London Autumn Auctions | Highlighted Modern And Contemporary Artworks
The October auctions in New York and Hong Kong have achieved great results and now temporarily come to an end, while the London autumn auctions are about to take the relay. A number of auction houses gathered in late October with many masterpieces, including extraordinary works by internationally renowned artists such as David Hockney, Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Banksy, etc. . Next, please follow ArtPro to focus on the high-profile masterpieces that will be showed in London.
Untitled (Pestus) of Jean-Michel Basquiat
This prodigious painter once declared that the three themes overarching his artistic intention were “royalty, heroism, and the streets”. Created in Jean-Michel Basquiat’s milestone year of 1982, Untitled (Pestus) brilliantly encapsulates this threefold vision. This work explores the distance between Basquiat and street culture, and at the same time reveals the natural meaning of royalty and heroism, because other symbols such as arrows and waves imply a certain social movement from bottom-up. Like all his works, this one encompasses the views of his life.
Untitled (Grace Jones Mask) of Keith Haring
As part of a series of rare, large scaled masks that Keith Haring executed in 1987, Untitled (Grace Jones Mask) is over one meter high, and evinces a vibrant mint green interspersed with looping lines of silver. At the tip of the mask’s triangular composition, a small round red excrescence protrudes into the viewer’s space, delineating the anthropomorphic figure’s discreet mouth that makes it stands out from the rest of Haring’s creative output.
Untitled of Cecily Brown
Untitled immerses the audience in a fascinating dance-liked imagery, which fully embodies Cecily Brown's rich abstraction and implication of visualization. The work was completed between 2015 and 2016, exuding the unrestrained visual pleasure that is unique in Brown's works.
Minor Success of Jean-Michel Basquiat
Minor Success has three of the most iconic themes of the artist: cars, mask-like heads and golden crowns. These iconic patterns are embodied throughout Jean-Michel Basquiat's works and form the core of his visual language. It was created in the final stage of Basquiat's early paintings. It is a recognition of the repetitive themes throughout his career and shows his intricate relationship with New York street culture.
Freeway Express of Albert Oehlen
Freeway Express was created in 1997 which Albert Oehlen successfully attracted the attention of the audience. The visual effects of this work are exceptional and also confusing, that made an experimental creative method of collage. Albert Oehlen’s works represent a series of contradictions: concrete vs. abstract, form vs. anti-form, pattern rhythm vs. rambling brushstrokes, and the juxtaposition of turbid colors and primitive color from original paints.
Portrait Of Sir David Webster of David Hockney
This work was created in 1971, at the time of David Hockney's most glorious period. It is an exquisite tribute to Sir David Webster, the former director of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. This painting was made when he retired after he served for 25 years. This large-scale work combines David Hockney's talent for observing people and his passion for opera in whole life. It showed his meticulous exploration of space, perspective, light and composition drama.
Study From The Human Body of Francis Bacon
This is one of the only four oil paintings created by Francis Bacon in 1991, four months before his death. Study From The Human Body is a rare piece that represents the top of his aesthetic value. Against the background of the red plane and bare canvas, the artist creates with almost sculptural intensity, showing the extraordinary clarity of his late works. It abstractly juxtaposes muscular images, erotic fantasy and form, which represents the final ode to the visceral impulse of the human body, refined and illuminated in the void.
Ohne Titel (Untitled) of Albert Oehlen
Ohne Titel (Untitled) was created in the most glorious period of Albert Oehlen, an outstanding large-scale work. It is nearly two and a half meters in height and shows the artist's subversion new technics. In this work, strange biological forms slide between the liquid veils, drip, splash and drag on the canvas. This work laid the foundation for Albert Oehlen’s evolution in the following decades.
Pitcher Triptych of Roy Lichtenstein
This work embodies Roy Lichtenstein's bold perception during his career as a Pop artist. In the picture of the left, the pitcher appears on the yellow floor in clear black and white. In the second work, this still life was broken as in cubist style. And in the last panel, it was abstracted: outlines, volume, shadow and light are all reduced to simple, plain colors, and the negative space of the pitcher handle is a perfect circle. The work imitates the concept of modernist art progress, from concrete to pure abstraction.
Oh My God of Banksy
Oh My God is the first work of Banksy in his most important exhibition "Barely Legal" at Los Angeles in 2006. This work is painted on a piece of collected metal, reflecting the rough urban environment where Banksy lived in. This painting is a foundation to him as a street artist and anti-establishment rebel, it shows his most value and charm.
Acrobats of Barry Flanagan
Acrobats is nearly 10 feet tall and is undoubtedly one of the most important works of this Welsh artist who has already passed away. The theme of this work is two anthropomorphic rabbits balanced together. It first appeared in a smaller form in 1981. The image of the rabbits has dominated Barry Flanagan's creation since it first appeared in 1979. These rabbits are collected by institutions all over the world and adored by the public. He participated in the 1982 Venice Biennale to represent United Kingdom.