NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s announces the spring sale of Latin American Art taking place across two days, with an evening sale on Wednesday, 25 May followed by an afternoon session on Thursday, 26 May. The auction presents nearly 250 lots led by exceptional paintings from distinguished Mexican artists Rufino Tamayo, Diego Rivera and Miguel Covarrubias. Other highlights include a large selection of paintings and sculpture by Fernando Botero, notable works by Wifredo Lam, Matta, Mathias Goeritz, Francisco Zúñiga, Claudio Bravo, Carmen Herrera, Tomás Sánchez and Jesús Rafael Soto.
Leading the sale is the impressive Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991), Maestros cantores, executed in 1949 (estimate: $2,000,000-3,000,000). This work vibrantly plays on a theme of music that preoccupied the artist throughout his career. An abstract artistic language, music embodies the pursuit of non-literal representation. Music also held special personal significance to Tamayo. He met his wife Olga, an accomplished concert pianist, while painting the mural at the National School of Music where she was a student, and Tamayo himself was also a gifted musician known for his guitar playing. Please click here for the full release on this work.
Diego Rivera's (1886-1957), Niña con rebozo, painted in 1938, comes from The Private Art Collection of Marta and Plácido Domingo (estimate: $1,000,000-1,500,000), which depicts one of the most decisive artistic phases of his professional trajectory. Upon Rivera’s return to Mexico in 1921, his view turned toward the creation of a new identity, elevating the contemporary local people in a vision for a modern Mexico. For the great muralist, children were the seeds for change. He lovingly recorded them in drawings and watercolors, and on exceptional occasions, on splendid canvases full of light and color as seen in the present work, which portrays a young girl caught in reflection.
Other highlights include Wifredo Lam’s (1902-1982), Le Sabbat (Immagine No. 5), painted in 1964 (estimate: $600,000800,000) from The Collection of Guglielmo Spotorno, Rufino Tamayo’s (1899-1991), Man in a Landscape, painted in 1961 (estimate: $500,000-700,000), and from The Estate of Rocío Sagaón Miguel Covarrubias’s (1904-1957), Desnudo, (estimate: $400,000-600,000).
The sale also presents a large selection of paintings and sculpture by Fernando Botero (B. 1932), featuring five circusthemed works from The Wynn Las Vegas Collection. Highlights include his monumental sculpture Seated Woman, conceived in 2002 and cast in 2004 (estimate: $700,000-900,000) and large-scale paintings Tiger and Trainer, painted in 2007 (estimate: $700,000-900,000), and Clown in his Trailer, painted in 2007 (estimate: $500,000-700,000). This collection of works previously adorned the Las Vegas restaurant named after the artist—Botero—with the sculpture of the Seated Woman acting as the interior’s centerpiece.
Featured contemporary works include two exceptional landscapes by Tomás Sánchez (b. 1948), from The Brazil Golden Art Collection a monumental painting from Brazilian artist Luiz Zerbini (b. 1959), The Railway Surfer and the Ghost Train, painted in Rio de Janeiro in 1990 (estimate: $150,000-200,000), and an installation piece by Jesús Rafael Soto (19232005), Cuadrado amarillo y vibración, executed in 1988 (estimate: $150,000-200,000).
