In 1985 artist Tony Shafrazi designed a poster to promote his exhibition of works that were created jointly by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The poster featured the two artists sporting boxing gloves as if they were ready to fight each other.
Although it was humorous, the poster pointed at the complex relationships between Warhol and Basquiat They were rivals but also collaborators and close friends. In the years since, this rivalry persists in the marketplace In 2017, a Basquiat skull painting sold for $110.5 million to Sotheby’s which was more than the value of the Warhol automobile crash artwork by $105.4 million in 2013.
In terms of market value at the very most, the latest auction will likely be sold to Warhol. In a Monday night auction held by charity Christie’s Warhol’s 1964 silk-screen portrait of Marilyn Monroe, “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn,” is believed to fetch $200 million. That will be the most expensive price ever attained by any American artwork at an auction. (It could even surpass the record set by auctions around the world for a 20th-century piece in art, the $179.4 million which was paid in 2015 to purchase Picasso’s painting from 1955 “Les Femmes d’Alger” (Version “O”). ‘).”
To kick off the auction season of spring with the spring auction season in New York, Christie’s Monday evening auction is widely seen as a gauge in the weeks to come of auctions in the coming weeks, as well as an indicator of the general condition of the international art market that’s still in the wake of Covid-19’s pandemic.
“There’s been a huge amount held back for two years, and there’s a huge amount of pent-up demand from new clients,” said Philip Hoffman, the founder of The Fine Art Group, an advisory firm based in New York and announcing that the coming auctions could bring in as much than $2 billion. “Everyone was waiting for the right moment, and the right moment has come.”
Christie’s auction is likely to determine whether top-quality trophy collections continue to fetch high prices, regardless of the unstable world such as the result of a conflict overseas or a pandemic terrorist attack.
But the market for buyers who are able to pay greater than 100 million dollars on artwork is still tiny. There is a glut of blue chip art set to come to market in the coming weeks, it’s uncertain if there’s an adequate number of wealthy collectors to take in the amount of expensive art.
The Enduring Legacy of Andy Warhol
The fame of the artist hasn’t diminished much throughout the years since his death in 1987.
“These moments are few and getting fewer,” said Alex Rotter, the chairman of Christie’s department that specializes in the sales of art from the 21st and 20th centuries. For Rotter, the 40-inch-by-40-inch painting represents “the essence of everything” Warhol. “He defines his position in art history and popular culture,” Rotter said.
The painting is in the collection of Swiss dealer Thomas as well as Doris Ammann, and the profits from the sale of 36 paintings will be donated towards their foundation which provides children’s programs for children. In a unique arrangement, the buyer has the option of choosing the charity to whom 20 percent of “Marilyn” proceeds are allocated, Christie’s announced Sunday.
The Ammann siblings, 1977, founded 1977 a Zurich gallery that was primarily focused on Impressionist, Modern, Postwar and contemporary artists. After the death of Thomas in the year 1993 Doris kept the gallery running. She passed away last year.
Christie’s auction is distinctive in the sense that no one of the Ammann works comes with an assurance — the minimum amount that a third party or auction house has agreed to purchase the artwork. This is because the Ammann estate, as per Rotter sought to maximize the proceeds from the auction.
The vivid Marilyn painting that Rotter described as “the most significant 20th-century painting to come to auction in a generation” was an inspiration for a promotional photograph of the actress’s film “Niagara,” part of a Warhol sequence consisting of “Shot Marilyn” portraits. The year was 1964. A lady went into Warhol’s Factory studio using a pistol and fired at a collection of 4 Marilyn paintings. Christie’s canvas was not damaged through the gun, Rotter said. There are five of them (one did not survive the attack). Other models from the trophy range are in the possession of the American collection of Steven A. Cohen, Kenneth Griffin, and Peter Brant.
The work is striking with its vibrant blue eyeshadow along with red lips and yellow hair The piece was presented at a variety of institutions, such as the Guggenheim in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and Tate Modern in London.
“Warhol’s choice of the studio headshot, the close cropping of Marilyn’s face and the contrast of color all draw the eye to Marilyn’s lips, which hinge between a smile and an expression of clenched teeth,” said Jessica Beck, the curator of art at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. “It’s that tension that gives this painting its magic.”
Christie’s took advantage of the Warhol prize by staging a dramatic performance prior to the auction during the preview of the auction house, the red carpet was escorted by an illuminated sign that read, “Warhol’s Marilyn,” before guests went into the room, which was dark and featured the single painting, which was illuminated with a large white frame.
As the auction week unfurls, Christie’s on May 12 will offer a 1909 Picasso bronze cast, ” Title =””>Head of the Woman (Fernande),” which was recently deaccessioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to finance new acquisitions. The estimated value is $30 million.
The next week is May 16th. Sotheby’s will auction off the remaining pieces of the collection by Macklowe which is the result of the bitter split of property developer Harry Macklowe and his former wife Linda The first collection of which sold for $676.1 million last autumn. On May 19, during the evening auction of contemporary art Sotheby’s auction house will feature the 1969 Cy Twombly blackboard artifact as well as Francis Bacon’s “Study of Red Pope 1962, 2nd Version 1971,” both valued at between $40 and $60 million.
It is also unclear how artists work by Black artists, which are currently highly sought-after will perform this season. In Sotheby’s, Kerry James Marshall’s “Beauty Examined” is estimated at between $8 and $12 million. Julie Mehretu’s “Emergent Algorithm (Manara Circle, Palestine)” sells for between $3 and $4 million as well Lynette Yiadom Boakye’s “11 pm Sunday” for $1.2 million to $1.8 million.
at Christie’s, Toyin Ojih Odutola’s “Within this dark channel (all you could see was what she could give you)” is valued at $400,000 to $600,000. Amoako Boafo’s “Yellow Dress” at $250,000 to $350,000; and Reggie Hodges’s “Intersection of Color: Experience,” are priced between $200,000 and $300,000.
The relationship between Basquiat and Warhol is being highlighted the Basquiat sisters are hosting an immersive exhibit about their father’s art that highlights Warhol and Basquiat, as well as Ryan Murphy’s docuseries “The Andy Warhol Diaries,” which is currently streaming on Netflix and explores the history of the artists of working together.
The series discusses the way that, following having read The New York Times review of the Shafrazi show -“Warhol, TKO [technical knockout] in 16 rounds “Warhol, TKO [technical knockout] in 16 rounds” — Basquiat was sucked into a bit of depression. He was especially irritated by the notion that he was “an art world mascot.”
On May 18th, a bright orange 1982 Basquiat untitled will be auctioned off on the block of Phillips and is estimated at $70 million. the person who sold it, Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa, purchased it in 2006 when it was auctioned at Christie’s at $57.3 million. In the market, Warhol’s title is safe.
“I just love that, even in death, they’re still in this boxing match with one another,” said Beck of the Warhol Museum. “They’re still competing in the market and there is still such a frenzy of attention in their work and their work remains so contemporary.”
