000.

The least attractive of Tamayos is Lot 55, which is entitled "Hombre con un farol." An oil and sand on canvas, it measures 55 1/4 by 68 3/4 inches. It has an ambitious estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $386,500.

Lot 21 is a large, classic and very attractive work by Francisco Toledo (b. 1940). Entitled "Conejo con pescado," it is an oil and sand on canvas that measures 39 1/4 by 32 inches. It has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $170,000.

Another much larger work by Toledo, Lot 19, entitled "Cangrejos," is much darker but has a much higher estimate of $450,000 to $650,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $380,000.

Lot 30 is a very exciting and dynamic abstraction by Matta that is entitled "Ciel Volant." An oil on canvas, it measures 44 3/4 by 57 1/2 inches and was painted in 1957. It has a modest estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $194,500.

Lot 32 is an extremely strong and very fine painting by Matta entitled "Les Separes vivants." It is an oil on canvas that measures 40 by 60 inches. It has a modest estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $494,500.

In her catalogue comments on the paiting, Abby McEwen observes:

"Menacing, with sharp-edged instruments in the place of human hands and disturbing cyclopean countenances the figures of les separes vivants viscerally embody the destructive forces unleashed by war. Even as they battle each other they struggle against the entwining appendages of creatures ghastly and immaterial in their midst: labyrinthine limbs wrap around the shoulder of the female figure and the long extended arm of her partner, threatening to pull them into the enveloping, illusionistic space behind them thinned layers of eerie, semi-transparent yellow-green pigment saturate the deep space of the canvas, disorienting the rational order implied the by architectonic forms and aerial perspective."

Another great Matta is Lot 165, an untitled work that is charcoal and pastel on paper. It measures 38 1/4 by 57 1/4 inches and has a very modest estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It sold for $40,000.

Lot 34 is a strong composition by Matta (1911-2002) entitled "Black Mirror." An oil on canvas, it measures 34 by 30 inches and has an estimate of $180,000 to $220,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $110,000.

The cover illustration of the catalogue is Lot 13, a self-portrait by Diego Rivera (1886-1957). An oil on canvas, it mesures 24 by 17 inches. It has an estimate of $1,200,000 to $1,800,000. It sold for $1,022,500.

Lot 28 is a great painting by Wilfredo Lam (1902-1982) entitled "Oiseau sur la terre." An oil on canvas, it measures 19 3/4 by 24 inches. It has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $220,000.

Lot 251 is an untitled oil on canvas by Wolfgang Paalen (1905-1959). It measures 25 1/4 by 32 inches and was painted in 1958. it has a modest estimate of $25,000 to $30,000. It failed to sell.

Lot 43 is a large abstraction by Alfredo Hlito (1923-1993) that is an acrylic on canvas that measures 70 1/2 by 47 1/4 inches. It is entitled "Efigie" and has an estimate of $20,000 to $25,000. It sold for $37,500.

Lot 62 is a large, fairly abstract work by Guillermo Kuitca (b. 1961). Entitled "La boca del tigre," it is an acrylic on canvas and measures 55 by 61 1/2 inches. It hasan estimate of $70,000 to $90,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $55,000.

Lot 16 is a dramatic work by David Alfaro Siqueiros entitled "El asenso." A pyroxilin on wood panel and iron frame, it measures 48 1.4 by 37 3/8 inches. It has an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $80,000.

One of the most spectacular works in the auction is Lot 57, "El Taller," an oil and alkyd on canvas by Guillermno Munoz Vera (b. 1956). It measures 118 by 92 1/2 inches and has the light and technique of Claudio Bravo. It has an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000. It sold for $62,500.

Lot 253 is an interesting abstraction by Alice Rahon (1904-1987) entitled "Lluvia in Paris." An oil and sand on canvas laid down on masonite, it measures 12 3/4 by 16 3/8 inches. It has a modest estimate of $7,000 to $9,000. It failed to sell.

The auction has three strong, vibrant abstractions by Juan Soriano (1920-2006). Lot 112 is entitled "El Arbol amarillo." It is an oil on canvas that measures 39 5/8 by 26 inche and was executed in 1960. It has an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It failed to sell.

One of the strongest works in the auction is Lot 115, "This is Mein Kampf," by Juan O'Gorman, a graphite and gouache on paper that measures 7 1/8 by 10 inches. Executed in 1960, it has an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. It sold for $20,000.

Carlos Merida (1891-1984) has three works in the auction that are departure from his typical abstractions. Lot 137 is entitled "Window to the Cosmos" and is a Duco and oil on heavy paper laid down on panel. It measures 22 1/4 by 30 1/4 inches and was executed in 1966. It is being sold by the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art. It has an estimate of $20,000 to $25,000. It sold for $20,000.

Sergio Hernandez (b. 1957) is represented in the auction by three excellent watercolors in Lot 126. The one illustrated above is an untitled work by the artist that is a watercolor on handmade paper that measures 19 1/2 by 25 3/4 inches. Executed in 1990, the lot has a modest estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $8,750.