20th/21st Century London Day and Online Sales Now Live For Browsing at Christie's

Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale, 2 March 2022

LONDON – Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Day is led by Banksy’s Love is in the Air (2002, estimate: £600,000-800,000, illustrated above left) an early iteration of his seminal ‘flower thrower’ motif. Carrying a message of peace, it was this image that cemented Banksy’s position on the international stage, establishing him both as an artist and as an activist. Following critically acclaimed institutional exhibitions, as part of this auction Christie’s is offering works by Eileen Agar, Etel Adnan and Paula Rego. The selection includes Eileen Agar’s Return of Europa (1971, estimate: £12,000-18,000), and Etel Adnan’s Lumière 2 (c. 1960, estimate: £50,000-70,000, illustrated page one right) part of a selection of rare early works given to her close friend and former roommate at University of California, Berkeley. Paula Rego’s School for Little Witches (2009, estimate: £280,000-350,000) depicts a pictorial act of revenge on a teacher who had terrified her as a child.

The work of Post-War Italian masters is represented by Lucio Fontana’s early Concetto spaziale, Attese (1960, estimate: £400,000-600,000), and a large scale sculpture Sfera con perforazione (1977, estimate: £300,000–400,000) by Arnaldo Pomodoro.  There is a figurative section to the sale, highlighted by Rafa Macarrón’s Primera cita (First Date) (2012, estimate: £50,000-70,000) and Mickalene Thomas’s MS. PU-SE-KAT #1 (2003, estimate: £70,000-100,000). At almost a metre in height, Thomas’s work represents the artist's investigations into African American beauty and femininity. Part of this figurative offering is Asmoako Boafo’s monumental self-portrait, Untitled (Standing Nude) (2015, estimate: £150,000 –200,000), Adjei Tawiah’s Pink Suit (2020, estimate: £15,000-20,000), and Atanda Quadri Adebayo’s vibrantly colourful work, Let Love Lead (2021, estimate: £8,000-12,000). Further highlights include Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin [TOWSSO] (2006, estimate: £200,000-300,000), which focuses on one of the artist’s most celebrated and central motifs, and Flora Yukhnovich’s Study of Putti (2017, estimate: £40,000–60,000) which demonstrates the artist’s reimagining of Rococo motifs through a contemporary lens.

Impressionist and Modern Art Day and Works on Paper Sale, 4 March 2022

LONDON – Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Day and Works on Paper Sale is highlighted by Sonia Delaunay’s Nature morte portugaise (1916, estimate: £350,000- 450,000, illustrated page one right). This painting is inspired by a sun-drenched Portuguese marketplace and belongs to a group of paintings executed in 1916, relating directly to two other compositions from the same series which are in the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. There are a number of notable Picasso works offered, including the drawing Buste de femme couchée (1939, estimate: £300,000-500,000, illustrated page two left) and a work from his blue period Mendiant à la béquille (1904, £200,000-300,000) reflecting a time of personal tragedy for the artist, mourning the loss of his friend Carlos Casagemas. A later Picasso work, Buste d'homme (1969, Estimate: £600,000 - 900,000) from a private collection, will be sold to benefit a charitable organisation. Otto Dix’s Dame mit schleier (1923, estimate: £80,000-120,000) and Walter Dexel’s Lokomotive von Vorne (1922, estimate: £120,000-180,000 are highlights from a private German collection.

Alexej von Jawlensky’s Stilleben mit Tasse (1908, estimate: £150,000-250,000), a strikingly colourful still life, leads the selection offered by Deutsche Bank Collection. The artist had an increasing obsession with colour when this was painted, inspired by artists Paul Sérusier and Henri Matisse. Three Marc Chagall works are also offered spanning from the 20s to late 60s/early 70’s, Scène de cirque (1970, estimate: £600,000-900,000), Les amoureux au village sur fond rouge (1968, estimate: £350,000-550,000), and Tête de vache or La vache (1926, estimate: £250,000-350,000), all vibrantly colourful and depicting the dream like imagery Chagall is known for. A complete set of twelve lithographs by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Elles (1896, £400,000-600,000), is one of the most celebrated and sought-after series in the history of printmaking, depicting everyday life within a maison close (brothel) in Paris.

First Open: Post-War and Contemporary Art Online

ONLINE – Christie’s First Open: Post-War and Contemporary Art Online is open for bidding from 23 February until 9 March 2022.  Aboudia’s 6 Partenaires (2020, estimate: £40,000-60,000, illustrated page three left) is a monumental work featuring six of his celebrated ghostly figures. Born in Côte d’Ivoire, Aboudia’s art is inspired by the streets of Abidjan, his home and the country’s economic capital. Complementing the selection of works by Eileen Agar presented in the Day Sale, Eileen Agar’s Rite of Spring (1971, estimate: £8,000-12,000, illustrated page three right) is offered as part of our First Open online sale. A grouping of four lots by Etel Adnan from the collection of her former classmate and friend are offered in First Open, alongside the two paintings in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale.

Forty-four photographs from the Ellen and Dan Shapiro Collection include works by Diane Arbus, Candida Hofer, William Eggleston, Elger Esser, Andreas Gursky, Annie Leibovitz, Richard Mosse, Zanele Muholi, Irving Penn, Alex Prager, Viviane Sassen and Cindy Sherman. Estimates range from £600-£50,000, offering collectors of all levels an opportunity to acquire works from this visionary photography collection.

Six paintings are offered by William Alsop, the British architect and Royal Academician, who is known as one of the UK’s greatest architectural talents. They will be sold to benefit the Stephen Lawrence Architecture Prize, which aims to encourage and reward new architectural talent.