Several paintings from the collection of one of the UK’s first abstract expressionist painters, Frank Avray Wilson (1914-2009), are to be sold by Bonhams as part of its Contemporary Two sale at Knightsbridge on Knightsbridge Wednesday 19 October.
Hans Hartung (German, 1904-1989) Untitled 1948 signed and dated 48 mixed media on brown card 53.5 x 74.5cm (21 1/16 x 29 5/16in). Estimate: £20,000 – 30,000, US$ 31,000 – 47,000, € 23,000 – 35,000
The collection comprises pieces by some of the biggest artistic names of the 1950s, some of whom Wilson met and exhibited with at the height of his career in Paris. They include Hans Hartung’s Untitled, 1948 (£20,000 – 30,000); Alfred Manessier’s Voile de Véronique, 1950 (estimate £10,000 – 15,000); and Georges Matheiu’s, Untitled, 1959, a gift from the artist to Wilson in 1959.
Another sale highlight is the cover lot, Damien Hirst’s Beautiful Squidgy Beep Beep Red Nose Painting, 2006 (estimate £20,000 – 30,000), which is one of his iconic Spin Series pictures, while his real butterfly on canvas (Untitled: estimate £8,000 – 12,000) is also a top draw.
The sale also features Misère en Déroute, 1959 (estimate £30,000 – 50,000) by André Lanskoy, one of the Russian artists at the forefront of the wave of abstraction that hit France in the post-War period; and several works by Banksy, including Girl and Balloon, 2003 (estimate £30,000 – 40,000) and London, New York, Bristol (Heavy Weaponry), 2000 (estimate £25,000 – 35,000).
Another eye-catching lot is Cesar’s Pouce (estimate £8,000 – 12,000), a 40cm high nickel coated bronze sculpture of a thumb, the original of which resides in the Tate Gallery.
