LONDON.- The Royal Academy of Arts is presenting Picasso and Paper, the most comprehensive exhibition devoted to Picasso’s imaginative and original uses of paper ever to be held. Bringing together over 300 works and encompassing Picasso’s entire prolific 80-year career, this ground-breaking exhibition focuses on the myriad ways in which the artist worked both on and with paper, and offers new insights into his creative spirit and working methods.

One of the most important artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) worked across a range of mediums including painting, sculpture, ceramics and graphic arts. He also invented a universe of art involving paper. His prolonged engagement with the medium grew from the artist’s deep appreciation of the physical world and his desire to manipulate diverse materials. He drew incessantly, using many different media, including watercolour, pastel and gouache, on a broad range of papers. He assembled collages of cut-and-pasted papers; created sculptures from pieces of torn and burnt paper; produced both documentary photographs and manipulated photographs on paper; and spent decades investigating an array of printmaking techniques on paper supports. 

The exhibition has been organised within a broad chronological framework exploring all stages of Picasso’s career working with paper. Highlights include Women at Their Toilette, winter 1937-38 (Musée national Picasso-Paris) an extraordinary collage of cut and pasted papers measuring 4.5 metres in length, which is being exhibited in the UK for the first time in over 50 years; outstanding Cubist papiers-collés such as Violin, 1912 (Musée national Picasso-Paris); and studies for Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907 including Bust of Woman or Sailor (Study for 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon'), 1907 (Musée national Picasso-Paris).

Pablo Picasso, Femmes à leur toilette, Paris, winter 1937–38. Collage of cut-out wallpapers with gouache on paper pasted on canvas. 299 x 448 cm. Musée national Picasso-Paris. Pablo Picasso Gift in Lieu, 1979. MP176. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Adrien Didierjean © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019.

Pablo Picasso, Violin, Paris, autumn 1912. Laid paper, wallpaper, newspaper, wove wrapping paper and glazed black wove paper, cut and pasted onto cardboard, pencil, charcoal. 65 x 50 cm. Musée national Picasso-Paris. Pablo Picasso gift in lieu, 1979. MP367. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau. © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019.

Pablo Picasso, Bust of Woman or Sailor (Study for 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon'), Paris, spring 1907. Oil on cardboard. 53.5 x 36.2 cm. Musée national Picasso-Paris. Pablo Picasso gift in lieu, 1979. MP15. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Adrien Didierjean. © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019.

Picasso’s drawings, including Self-portrait, 1918 (Musée national Picasso-Paris) and Seated Woman (Dora), 1938 (Fondation Beyeler), are being presented throughout the show. These feature alongside key examples of the variety of printing techniques that he explored – etching, drypoint, engraving, aquatint, lithograph and linocut – such as 'Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe' after Manet I, 26 January – 13 March 1962 (Musée national Picasso-Paris). 

Pablo Picasso, Self-portrait, 1918. Pencil and charcoal on wove paper. 64.2 x 49.4 cm. Musée national Picasso-Paris. Pablo Picasso gift in lieu, 1979. MP794. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau. © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019.

 Pablo Picasso, Seated Woman (Dora), 1938. Ink, gouache and coloured chalk on paper. 76.5 x 56 cm. Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Beyeler Collection. Photo: Peter Schibli. © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019.

Pablo Picasso, 'Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe' after Manet I, Mougins, 26 January – 13 March, 1962. Linocut on Arches wove paper, printed by Arnéra in six passes, in dark purple, then yellow, then red, then green, then light blue, then black, fifth state, 62 x 75.2 cm. Musée national Picasso-Paris. Pablo Picasso gift in lieu, 1979. MP3488. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Marine Beck-Coppola © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019

Throughout the exhibition, a sequence of unfolding themes will contextualise the paper works, which are being displayed alongside a select number of closely related paintings and sculptures. For example, Picasso’s great masterpiece of the Blue Period, La Vie, 1903 (Cleveland Museum of Art), is being displayed with preparatory drawings and other works on paper exploring corresponding themes of poverty, despair and social alienation. Picasso’s Cubist bronze Head of a Woman (Fernande), 1909 (Musée national Picasso-Paris) is being exhibited together with closely associated drawings. The monumental sculpture of the war years, Man with a Sheep, 1943 (Musée national Picasso-Paris), is being displayed together with a group of large ink and wash drawings that amplify the sculpture’s emotional resonance.

Pablo Picasso, Study for ‘Head of a Woman (Fernande), 1909. © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Daniel Arnaudet © Succession Picasso/DACS 2020

A focused section within the exhibition examines the materials and techniques used by Picasso over the course of his career. This includes an early woodcut printed by hand using a salad bowl as the block, the collaborative photograms he made with Dora Maar and later with André Villers, as well as experimental graphic works and illustrated books. A display ranging from newspaper and envelopes to antique laid papers with distinctive watermarks will demonstrate the different papers Picasso used, while the astonishing array of ephemera he kept - personal letters and cards decorated with drawings - is also being represented.

The film Le Mystère Picasso of 1955, a remarkable documentary recording Picasso drawing with felt-tip pens on blank newsprint, is being shown alongside original drawings made for the production.

The closing section focuses on Picasso’s last decade which saw the final flourishing of his work, particularly as a printmaker. Drawings and prints are being shown together with a series of copper plates, as well as Picasso’s printing press from the period. 

The majority of the loans in the exhibition have been generously lent by the Musée national Picasso Paris.

Pablo Picasso, Girl in a Hat with Her Hands Clasped, [Paris], autumn 1921 Pastel and charcoal on wove paper. © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau © Succession Picasso/DACS 2020.

Pablo Picasso, Minotaur Caressing a Sleeping Woman, from the Vollard Suite, Boisgeloup, 18 june 1933. © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau © Succession Picasso/DACS 2020.

Pablo Picasso, Head of a Woman, Mougins, 4 December 1962. Pencil on cut and folded wove paper from an album sheet. 42 x 26.5 cm. Musée national Picasso-Paris. Pablo Picasso gift in lieu, 1979. MP1850. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Béatrice Hatala. © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019.

Pablo Picasso, Dog, Málaga, c. 1890 Cut-out paper. © Museu Picasso, Barcelona. Photo, Gasull Fotografia © Succession Picasso/DACS 2020.

Pablo Picasso, Dove, Málaga, c. 1890 Cut-out paper. © Museu Picasso, Barcelona. Photo, Gasull Fotografia © Succession Picasso/DACS 20200

Lot 1326. A Ming-style blue and white 'garlic-head' moonflask, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 13¼ in. (33 cm.) high. Estimate USD 18,000 - USD 25,000. Price realised USD 43,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The flattened circular body is painted in fifteenth-century style on each convex side with a pomegranate tree, one tree laden with five ripe pomegranates, the other tree in flower, with a sprig of lingzhi at the base of each tree. The pomegranate trees are contained within narrow scroll borders repeated on the rectangular foot and waisted neck below flower sprigs on the 'garlic head'-shaped mouth. The neck is flanked by a pair of arched strap handles that terminate on the narrow sides above pendent lingzhi scrolls.

Provenance: Private American collection.

Note: The shape of the current moonflask is based on early Ming dynasty prototypes. For two fifteenth-century examples see the 'garlic-headed' moonflasks in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book II, Part 1, Hong Kong, 1963, pp. 38-41, pls. 9-10c. See, also, an eighteenth-century moonflask of the same shape, with pomegranates painted on one side and lychees on the other, sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 2007, lot 289.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19 - 20 September 2013

Lot 1328. A fine blue and white stem bowl, Qianlong six character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 4¾ in. (12 cm.) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 37,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The deep bowl, with rounded sides and flaring rim, is raised on a spreading stem, the exterior is painted in deep tones of cobalt blue with eight lanca characters beneath a band of classic lotus bloom roundels borne on scrolling stems around the rim, the band repeated around the tall spreading foot below flame lappets encircling the base of the bowl.

Note: A similar stem bowl in the Musée Guimet is illustrated by Beurdeley and Raindre, Qing Porcelain, London, 1987, p. 128, no. 171, and in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo; 1981, fig. 180. Another from the Tsui Art Foundation was included in the special exhibition, Gems of Chinese Art, Singapore, 1992, no. 97. A third was included in the exhibition, Selected Pieces from the Collections of the ROC Society of Collectors, Singapore, 1989, no. 115. See, also, the very similar stem bowl sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot 1698.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19 - 20 September 2013

Lot 1409. A copper-red-decorated blue and white 'Eight Immortals' bowl, Qianlong seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 8¾ in. (22.3 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. Price realised USD 32,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2013. 

The deep, rounded sides are decorated in underglaze blue on the exterior with a frieze of the Eight Immortals shown with their attributes reserved on a ground of underglaze-red, wind-tossed waves above a key-fret band on the foot. A similarly executed roundel of Shoulao accompanied by a deer is in the center of the interior.

Provenance: Tim and Sally Turner Collection, acquired in 1990.

Note: Compare two similarly decorated bowls of this shape and size, also with Qianlong marks, sold by Christie's: one in New York, 22-23 March 2012, lot 2010, and one in London, 15 May 2012, lot 414.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 19 - 20 September 2013

Lot 1327. A pair of rare small blue and white ewers and covers, 18th-19th century; 2 5/8 in. (6.6 cm.) high. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 25,000. Price realised USD 255,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

Each ewer is delicately potted with a globular body raised on a spreading foot with a pie-crust border, and is finely painted around the sides with a wide band of vertical foliate scrolls bordered by double lines and interrupted on one side by a long curving spout emerging from the mouth of a mythical beast, all set within further foliate scroll borders. The domed covers are decorated with stylized geometric and floral bands below the pink-enameled bud-form finial raised on a gilt support, cloth box, wood stands.

Provenance: J.M. Hu Collection.

Note: Only one other ewer of this rare form and decoration appears to have been published. A ewer of identical size, but bearing a four-character Tui si tang zhi (Hall for Retirement and Contemplation) mark, in the collection of the National Museum of China, illustrated in Zhongguo guojia bowuguan yanjiu congshu, Shanghai, 2007, no. 134, where it is dated to the Daoguang period.

Lot 1329. A blue and white 'lotus' bowl, Daoguang seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1821-1850); 6 3/8 and 6 5/8 in. (6.3 and 6.8 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 7,000 - USD 9,000. Price realised USD 8,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The deep, rounded sides rise to a slightly everted rim and are decorated on the exterior with a frieze of peony scroll above a petal-lappet band, and on the center of the interior with a peony spray roundel. Together with a bowl of similar design, Guangxu six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1875-1908).

Provenance: Acquired in New York before 1955.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19 - 20 September 2013

Lot 1385. A fine Ming-style blue and white bottle vase, Daoguang seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1821-1850); 14½ in (37 cm.) high. Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000. Price realised USD 159,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The vase is painted in fifteenth century style with a broad band of composite foliate scroll above a petal-lappet band on the globular body, and bands of pendent ruyi heads and further foliate scroll on the shoulder, all separated by plain rib borders below a band of upright leaves rising from a key-fret border towards a further ruyi band and wave border on the neck. Together with a blue and white domed cover with bud-form finial, Kangxi period, which has a black Johanneum inventory mark, N=181, on the interior.

Provenance: Imperial Oriental Art, New York, November 1998.

Note: Compare the similar Daoguang-marked vase sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1900.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19 - 20 September 2013

Lot 1388. A fine Ming-style blue and white bottle vase, Daoguang seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1821-1850); 14½ in (37 cm.) high. Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000. Price realised USD 171,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The vase is painted in fifteenth century style with a broad band of composite foliate scroll above a petal-lappet band on the globular body, and bands of pendent ruyi heads and further foliate scroll on the shoulder, all separated by plain rib borders below a band of upright leaves rising from a key-fret border towards a further ruyi band and wave border on the neck. Together with a blue and white domed cover with bud-form finial, Kangxi period, which has a black Johanneum inventory mark, N=181, on the interior.

Provenance: Imperial Oriental Art, New York, November 1998.

Note: Compare the similar Daoguang-marked vase sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1900.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19 - 20 September 2013

Lot 1330. A blue and white jardinière, Guangxu period (1875-1908); 13 in. (33 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. Price realised USD 25,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The jardinière is heavily potted and has deep rounded sides that are decorated with four dragon medallions above a bow-string border and a band of key fret encircling the foot, while the rim is decorated with wan diaper. A large hole is in the center of the slightly convex base.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19 - 20 September 2013

Lot 1331. A large blue and white bottle vase, late 19th-early 20th century; 21 3/8 in. (54.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 32,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The tapering bulbous body is decorated with a wide band of flower scroll set between the Eight Buddhist Emblems (bajixiang) above and a petal-lappet band below. Further flower scroll is on the neck between decorative borders and above a band of froth-capped waves on the shoulder, wood stand.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19 - 20 September 2013

Gerhard Richter, Fuji, 1996. Oil on Alucobond, 29 x 37 cm (11.4 x 14.5 in.). Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Dusseldorf. © 2020 TEFAF.

Provenance: Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich; Galerie 20.21, Essen; Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia.

TEFAF Maastricht, 7-15 march 2020

Lot 8. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Muhammad Ali, inscribed ‘I certify that this is an original painting by Andy Warhol completed by him in 1978 Frederick Hughes’ (on the overlap); signed by Muhammed Ali (on the reverse), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.). Estimate GBP 3,000,000 - GBP 5,000,000 (USD 3,936,000 - USD 6,560,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

LONDON.- Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction will take place on 12 February 2020, continuing ‘20th Century at Christie’s’. From the collection of Richard L. Weisman, Andy Warhol’s ‘Athletes’, comprised of ten 40-by-40-inch multicoloured portraits of athletes, is highlighted by Muhammad Ali (1977, estimate: £3,000,000-5,000,000). This follows the successful sale of works from the collection at Christie’s in New York in November 2019. The seminal series is presented alongside Flowers (1964, estimate: £1,000,000-1,500,000), which is offered as part of ‘Art for Future: Selected Works from the UniCredit Group’. A further focus on Andy Warhol includes Knives (1982, estimate: £2,500,000-3,500,000), a razor-sharp chorus of beauty and menace, and Brillo Soap Pads Box (1964, estimate: £300,000-500,000) which was originally held in the collection of Leo Castelli. Three works by Jean Dubuffet from the 1950s, 60s and 70s not only trace the artistic development throughout the artist’s career but culminate in Panorama (1978, estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000), from the final decade of the artist’s life where he employs the pictorial devices seen in his works since the 1940s. Albert Oehlen’s Mission Rohrfrei (1996, estimate: £1,800,000-2,500,000) is among the most abstract and explosive of Oehlen’s ‘Remixes’, displaying the artist in freewheeling improvisatory flow. Coinciding with a survey of contemporary painters at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, ‘Radical Figures’, a group of works by Dana Schutz, Tschabalala Self and Cecily Brown showcase new directions in expressionism as artists tackle subjects of political and social significance. Jordan Casteel’s Mom (2013, estimate: £180,000-250,000) is a poignant tribute to the artist’s mother, Lauren Young Casteel.

The Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction will take place on 13 February while First Open: Post-War and Contemporary Art Online, a dedicated online-only auction, will be open for bidding from 7 to 18 February. Selected works will be on view from 8 to 13 February with viewing by request from 14 to 18 February. The works from the Evening and Day Auctions will be on view in the King Street galleries from 8 to 12 February 2020.

Andy Warhol
In 1977, the collector Richard L. Weisman approached Andy Warhol with an idea. He believed there was a new breed of superstar ripe for the artist’s inimitable gaze: the athlete. The prospect of a new pool of celebrity subjects was hugely exciting for Warhol. Thus, the Athletes series was born. Described as ‘truly iconic’ by The New York Times, Andy Warhol’s legendary depiction of Muhammad Ali captures a meeting of giants. The group also includes Pelé (estimate: £300,000-500,000), Chris Evert (estimate: £200,000-300,000), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (estimate: £220,000-280,000), Tom Seaver (estimate: £120,000-180,000), O.J. Simpson (estimate: £200,000-300,000), Jack Nicklaus (£150,000-200,000), Rod Gilbert (£200,000-300,000), Willie Shoemaker (estimate: £250,000-350,000) and Dorothy Hamill (estimate: £200,000-300,000). Knives (1982, estimate: £2,500,000-3,500,000) is a monumental work from one of Andy Warhol’s most important late series. A trio of kitchen knives is silkscreened nine times in vibrant colour against a deep, black ground. Violet, green, lilac, orange, turquoise, yellow, blue and a vivid, bloody red light up the blades like fireworks in a night sky. Further works from the Weisman Collection saw excellent results when they were sold at Christie’s, New York in November 2019. 

Lot 27. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Pelé, signed 'Andy Warhol ©' and signed by Edson Pelé (on the reverse), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.) Executed in 1977. Estimate GBP 300,000 - GBP 500,000 (USD 391,800 - USD 653,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 28. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Chris Evert, signed 'Andy Warhol' and signed by Chris Evert (on the overlap), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.)  Executed in 1977. Estimate GBP 200,000 - GBP 300,000 (USD 261,200 - USD 391,800). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 29. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, signed 'Andy Warhol ©' and signed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (on the overlap), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.)  Executed in 1977. Estimate GBP 200,000 - GBP 300,000 (USD 261,200 - USD 391,800). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 52. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Tom Seaver, signed 'Andy Warhol ©', signed by Tom Seaver, stamped with the Andy Warhol Authentication Board, Inc. stamp and numbered 'A193.101' (on the overlap), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.)  Executed in 1977. Estimate GBP 120,000 - GBP 180,000 (USD 156,720 - USD 235,080). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 53. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), O.J. Simpson, signed 'Andy Warhol ©' and signed by O.J. Simpson (on the reverse), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.)  Executed in 1977. Estimate GBP 200,000 - GBP 300,000 (USD 261,200 - USD 391,800). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 54. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Jack Nicklaus, inscribed ‘I certify that this is an original painting by Andy Warhol completed by him in 1978 Frederick Hughes’ (on the overlap); signed by Jack Nicklaus (on the overlap), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.)  Executed in 1977. Estimate GBP 200,000 - GBP 300,000 (USD 261,200 - USD 391,800). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 55. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Rod Gilbert, signed 'Andy Warhol ©' and signed by Rod Gilbert (on the overlap); signed by Jack Nicklaus (on the overlap), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.)  Executed in 1977. Estimate GBP 200,000 - GBP 300,000 (USD 261,200 - USD 391,800). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 56. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Willie Shoemaker, signed twice 'Andy Warhol © Andy Warhol', signed by Willie Shoemaker and inscribed ‘I certify that this is an original painting by Andy Warhol completed by him in 1978 Frederick Hughes’ (on the overlap), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.)  Executed in 1977. Estimate GBP 250,000 - GBP 350,000 (USD 326,500 - USD 457,100). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 57. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Dorothy Hamill, signed 'Andy Warhol' and signed by Dorothy Hamill (on the reverse); signed ‘Andy Warhol’ (on the overlap), acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, 40 x 40in. (101.6 x 101.6cm.)  Executed in 1977. Estimate GBP 200,000 - GBP 300,000 (USD 261,200 - USD 391,800). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Christie’s has been appointed by UniCredit to manage the selected sale of artworks from Austria, Germany and Italy. The proceeds will be primarily used to support the further roll-out of the group’s Social Impact Banking (SIB) initiatives. The remaining balance will be dedicated to other relevant projects, including the support of young artists. Beginning with the Post-War and Contemporary Art auctions in October 2019, a number of artworks have already been presented at various Christie’s international salerooms. Highlights have included an outstanding group of works by Gerhard Richter – led by a major Abstraktes Bild from 1984 – as well as pieces by artists such as Yves Klein, Enrico Castellani and Ernst Wilhelm Nay. Works from the bank will continue to be offered across a range of marquee week sales in 2020, and we are delighted to present Andy Warhol’s Flowers (1964, estimate: £1,000,000-1,500,000) as part of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction this February. Held for over two decades in Leo Castelli’s personal collection before it was acquired by the present owner in 1987, Brillo Soap Pads Box (1964, estimate: £300,000-500,000) marks the moment that Andy Warhol joined forces with the supreme gallerist of the Pop era. 

 Lot 9. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Flowers, signed and dated ‘Andy Warhol 64’ (on the overlap), acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 24 x 24in. (61 x 61cm.) Executed in 1964. Estimate GBP 1,000,000 - GBP 1,500,000 (USD 1,306,000 - USD 1,959,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 23. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Brillo Soap Pads Box, silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, 16 ¼ x 17 x 14in. (41.3 x 43.2 x 35.7cm.) Executed in 1964. Estimate GBP 300,000 - GBP 500,000 (USD 391,800 - USD 653,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Jean Dubuffet
A joyous cacophony of figures, shapes and spaces, Panorama (1978, estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000) is a striking example of Jean Dubuffet’s ‘Théâtres de mémoire’ (‘Theatres of memory’), the reflective series created in the final decade of the artist’s life. Each component, rendered in striking monochrome, conjures the visual language of earlier series in Dubuffet’s career: there are the playful human figures that had populated his work since the 1940s, echoes of the swirling, cellular ‘Hourloupe’ language he conceived in 1962, and snatches of the scribbled ‘Parachiffres’ of 1974. Painted on 4 September 1961, La robe à boutons (estimate: £1,200,000-1,800,000) is the first and largest in a sequence of five distinct character portraits that punctuate Dubuffet’s legendary ‘Paris Circus’ series. With its raw painterly terrain spiked with jewelled flashes of red and green, Alentour la maison (estimate: £1,100,000-1,600,000) is a mesmeric composition from the ‘Lieux cursifs’ series that occupied his output between April and September 1957. Incised into the work’s marbled earthen surface with a knife, a narrative sequence unfolds, like ancient graffiti carved into a rockface. 

Lot 6. Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985), Panorama, signed with initials and dated 'J.D. 78' (lower left), acrylic and collage on paper mounted on canvas, 82 ¾ x 111 5/8in. (210.2 x 283.4cm.) Executed on 20 January 1978. Estimate GBP 2,000,000 - GBP 3,000,000 (USD 2,612,000 - USD 3,918,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 12. Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985), La robe à boutons (Button Dress), signed and dated 'J. Dubuffet 61' (lower left); signed, dated and titled 'La robe à boutons J. Dubuffet sept. 61' (on the reverse), oil on board, 25 ½ x 21 1/8in. (64.7 x 53.7cm.) Executed on 4 September 1961. Estimate GBP 1,200,000 - GBP 1,800,000 (USD 1,567,200 - USD 2,350,800). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 5. Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985), Alentour la maison (Around the House), signed and dated ‘J. Dubuffet 57’ (upper right); signed, titled and dated ‘Alentour la maison J. Dubuffet juin 57’ (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 35 1/8 x 45 5/8in. (89 x 116cm.) Painted on 3 June 1957. Estimate GBP 1,200,000 - GBP 1,800,000 (USD 1,567,200 - USD 2,350,800). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Painting in the 21st century
Included in Tschabalala Self’s acclaimed exhibition at the Frye Art Museum in 2019, Spare Moment (2015, estimate: £80,000-120,000) presents two resplendent characters who are set against a background of abstract eye-like forms, motifs that recur throughout her work. Self draws upon her experience of growing up in Harlem to confront issues surrounding race, sexuality and gender. By deliberately exaggerating her subjects’ physical features, she highlights the stereotypes and expectations surrounding the black female body. A profusion of vibrant colour and fractured form, Kissing in the Dump (2004, estimate: £350,000-550,000) exemplifies Dana Schutz’s glorious brand of painterly breakdown. A couple embrace in a kaleidoscopic junkyard. The riot of garbage includes a chair, a frying pan and a discarded wreath; wires and mains plugs. Like many of her works, the present work depicts a subject that is unlikely to have been tackled in paint, conjuring an escapist, humorous vision of romance among the wreckage. Jordan Casteel’s Mom (2013, estimate: £180,000-250,000) captures the artist’s mother in a moment of peaceful solitude, registering the play of light and shadow across her face, clothes and hands. A vast, erotically-charged vision spanning nearly three metres in width, Cecily Brown’s Girl Trouble (1999, estimate: £1,400,000-1,800,00) is a bacchanal of fiery hues, enigmatic figural forms and rich, gestural abstraction. Rendered with intuitive, sensual brushstrokes, it demonstrates the orgiastic painterly language for which she is celebrated. 

Lot 3. Tschabalala Self (b.1990), Spare Moment, oil, pigment, fabric and acrylic on canvas, 62 x 44in. (157.4 x 111.7cm.) Executed in 2015. Estimate GBP 80,000 - GBP 120,000 (USD 104,480 - USD 156,720). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 1. Dana Schutz (B. 1976), Kissing in the Dump, signed and dated 'Dana Schutz 2004' (on the reverse), 65 ¼ x 71 ½in. (165.7 x 181.6cm.), oil on canvas. Painted in 2004. Estimate GBP 350,000 - GBP 550,000 (USD 457,100 - USD 718,300). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

 Lot 1. Jordan Casteel (b. 1989), Mom, signed and dated '2013 Jordan Casteel' (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 48 x 36in. (121.9 x 91.4cm.) Painted in 2013. Estimate GBP 180,000 - GBP 250,000 (USD 235,080 - USD 326,500). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 43. Cecily Brown (b. 1969), Girl Trouble, signed ‘Cecily’ (lower left); signed and dated ‘Cecily Brown 99’ (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 100 x 110 1/8in. (254 x 279.7cm.) Painted in 1999. Estimate GBP 1,400,000 - GBP 1,800,000 (USD 1,828,400 - USD 2,350,800). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Albert Oehlen
Mission Rohrfrei (1996, estimate: £1,800,000-2,500,000) is a spectacular early ‘John Graham Remix’ painting by Albert Oehlen. The series derives from Oehlen’s obsession with an obscure painting by John Graham, a largely forgotten figure who played an important role in Surrealist and Abstract Expressionist circles in mid-century America. Undermining, critiquing and ultimately revitalising painting in a post-painting world, Oehlen dismantles his medium to expose its beating heart. 

Lot 20. Albert Oehlen (b. 1954), Mission Rohrfrei (Down Periscope), signed and dated 'A. Oehlen 96' (on the reverse), acrylic, oil and inkjet on canvas 84 ¼ x 107 5/8in. (214 x 273.5cm.) Executed in 1996. Estimate GBP 1,800,000 - GBP 2,500,000 (USD 2,361,600 - USD 3,280,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

Sigmar Polke
With its shifting, illusory surface, Sigmar Polke’s Untitled (estimate: £2,800,000-3,500,000) is a mesmerising image of optical and erotic fantasy. Created in 2000, it was acquired shortly afterwards by the German tennis player and former Wimbledon champion Michael Stich, who gave it as a wedding present to his wife. The present work, unseen for many years, combines Polke’s signature raster-dot technique with layers of interference pigment, reflecting a spectrum of shimmering metallic tones under varying light conditions. 

Lot 15. Sigmar Polke (1941-2010), Untitled, signed and dated ‘Sigmar Polke 2000’ (on the reverse), acrylic and interference colour on canvas, 39 3/8 x 31 ½in. (100 x 80cm.) Executed in 2000. Estimate GBP 2,800,000 - GBP 3,500,000 (USD 3,656,800 - USD 4,571,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Auction
The Day Auction on 13 February will also feature works included in the Whitechapel Gallery exhibition ‘Radical Figures’, presenting paintings by Tschabalala Self, Tala Madani and Dana Schutz. Further highlights include Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Paolo Mussat Sartor (1962-88, estimate: £250,000-350,000), Sam Francis’s Blue and Black (1954, estimate: £180,000-250,000) and Jean-Paul Riopelle’s Clairons (1955-56, estimate: £180,000-250,000).

Lot 138. Michelangelo Pistoletto (b. 1933), Paolo Mussat Sartor, signed twice, titled and dated 'Michelangelo Pistoletto - Paolo Mussat Sartor - 1962-88 Pistoletto' (on the reverse), silkscreen on polished stainless steel, 49¼ x 27½in. (125 x 70cm.) Executed in 1962-1988. Estimate GBP 250,000 - GBP 350,000 (USD 326,499 - USD 457,099). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 143. Sam Francis (1923-1994), Blue and Black, oil on canvas, 21 ¾ x 21 ¾in. (55.2 x 55.2cm.) Painted in 1954. Estimate GBP 180,000 - GBP 250,000 (USD 235,080 - USD 326,499). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 144 Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-2002), Clairons, signed and dated 'Riopelle 56' (lower right); signed and dated 'riopelle "Clairons"' (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 28½ x 36¼in. (72.5 x 92cm.) Executed in 1955-1956. Estimate GBP 180,000 - GBP 250,000 (USD 235,080 - USD 326,499). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

Lot 196. A polychrome and gilt-lacquered wood Manjusri group, Yuan dynasty (1279-1366). Height 16 3/4 in., 42.5 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 40,000 USD. Lot sold 122,500 USD. Photo Sotheby's

the bodhisattva seated in vajrasana on a lotus base atop a lion's back, dressed in long flowing robes, the hair partly tied in a top knot with plaits falling over the shoulders, wearing a five-point diadem and necklaces, the lion wearing a bell collar and trappings with tassels, its head turned towards the attendant pulling on a rope tied around its neck, traces of gilding, red, black and blue pigment. 

Provenance: Christie's New York, 16th September 1999, lot 238

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 11 september 2012

Lot 236. A long red-lacquer recessed-leg trestle table (qiaotouan), 17th century. Height 35 3/4 in., 91 cm; Width 112 3/4 in., 286.5 cm; Depth 20 in., 51 cm Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Lot sold 10,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's

the long rectangular top with upturned everted flanges surmounting a plain narrow apron and spandrels, the legs of circular section supported on trestles with pierced panels carved with ruyi, the surface with generous remains of red and black lacquer.

Provenance: Collection of Charlie Soong (1863-1918) by repute.
Collection of Conrad Moses (1882-1958), acquired in Shanghai between 1926 and 1930 and thence by descent.

Lot 223. A large Chinese brown-ground and gilt-decorated lacquer cabinet (gui), Ming dynasty, Wanli period and later. Height 86 in., 218.44 cm; Width 73 in., 185.42 cm; Depth 25 in., 63.5 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 USD. Lot sold 31,250 USD. Photo Sotheby's

the cabinet with large two-door front above a wide apron, the sides and front painted in gilt with writhing five-clawed dragons on a dense ground of stylized lotus, the hinges and lockplate with dragons amidst waves and clouds, the intricately incised and later enameled padlock with a Qianlong reign mark. 

Property from the Collection of Dodie Rosekrans.

Provenance: Louis D. Fenton, San Francisco, 1981.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 11 september 2012

Lot 186. A rare bronze mirror stand, Yuan-Ming Dynasty (1279-1644). Length 9 7/8 in., 25.2 cm. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 USD. Lot sold 5,938 USD. Photo Sotheby's

the mythical beast well-cast as a recumbent xiniu with its raised head turned to one side looking upward and modeled with a bifurcated horn, curling tufts of hair on either side of the face and at the chin, the mouth issuing trailing cloud wisps that rise to form the channeled crescent-shaped mirror support; together with three Song-Yuan Dynasty mirrors (4). 

Note: From the 12th through the 14th century, the most popular lunar-loving bovine was the xiniu, an imaginary creature, often described as a mythical rhinoceros, who communicated with the sky. According to some legends, the animal's peculiar horn is formed while he is gazing at the moon. In other more complicated accounts, the horn elongates to a point after 1,000 years, is then ordained with white stars, and exhales a vapor that penetrates the sky.

A similar recumbent mythical beast-form mirror stand of smaller size from the Kresko Collection is illustrated in Philip K. Hu, Later Chinese Bronzes, St. Louis Art Museum, 2008, pp. 70-73, no. 12, where different descriptions of the beast in early Chinese literature and more recent research are discussed at length and the author elects to name the beast a djeiran. Another example of similar form but with parcel-gilt surface, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is illustrated in Rose Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, London, 1990, pp. 100-101, no. 87.  During the late Ming, renewed focus on particular archaistic themes produced distinctive forms of this type.

Bronze mirror-stand in the shape of a recumbent mythical one-horned animal (xiniu), Chinese, Song or Yuan dynasty (960-1368). Salting Bequest, M.737-1910. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 11 september 2012

Lot 391. A rare famille-rose reticulated revolving vase, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795). Height 8 1/4 in., 21 cm. Estimate 400,000 — 500,000 USD. Lot sold 506,500 USD. Photo Sotheby's

the pear-shaped revolving body painted with formal lotus scrolls reserved on a pale-blue sgraffito ground, further reticulated with four evenly spaced gilt-rimmed medallions, each containing a puce-enameled dragon writhing amidst scrolling green clouds, all below a yellow-ground waisted neck painted with alternating bats and lotus flowers below a raised ring and a band of upright lappets beneath the key-fret bordered mouthrim, the angular shoulder further encircled by a blue and orange wan-symbols border, all supported on a similarly decorated waisted foot, the inner cylindrical body painted with the wufu flying amidst tall bamboo and flowering camellia wreathed in clouds, seal mark in underglaze blue  .

Note: Technical innovation and finesse in porcelain production were both expected and encouraged during the Qianlong emperor's reign. Therefore it is not surprising that revolving vases appear to have been introduced during this time, under the supervision of Tang Ying, the ingenious supervisor of the imperial factory, who raised the standard of Jingdezhen porcelain to its highest level. Revolving vases such as the present lot are amongst the most complicated porcelain produced in Jingdezhen and would have been the perfect demonstration of the technical virtuosity of the craftsmen at Jingdezhen.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 11 september 2012