Robert Rauschenberg

The Classicist: $90 Million Picasso, Crichton Collection & More in Megabucks May Art Sales

Filed under: Auctions, Art, The Classicist

May is shaping up to be a megabucks month for the art market with some of the world's most notable collections of modern and contemporary master works crossing the block. Topping the list is a rarely-seen Picasso that's expected to fetch up to $90 million at Christie's landmark Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on May 4th in New York. The painting, Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust (above) dated 1932, is from the Collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody of real estate fame. The Brody collection boasts a wealth of master works by the "towering figures of the Modernist movement", including Picasso, Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, Georges Braque, Edouard Vuillard, Marino Marini, and Henry Moore. The total value of the works to be offered is expected to exceed $150 million, making it one of the most valuable single-owner collections ever offered at auction.

Other standouts from the sale include Matisse's Nu au coussin bleu, 1924, estimated at $20–30 million, and Giacometti's Grande tête mince, 1954, estimated at $25–35 million. The Brodys acquired the Picasso direct from the artist's dealers in the 1950s and made it the focal point of their expanding collection at their mansion in Holmby Hills. The painting has only been exhibited once in the United States, when the Brodys loaned it to the 1961 exhibition Bonne Fête Monsieur Picasso, a retrospective staged in honor of Picasso's 80th birthday that was sponsored by the UCLA Art Council. The upcoming sale preview on April 30 marks the first time in 50 years the work will be publicly displayed.

Gallery: Megabucks May 2010 Art Auctions

Tags: alberto giacometti, Andy Warhol, art auction, art market, Christies, contemporary art, eduoard vuillard, georges braque, Henri Matisse, Henry Moore, Jasper Johns, marino marini, Mark Rothko, Mark Tansey, Michael Crichton, modern art, modernist, mrs. sidney brody, New York, Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein

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Michael Crichton's Art Collection Heads To Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Author Michael Crichton wasn't just a prolific writer and the creator of "ER" he was also an avid art collector. Crichton, who died in 2008, had collected works from Picasso, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein and others. Some of those works will be sold by Christie's in New York as part of their May auctions. The total value for the collection hasn't been given but just the haul from the big four listed above is supposed to top $32 million. One piece is one of John's famous flag paintings. Crichton was a Johns scholar, the two had met and this painting, "Flag" by Johns, dated 1960-66, was bought directly from the artist's collection and has never been on the public market.

Auctions that have a celebrity provenance have done well in the past few years even when the rest of the art market was in the doldrums. With the recent excitement of a new record set by a Giacometti sculpture, hopes are high for big results on this one. Reuters reports that the auction record for a Johns is $17.4 million set back in 2007 for his 1959 work "Figure 4," but that another piece, "False Start," sold for a reported $80 million in a private sale.

Tags: art collection, ArtCollection, christies, jasper johns, JasperJohns, michael crichton, MichaelCrichton, robert rauschenberg, RobertRauschenberg

BMW Art Cars go on tour to LA, New York and Mexico

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Events, Art

In 1975, BMW racing driver Hervé Poulain got the idea to invite an artist to paint his car. American artist Alexander Calder answered the call, giving birth to the BMW Art Car project, which has attracted the participation of some 16 renowned artists from around the world to use BMW automobiles as their canvas. The vehicles are housed in BMW's museum in Munich, but have been known to travel sporadically; their latest tour brings four of the most famous examples to North America. The Art Car creations of Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein (pictured above), and Robert Rauschenberg are on display now at the BP Entrance to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art until February 24, before they head to the east coast to be displayed at New York's Grand Central Terminal from March 24 until April 6 and then southward to three locations in Mexico. The rolling works of art will be accompanied by a video documenting the history of the project and the artists at work, which you can view after the jump along with the images in the gallery below.

Gallery: BMW Art Cars

Andy Warhol, Art Car, 1979 - BMW M1 group 4 racing version

Roy Lichtenstein, Art Car, 1977 - BMW 320i group 5 racing version

Frank Stella, Art Car, 1976 - BMW 3.0 CSL

Robert Rauschenberg, Art Car, 1986 - BMW 635 CSi

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Tags: Andy Warhol, AndyWarhol, art car, ArtCar, automotive art, AutomotiveArt, bmw, bmw art car, BmwArtCar, Frank Stella, FrankStella, lacma, los angeles county museum of art, LosAngelesCountyMuseumOfArt, Robert Rauschenberg, RobertRauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, RoyLichtenstein

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$86 Million Worth of Bacon Sells At Sotheby's

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

The big wow from Sotheby's contemporary art sale on Wednesday, was the record price set for a Francis Bacon. His "Triptych, 1976" sold for $86.281 million setting a record for postwar art and topping the estimate of around $70 million. Sotheby's had their best night in their nearly 300-year history bringing in a total of $362 million, which bested the $348.2 million haul from Christie's just the night before. While at the Christie's sale a Mark Rothko painting went for over $50 million, at this sale a similar painting went unsold. Seventeen other artists also set record including Robert Rauschenberg, who died this week. His "Overdrive" sold for $14.6 million. Takashi Murakami's amusing sculpture "My Lonesome Cowboy" went for $15.16 million which is rather amazing considering his previous record for $2.7 million. At the sale 87 percent of the 83 lots were sold and the sale exceeded the high presale estimate of $357 million. Fine art spending is alive and well, if there's a fall coming, well, inevitably there will be one, it seems it won't be for a while yet.

[Thanks, Rob!]

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Tags: art, francis bacon, robert rauschenberg, sothebys

$70 Million Francis Bacon Stars in Sotheby's Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A Francis Bacon triptych painted in 1976 is expected to fetch about $70 million in the star sale of Sotheby's Contemporary Art auction in New York on May 14. If the work, billed as the most important privately-held Bacon extant, does max out despite all the hand-wringing going on, the price will eclipse Impressionist claptrap like this $40 million Monet while still falling far short of some puffed-up Picassos. (The middle panel is pictured here; see the image gallery for the complete piece.) Back in February, a Bacon triptych sold for $46.1 million at Christie's in London, slightly below estimate, though the one currently on offer is the better work in our opinion.

Also included in the stunning sale is Mark Rothko's 1956 Orange, Red, Yellow, expected to fetch in excess of $35 million; Jean-Michel Basquiat's beautiful Untitled (Prophet I), est. $9 - $12 million; Robert Rauschenberg's 1963 Overdrive, est. $10 - $15 million; Richard Prince's Millionaire Nurse, est. $3.5 - $4.5 million; a 1986 Andy Warhol self-portrait, est. $2 - $3 million; an untitled Cy Twombly, est. $1.5 - $2 million; and a very naughty manga-inspired sculpture by Louis Vuitton collaborator Takashi Murakami, valued at an astonishing $3 - $4 million.

Gallery: Sotheby's Contemporary Art Auction