NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams New York announces its Post-War and Contemporary Art auction on May 12, featuring works by many of the most important artists of recent years with a concentration on American pop, color and form, and minimalism. Carefully curated by Bonhams’ world-class specialists, the works in the sale present unique insights into several key contemporary practices (pre-sale estimate U.S. $4 million).
Leading the sale is Two Hamburgers (2000) by Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920), an oil on panel estimated at U.S. $800,000 – 1,200,000. Renowned for his extraordinary renderings of commonplace foodstuffs like sandwiches, cakes, pies and sandwiches – the artist presents simple, yet luxurious images in a heavily layered context.
Playing on nostalgia and the American experience, Thiebaud celebrates the seduction of excess with his imagery and its luscious presentation. Deeply tied to the artist’s memory, this work modernizes fast culture in the background of a huge economic downturn and technological boom at the turn of the century.
The sale also comprises leading works by artists from around the world, which include large-format striking paintings by the Chinese painter Yue Minjun and Japanese master of popular culture, MR.
“Identity has remained an important theme throughout art history and it is no surprise that contemporary artists have struggled with it and addressed it in vastly different ways. We have selected a number of works for this sale which address national identity in extremely provocative ways,” said Director of Contemporary Art, Americas, Jeremy Goldsmith.
“From Yue Minjun’s enormous Post-Modern Garden, which presents a satirical vision of Chinese identity in the post-Cultural Revolution era, to Maurizio Cattelan’s iconic Hollywood, which exemplifies the chronic disparity between the wealthy and the poor, and Wayne Thiebaud’s scrumptious Two Hamburgers which so effectively screams American pride, it is clear that artists working today are as concerned with identity now as they were in ages past.”
Hollywood, the mesmerizing photographic work by Maurizio Cattelan (b. 1960), celebrates his large-scale 2001 installation of the same name. Perhaps the most publicized of his works, the installation was created in conjunction with the Venice Biennale that year (estimate U.S. $350,000 – 450,000).
Cattelan installed a reproduction of the famed Hollywood sign, larger than the original, atop the Bellolampo hill above Palermo in Sicily. This version was constructed alongside a garbage dump above the poverty-stricken city, unlike the real sign that overlooks the posh Hollywood Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles – stressing the economic divide between North and South Italy as well as “Hollywood” and grittier Los Angeles.
Other highlights include:
Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Box (Noodle Soup), 1986, estimate U.S. $200,000 – 300,000
This acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas is a fine example of Warhol’s iconic use of imagery. He skillfully reproduced the Campbell’s soup box, blurring lines between low and high culture, at the same time focusing on the industrial nature of production and adding value to the mundane.
Alexander Calder, Embracing Arms (Upraised Arms), 1944-1969, estimate U.S. $150,000 – 200,000
In 1944, Calder created 25 unique bronzes, many of which were stored away in his mother’s basement until he rediscovered them in 1968. Among them was the first example cast of Embracing Arms (Upraised Arms). Featured in the sale is number three from an edition of six that were made from the original cast.
Deborah Butterfield, Bluebird, 2006, estimate U.S. $60,000 - 80,000
This unique work is one of two signature Butterfield sculptures featured in the auction. Through art history, equine imagery has often been associated with domestication, power and war. But for Butterfield, it was more about presenting them as pure animals in their natural state – free and running wild in nature. This extraordinary work stands out from her other horse bronzes which are cast from found organic materials such as sticks and vines.
