Christie’s London raked in an impressive £197.5 million ($265 million) at its marathon three-pronged modern and contemporary evening sale last week and is now gearing up for its March 18 sale of modern British and Irish art. Frank Auerbach, Lynn Chadwick and Barbara Hepworth lead the carefully curated 26-lot auction.
Auerbach’s auction items among top lots Mornington Crescent Christmas tree (2004-05), with an estimated value of £2 million ($2.6 million). Rendered in the artist’s signature heavy paint and striking in size, the painting exemplifies Auerbach’s tactile approach to landscape. Mornington Crescent, located near Auerbach’s Camden studio, is one of several North London locations to which he returned repeatedly over the decades.
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Another highlight was Chadwick’s bronze medal Return to Venice (1988), appears at auction for the first time, from the collection of Dr. Robert Holden. Conceived and cast more than thirty years after Chadwick won the International Sculpture Prize at the 1956 Venice Biennale, the work reflects the artist’s long relationship with the city, which helped him establish an international reputation. Christie’s last week set a record for the artist by selling a Henry Moore bronze for £26.3 million ($35.2 million), so it hopes Chadwick’s work will follow suit.
Moore will also have his work on display at next week’s auction Working model of Mountain Arch (1972) bronze, estimated at £600,000 ($805,000).
Alice Murray, Head of Modern British and Irish Art at Christie’s art news Chadwick’s sculptures represent key moments in the artist’s later career. “This really represents the pinnacle of Chadwick’s career,” she said. “What’s particularly exciting is that, with the Biennale opening later this year, the sculpture feels inseparable from his long and transformative relationship with Venice. It has remained in the same private collection for nearly 30 years. It is approximately 10 feet wide, so it is quite monumental.”
The British and Irish Modern Art sale also includes two works by Hepworth. arc (1960), carved from a single piece of walnut, forms of loneliness (1971), carved from white marble, are estimated at £1 million ($1.3 million) and £700,000 ($900,000).
Paintings from the post-war period are well represented. remember One of them is “1986” by 94-year-old Bridget Riley, which has a high estimate of £1.2 million ($1.6 million). Murray says the painting captures a key moment in Riley’s practice, when, inspired in part by the vivid palette she developed after a trip to Egypt, she began experimenting with tessellating zigzag parallelograms, creating changing rhythms of color and space.
British pop music pioneer Peter Phillips & Motorcycle Psychology/Ace (1962). The work, which has never before appeared at auction, comes from the collection of Italian curator and art historian Enrico Crispolti.
Another painting worth noting is Balthazar (1929) by Green Philpott. Murray describes the luminous portrait, which just opened at an exhibition in Chicago, as “probably the most powerful work the artist has ever brought to market.”
What are the sales estimates? “I think our estimate of things is very reasonable,” Murray said. “We are confident in our pricing and we look forward to seeing how the market responds.
“Our modern British and Irish art sales benefit from continued and active international bidding,” she added. “Global interest in the category continues to expand, with particularly strong demand in the United States.”
