Breakfast at Christie's
by Beth S. Gersh-Nesic
The art stars were all aglitter in Christie's showrooms located off of Rockefeller Center, a stone's throw away from the NBC studios (and all those enthusiastic fans waving outside the Today Show windows). What a line up of celebrity works for our press preview of the February 6, 2008 London auction highlights: Francis Bacon's Triptych (1974-77), dedicated to his lover, George Dyer, whose suicide in 1971 seems to have precipitated these three tortured figures as only Francis Bacon knows how; Gerhard Richter's Zwei Liebespaare (Two Pairs of Lovers) (1966), a soft focus black and white nude dalliance times two; Jean-Michel Basquiat's Palm Spring Jump (1982), Munch's The Scream meets Picasso's Guernica, graffiti-style with lots of sky blue; and Lucio Fontana, Concetto sparziale (Spatial Conceit), Attesa (1965), a totally monochrome sassy red rectangle slashed right up the center as if it were a vagina or hotpants slit up the derriere—very naughty.
Francis Bacon (British, b. Ireland, 1909-1992)
Triptych, 1974-77
Oil, pastel and Letraset on canvas, in three parts
Each: 78 x 58 1/8 in. (198 x 147.5 cm)
Overall: 78 x 174 1/4 in. (198 x 442.5 cm)
© Christie's Images Ltd. 2008
In addition, a mellow yellowy Mark Rothko's No. 15 (1952), invaded by two red quadrilateral forms and a long red line pulsated against the wall. This work is part of the May 13, 2008 auction which will take place in at Christie's New York—a tease for the farsighted. Bacon, Richter, Basquiat and Fontana were only in town for a two-day junket to mingle with the locals on January 14 and 15. They then went back to King Street, one of two Christie's locations in London, where serious British pounds sterling will meet serious euros during the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on February 6. I can just feel dollar shrink as I finish this paragraph ... New York might become a bargain basement for those well-schooled in art futures.
On Monday morning, January 14, before the auction for "Open House: Post-War and Contemporary Art," the showrooms were amply stocked with paintings, sculptures, photographs and decorative arts (quality furniture, porcelain, jewelry, rug, tschotkes and beyond). Hotel doyenne Leona Helmsley's estate nestled among other lavish non-Helmsley belongings for the Interiors auction on Wednesday, January 16, bringing to mind the saying "One man's cast off is another man's treasure." (That is to say, this free-for-all of stuff looked like one great big tag sale imported from Greenwich, Connecticut.) On the main floor, "Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Photographs and Decoys" (auction January 17) held sway—quite museum-y in its well-behaved abundance of impeccable cabinetry. Very Ethan Allen-esque.
Gerhard Richter (German, b. 1932)
Zwei Liebespaare, 1966
Oil on canvas
45 1/4 x 63 in. (115 x 160 cm)
© Christie's Images Ltd. 2008
Alas, I am not much for antiques. I came for the Bacon and stayed for the "Open House," a mixed bag of early Post-Modernism, entrenched Modernist masters, and second-generation wannabes of things whose names you may not know now and never will. The Post-Moderns looked especially well-preserved, casting that familiar magic spell of popular iconography that feels oh-so good. It's like comfort food, really—peanut butter and jelly for the Howdy-Dowdy/Donna Reed generation. Andy [Warhol] got it right before the rest of us thoroughly digested: advertising defines us. Looking back at those artists who co-opted the media reminds us of an America we thought we used to be—even more stars-and-stripes than Chippendale and authentic Shaker. Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons, Rob Pruitt, Tom Wesselman, William Wegman and Andy Warhol—plus such young'uns as Lisa Lou (she who beads too much)—press that tender button of nostalgia: America raised on comic books, Oscar Meyer and plastic slipcovers.
Note that I have only
dropped the names. That's the point. Art notwithstanding, the artists' names really make the works
valuable, not the actual pieces themselves. Auction exhibitions are like big game hunting; you need to smell around
for impressive trophies.
And the winner is: Kara Walker's Untitled (1993-94), topping the list with a classic KW black
silhouette of disturbing African-American caricature. Estimated at $30,000 to $50,000, it brought in $145,000,
nearly three times what was expected. The runner-up, Jules Olinski's Exact Origins (1966), is a
signature color-field painting of seaweed green expanse infused on the left with a lavender blue counter-valence.
It sold for $109,000, more than double its estimated $30,000 to $40,000 value. (Olitski died nearly a year ago on
February 4, 2007 so his work is sure to go up in price in the long-term).
Louise Nevelson came in third place with a
tightly packed rectangular black sculpture, Untitled (1982), estimated at $35,000 to $45,000 and adequately
acknowledged with a respectable $87,400. The biggest surprise was a disappointment: an anemic response
to contemporary master Robert Rauchenberg whose Untitled (1983) was estimated at $60,000 to $80,000,
but fetched a mere $67,000. And yet, the lesser known contemporary to
Rauchenberg, William H. Bailey, commanded
$58,600 for Untitled (Still Life) (1981), originally valued at $15,000 to $20,000. What does this mean? A lot.
Jean-Michel Basquiat (American, 1960-1988)
Palm Springs Jump, 1982
Acrylic, oilstick and gold paint on canvas
72 x 84 in. (183 x 213.5 cm)
© Christie's Images Ltd. 2008
Once the art market rewards art production with inflated prices, the artist stakes a claim in the history of art. From
here to the textbooks, as gallery debuts beget museum approbation which beget auction anointment (proven when
bids leaven quickly). Branding and investment brings all the players to the table: dealers, makers (a.k.a. artists), curators
and collectors. It's Darwinian capitalism to be sure, American as apple pie and kind of fun if you have a lot of disposable income.
What about talent? How jejune! Valuing talent is a Pre-Pop thing: Christie's hopes to get at least $40 million for
Rothko's No. 15, and above $52 million for the Bacon (whose work surely deserves New Master status) Triptych. But
for the Baby Boomer Generation, cleverness trumps talent any day. Or, maybe cleverness can be measured as talent (let me
consult Donald Kuspit's The End of Art and get back to you on that).
Lucio Fontana (Argentinian, 1899-1968)
Concetto spaziale, Attesa, 1965
Waterpaint on canvas and lacquered wood
77 5/8 x 56 1/2 in. (197 x 143.5 cm)
© Christie's Images Ltd. 2008
Of course, I did pick my favorites: Fontana and Rothko, definitely. (The Bacon should go to a museum—it's not something
to have around the house where children may live or visit.) From "Open House": Doug and Mike Starn's Black Pulse 17
(Lambda) (2004) two photographs side by side, set into place with push-pins, recording the fragile, tensile appearance
of a leaf at the end of fall—truly poignant in its isolation again stark white; Carrie Mae Weems' Untitled (self-portrait from
the Kitchen Table Series) (1996?), a black and white photograph of the artist leaning toward the viewer from the far side
of a long wooden table, dressed in black and staring under the glare of a hanging lamp; Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons'
Replenishing (2001), the artist and her grandmother chained together through seven individually executed Polaroid
images, arranged to make one double portrait; and Adam Fuss' Untitled (From My Ghost) (2000), 25 out of 40, a black
and white photograph of a diaphanous baby dress.
Only photographs? Well, not quite. I also would have bid on Jean-François Fourtou's White Poodle (2001), made
of resin, string, polyester, metal, papier-mâché, synthetic eye lashes, jeweled hair elastics (rhinestone-ish), wool and fiberglass.
Part of the Interiors auction on Wednesday, it was estimated at $2,000 to $3,000 and fetched a flattering $5,000. Good dog!
And already housebroken, too.
Christie's auction house opened in 1766, or earlier if you count the years
that James Christie rented
temporary spaces. The St. James showrooms were opened in 1823 and the South Kensington showrooms were
opened in 1975. There are now 85 Christie's branches and 14 showrooms in 43 countries. The showrooms are
elegant, quiet and relatively people-free. There is no need to jockey for an unobstructed view during even the most
popular exhibitions, and all of this comfort comes at no charge. Check Christie's
website for exhibition dates, hours and auctions near you.
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From your Guide: Beth Gersh-Nesic,
is an art history professor, author, art critic and the director of the New York
Arts Exchange, an arts education service which offers tours, lectures and workshops in various venues, including museums,
galleries, artists' studios and arts organizations.
