When Heritage Auctions’ Signature® Modern & Contemporary Art Auction opens Oct. 7 at its Dallas Design District Annex, Abstract Expressionist and Pop Art greats such as Sam Francis, Paul Jenkins, Joan Mitchell, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Indiana will grab the attention of collectors with their works of energy, dynamism and mass appeal.
“Buyers will be thrilled to see that the majority of lots in this auction come from private owners and have never been on the market before,” said Frank Hettig, Director of Modern & Contemporary Art at Heritage Auctions. “The provenance behind these works contains some fascinating stories; many were gifted to the owners by the artists themselves.”
Joan Mitchell’s Petit Matin (1982), a lilting piece of Abstract Expressionism by one of America’s great ex-patriot 20th century painters, is one of these works, and is expected to gain the attention of bidders with its beauty and superb provenance. It carries an estimate of $100,000-$150,000. George Kolbe’s patinated bronze sculpture Adagio, conceived by the artist in 1923 and subsequently cast later that same decade, also from a private collection, is a prime example of the export work this renowned German sculptor created during the first half of the 20th century. The highly-stylized, brooding female figure carries an estimate of $80,000 – $90,000.
Two lots by Roy Lichtenstein, a modern tapestry (1968) and a set of dinnerware (1966) estimated at $20,000 – $30,000 and $4,000 – $6,000, respectively, originate from the personal collection of Tejas Englesmith, former assistant director of the Whitechapel Gallery in London, curator of contemporary art at the Jewish Museum in New York and director of the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York.
Of particular note in the auction are selections from the corporate art collection of 7-Eleven, Inc., 18 lots in all, by a variety of modern masters such as Jean Dubuffet, Eric Orr and David Hockney. Highlights include Wayne Thiebaud’s haunting and deceptively simple Silver Landscape (1971), estimated at $30,000 – $50,000, and an untitled drawing by Sam Francis estimated at $20,000 – $30,000.
Pop Art brilliance comes in the form of Robert Indiana’s important WALL / LOVE sculpture (1991), a section of the Berlin Wall that Indiana painted as one of a select number of contemporary artists chosen to paint on sections of the infamous wall after it fell in the late 1980s. Indiana was the only American artist invited by Cal Worthington, a former diplomatic analyst in Berlin, to paint one of the segments of the Wall that Worthington brought out of Berlin. The painted fragments were shown at the United States Art Expo in New York City in 1991. It is estimated at $40,000 – $60,000. The most famous name in Pop Art, Andy Warhol, is the creator of several lots in this auction, including his Mother and Child from the Cowboys and Indians Portfolio (1986), estimated at $22,000 – $28,000, while Edward Ruscha’s Mocha Standard (1969), a wonderful Post-Modern screenprint estimated at $20,000 – $30,000, rounds out the offerings in this genre.
Further highlights include, but are certainly not limited to:
LE PHO (French), Composition # 16:oil on canvas. Estimate: $20,000 – $25,000.
JUSTIN PIERIS DARANIYAGALA (Sri Lankan), Two Nudes on the Beach (1937):oil on canvas. Estimate: $20,000 – $25,000.
JEAN DUBUFFET (French), Personnage (1937):felt-tip pen and paper collage. Estimate: $12,000 – $18,000.
Heritage Auction Galleries is the world’s third largest auction house, and by far the largest auctioneer of rare collectibles, with annual sales more than $700 million, and 450,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage’s auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HA.com.
