Sotheby’s Latin American Art Sale Expected To Yield $25 Million |
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| Written by Chris Danforth |
| Friday, 14 May 2010 02:05 |
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Masterworks from a Private Aspen Collection The sale includes nine works from an important collection based in Aspen, Colorado. Surrealism is the core of the collection with major paintings by Wilfredo Lam, Leonora Carrington and Matta. Lam’s seminal work Sur Les Traces Transformation ($1.2/1.8 million) is a synthesis of Cubism and Surrealism. This painting sees metaphysical forces emerge from the Cuban jungle which is rendered in Lam’s delicate drawing on the canvas. It is only where the light/dark contrast becomes more articulated that the three forms – a candle, two vessels and a diamond shaped composition - can be made out. These sit in the midst of jungle of complex and often indistinguishable forms. The painting was shown in Lam’s third solo show at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in 1945 in New York. The artist’s Celtic ancestry is a reoccurring theme in Leonora Carrington’s work and is the subject of The Ordeal of Owain (est. $600/800,000). Owain was a Welsh Prince who was known for his fierce opposition to the English. He was the son of Cadwagan ap Bleddyn and committed several misdemeanors until he eventually reaped what he sowed when he was killed by Gerald of Windsor. The painting depicts a Celtic ceremony rich with symbolism; a blue acolyte weeps a tear made of pearl, and an apple is dropped into a caldron while Owain atop his horse can be seen below. Following the success of Matta’s Endless Nudes in November, which achieved the second highest price ever for the artist at auction, a 1951 Untitled panting will be offered in May (est. $350/450,000). By the time Matta painted the current work he had moved away from New York, and personal polemics that had seen him break with the Surrealist Group. He was now living in Rome and enjoying a new artistic freedom. Paintings from this period reflect Matta’s concern for the timeless struggle of humanity. White paint is sponged and wiped onto the canvas to give the impression of a limitless space in which insect-like forms surround a central mechanical structure.  Merian
Collection La Toilette, a 1980 Fernando Botero painting and two delightful drawings come from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs Sidney Merians (est. $500/700,000). The Merians were a major presence in the New York and New Jersey art scenes from the 1960s onwards. Sidney was Chairman of the New Jersey State Museum in the late 1970s and was in charge of both fundraising and acquisitions; Susan shared her husband’s passionate interest in the arts and also served as a museum trustee. Fernando Botero In addition to La Toilette, the sale features a particularly strong group of paintings and sculpture by Botero, with a work from every decade of his career - from an early Van Gogh inspired still life from 1962, (Florero, est. $100/150,000), to Still Life With Fruit Juice from 1983, (est. $400/600,000) and a sculpture from 2007 (Uno Che Cammina (Walking Man), est. $300/50,000). Botero has a unique ability to provoke and shock his audience. His depictions of standing and reclining female nudes are reminiscent of the Old Masters yet his subject matter is utterly contemporary showing ladies in private, intimate settings. Botero’s rotund ladies recall the ample women of the Baroque masters with paintings such as Odalisca serving as a bridge between these Old Masters and modern representations of the body and gender (est. $700/900,000). The sale showcases Botero’s evolving style from works inspired by the Old Masters to depictions of nuns (Mother Superior, 1966, est. $90/120,000), horses (Cavallino, est. $250/350,000), nudes (Femme Nue Alongée, est. $450/650,000) and even brothel scenes (Man and Woman, est. $200/300,000). Diego Rivera The sale also includes two remarkable and important paintings by Diego Rivera. La Tejedora y los niňos from 1953 has been hidden from the public eye for more than 50 years (est. $1.3/1.5 million). It had been known only to Rivera scholars through a grainy black and white photograph in the Catálogo general de obra de caballete. The painting is among the most important works completed in the last decade of Rivera’s life and is a glorious celebration of Mexico’s cultural diversity. The artist had set out to dignify the image of indigenous Mexicans and La Tejedora y los niňos honors the history and culture of the Mexican people. As a result of its historical importance the painting has been recognized as part of the national heritage of Mexico and as such can not permanently be exported from the country. The lot includes a remarkable trove of letters, photographs, research material and even the original manuscript for the book which had provisionally been entitled Mexico’s Bad Boy, all of which offers a fascinating insight to Rivera’s life. Even after completion of the book, Gladys March made annual trips to Mexico, spending time with the artist and his friends including Chester Dale and Frida Kahlo both of whom feature in the archive. 19th Century Venezuelan Painting In November Sotheby’s set a new benchmark for 19th Century Venezuelan paintings when Cristóbal Rojas’s La Lectora (Woman Reading), quadrupled the high estimate to sell for $1,172,500. Following that success the upcoming sale includes Portrait of a Young Girl by Martín Tovar y Tovar (est. $250/350,000) which is reminiscent of Tovar’s 1858 portrait of his sister which is perhaps Venezuela’s most important painting for its esthetic solutions and psychological depths. The current lot has many similarities to that masterpiece and depicts a young girl, Joven Caraqueňa, who might be another family member in the Caracas hills. The young girl is elegantly dressed and appears to be taking a rest from a countryside walk. As well as reminder of the impertinence of youth, the painting also has many European influences echoing the enthusiasm among Venezuelans for all things French at the time. Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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