NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s presents the sale of Prints & Multiples taking place on April 23-24. The two-day sale features 233 lots, with a superb selection of Post-War and Contemporary editions, as well as a strong group of classic Modern and American prints. The sale is highlighted by Jasper Johns’ iconic Color Numerals series (estimate: $400,000-600,000) and features other major works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Lucian Freud and Richard Diebenkorn.

POST-WAR & CONTEMPORARY
A selection of Jasper Johns’ seminal prints from the 1960’s and 1970’s anchors the Post-War & Contemporary Art section. Led by the Color Numeral Series, considered his most visually arresting exploration of the numeral subject in printed form, this group also includes two of Johns’ landmark early prints Two Maps I and Two Maps I, together with his classic screenprint Target (estimate $250,000 – 350,000) from 1974. Familiar images to all students of 20th Century art history, these important prints illustrate Johns’ status as one of the most celebrated contemporary artists - and printmakers - of our time. Christie’s will also be commemorating this season another important landmark in the career of Jasper Johns. In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Art in America, with the oversight of Curatorial Consultant Sharon Hurowitz, and Bill Goldston at ULAE, Johns has created his first ever digital print, depicting several iconic motifs from the artist’s history: numbers 0 thru 9, a map of the United States and the ABC’s in sign language. Each theme holds a prominent place in the history of John’s work. The anniversary editions of the magazine will feature one of these digital prints from Johns and will give all readers the ability to collect a work by the artist. The first example of this edition will be unveiled at Christie’s on April 22nd.

In addition to Johns, the Post-War session of the sale boasts superb prints by Andy Warhol including a portfolio of six $ screenprints (estimate: $250,000-350,000), highly sought after examples from his Marilyn series (estimate $150,000 – 250,000), and a striking black and white version of his Superman (pictured here, estimate $150,000 – 250,000). Other milestone works by illustrious Post-War artists found in the sale include Lucian Freud’s Pluto (estimate: $100,000 – 150,000), a charming and incredibly detailed depiction of his beloved canine companion who is found in many of his canvases, and Richard Diebenkorn’s important early print Large Bright Blue.

MODERN MASTERPIECES
The sale will also feature a selection of Modern prints by American and European masters on April 23rd. This afternoon session will include a variety of classic prints by Pablo Picasso from all periods in the artist’s career ranging from his early Vollard series to his late prints from the 1960s. His monumental linocut Nature Morte au Verre sous la Lampe (estimate: $200,000-300,000) is the top lot of the section and demonstrates Picasso’s immense prowess in the medium with its fluid, dynamic strokes and broad areas of saturated color.

Marcel Duchamp’s L.H.O.O.Q. (estimate: $100,000-150,000) is another rare and masterful print in the sale. When Duchamp prepared the numbered edition in 1964, he decided to re-produce the now-famous pun he had inscribed on a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa 45 years earlier to accompany a poetic essay on the artist by French writer Pierre de Massot. In a pencil, he drew a mustache and goatee and added the five letters in a margin below the image to provide the phonetic pun “Elle a chaud au cul,” which translates as “She has a hot ass.” Duchamp wanted to make it clear that his L.H.O.O.Q. was an independent work of art in its own right by applying gouache over the name of the museum and the artist. Duchamp’s desecration of a revered Renaissance masterpiece is considered the most succinct expression of Dada negation, and as the ultimate gesture of iconoclasm.

AMERICAN ART
Also featured in the sale is an outstanding selection of etchings by American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler. This important group of etchings by Whistler comprises the majority of the ‘Amsterdam series,’ and one of the greatest Venetian prints he ever made. Whistler had a lifelong love affair with the Dutch 17th Century tradition and focused on its themes of portraiture, landscape, and domestic interiors. Spanning the 1880s, these prints exemplify Whistler’s printmaking skills and reflect years of experimentation, refinement, and travel. The Steps, Amsterdam (estimate: $40,000-60,000), and The Embroidered Curtain (estimate: $60,000-80,000) exemplify Whistler’s distinct printing style.