LAMBERTVILLE, NJ.- Rago's strongest sale of Post War and Contemporary art to date comes to auction on Saturday, November 15, 2008. It contains over 100 lots of paintings, works on paper and sculpture and another 100 lots of prints and photographs.
"Curators and other arts professionals have been buying with us since we started. Now more are selling through us," says Meredith Hilferty, Director of Fine Art. "Because they are such knowing, connected collectors, our buyers get property that's been quite exclusive."
Rago's is proud to offer a Henry Moore bronze maquette of Draped, Reclining Woman (presale estimate $100,000 - $150,000). One of nine produced, it was purchased in 1956. One of the six 82" versions cast in the artist's lifetime sold at Christie's in London in June for $8.4 million dollars.
Rago's is offering Abstract Expressionist Norman Bluhm's 1967 oil on canvas Shell Beach and a very early Frank Stella mixed media work (presale estimate for each $40,000-60,000). Work of the 70s and 80s includes an oil by David Reed (presale estimate $20,000-30,000) and paintings by Jules Olitski, Martin Wong, Mike Bidlo and Richard Pettibone. Among the works on paper is Two Birds, a gouache by Antoni Tapies (presale estimate $40,000-50,000); an untitled watercolor by David Wojnarowicz; a Peter Nagy acrylic; a Theodoros Stamos abstract gouache; and Jim Shaw's Dream Drawing.
There are three Warhol multiples here, including Liz (presale estimate $20,000-30,000) and Cow (Wallpaper) (presale estimate $3,000-5,000). Also Lichtenstein's 1964 lithograph Crak! (presale estimate $15,000-25,000) and skateboard decks by Koons and Murakami, still in their wrappers and significant photographs by Gregory Crewdson and Roni Horn.
Other original work is here by Jane Hammond, Jules de Balincourt, Keegan McHargue, John Saccaro and Elizabeth Murray and by sculptors Daniel Pflumm and Rachel Whitread; prints by Frankenthaler, Kienholz, LeWitt, Thiebaud, Katz, Clemente, Calder, Baechler, Nauman, Kelly and Polke; and photographs by Ruff, Weegee, Goldin and Sherman.
