New York – Amid a growing interest in Latin American art at major museums in the United States and Europe, Christie’s fall Latin American Art Evening Sale in New York offers collectors worldwide an opportunity to buy exceptional works by giants from across the region, including Joaquín Torres-García, Matta, Fernando Botero, Rufino Tamayo, Claudio Bravo and Wifredo Lam. Among the works for sale in the November 20 evening sale and November 21 day sale are a broad representation of artists, from the colonial period to contemporary, including a large number of exceptional works by some of today’s leading Brazilian artists.
Key highlights include a lushly colored modernist work by Tamayo, Tres Personajes (1970) (estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000), which recalls the vibrant colors of the artist’s childhood in Mexico City. Another highlight is an exquisite example from 1931 of Torres-García’s mature style, Composition Nord - Art Constructif (estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000). Created while the artist lived in Paris, this work is a veritable blueprint for understanding Torres-García’s theory of “Universal Constructivism” rooted in a select and universal language of ideograms organized within a gridded structure. Torres-García is currently featured in a retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. In addition, the sale features another important example of Torres-Garcia’s constructivist period, Constructif avec poisson ocre, from 1929, (estimate: $600,000 - 800,000).
The sale offers an opportunity to collect a signature 1964 oil painting, La Barrière (estimate: $400,000 – 600,000) by the acclaimed modernist Wifredo Lam, who also has two works in upcoming Christie’s sales of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York and London, Femme cheval, an oil on canvas from 1950 (estimate: $600,000 - 900,000), and Chant de la forêt, an oil from 1946 (estimate $1,300,000 - 1,800,000). Lam, like Torres-García, is currently enjoying a moment of global exposure with a traveling retrospective exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris; both shows are on view through mid-February 2016.
The sale will also include an exceptional work by Matta, painted at a pivotal moment in 1939 as the artist had just arrived in New York and would soon become a key figure between the European exiled community of artists and the burgeoning New York School. Untitled (estimate: $500,000 – 700,000) masterfully encapsulates what Matta referred to as his “inscapes” – works that merge inner and outer worlds rendered in a perennial state of transformation.
Other highlights from the sale include:
• Five works by Chilean artist Claudio Bravo, including two from his signature “Packages” series that epitomize his technical virtuosity and his command of classical realism and conceptual abstraction: Red Package, painted in 2005, (estimate: $700,000 – 900,000) and Purple and Blue-Grey Package (estimate: $500,000 – 700,000).
• Works by Armando Morales (1927 – 2011) and Tomás Sánchez (b. 1948) underscore these artists’ unique virtuosity and command of the genre of landscape painting. One of several works from the distinguished Mezzacappa Collection to be sold by Christie’s this season, Morales’ Platanal from 1994 (estimate: $250,000 – 350,000) is as much a visual meditation on the human ordering of nature, as a pictorial rendering reminiscent of one of Gabriel García Márquez’s lyrical passages on the majesty and magical realism inspired by the tropics. The poetic possibilities of landscape painting are further explored by the allegorical and meticulous landscapes of Tomás Sánchez, such as Meditador en la orilla, an acrylic from 1998 (estimate: $300,000 - 400,000).
• A large selection of works by the prolific Fernando Botero, in many media and subjects, from drawings and sculptures to paintings, including Man from 2006, (estimate: $500,000 - 700,000).
• A selection of works from the Brazil Golden Art Collection that features some of today’s most sought-after contemporary Brazilian artists, including Adriana Varejão (Espelho D'Água, 2008, estimate: $300,000-500,000), OsGêmeos (Untitled, estimate: $200,000 - 300,000, and Luiz Zerbini (A Praça, 1985, estimate: $80,000-120,000).
About Christie’s
Christie’s, the world's leading art business, had global auction and private sales in the first half of 2015 that totaled £2.9 billion / $4.5 billion. In 2014, Christie’s had global auction and private sales that totaled £5.1 billion/$8.4 billion, making it the highest annual total in Christie’s history. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie's has since conducted the greatest and most celebrated auctions through the centuries providing a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers around 450 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie's also has a long and successful history conducting private sales for its clients in all categories, with emphasis on Post-War & Contemporary, Impressionist & Modern, Old Masters and Jewellery.
Christie’s has a global presence with 54 offices in 32 countries and 12 salerooms around the world including in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Zürich, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Mumbai. More recently, Christie’s has led the market with expanded initiatives in growth markets such as Russia, China, India and the United Arab Emirates, with successful sales and exhibitions in Beijing, Mumbai and Dubai.
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium and do not reflect costs, third-party financing fees or application of buyer’s or seller’s credits
Auction:
November 20, 7:00 PM
November 21, 2:00 PM
Exhibition: November 14 – 19
Viewing Times
Nov 14, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Nov 15, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Nov 16, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Nov 17, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Nov 18, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Nov 19, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Nov 20, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Christie’s Rockefeller Center
20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
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