20TH CENTURY AT CHRISTIE’S’ 12 FEBRUARY 2020
Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction will take place on 12 February 2020, continuing ‘20th Century at Christie’s’. From the collection of Richard L. Weisman, Andy Warhol’s ‘Athletes’, comprised of ten 40-by-40-inch multicoloured portraits of athletes, is highlighted by Muhammad Ali (1977, estimate: £3,000,000-5,000,000). This follows the successful sale of works from the collection at Christie’s in New York in November 2019. The seminal series is presented alongside Flowers (1964, estimate: £1,000,000-1,500,000), which is offered as part of ‘Art for Future: Selected Works from the UniCredit Group’. A further focus on Andy Warhol includes Knives (1982, estimate: £2,500,000-3,500,000), a razor-sharp chorus of beauty and menace, and Brillo Soap Pads Box (1964, estimate: £300,000-500,000) which was originally held in the collection of Leo Castelli. Three works by Jean Dubuffet from the 1950s, 60s and 70s not only trace the artistic development throughout the artist’s career but culminate in Panorama (1978, estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000), from the final decade of the artist’s life where he employs the pictorial devices seen in his works since the 1940s. Albert Oehlen’s Mission Rohrfrei (1996, estimate: £1,800,000-2,500,000) is among the most abstract and explosive of Oehlen’s ‘Remixes’, displaying the artist in freewheeling improvisatory flow. Coinciding with a survey of contemporary painters at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, ‘Radical Figures’, a group of works by Dana Schutz, Tschabalala Self and Cecily Brown showcase new directions in expressionism as artists tackle subjects of political and social significance. Jordan Casteel’s Mom (2013, estimate: £180,000-250,000) is a poignant tribute to the artist’s mother, Lauren Young Casteel.
The Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction will take place on 13 February while First Open: Post-War and Contemporary Art Online, a dedicated online-only auction, will be open for bidding from 7 to 18 February. Selected works will be on view from 8 to 13 February with viewing by request from 14 to 18 February. The works from the Evening and Day Auctions will be on view in the King Street galleries from 8 to 12 February 2020.