‪‬Roy Lichtenstein’s 1964 ‘Sleeping Girl’ is to be sold at Sotheby’s New York May 9, at an estimated $40 million, and is on view before the auction in LA, Hong Kong, London, and New York [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Christie’s International sales rise 9% in 2011 as market-weary investors turn to classic contemporary art, with biggest sellers Lichtenstein, Warhol, Rothko [AO Newslink]

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With an 11% investment return for 2011 the Mei Moses Art Index shows the art market beating the S&P 500 for the second consecutive year, and the sixth overall since 2001 [AO Newslink]

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Lichtenstein, Landscapes in the Chinese Style, installation view. All images via Gagosian Gallery.

Most recognized for his 1960s output of super-sized pulpy comic book prints and cartoon imagery explosions, Roy Lichtenstein‘s work continued to span an additional 30 years, in which he explored a number of styles and motifs that he is not commonly associated with. The current show at the Gagosian in Hong Kong seeks to exhibit some of Lichtenstein’s lesser-known works and, in particular, a number of pieces that re-interpret the style of Chinese landscape paintings.

Roy Lichtenstein, Landscape With Scholar’s Rock (1996)

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Auction brewings: A 1961 Roy Lichtenstein could go for $35 million at November 8th auction at Christie’s; a Picasso is estimated to sell for $25 million at Sotheby’s [AO Newslinks]

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Andy Warhol, Liz #5, 1963 (est. unpublished, realized $26.9 million). All images via Phillipsdepury.com.

The week’s Contemporary art sales ended Thursday night with a fifty lot auction at Phillips de Pury & Co. The sale just missed its low presale estimate of $84.5 million before fees were added. Thirty-eight lots sold for a total of $82.7 million, or $94.8 million with fees. For the third time this week a Warhol canvas was the top lot. Liz #5, rumored to be sold by hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen, sold for $26.9 million against an unpublished presale estimate of $20-30 million. Unlike Warhol’s photo-booth self portrait on offer Wednesday night at Christie’s, Liz #5‘s trip to the auction block was brief. Bidding opened at $18 million and rose to $24 million before contenders called it quits.

Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, Third Eye, 1985 (est. $2-3 million, realized $7 million)

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Roy Lichtenstein, I Know How You Must Feel, Brad!, 1963. Via Albertina

Roy Lichtenstein’s work has long been considered key in defining American pop art, and the three recent exhibitions in New York speak to how much of an audience he can draw in.  The exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum highlights Lichtenstein’s pop art beginnings: 55 large-scale, black-and-white drawings done in the 1960s.  Together on display for the first time, these drawings give some insight on how Lichtenstein developed his style of using Benday dots to simulate commercial reproduction, and his subject matter of appropriated comic strips and advertisements. Organized by curator Isabelle Dervaux, the exhibition will move to The Albertina in Vienna, Austria from January 27 to May 15, 2011.

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Anselm Kiefer, Winter Ade Scheiden Tut Weh Aberdein Scheiden Macht, Dass Mein Herz Lacht (Goodbye, Winter, Parting Hurts But Your Departure Makes My Heart Cheer), 2010
Listed at $100,000

Last night at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery on Chrystie street in the Lower East Side of New York, West-Village-based Foundation for Contemporary Arts held a benefit auction selling nearly 200 paintings and sculptures.  All proceeds went to programs of the FCA, “hoping to assist and encourage innovation, experimentation and potential in the arts,” this year providing 14 grants to artists, of $25k each.

A view from the balcony

The benefit was extremely well attended, with some of the artists joining as well. The large number of works represented a variety of globally well-known artists, including Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha, Brice Marden, Francesco Clemente, Bruce High Quality Foundation, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Julie Mehretu, James Rosenquist, Roy Lichtenstein, David Salle, Frank Stella, Elizabeth Neel, Julian Opie, Cecily Brown, Vija Celmins, Robert Gober, Nate Lowman, Dan Colen, Dana Schutz, Kara Walker, and T.J. Wilcox, to name a few.

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Roy Lichtenstein, Ohhh…Alright…, 1964 (est. not published, realized $42.6 million), via Christies.com

This week’s Contemporary Art sales in New York ended with a bang at Christie’s Contemporary Evening Sale on Wednesday night. Seventy-five lots offered brought in $272 million with a sell through rate of 93% by lot and 92% by value. As was the case earlier this week at the Phillips and Sotheby’s sales, Pop Art sold exceptionally well. Roy Lichtenstein‘s Ohhh…Alright… was the evening’s top lot and set the record for the artist when it sold to an anonymous bidder for $42.6 million – smashing the previous record of $16.3 million set at Christie’s in 2005.

AO Onsite photo by J. Mizrachi

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Andy Warhol, Coca-Cola [4] [Large Coca-Cola], 1962 (est. $20-25 million, realized $34.5 million), via Sothebys.com

Auction goers at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale on Tuesday night were offered glass bottles of Coca-Cola before entering the saleroom in honor of the auction’s featured lot – Andy Warhol‘s Coca-Cola [4] [Large Coca-Cola]. The painting sold for $35.4 million against a high presale estimate of $25 million and was, like the Warhol for sale at Phillips Monday night, the evening’s top lot. The Sotheby’s auction was comprised of 54 lots (not including a work by Felix Gonzales-Torres, which was withdrawn) that brought in $222.5 million against presale estimates of $151.8-214.5 million. The sale had a sell through rate of 90.7% by lot and 97.1% by value with 5 of 54 lots unsold.

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Felix Gonzales-Torres, Untitled (Portrait of Marcel Brient), 1992 (est. $4-6 million, realized $4.5 million), via Phillipsdepury.com

Phillips de Pury conducted its first auctions at 450 Park Avenue on Monday night to a packed house, kicking off a week of Contemporary Art sales in New York. The Carte Blanche auction, curated by Philippe Ségalot, was immediately followed by the Contemporary Art Evening Sale. The Carte Blanche auction carried a presale estimate of $77.5-104.8 million and realized $117 million, while the Contemporary Evening Sale brought in $20 million against a high presale estimate of $34.4 million.

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Andy Warhol, Men in Her Life, 1962 (est. $40 million), via Phillipsdepury.com

The second week of major New York auctions begins with two evening sales at Phillips de Pury on Monday, November 8th, followed by the Sotheby’s sale on Tuesday and the Christie’s sale on Wednesday. Phillips will hold two back to back sales on Monday evening that will inaugurate the house’s new headquarters at 450 Park Avenue in New York City. The evening sale is preceded by the first of a new series of auctions titled Carte Blanche, wherein a guest artist, collector, or curator organizes the auction. This week’s Carte Blanche auction is the bigger of the two sales and is curated by Philippe Ségalot. It is comprised of 33 works expected to fetch at least $80 million. The Sotheby’s sale is composed of 55 lots expected to bring upwards of $132 million, while the 76 lots at Christie’s are expected to fetch upwards of $240 million.

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Roy Lichtenstein, Reflections: Sunday Morning, 1989. Image © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

The Pop-art of Roy Lichtenstein has garnered a great deal of attention this fall, with three monographic shows currently taking place in New York City. Reflections represents one third of this trio, presented at Mitchell-Innes & Nash gallery. As the title suggests, the twelve paintings featured are connected through themes of mirrors, reflection, and doubling. Also included are a number of preparatory drawings, which provide important insight into the development of these stylized, vivid depictions of fragmented figures and forms.

Roy Lichtenstein, Reflections: Nurse, 1988. Image © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

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Roy Lichtenstein, Ivan Karp, 1961. Image copyright Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

As Roberta Smith recently described in the New York Times, “Autumn in New York is the perfect time for an accidental festival of the work of Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.” Leo Castelli Gallery‘s contribution to this apparently serendipitous trilogy of current exhibitions is “Mostly Men;” an exploration of the artist’s representations of both males and maleness. Paintings, drawings, and sculpture spanning Lichtenstein’s entire working career are brought together in a show which both underscores and confronts the iconic status of women and girls in his body of work.

Roy Lichtenstein, Alan Kaprow, 1961. Image copyright Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

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Image still from Christies.com video In the Salesroom: Andy Warhol’s Silver Liz, via Christies.com

The results of Christie‘s Post-War and Contemporary Art auction in London last night are a relief after this week’s lackluster Sotheby‘s auction and the let-down at Phillips de Pury & Co. on Thursday. The sale earned £45,640,200 against the pre-sale estimate of £40.9-58.1 million for 63 lots, selling 84% by lot and 85% by value (totals realized include buyer’s premium, estimates do not). The combination of higher-quality works, lower starting prices, and a greater variety of material presented is thought to have contributed to the success of the sale, even amidst a drop in the stock market.

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Cover of the catalog for last night’s Contemporary Art auction at Phillips de Pury & Co showing Thomas Schutte’s Doppelkopf (1994), via Phillipsdepury.com

Last night’s Contemporary Art auction at Phillips de Pury & Co reinforced uncertainties regarding the present state of the Contemporary Art market, as the sale earned just £3,963,450 against the pre-sale estimate of £6,075,000-8,575,000 (totals realized include buyer’s premium, estimates do not). Of 45 lots offered only 24 found buyers, leaving 47% of the lots unsold. For comparison, last year’s Contemporary Art Auction at Phillips earned £5.1 million.

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Roy Lichtenstein, Still Life with Palette, 1972, oil and magna on canvas, 60 x 96 inches. All images courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

Recently opened at Gagosian Gallery‘s location on 555 West 24th Street is Roy Lichtenstein: Still Lifes. This exhibition is the first devoted solely to the artist’s still lifes spanning from 1972 to the early 1980s. The show, which brings together 50 works from prominent private collections and museums worldwide, includes still lifes in three media: paintings, sculptures and drawings.

Installation view, Roy Lichtenstein: Still Lifes

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Installation View  All photographs are via Gagosian Gallery unless otherwise noted

Currently on view at Gagosian Gallery, 6-24 Britannia street, London is the exhibition titled “Crash, Homage to J.G. Ballard” , a group show dedicated, as the name suggests, to the oeuvre of J.D. Ballard, a prominent British novelist and short-story writer, a representative of the New Wave movement in science fiction.  The exhibition was put together to pay tribute to the enormous cultural influence of J.D. Ballard’s fiction on many visual artists. The impressive selection of works by  such prominent artists as Ed Ruscha, Richard Hamilton, AndyWarhol and Helmut Newton illustrates profound engagement of the writer with the works of visual artists of his generation and their mutual influence.

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Tall Figure II and Tall Figure III both 1960 Alberto Giacometti. All images via MoCA

To celebrate their 30th Anniversary, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MoCA) are exhibiting ‘Collection: MoCA’s First Thirty Years‘ – an exhibition comprising of more than 500 artworks by more than 200 artists, it is the largest ever installation of works from MoCA’s permanent collection. This comprehensive survey of the past 70 years of contemporary art history fills both of MoCA’s downtown L.A. locations – MoCA Grand Avenue and The Greffen Contemporary.

Big Wheel, Chris Burden (1979) via MoCA

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Jeff Koons’s giant rabbit at the Covent Garden in London via Hypebeast

A giant helium-filled Jeff Koons balloon made its UK debut on October 8th, the inflatable rabbit floated above central London, it will be displayed in Covent garden [The Independent]
Coinciding with the Frieze fair, the 10th Turbine Hall commission launches, Baldessari’s retrospective opening the same day, Hayward Gallery presents Ed Ruscha, Turner Prize coming up and many other shows and openings, turn London into the center of attention [Guardian UK]
Frieze art fair excites not merely the International art scene, but also the social diaries of those who like to mingle with the rich and famous [Guardian UK] the contemporary art event even has installations to turn its visitors into the subjects of the artwork. [The Independent] Only displaying works by contemporary living artists, Frieze has been considered 1-dimensional in the past. Frieze helps London take over the art world in October [The Independent]- but not without competition, as FIAC, the Parisian fair, is to begin next week and may steal the battle as art collectors in today’s economic climate are forced to pick which fairs they will be attending [The Wall Street Journal]

Unrecognized work by Leonardo Da Vinci via Antiques Trade Gazette

A drawing sold at auction for $19,000 in the late 1990s is now attracting attention for its authorship, if by Leonardo Da Vinci, a theory that recent research strongly suggests, the work could be worth as much as $147 million [Bloomberg]
The Wapping Project in London, often compared to Tate Modern, is expanding with the opening of the Wapping Project Bankside- a new gallery reminiscent of a New York loft to feature film, video and photography almost “a stone’s throw” from Tate [The Moment]
The Whitney Museum of American Art’s plans for a second Renzo Piana location have advanced [The New York Times]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week … (more…)

Philip Taaffe, “Unit of Direction No. 2” (2008). Via Gagosian Gallery.

Until August 21st Gagosian Gallery is displaying a small group exhibition of exuberant abstract paintings which celebrate circles, dots and spots at their West 24th Street location. The collection of nine paintings covers work from their most prestigous artists;  included are works by Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, Mike Kelley and Roy Lichenstein.

Related Links:
Ecstatic Abstraction: Press Release [Gagosian Gallery]
Ecstatic Abstraction at Gagosian Gallery [Artnews.org]
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Jeff Koons, “Pam” (2001) via Gagosian Gallery

An assortment of works, all centered on depictions of the human figure, is currently on display at Gagosian’s Madison Avenue gallery until July 31, 2009.  Gagosian has selected pieces from an all-male cast of seminal artists, each tackling the issue of bodily representation in a variety of media.  This relatively small exhibit constitutes an appealing means of considering how male artists have approached the portrayal of both men and women over the course of the twentieth century.

Related links:
Exhibition Page [Gagosian Gallery]
Artists’ Info [Gagosian Gallery]

Gerhard Richter, “Deck Chair II” (1965) via Gagosian Gallery

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Willem de Kooning’s ‘Woman’ via Christie’s sold for $3.7 million, more than doubling its high estimate of $1.8 million.

Again, Christie’s bested Sotheby’s in this week’s Post-War and Contemporary Art auctions after Sotheby’s failed to meet its low estimate, covered here by AO.  Last night’s sale in New York resulted in a total of $93.7 million, falling within the higher end of the pre-sale estimates of $71-104 million. Only 5 of the 54 lots went unsold, with 30 selling for more than $1 million.  After a night of lively bidding, Christie’s co-head of post-war and contemporary art, Amy Cappellazzo joked that, “It felt like a year ago.” Last year’s sale brought in $348.2 million, with a number of works selling in the double digits. This year, estimates were far more conservative for the chastened market, with the highest-selling lot, David Hockney’s ‘Beverly Hills Housewife,’ going for $7.9 million, setting a new record for the artist. The portrait of the late Betty Freeman was one of 20 in the sale coming out of the Betty Freeman Collection, another factor contributing to last night’s success.

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David Hockney’s ‘Beverly Hills Housewife’ via Christie’s sold for $7.9 million, falling within estimates of $6-10 million and setting a new record at auction for the artist.

New World Auction Records set for Hockney, Oldenburg, Wheeler, and Smith at Christie’s [Artdaily]
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At an Upbeat Christie’s Auction, Some Record Prices [NY Times]
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NY auctions end with solid contemporary art result [Reuters]
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Christie’s Auction Beats Estimate, Boosts Confidence [Bloomberg]
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Betty Freeman Portrait Fetches $7.9 Million in N.Y. Auction [Bloomberg]
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Christie’s Contemporary “Gets It Right” [Artinfo]
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Christie’s Auction Rekindles Art Optimism [WSJ]

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Leo Castelli Gallery presents “Electricity,” a group show featuring Pop artists from the early 1960s.  Works incorporating neon and light bulbs by such visionaries as Jim Dine, Dan Flavin, Joseph Kosuth, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Keith Sonnier, and Robert Watts contest the idea that neon only came of age thanks to Minimalist and and Conceptual art groups in the late 60s.

Leo Castelli Gallery
Electricity Group Show
18 East 77th Street
March 6 – April 25, 2009

RELATED LINKS
Exhibition Page and Press Release [Leo Castelli]
Leo Castelli: Electricity [ArtInfo]
Where Neon Art Comes of Age [New York Times]
Leo Castelli, Influential Art Dealer, Dies at 91 [New York Times] (more…)