LOS ANGELES, CA.- A rare Robert Rauschenberg Combine from 1958, a collection of William “Billy” Haines custom designs, and a Calder painting are among the many highlights in the upcoming LAMA June 26, 2011 Modern Art & Design Auction. Each of these highlights has come from decades-old collections and nearly half of the 452 lots have never traded hands on the open market.

Peter Loughrey, Director of LAMA: “Unique design originals are disappearing quickly from view in the market and will be increasingly hard to source in the near future. Because of our past performance, we are getting access to better and better material from estates and private collections. As a result LAMA is fast becoming the preferred auction house on the West Coast.”

Untitled (Combine) 1958 by Robert Rauschenberg (Estimate $100,000 – 150,000) was originally created for painter and collage artist Ilse Getz-Danes, a close friend of Rauschenberg. Ms. Getz-Danes’ husband, Gibson A. Danes, was chairman of the art department at UCLA from 1952-57, and was also a former dean of the Yale School of Art and Architecture. The work was exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York, and has been in a private collection in Los Angeles since the early 1990s.

A collection of 26 William “Billy” Haines custom designs and decorations from the late 1940s include a leather game table, two standing lamps, and a coffee table that incorporates a Japanese screen. Haines decorated and designed for a handful of high-profile Hollywood estates, very rarely stamping or marking his pieces, however, the game table and the coffee table are stamped in gold foil “DESIGNED BY WM. HAINES”. Additional works from this comprehensive commission include lamps, tables, seating, and paintings all selected by Haines at the height of his career.

In addition, LAMA will offer a strong selection of Modern and Contemporary originals byCalder, Anuszkiewicz, Avery, Appel, Vernard, and Botello. Other Fine Art offerings include prints and multiples by Lichtenstein, Man Ray, Rauschenberg, Ruscha, Picasso,Miro, and Warhol.

The June 26, 2011 Modern Art & Design Auction will be held at the LAMA showroom: 16145 Hart St. Van Nuys, CA 91406 and will start at 12pm noon (PST).
Auction Preview: June 18th – 25th; open daily 10am – 6pm.
Auction catalogues available June 1st
Preview lots online June 8th