Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Sale on the evening of May 10^th provides rare opportunities for collectors seeking extraordinary masterworks from the mid-20^th century thrugh to the 21^st century.

Iconic works by Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons are the star offerings of the sale.  The Pink Panther is the paramount work in Koons’ seminal and coveted Banality series and this exquisitely crafted porcelain sculpture is among the most important works of the late 20^th century to come to auction.  Pink Panther embodies Koons’ classic themes of popular culture and rarefied elitism, eroticism and naivety, all captured in luxuriant color and surface textures.

Sixteen Jackies is a testament to Warhol’s keen perception of the role of media in American popular culture, as captured in his selection of eight haunting images of President Kennedy’s wife in the week of his assassination in late 1963.  In its full range of palette, grid format and image selection, this work is homage to the greatest of his multi-panel Jackies of 1964, The Week That Was. Warhol’s insight into the dissonance between the public and private face of celebrity, as well as the darkness underlying American prosperity, makes Sixteen Jackies a powerful memorial of the time.

View Details for the Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art auction was a huge success!  Don’t miss the opportunity to browse through the sale results.

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View Day Sale Results

19th/20th C. American and European Art – Saturday, May 14, 11 a.m.

Post-War and Contemporary Art – Saturday, May 14, 1 p.m.

Hong Kong – May 31st

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This May, Sotheby’s Fine Chinese Paintings department is thrilled to offer its first ever off-season sale, The Mei Yun Tang Collection of Paintings by Chang Dai-Chien. This monumental collection was assembled by the late Mr. and Mrs. Kao Ling-Mei over the course of half a century, and is internationally recognized as the most comprehensive Zhang Daqian paintings collection of all times. The sale features 25 works from the collection and is estimated to bring more than HKD 130 million. It represents the very first time that any of these works have appeared on the market.

The selection for sale offers a detailed account of the stylistic evolution of the artist, from his early traditional styles to the bold splashed ink and colour of his later years. It also reveals the close friendship and camaraderie between the celebrated artist and Mr. and Mrs. Kao Ling-Mei – dear friends for over 40 years. The couple acquired many of Zhang Daqian’s most prized works from exhibitions or as gifts from the artist himself. Lotus and the Mandarin Ducks (Lot 4), was bought in an exhibition of the artist’s work; and Children Playing under a Pomegranate Tree (Lot 13) – painted especially to compliment the couple’s large family – was received as a present from the artist.

The May 2011 Latin American Sale is historic in its inclusion of the Fernando Botero: a Celebration auction as well as a single owner sale A Discerning Eye. These three catalogues form the Evening Session of the Latin American Art Sales.

There are several re-discoveries of historical note such as Emilio Boggio’s 19th century masterpiece La Lecture, lot 52, which has not been seen publicly since it was exhibited in 1888 at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris, Tilsa Tschusiya’s mysterious 1962 Untitled painting from her early period and Benito Quinquela Martin’s 1923 Buque en Descarga (en Pleno Trabajo) which, when cleaned of its old varnish, revealed a rainbow of dazzling color and expressionistic impressionist brushstrokes.

Latin American Art – Browse E-Catalogue

Fernando Botero: A Celebration – Browse E-Catalogue

A Discerning Eye: Latin American Masterpieces from a Private Collection – Browse E-Catalogue

On Thursday, May 5, Swann Galleries will conduct their annual spring auction of Modernist Posters. As always, the sale features rare avant-garde images from the U.S., Europe and Asia that appeal to fans of cutting-edge design.

There is a rare exhibition poster by Dutch architect and designer Hendrikus T. Wijdeveld for a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition held in Amsterdam, 1931.

Art Deco classics include Jean Dupas, Bal des Etudiants, 1927, in a rare large format. The image appealed to Andy Warhol, who at one time owned a version of the poster.

A 1935 poster by an unknown artist for the film [Peach Blossom Dream], starring Chinese movie star Pearl Ing.

David Shubow, Moments with Genius, circa 1936 is a classic WPA-era image.

Edward McKnight Kauffer’s Power / The Nerve Centre of London’s Underground, 1931, is among the scarce British rail posters in the sale.

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The Evill/Frost Collection is the most prestigious group of 20^th Century British Art ever to come to auction.  The works were collected by London solicitor Wilfrid Evill between 1925 and 1960 and will not be sold by the executors of the estate of Honor Frost, the pioneering marine archaeologist, to benefit charitable causes.  The central element of the collection is a group of paintings and drawings by Stanley Spencer including some of the most important examples of his work (lots 7-9, 15-18).

Beyond these we find a rich vein of paintings, drawings, watercolors and sculptures that evince the knowledge and understanding of a true collector with works by Lucian Freud (lots 2, 25), Henry Moore (lots 4, 20), Edward Burra (lots 1,  21, 30), and William Roberts (lots 5, 11, 22).  This collection also includes a very fine group of 18^th Century French porcelain and important Regency furniture as well as other decorative arts from a variety of periods.

Browse Part I E-Catalogue

Browse Part II E-Catalogue

Browse Part III E-Catalogue

London – Phillips de Pury & Company is pleased to announce the highlights of the forthcoming London Photographs sale on Thursday May 19, 2011. The London photographs department, a leader in the European market, will offer a full range of exciting works from diverse genres and movements integral to 20^th and 21^st century photography.

“The May 19^th London Photographs auction builds on our recent successes by including quality material by value and aesthetic that is on the cutting edge of what is most desirable in today’s worldwide photographs market.” Vanessa Kramer, Worldwide Director, Photographs.

“I am ecstatic about offering such a diverse and appealing section of photography, the sale fully embraces and pays homage to all genres and mediums, offering a vibrant composite of great iconic works and exciting contemporary artists. If you are looking for a known fashion image the sale will appeal, if you are looking for a more conceptual contemporary image you will love it – there really is something for every type of collector and collection.” Lou Proud, Head of Photographs London.

Sotheby’s is immensely honored and proud to offer A Discerning Eye: Latin American Masterpieces from a Private Collection.  Rarely are we able to offer for auction a group of masterworks from a single collection of such quality, variety and depth.

This striking assembly of works acquired over a period of two decades represents some of the finest examples of Latin American art of diverse styles and cultural origins.  From Rivera to Matta, from Pelaez to Tamayo and from Botero to Figari, the common denominator that prevails throughout is the discerning eyes that chose the pieces and the high level of taste and refinement that is reflected in this grouping.

This evening sale includes works by masters from several Latin American countries.  From Mexico the collection includes three paintings by Rufino Tamayo representing his greatest periods: the colorful and iconic Sandias of 1941; Madre Diviertiendo a su Hijo of 1946, a sensitive and whimsical depiction of a loving mother and child; and the vibrant and monumental Mujer en Extasis of 1973.

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