1954
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Abstract art Rothko Early Rothko Giacometti Picasso 1940-60 Germany II Bacon < 1963 Rockwell Fu Baoshi Cars Cars of the 1950s Cars 1953-54 Cars 1954-55 Mercedes-Benz
See also : Abstract art Rothko Early Rothko Giacometti Picasso 1940-60 Germany II Bacon < 1963 Rockwell Fu Baoshi Cars Cars of the 1950s Cars 1953-54 Cars 1954-55 Mercedes-Benz
masterpiece
1954-1955 Flag by Johns
MoMA
Artistic creation has no limits in New York in 1954. Very young artists endeavor to reject into the past the Abstract Expressionism that was yet barely ten years old.
After meeting Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, aged 24, had one of the most successful intuitions of modern art. Duchamp had introduced the ready mades in artistic creation. In an extension from Malevich, not only the canvas is an object but also the paint and the theme are objects.
The three colors of the American flag are to Johns an incentive for new art. His flags identical to the official pieces will be painted on all kinds of materials including newspapers and actual flags.
Like Cézanne, he works within the contours as in a cloisonné. Unlike Pollock and Rothko, the first meticulous gesture must be the right one. Any dripping is therefore intentional, which requires a fast drying : Johns painted in wax.
In his artistic vision, that theme of the US flag enables to offer to the public a familiar theme without falling into a hermetic abstraction.
Leo Castelli understands how much the art can be changed by this innovation. Favoring the material instead of shape and color, Johns comes in the follow of Burri. He anticipates Manzoni's achromes and Ryder's white on white while his treatment of a recognizable object is announcing the pop art by Warhol and Lichtenstein.
Castelli owned until his death in 1999 one of the earliest Flags by Johns. It was sold in private sale to Steve Cohen in March 2010. Details were not released but the price of $ 110M has not been denied.
After meeting Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, aged 24, had one of the most successful intuitions of modern art. Duchamp had introduced the ready mades in artistic creation. In an extension from Malevich, not only the canvas is an object but also the paint and the theme are objects.
The three colors of the American flag are to Johns an incentive for new art. His flags identical to the official pieces will be painted on all kinds of materials including newspapers and actual flags.
Like Cézanne, he works within the contours as in a cloisonné. Unlike Pollock and Rothko, the first meticulous gesture must be the right one. Any dripping is therefore intentional, which requires a fast drying : Johns painted in wax.
In his artistic vision, that theme of the US flag enables to offer to the public a familiar theme without falling into a hermetic abstraction.
Leo Castelli understands how much the art can be changed by this innovation. Favoring the material instead of shape and color, Johns comes in the follow of Burri. He anticipates Manzoni's achromes and Ryder's white on white while his treatment of a recognizable object is announcing the pop art by Warhol and Lichtenstein.
Castelli owned until his death in 1999 one of the earliest Flags by Johns. It was sold in private sale to Steve Cohen in March 2010. Details were not released but the price of $ 110M has not been denied.
1954 ROTHKO
1
No. 1 Royal Red and Blue
2012 SOLD for $ 75M by Sotheby's
In 1954 Mark Rothko is invited by the Art Institute of Chicago to prepare a solo exhibition. He selects eight of his works. The event will have a huge impact on his reputation.
Since several years at that time, he organizes his paintings in confrontations of colors for which the composition in stacks of rectangular blocks is always present but is no longer the essential element.
1954 No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue) is one of the eight works presented in Chicago. It is already typical of the exceptional understanding of Rothko to achieve the maximum emotional level.
It is very large, 289 x 172 cm. Divided into several shades, the reds dominate. At the bottom of the canvas, the red hegemony is interrupted by an aggressive bright blue rectangle. This painting was sold for $ 75M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 19.
In subsequent years, the reds will increasingly be the major actors in the artistic drama realized by Rothko, taking drama in its etymological meaning of theater. They will now have less need to rely on opponents like the blue of that No. 1.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Since several years at that time, he organizes his paintings in confrontations of colors for which the composition in stacks of rectangular blocks is always present but is no longer the essential element.
1954 No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue) is one of the eight works presented in Chicago. It is already typical of the exceptional understanding of Rothko to achieve the maximum emotional level.
It is very large, 289 x 172 cm. Divided into several shades, the reds dominate. At the bottom of the canvas, the red hegemony is interrupted by an aggressive bright blue rectangle. This painting was sold for $ 75M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 19.
In subsequent years, the reds will increasingly be the major actors in the artistic drama realized by Rothko, taking drama in its etymological meaning of theater. They will now have less need to rely on opponents like the blue of that No. 1.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
2
Yellow and Blue
2015 SOLD for $ 46M by Sotheby's
An intense blue can not leave indifferent the modern artists. This cold color brings a physiological feeling of remoteness. It does not mix with the other colors when they play creating harmonies together. When it is dominant, the blue is aggressive.
At the early stage of his signature style in abstract art, Mark Rothko made many proposals for positioning the blue. This color is far from appearing in most of his works but it brings in alternance with the black the very sense of tragic expression that the artist was endeavoring to forward.
When the blue rectangular area is in the lower side of the picture, it wins a stability that reduces the role of the other colors like if it is the monarch in the battlefield. Rothko seeks which color can resist.
Taking advantage of a very low position of the blue, a deep red distributed in several shades almost won the game in the splendid No. 1 painted in 1954, 289 x 172 cm, which was sold for $ 75M by Sotheby's in 2012.
The artist finds another competing color in the same year in a dark bright yellow. Blue stubbornly defends its position by invading almost the entire available width in an exception to the usual principles of the artist's composition.
This oil on canvas 243 x 187 cm was sold for $ 46M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015, lot 11. After the death of Rothko, this painting belonged to the Mellon collection that once included the best set of works by this artist in private hands.
The tragedy of the blue did not stop at that point. In 1955, it managed to dominate the top of the image within an oil on canvas 169 x 125 cm sold for $ 56M by Phillips in 2014.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
At the early stage of his signature style in abstract art, Mark Rothko made many proposals for positioning the blue. This color is far from appearing in most of his works but it brings in alternance with the black the very sense of tragic expression that the artist was endeavoring to forward.
When the blue rectangular area is in the lower side of the picture, it wins a stability that reduces the role of the other colors like if it is the monarch in the battlefield. Rothko seeks which color can resist.
Taking advantage of a very low position of the blue, a deep red distributed in several shades almost won the game in the splendid No. 1 painted in 1954, 289 x 172 cm, which was sold for $ 75M by Sotheby's in 2012.
The artist finds another competing color in the same year in a dark bright yellow. Blue stubbornly defends its position by invading almost the entire available width in an exception to the usual principles of the artist's composition.
This oil on canvas 243 x 187 cm was sold for $ 46M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015, lot 11. After the death of Rothko, this painting belonged to the Mellon collection that once included the best set of works by this artist in private hands.
The tragedy of the blue did not stop at that point. In 1955, it managed to dominate the top of the image within an oil on canvas 169 x 125 cm sold for $ 56M by Phillips in 2014.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
3
No. 7 Dark over Light
2018 SOLD for $ 30.7M by Christie's
With his immutable pattern of blocks, Mark Rothko goes even further than Malevich in the elimination of the figurative and of the narrative. His colors seek to push away one another in a dramatic confrontation that is different each time. The exceptions deserve an explanation.
The No. 7 from 1954, oil on canvas 229 x 149 cm, was sold twice by Christie's, for $ 21M on November 13, 2007 and for $ 30.7M as lot 34 B on May 17, 2018.
No. 7 is well described by its usual subtitle that does not announce a color : Dark over Light. Another subtitle which is sometimes used is White and Black on Red. Both blocks are centered but the black upper block is wider than the white lower block. This dark part is very homogeneous in density, which is also unusual.
An exhibition plan justifies these specific characteristics.
Rothko composed his artworks very carefully but he also foresaw their respective roles. It was necessary to capture the visitor as soon as he entered the room, without his attention being attracted by ambient decorations. In 1957 in Houston, Rothko hangs this No. 7 in the first room. The visitor is attracted by the intense light emanating from its fake white window. The black block is of lesser importance and serves primarily for the contrast.
The No. 7 from 1954, oil on canvas 229 x 149 cm, was sold twice by Christie's, for $ 21M on November 13, 2007 and for $ 30.7M as lot 34 B on May 17, 2018.
No. 7 is well described by its usual subtitle that does not announce a color : Dark over Light. Another subtitle which is sometimes used is White and Black on Red. Both blocks are centered but the black upper block is wider than the white lower block. This dark part is very homogeneous in density, which is also unusual.
An exhibition plan justifies these specific characteristics.
Rothko composed his artworks very carefully but he also foresaw their respective roles. It was necessary to capture the visitor as soon as he entered the room, without his attention being attracted by ambient decorations. In 1957 in Houston, Rothko hangs this No. 7 in the first room. The visitor is attracted by the intense light emanating from its fake white window. The black block is of lesser importance and serves primarily for the contrast.
1954 Femme Accroupie by PICASSO
1
8.10.54
2017 SOLD for $ 37M by Christie's
Françoise left in September 1953 with the two children, Claude and Paloma. A distraught Picasso is looking for a new muse in Vallauris. In April 1954 he sees Sylvette with her long blonde ponytail. The shy 19 year old agrees to meet the artist but fears his flirtation.
Pablo already knew the brunette Jacqueline who has a job at Madoura. She accepts to live with him. In June Pablo paints his first portraits of Jacqueline. She is 28 years old and Picasso 45 more. They will not leave each other and will marry in Vallauris in 1961.
A quarter century before, Picasso sorted the blonde Marie-Thérèse from the the street for her physical features thet could help him in his career. It is not by chance that his new muse Jacqueline looks like one of the Femmes d'Alger by Delacroix with her black hair, dark eyes and straight nose.
On October 8, 1954 Pablo paints three oils on canvas in a single size, 146 x 114 cm. Jacqueline in long dress is crouched on the floor in an interior, hands clasped around her raised knees.
In this new series painted shortly before the death of Matisse, Pablo wants to demonstrate his skill as a colorist. It is sunny in Vallauris and the blue sky behind the window provides a bright atmosphere. Realism and proportions are not considered : the artist uses his signature style of simultaneous vision of two profile faces of the sitter and the limbs are too frail. The lozenges and half lozenges of the skirt provide a geometric element.
One of these paintings was sold for $ 37M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on November 13, 2017, lot 39 A. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
Another opus, kept at the Museo Picasso Malaga, is similar, with less bold face lines and a less composed background. The third one was sold for £ 7.4M by Sotheby's on June 21, 2017, lot 55. The position of the black hair in the flattened oval of the head is incongruous.
Pablo already knew the brunette Jacqueline who has a job at Madoura. She accepts to live with him. In June Pablo paints his first portraits of Jacqueline. She is 28 years old and Picasso 45 more. They will not leave each other and will marry in Vallauris in 1961.
A quarter century before, Picasso sorted the blonde Marie-Thérèse from the the street for her physical features thet could help him in his career. It is not by chance that his new muse Jacqueline looks like one of the Femmes d'Alger by Delacroix with her black hair, dark eyes and straight nose.
On October 8, 1954 Pablo paints three oils on canvas in a single size, 146 x 114 cm. Jacqueline in long dress is crouched on the floor in an interior, hands clasped around her raised knees.
In this new series painted shortly before the death of Matisse, Pablo wants to demonstrate his skill as a colorist. It is sunny in Vallauris and the blue sky behind the window provides a bright atmosphere. Realism and proportions are not considered : the artist uses his signature style of simultaneous vision of two profile faces of the sitter and the limbs are too frail. The lozenges and half lozenges of the skirt provide a geometric element.
One of these paintings was sold for $ 37M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on November 13, 2017, lot 39 A. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
Another opus, kept at the Museo Picasso Malaga, is similar, with less bold face lines and a less composed background. The third one was sold for £ 7.4M by Sotheby's on June 21, 2017, lot 55. The position of the black hair in the flattened oval of the head is incongruous.
2
14.10.54
2021 SOLD for HK$ 192M by Sotheby's
The portraits of Jacqueline as the Femme accroupie did not stop after the October 8, 1954 burst.
On October 9, 2021, Sotheby's sold for HK $ 192M an oil and ripolin on canvas 92 x 73 cm, lot 1017. This opus dated October 14, 1954 probably terminated the series. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The darker face is not displayed in a dual viewpoint, excepted for the nose. The expression of gaze and mouth is quiet up to some sadness. The hair is superseded by a white cap.
A few weeks later, Picasso started his own Femmes d'Alger starring Jacqueline as one of the characters. Matisse had died in the mean time. Afterward Pablo had no restraint displaying Jacqueline as his own odalisque in a tribute to Matisse.
On October 9, 2021, Sotheby's sold for HK $ 192M an oil and ripolin on canvas 92 x 73 cm, lot 1017. This opus dated October 14, 1954 probably terminated the series. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The darker face is not displayed in a dual viewpoint, excepted for the nose. The expression of gaze and mouth is quiet up to some sadness. The hair is superseded by a white cap.
A few weeks later, Picasso started his own Femmes d'Alger starring Jacqueline as one of the characters. Matisse had died in the mean time. Afterward Pablo had no restraint displaying Jacqueline as his own odalisque in a tribute to Matisse.
1954 God of Cloud and Great Lord of Fate by Fu Baoshi
2016 SOLD for RMB 230M by Poly
God of Cloud and Great Lord of Fate is a large size painting executed in 1954 by Fu Baoshi in his series of gods and fairies inspired from the poems by Qu Yuan.
The God of Cloud is in charge of the wind, rain, thunder and lightning. The two deities are androgynous. Guo Moruo believes that they are female in the signature theme of the artist. The cloud is an excuse for the blur surrounding the two sharply drawn portraits in bust.
Kept in Fu's family for generations, this ink and color on paper 114 x 315 cm was sold for RMB 230M from a lower estimate of RMB 180M by Poly on June 4, 2016, lot 320. It is illustrated in the bottom of the page in an article shared in 2020 by The Value reminding it as the top price at auction for the artist.
The God of Cloud is in charge of the wind, rain, thunder and lightning. The two deities are androgynous. Guo Moruo believes that they are female in the signature theme of the artist. The cloud is an excuse for the blur surrounding the two sharply drawn portraits in bust.
Kept in Fu's family for generations, this ink and color on paper 114 x 315 cm was sold for RMB 230M from a lower estimate of RMB 180M by Poly on June 4, 2016, lot 320. It is illustrated in the bottom of the page in an article shared in 2020 by The Value reminding it as the top price at auction for the artist.
1954 Diego by Alberto Giacometti
2013 SOLD for $ 32.6M by Christie's
The Giacometti brothers were inseparable, before the war, when they worked together for the decorator Jean-Michel Frank. Later, while Diego continues his career in furniture items, Alberto endeavours to express the mystery of man.
From that time the art of Alberto is double: he reached fame as a sculptor, but his paintings and drawings are similarly important to understand his creative act.
The drawing, in general, is an expression of spontaneity by the line. The paintings of Alberto are lines in oil on canvas, relentlessly modified with a range of brushes until he achieves the desired effect, usually in monochrome with a neutral background.
Now Alberto is a portraitist. Same as in his sculptures, he sees the head as the juxtaposition of organs, without giving an importance to the overall shape or even to the proportions. He explores one of the greatest mysteries: all men are similar, but each individual is recognizable.
Same as Francis Bacon later, Alberto can only work with people around him whom he perfectly knows. On November 5, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 32.6M a portrait of Diego painted in 1954, 81 x 65 cm.
In this painting, the work of the line is intense and meticulous, just like Alberto was still exploring the features of his own graphic style. For once, he also allows the use of color by adding some red to the Scottish shirt of his brother.
From that time the art of Alberto is double: he reached fame as a sculptor, but his paintings and drawings are similarly important to understand his creative act.
The drawing, in general, is an expression of spontaneity by the line. The paintings of Alberto are lines in oil on canvas, relentlessly modified with a range of brushes until he achieves the desired effect, usually in monochrome with a neutral background.
Now Alberto is a portraitist. Same as in his sculptures, he sees the head as the juxtaposition of organs, without giving an importance to the overall shape or even to the proportions. He explores one of the greatest mysteries: all men are similar, but each individual is recognizable.
Same as Francis Bacon later, Alberto can only work with people around him whom he perfectly knows. On November 5, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 32.6M a portrait of Diego painted in 1954, 81 x 65 cm.
In this painting, the work of the line is intense and meticulous, just like Alberto was still exploring the features of his own graphic style. For once, he also allows the use of color by adding some red to the Scottish shirt of his brother.
1954 Screaming Pope by Bacon
2012 SOLD for $ 30M by Sotheby's
The post-war artists feel an irrepressible need to shout their disgust. Among them, Francis Bacon chooses a shocking representation. In 1948, he began his series of screaming Heads. The huge round mouth is an image inspired from the Battleship Potemkin film by Eisenstein.
The most powerful man on the planet is as weak as everybody. Head VI was Bacon's first work that was directly inspired by the portrait of Innocent X by Velazquez. The papal throne, not visible in the first image, has become a straitjacket, and the character has lost any freedom of movement.
Bacon executes many studies on this theme that soon makes him famous. A network of vertical or oblique lines more or less colored come to still more imprison that symbolic post-war Pope.
Executed circa 1954, the oil on canvas, 152 x 94 cm, was sold for $ 30M from a lower estimate of $ 18M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012. The head and hands are the only clear spots in this dark composition. It is a masterpiece of the expression of anguish. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
The most powerful man on the planet is as weak as everybody. Head VI was Bacon's first work that was directly inspired by the portrait of Innocent X by Velazquez. The papal throne, not visible in the first image, has become a straitjacket, and the character has lost any freedom of movement.
Bacon executes many studies on this theme that soon makes him famous. A network of vertical or oblique lines more or less colored come to still more imprison that symbolic post-war Pope.
Executed circa 1954, the oil on canvas, 152 x 94 cm, was sold for $ 30M from a lower estimate of $ 18M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012. The head and hands are the only clear spots in this dark composition. It is a masterpiece of the expression of anguish. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 ex Fangio
2013 SOLD for £ 19.6M by Bonhams
Everything goes very fast, in any meaning of the word, for Mercedes-Benz at the beginning of 1954. Technology is the best asset to win competitions. For coming back to racing, the German brand aligns the 300SL model for endurance and the W196 single-seater model for Formula 1.
They must win. Mercedes managed to take the best driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, world champion in 1951 with Alfa Romeo, who had just won the first two grand prix of the season on a Maserati.
For their first collaboration, Mercedes and Fangio win the Reims grand prix on a W196 with enclosed wheels. Surrounding the wheel by a piece of bodywork is a theoretical advantage because it limits the impact of air friction. The top speed exceeds 200 km / h.
At that time, the skill of the pilot is prevailing on theories. The next grand prix, at Silverstone, is sinuous. Powerless against Ferrari, Fangio requires the withdrawal of the enclosing to improve his freedom of action. This is the right decision.
Thus are born the chassis 005 and 006 of the W196. With the open wheeled 006, Fangio wins the next two grand prix, in Germany at the Nürburgring and in Switzerland at Bremgarten.
The 006 has no rival for the title of most prestigious single-seater car of all time, formerly driven by the most skilful driver of all time. It was sold for £ 19.6M on July 12, 2013 by Bonhams.
An open wheeled W196 (perhaps the 006) is driven by Fangio himself during a demonstration at the Nürburgring in 1986. The image below is licensed under Creative Commons with attribution By Lothar Spurzem [CC-BY-SA-2.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons.
They must win. Mercedes managed to take the best driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, world champion in 1951 with Alfa Romeo, who had just won the first two grand prix of the season on a Maserati.
For their first collaboration, Mercedes and Fangio win the Reims grand prix on a W196 with enclosed wheels. Surrounding the wheel by a piece of bodywork is a theoretical advantage because it limits the impact of air friction. The top speed exceeds 200 km / h.
At that time, the skill of the pilot is prevailing on theories. The next grand prix, at Silverstone, is sinuous. Powerless against Ferrari, Fangio requires the withdrawal of the enclosing to improve his freedom of action. This is the right decision.
Thus are born the chassis 005 and 006 of the W196. With the open wheeled 006, Fangio wins the next two grand prix, in Germany at the Nürburgring and in Switzerland at Bremgarten.
The 006 has no rival for the title of most prestigious single-seater car of all time, formerly driven by the most skilful driver of all time. It was sold for £ 19.6M on July 12, 2013 by Bonhams.
An open wheeled W196 (perhaps the 006) is driven by Fangio himself during a demonstration at the Nürburgring in 1986. The image below is licensed under Creative Commons with attribution By Lothar Spurzem [CC-BY-SA-2.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons.
1954 Breaking Home Ties by Norman Rockwell
2006 SOLD for $ 15.4M by Sotheby's
Norman Rockwell is the illustrator of American emotions.
In 1954 his three boys left home to go to army or college, leaving him with a feeling of emptiness. He transferred that mood in a work titled Breaking Home Ties. That image is full of those delicate symbols by which the artist knew to stage a full story in a single picture without text.
A ranch boy is leaving home for the first time. He is seated beside his father on the running board of their farm truck in a station, as evidenced by a rail in the foreground. The fresh faced well dressed son in city attire expects the arrival of the train of his future by watching over the head of his old fashioned peasant father. The father looks to the ground in an incapacity to express his emotions, in the opposite of the family collie dog who gently rests his head on the boy's lap.
Breaking Home Ties was the illustration of the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on September 25, 1954. Most reactions commented by the readers to the artist were about the poignant attitude of the dog. In the next year this cover was voted as the second best ever Rockwell after Saying Grace in a poll distributed by the magazine.
A widely exhibited painting was considered as the final cover art despite some discrepancies with the published image. The actual original was discovered in 2006 behind a secret wall after the death of a cartoonist who had created copies of several paintings he owned while treasuring the originals, unknown to his family.
This real cover art was sold for $ 15.4M by Sotheby's on November 29, 2006, lot 16.
In 1954 his three boys left home to go to army or college, leaving him with a feeling of emptiness. He transferred that mood in a work titled Breaking Home Ties. That image is full of those delicate symbols by which the artist knew to stage a full story in a single picture without text.
A ranch boy is leaving home for the first time. He is seated beside his father on the running board of their farm truck in a station, as evidenced by a rail in the foreground. The fresh faced well dressed son in city attire expects the arrival of the train of his future by watching over the head of his old fashioned peasant father. The father looks to the ground in an incapacity to express his emotions, in the opposite of the family collie dog who gently rests his head on the boy's lap.
Breaking Home Ties was the illustration of the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on September 25, 1954. Most reactions commented by the readers to the artist were about the poignant attitude of the dog. In the next year this cover was voted as the second best ever Rockwell after Saying Grace in a poll distributed by the magazine.
A widely exhibited painting was considered as the final cover art despite some discrepancies with the published image. The actual original was discovered in 2006 behind a secret wall after the death of a cartoonist who had created copies of several paintings he owned while treasuring the originals, unknown to his family.
This real cover art was sold for $ 15.4M by Sotheby's on November 29, 2006, lot 16.
