Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence (at left), Carrie Mae Weems were among the African American artists offered for sale at Christies, a premier auction house.
Here is an article showing estimates (what the works might sell for) with my highlights:
Source: ArtDaily
NEW
YORK - Christie's June 30 Open House sale features an exciting
assortment of Post-War and Contemporary art works to match both new and
established collectors’ tastes and budgets. Leading the sale are two
exceptional collections of African American paintings, drawings,
photography and sculpture. Works by modern masters such as Jacob
Lawrence, Romare Bearden and Norman Lewis will be featured along side
the next generation of creative minds including Carrie Mae Weems, Glenn
Ligon, Michael Charles Ray. In addition to these offerings the sale
features works by Robert Rauschenberg, Susan Rothenberg, Massimo Vitali
and many more. With a total sale estimate of $2.8-4 million for 266
lots – the largest and most valuable to date – this June’s Open House
sale is likely to build on the success established by the Post-War and
Contemporary sales earlier this spring.
The catalogue opens
with a selection of works from the Collection of Peggy Cooper Cafritz
of Washington D.C. A staunch supporter of the arts and longtime patron
of African American artists, Ms. Cafritz began collecting whilst
studying in college and has today amassed a collection of critical
importance, which reflects her unique vision and connoisseurship of the
pioneers of the African American arts movement. Highlights include
Carrie Mae Weem’s You Became a Scientific Profile/An Anthropological
Debate/A Negro Type/& A Photographic Subject (estimate:
$20,000-30,000), Glen Ligon’s Malcolm X (estimate: $20,000-30,000),
Robert Colescott, Yo Sign, Yo Yard?, Yo Marriage (estimate:
$25,000-35,000) and Barkley Hendricks’s, Big Guy (Three Game Series)
(estimate: $8,000-12,000).
The catalogue will also feature
Property from the private Collection of Alitash Kebede. A native of
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Alitash began an appreciation for photography in
her youth, through her exposure to LIFE magazine. Determined to
establish a meaningful exchange between African and American artists,
she represented them in her Los Angeles gallery and has collected
modern African American artists such as Alma Thomas, Bob Thompson and
Norman Lewis. Sale highlights include the catalogue’s cover lot, Jacob
Lawrence’s Flight #1 (estimate: $120,000-150,000), Romare Bearden’s
Wednesday Evening (estimate: $40,000-50,000), as well as Bob Thompson’s
Study for Ascension to the Heavens (estimate: $30,000-50,000) and Alma
Thomas’s, Garden (estimate: $8,000-12,000).
Among the
highlights is a work by Robert Rauschenberg that has never been shown
publicly, Guide (Rigs) (estimate: $60,000-80,000), and works by artists
Susan Rothenberg, Pillow (estimate: $50,000-70,000), David Smith, ΔΣ
2/5/55 (estimate: $40,000-60,000), and Thomas Scheibitz, Untitled
(estimate $4,000-6,000). In addition, the sale includes a fine
selection of Abstract Expressionist works by Willem de Kooning, Milton
Resnick, Arshile Gorky, Norman Bluhm and Michael Goldberg.
The Barkley Hendricks sold for $10,000.00 (click his name).
The top 5 prices of the evening:
(These sold in the MILLIONS, so make sure you read the prices right.)
- Three Studies for a Self
Portrait (below) by Francis Bacon (1909-1992), a rare self-portrait triptych
that the artist painted while in Paris in 1975 and that had never
before been seen in public. It sold for $34,457,475.
- Balloon
Flower (Magenta), 1995-2000 by Jeff Koons (b.1955) sold this evening
for $25,752,051, a world record price for the artist at auction.
-
Naked Portrait with Reflection (below) by Lucian Freud (b.1922), one of the
most important works by the artist to be offered at auction, sold for
$23,519,891, the second highest price for the artist at auction.
- Nine Multicoloured Marilyns (Reversal Series), 1979-86, by Andy Warhol (1928-1987), sold for $8,117,987.
- Last Supper, 1986, by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) sold for $6,443,867.
Go here to see what the art by African American artists (listed as American art) got for the work!
Glenn Ligon topped the heap with $80,500.00 for a post-black "Malcolm X" (small version) below.
Take a look at the other prices and useful information.
Congrats to Barkley Hendricks, a living artist, a Philadelphian, a figurative artist, and a Yale grad.
So, now that you've read this, what are the questions?
And what have we learned?
The works of Ashley A. Woods, Turtel Onli, and many other Black Age greats is in the "Out Of Sequence" exhibition at the Krannert Museum in Champaign-Urbana opening Oct.24th and running until Jan. 4th. It will show a variety of under represented works in the field of sequential art and illustration. Woods along with a few others will travel to Japan in Novemeber representing the show. The entire show will travel to Denver after its current run.
Other artists in the Krannert exhibition:Artists: Ben Alcantara, Dawud Anyabwile, Ryan Armand, Gus Arriola, Kyle Baker, Alison Bechdel, Dale Beran and David Hellman, Ray Billingsley, Bentley Boyd, Mark Staff Brandl, Nell Brinkley, Dawn Brown, Marjorie Henderson Buell, Elmer Simms Campbell, Stanford Carpenter, Denys Cowan, Jenny Craft, Phonzie Davis, Christa Donner, Colleen Doran, Grace Drayton, Kris Dresen, Edwina Dumm, Brummett Echohawk, Donovan Foote, Shaenon Garrity, Nicholas Gurewitch, Oliver Harrington, Ethel Hays, Shepherd Hendrix, Leilani Hickerson, C. Hill, Raye Horne, Tom Hunt, Phil Jimenez, Ryan Kelly, Keith Knight, Mshindo Kuumba I, Hope Larson, Jenn Manley Lee, Jim Mahfood, Scott McCloud, Dylan Meconis, Dale Messick, Eric Millikin, Tarpe Mills, Andrei Molotiu, Brian Moore, Danica Novgorodoff, Rose O'Neill, Turtel Onli, Jackie Ormes, Ken Patterson, Mikhaela Reid, Trina Robbins, Stan Sakai, Richard Santiago, Melody Shickley, C. Spike Trotman, Ann Telnaes, Hilda Terry, Dann Tincher, Lance Tooks, Tak Toyoshima, Drew Weing, Brian Wood, Masheka Wood, Ashley Woods, Larry Yang, and Lev Yilmaz.
Chicago Artists Month ROCKS!!!!!
BLACK AGE FOREVER!!!!
(Thanks, Turtel!)