LONDON.- Phillips announced highlights ahead of the Evening & Day Editions auctions in London. Kicking off the season and the new year as the first auctions of 2021 and comprising 272 lots in total, the Evening & Day Editions auctions present exceptional examples of Pop, Modern and Contemporary editions as well as pieces from key periods of art history. For the first time in London Phillips will present a work from the sixteenth century, offering an iconic etching produced by Albrecht Dürer in 1513, Knight, Death and the Devil, which comes to auction this January amongst a selection of works from a distinguished private collection. The Day sale will take place at 12pm on Thursday 21 January with the Evening sale following at 6pm.
Rebecca Tooby-Desmond, Specialist, Head of Sale and Auctioneer, said, “We are delighted to start a new year with our Editions auctions. Highlighting key moments from the history of Western printmaking, our sales present fresh-to-market works from a distinguished collection, with the rare inclusion of Albrecht Dürer alongside familiar modern and contemporary giants. A celebration of innovation through the ages, and with incredible variety, our auctions offer exciting opportunities to start or develop a rich collection, with the best examples from each period, curated side by side.”
A star of the Evening sale is Roy Lichtenstein’s iconic 1965 Reverie. A pioneer of the Pop Art movement, Lichtenstein was inspired by comic strips of the 1950s and 60s, German Expressionism and Art Deco. The present work is a signed screenprint traversed in unmistakable black outlines, Ben-Day dots and flat areas of vibrant colours. Additional leading lots include two screenprints in colour with diamond dust by Andy Warhol: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from Reigning Queens (Royal Edition), 1985 and Mickey Mouse, from Myths, 1981.
Demonstrating his mastery of all print-making techniques, the Evening sale includes works by David Hockney from his elegant monochromatic lithograph and etching still lifes, to the iconic 1980s Pool made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book, from Paper Pools, through to his iPad illustrations of Yosemite. David Hockney made his mark as a pioneer of the British Pop movement and is known for his bright, cheerful works depicting pools and everyday scenes from his life in southern California. Following the sale of Hockney’s Nicholls Canyon in Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary December Evening sale in New York which made a world auction record as the highest price ever achieved for a landscape by the artist, Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book presents new and established collectors with the opportunity to own a distinctive work by one of the most versatile artists of the past century.
A further highlight of the Evening sale is Allen Jones’ 1966 portfolio A New Perspective on Floors. Since the early 1960s, Allen Jones has been a central figure of the British Pop art movement. The radical nature of his work became more distinct after he relocated to New York City in 1964. Jones’ A New Perspective on Floors depicts the female leg, an iconic and recurring theme throughout his work which connotes 1960s American advertisements and incorporates overtly sexualised visual language.
Amongst the Modern editions to feature in this sale are a selection of works by Pablo Picasso, including two portraits of Dora Maar: Tête de Femme No. 5 and Tête de Femme No. 3 which come to auction this January from a distinguished private collection. Further Modern highlights of the Evening sale include three impressive etchings by Joan Miró and two Marcel Duchamp works, the iconic 1937 pochoir reproduction Nu déscendant un escalier No. 2, and a witty drypoint, L’Équilibre from 1958, which includes the artist’s booklet with a poem by Francis Picabia.
Two rare-to-market Grayson Perry works continue the strong section of British works, including Animal Spirit, which Phillips will offer at auction in this large size for the first time. Also included is Perry’s first map produced in 2004, Map of an Englishman, which showcases the artist’s dissecting and investigative map series challenging British identity, religion, politics, stereotypes, and traditions through humour and irony. Map of an Englishman is juxtaposed here in an unexpected and seemingly timeless pairing alongside Albrecht Dürer’s 1513 engraving Knight, Death and the Devil. A rare 16th century offering at Phillips, Knight, Death and the Devil is an iconic tour de force of early printmaking from a distinguished private collection, alongside an exceptional selection of 20th century and contemporary editions also including, among others, Kiki Smith, Peter Doig, Donald Judd and the Modern Masters Pablo Picasso editions mentioned above and a Diego Rivera lithograph printed in 1932.
