1975
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Richter < 1983 De Kooning Head triptych
See also : Richter < 1983 De Kooning Head triptych
1975 Seestück by Richter
2022 SOLD for $ 30M by Sotheby's
Gerhard Richter redefines art, appropriating shabby photos whose meaning is important to him or more often to nobody. He thus becomes a specialist in blurred images of monumental size.
However, he does not want to lose any filiation with the great masters of the past. The clouds catch his attention. Their shape and color are constantly changing and yet they are perfectly identifiable. Through the clouds, Richter finds Friedrich, Constable and Turner.
After trials in limited dimensions and quantities in 1968 and 1969, the artist explores more systematically the clouds in 1970. For this sole year, his catalogue raisonné includes fifteen paintings on this theme, with various effects : pink, blue, green blue, atmosphere, backlight, abstract.
Within this set the opus 266 titled Wolken (Fenster) is the most ambitious, and the only one to meet one of Richter's fundamental ambitions : to simulate an architectural environment.
This quadriptych of oils on canvas of individual dimension 200 x 100 cm appears like a large fragmented window which opens onto nothing. In turn, this nothingness takes on an emotional meaning by making the visitor believe that he sees the sky at sunset from the upper floors of a skyscraper, evaporating the city. This work anticipates the fragmented pools by David Hockney by almost ten years and the panels of snow-capped mountain scenery by Cui Ruzhuo by four decades.
Wolken (Fenster) was sold for £ 6.2M by Christie's on October 13, 2014 and for £ 10.4M by Sotheby's on July 28, 2020, lot 20.
In 1975 Gerhard Richter revisited his Seestück photo-painting series of 1969 by enlarging the canvas from a square 200 x 200 cm to a panoramic 200 x 300 cm. This extension to this larger size of the luminescent effect is a technical feat.
The out of focus of clouds and sea mingling through a faint horizon is an invite to the viewer to change his mind about visual perception. It is indeed.a step further by Richter in his quest of a personal total abstraction. The lack of focusing point within a monumental scale also leads to an illusion of movement and chance in the line of Riley's op art.
This new set is made of four paintings. One of them was sold for $ 30M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2022, lot 5.
However, he does not want to lose any filiation with the great masters of the past. The clouds catch his attention. Their shape and color are constantly changing and yet they are perfectly identifiable. Through the clouds, Richter finds Friedrich, Constable and Turner.
After trials in limited dimensions and quantities in 1968 and 1969, the artist explores more systematically the clouds in 1970. For this sole year, his catalogue raisonné includes fifteen paintings on this theme, with various effects : pink, blue, green blue, atmosphere, backlight, abstract.
Within this set the opus 266 titled Wolken (Fenster) is the most ambitious, and the only one to meet one of Richter's fundamental ambitions : to simulate an architectural environment.
This quadriptych of oils on canvas of individual dimension 200 x 100 cm appears like a large fragmented window which opens onto nothing. In turn, this nothingness takes on an emotional meaning by making the visitor believe that he sees the sky at sunset from the upper floors of a skyscraper, evaporating the city. This work anticipates the fragmented pools by David Hockney by almost ten years and the panels of snow-capped mountain scenery by Cui Ruzhuo by four decades.
Wolken (Fenster) was sold for £ 6.2M by Christie's on October 13, 2014 and for £ 10.4M by Sotheby's on July 28, 2020, lot 20.
In 1975 Gerhard Richter revisited his Seestück photo-painting series of 1969 by enlarging the canvas from a square 200 x 200 cm to a panoramic 200 x 300 cm. This extension to this larger size of the luminescent effect is a technical feat.
The out of focus of clouds and sea mingling through a faint horizon is an invite to the viewer to change his mind about visual perception. It is indeed.a step further by Richter in his quest of a personal total abstraction. The lack of focusing point within a monumental scale also leads to an illusion of movement and chance in the line of Riley's op art.
This new set is made of four paintings. One of them was sold for $ 30M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2022, lot 5.
1975 De KOONING
Untitled III
2026 SOLD for $ 26M by Sotheby's
The Untitled III of 1975 was sold for $ 26M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2026, lot 121. The video is shared by the auction house.
On November 13, 2013, Sotheby 's sold at lot 30 for $ 25M Untitled V, 178 x 203 cm, one of the first works of this revival of 1975. This is one of the largest in the series and one of the most attractive in its successful balance between colors and whites.
Both Untitled III and Untitled V (1975) belong to de Kooning’s explosive series of large-scale abstractions created in East Hampton after he returned to painting following a focus on sculpture. They share the same energetic, gestural technique and evoke the coastal light, water, and landscape of Long Island through fluid, luminous color and dynamic forms. However, they differ in palette emphasis, compositional density, and overall mood.
Technique (Shared & Distinct)
Shared: Both exemplify de Kooning’s mature late-1970s approach—thick, luscious oil paint applied with broad brushes, palette knives, spatulas, and scraping tools. He often thinned paint with water, kerosene, or safflower oil for fluidity, allowing drips, smears, flecks, and layered impasto. This creates a highly tactile, almost sculptural surface where forms emerge, dissolve, and overlap through energetic, physical gestures. The works feel improvisational yet masterful, with visible revisions and a sense of "action painting" urgency.
Both use vibrant, light-filled palettes inspired by East Hampton’s ocean, sky, and reflections—blues for water/sky, yellows/reds for light and energy, whites for luminosity. Colors are seductive and primary-heavy but modulated for depth.
Both are non-figurative yet evoke shifting natural elements—forms float, merge, and dissolve like reflections on water. No clear figures or landscapes, but hints of biomorphic shapes, horizons, or turbulence through overlapping planes.
Key Comparison
Both works are from de Kooning's highly sought-after 1975 series of large, gestural abstractions painted in Springs, East Hampton, after a period focused on sculpture. This was a time of renewed energy, vibrant color, and fluid brushwork inspired by the coastal light and landscape. These paintings are among his most collector-favored late(ish) works.
On November 13, 2013, Sotheby 's sold at lot 30 for $ 25M Untitled V, 178 x 203 cm, one of the first works of this revival of 1975. This is one of the largest in the series and one of the most attractive in its successful balance between colors and whites.
Both Untitled III and Untitled V (1975) belong to de Kooning’s explosive series of large-scale abstractions created in East Hampton after he returned to painting following a focus on sculpture. They share the same energetic, gestural technique and evoke the coastal light, water, and landscape of Long Island through fluid, luminous color and dynamic forms. However, they differ in palette emphasis, compositional density, and overall mood.
Technique (Shared & Distinct)
Shared: Both exemplify de Kooning’s mature late-1970s approach—thick, luscious oil paint applied with broad brushes, palette knives, spatulas, and scraping tools. He often thinned paint with water, kerosene, or safflower oil for fluidity, allowing drips, smears, flecks, and layered impasto. This creates a highly tactile, almost sculptural surface where forms emerge, dissolve, and overlap through energetic, physical gestures. The works feel improvisational yet masterful, with visible revisions and a sense of "action painting" urgency.
- Untitled III: Emphasizes sweeping, confident strokes with strong vertical and cascading movements. The surface has rich layering and varied textures—some areas built up thickly, others more fluid or scraped. It feels monumental and structured in its energy.
- Untitled V: Features even more "violent" variety—jagged cascades, emphatic mark-making, smears, and Pollock-like drips/flecks in the center. The handling appears slightly more unrestrained and urgent, with broader flattening of strokes and sophisticated scraping/smearing that foreshadows later artists like Richter.
Both use vibrant, light-filled palettes inspired by East Hampton’s ocean, sky, and reflections—blues for water/sky, yellows/reds for light and energy, whites for luminosity. Colors are seductive and primary-heavy but modulated for depth.
- Untitled III: Rich vermilions (deep reds), steel blues, and saffron yellows dominate, creating a balanced, renewing vitality. The palette feels harmonious and luminous, with cooler blues anchoring warmer accents for a sense of spacious coastal light.
- Untitled V: More intense and contrasting—"searing reds and yellows" surge against "serene blues" and "cool fluid whites." It has a hotter, more ignited quality, with blazing primary hues that feel explosive and seductive. The color drives the emotional intensity higher.
Both are non-figurative yet evoke shifting natural elements—forms float, merge, and dissolve like reflections on water. No clear figures or landscapes, but hints of biomorphic shapes, horizons, or turbulence through overlapping planes.
- Untitled III (larger vertically-oriented canvas): Forms feel more expansive and structured, with bold gestures creating depth and movement that suggest renewal and unbridled vitality. The composition has a balanced, almost architectural flow amid the chaos.
- Untitled V (more horizontal): Denser, more turbulent assault of forms—jagged cascades and overlapping swathes create greater urgency and "assault" on the senses. It feels like pure, unrestrained expression, with forms emerging/submerging more dramatically.
Key Comparison
Both works are from de Kooning's highly sought-after 1975 series of large, gestural abstractions painted in Springs, East Hampton, after a period focused on sculpture. This was a time of renewed energy, vibrant color, and fluid brushwork inspired by the coastal light and landscape. These paintings are among his most collector-favored late(ish) works.
- For sale: Untitled III (1975)
- Size: 87¾ × 76½ in. (222.9 × 194.3 cm) — notably large.
- Estimate: $25–35 million (Sotheby's, May 2026 evening auction).
- Provenance: From the Willem de Kooning Revocable Trust; private collection since 2007.
- Exhibition history: Extremely strong—shown in the original 1975 Fourcade exhibition (as no. 3), plus major museum shows (Hirshhorn tour, Kunstmuseum Basel, Gagosian centennial, etc.), with catalogue illustrations and even a cover appearance.
- Sold: Untitled V (1975)
- Size: 70 × 80 in. (177.8 × 203.2 cm) — slightly smaller.
- Estimate (2013): $25–35 million (Sotheby's).
- Sold for: ~$24.8 million (with premium; below low estimate). Fresh to market after decades in a private collection, strong provenance (Xavier Fourcade → Anthony d’Offay → collector in 1989).
- Size matters: Untitled III is larger in one dimension, which often commands a premium.
- Provenance & freshness: Both have excellent histories, but Untitled III has broader museum exposure.
- Recent comparables: 1970s de Koonings have strengthened. Examples from the series or similar have sold in the $20–35M range at auction (e.g., private sales like Untitled XII at $35M in 2018). Top records are higher (e.g., Untitled XXV from 1977 at $66.3M in 2016), but those were exceptional. Mid-1970s works have achieved $20–25M+ recently.
- Inflation/adjustment: From 2013 to 2026, the overall art market (especially blue-chip postwar) has grown, but de Kooning's late works were somewhat undervalued earlier and have gained curatorial/market traction. The identical estimate range reflects conservatism for a big evening sale.
Untitled V
2013 SOLD for $ 25M by Sotheby's
On November 13, 2013, Sotheby 's sold at lot 30 for $ 25M Untitled V, 178 x 203 cm, one of the first works of this revival of 1975. This is one of the largest in the series and one of the most attractive in its successful balance between colors and whites
Untitled VI
2012 SOLD for $ 12.4M by Phillips de Pury
The Untitled VI of 1975 by de Kooning was sold for $ 12.4M by Phillips de Pury on May 10, 2012, lot 19.
This oil on canvas has the same 203 x 178 cm size as the Untitled V but in a vertical format. The comparison may stop here as the abstract composition of these two works is very different.
The V is an explosion of colors that manage to occupy the major part of the canvas. The VI is made of elongated forms with distorted shapes and outlines that float within a plain space. Such a composition anticipates the confrontations of simpler floating lines of the 1980s.
They are not landscapes. The gravity is canceled by the artist by rotating the easel during the creation of the work.
This oil on canvas has the same 203 x 178 cm size as the Untitled V but in a vertical format. The comparison may stop here as the abstract composition of these two works is very different.
The V is an explosion of colors that manage to occupy the major part of the canvas. The VI is made of elongated forms with distorted shapes and outlines that float within a plain space. Such a composition anticipates the confrontations of simpler floating lines of the 1980s.
They are not landscapes. The gravity is canceled by the artist by rotating the easel during the creation of the work.
1975 BACON
1
Three Studies for Self Portrait
2008 SOLD for £ 17.3M by Christie's
Since his beginnings in 1944, Francis Bacon emphasizes the triptych, enabling him to express in a single work the variants of incommunicability. In the life size head portrait format, these oils on canvas, designated as Studies by the artist, have a unique individual dimension, 35 x 30 cm. An early example is the 1964 portrait of Lucian Freud sold for £ 23M by Sotheby's in 2011.
Morbid, disgusted, ever looking for the meaning of life, watching death at work in his own mirror, the artist comes again to one of his preferred subjects : himself. The distortion of the face lines and the violence of the colors do not remove the likeness of these self-portraits, but with the nose of an old alcoholic.
Taking as a model some images made in a photo boost, the artist manages through such triple pictures a motion reminiscent of Muybridge and also a sort of sequence of police shots and possibly the illusion of a tridimensional effect.
Made in 1974, the face of Bacon in triptych sold for $ 25.3M by Christie's on May 11, 2011, lot 36, has a revealing feature : he cannot look at himself because his eyes are shut.
A Study for Self Portrait with vague eyes painted in 1975 by Francis Bacon in the same format was sold for £ 17.3M by Christie's on June 30, 2008, lot 29.
A triptych with half closed eyes painted in 1976 was sold for $ 28M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 10.
Morbid, disgusted, ever looking for the meaning of life, watching death at work in his own mirror, the artist comes again to one of his preferred subjects : himself. The distortion of the face lines and the violence of the colors do not remove the likeness of these self-portraits, but with the nose of an old alcoholic.
Taking as a model some images made in a photo boost, the artist manages through such triple pictures a motion reminiscent of Muybridge and also a sort of sequence of police shots and possibly the illusion of a tridimensional effect.
Made in 1974, the face of Bacon in triptych sold for $ 25.3M by Christie's on May 11, 2011, lot 36, has a revealing feature : he cannot look at himself because his eyes are shut.
A Study for Self Portrait with vague eyes painted in 1975 by Francis Bacon in the same format was sold for £ 17.3M by Christie's on June 30, 2008, lot 29.
A triptych with half closed eyes painted in 1976 was sold for $ 28M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 10.
2
Self Portrait
2019 SOLD for £ 16.5M by Sotheby's
The art of Francis Bacon first expressed his difficult psychological relationship with a questionable world. In an early phase, he looks at the decrepitude of his contemporaries, personified by the pope. Death is treated by everyone as a lie, with the exception of the image of the old woman in Eisenstein's movie.
After such a beginning, the artist does not have the right to get old. Francis takes care of his physical appearance but the ravages of time are inevitable. The sordid suicide of George Dyer in 1971 stops the aging of a young man, leaving Francis with his doubts and anxieties about how to manage his own life.
For five or six years, Francis Bacon wanders, psychologically and physically. His London friends are also aging, and he is looking for new acquaintances in the intellectual circles of Paris. John Deakin had died in 1972 and he is no more supplied with photographs of their Soho friends. He looks in his mirror for lack of a better source of inspiration. Over the years, he sees therein a kind of portrait of Dorian Gray : the true image of himself.
A self-portrait painted in 1975 was sold by Sotheby's for £ 15.3M on July 1, 2015 and for £ 16.5M on June 26, 2019, lot 9. This oil on canvas is in 35 x 30 cm format, very often used by the artist because head studies can be in life size.
As it is often the case with Bacon, the colors are subtle, mixing green, purple and pink on a very dark heavily applied blue-purple background. Only the skin is a little shiny, to be correlated with the fact that the man is wearing a raincoat.
In this particularly gloomy atmosphere, the eye is too big, especially since it draws attention to the blank or meditative gaze. The mackintosh is tainted with unreadable residues of Letraset, considered by zealous commentators as a reference to Parisian writers, but perhaps nothing more than an original way of simulating rain.
After such a beginning, the artist does not have the right to get old. Francis takes care of his physical appearance but the ravages of time are inevitable. The sordid suicide of George Dyer in 1971 stops the aging of a young man, leaving Francis with his doubts and anxieties about how to manage his own life.
For five or six years, Francis Bacon wanders, psychologically and physically. His London friends are also aging, and he is looking for new acquaintances in the intellectual circles of Paris. John Deakin had died in 1972 and he is no more supplied with photographs of their Soho friends. He looks in his mirror for lack of a better source of inspiration. Over the years, he sees therein a kind of portrait of Dorian Gray : the true image of himself.
A self-portrait painted in 1975 was sold by Sotheby's for £ 15.3M on July 1, 2015 and for £ 16.5M on June 26, 2019, lot 9. This oil on canvas is in 35 x 30 cm format, very often used by the artist because head studies can be in life size.
As it is often the case with Bacon, the colors are subtle, mixing green, purple and pink on a very dark heavily applied blue-purple background. Only the skin is a little shiny, to be correlated with the fact that the man is wearing a raincoat.
In this particularly gloomy atmosphere, the eye is too big, especially since it draws attention to the blank or meditative gaze. The mackintosh is tainted with unreadable residues of Letraset, considered by zealous commentators as a reference to Parisian writers, but perhaps nothing more than an original way of simulating rain.
3
Dwarf
2025 SOLD for £ 13M by Sotheby's
George died in 1971 in the hotel room at the time of the great Parisian consecration of Francis, the opening of the exhibition at the Grand Palais. In the five following years Francis Bacon will use all the resources of his art to break free from his suffering and guilt. His art was the only possible support to meet the dead man, again and again, and to confront his own mortality.
A painting made in 1975 includes many elements of the artistic language of Francis. Two naked wrestlers mingle their bodies in a suspended showcase. They lost their individuality and have only one head that is altogether a portrait of George and a self-portrait by Francis.
Their struggle is a sporting event. George was a strong man who reminded to Francis the male muscular figures by Michelangelo. Their dynamic movement with the dual head on the floor of the cage is inspired by the gymnasts photographed by Muybridge. Francis himself revealed these sources of his inspiration.
Their life is ridiculously staged, as for Barnum. In the right side of the composition, the observer is an old headed dwarf perched on a bar stool.
Francis explains this artwork to the young Michael Peppiatt who is already his confidant and will soon be his biographer. Voyeurism now hinders the intimate message of the artist who gets the painting back to cut it in two parts before returning to Peppiatt the left side released from the dwarf.
Titled Two figures, this oil on canvas now in the format unusual for the artist of 198 x 70 cm was sold for £ 5.5M by Christie's on February 11, 2016, lot 25, with a direct provenance from the Peppiatt collection.
The right hand portion with the portrait of the dwarf, 160 x 58 cm, was sold for £ 13M from a lower estimate of £ 6M by Sotheby's on October 16, 2025, lot 11. The video is shared by the auction house. The figure melds some of his closest friends and greatest loves, in an amalgamation of George Dyer’s hairline, Peter Beard’s face, Lucian Freud’s torso and Bacon’s own short legs.
Immediate post sale Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys
After more than 10 minutes of back-and-forth bidding, Francis Bacon's unique 'Portrait of a Dwarf' canvas from 1975 sold to applause for £13.1 million at #SothebysLondon tonight.
A painting made in 1975 includes many elements of the artistic language of Francis. Two naked wrestlers mingle their bodies in a suspended showcase. They lost their individuality and have only one head that is altogether a portrait of George and a self-portrait by Francis.
Their struggle is a sporting event. George was a strong man who reminded to Francis the male muscular figures by Michelangelo. Their dynamic movement with the dual head on the floor of the cage is inspired by the gymnasts photographed by Muybridge. Francis himself revealed these sources of his inspiration.
Their life is ridiculously staged, as for Barnum. In the right side of the composition, the observer is an old headed dwarf perched on a bar stool.
Francis explains this artwork to the young Michael Peppiatt who is already his confidant and will soon be his biographer. Voyeurism now hinders the intimate message of the artist who gets the painting back to cut it in two parts before returning to Peppiatt the left side released from the dwarf.
Titled Two figures, this oil on canvas now in the format unusual for the artist of 198 x 70 cm was sold for £ 5.5M by Christie's on February 11, 2016, lot 25, with a direct provenance from the Peppiatt collection.
The right hand portion with the portrait of the dwarf, 160 x 58 cm, was sold for £ 13M from a lower estimate of £ 6M by Sotheby's on October 16, 2025, lot 11. The video is shared by the auction house. The figure melds some of his closest friends and greatest loves, in an amalgamation of George Dyer’s hairline, Peter Beard’s face, Lucian Freud’s torso and Bacon’s own short legs.
Immediate post sale Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys
After more than 10 minutes of back-and-forth bidding, Francis Bacon's unique 'Portrait of a Dwarf' canvas from 1975 sold to applause for £13.1 million at #SothebysLondon tonight.
- Sotheby's post celebrates the £13.1 million hammer price for Francis Bacon's 1975 "Portrait of a Dwarf," a distorted seated male figure exceeding its £9 million estimate after 10 minutes of competitive bidding at the London Contemporary Evening Auction.
- The oil on canvas, one half of a diptych split by the artist, reflects Bacon's signature style of psychological tension and human fragility, drawing from influences like Velázquez's dwarves while commanding strong collector interest in a £50 million total sale.
- Early reactions mix admiration for the artwork's intensity with lighthearted commentary on its provocative title, underscoring Bacon's enduring market value—his pieces have averaged over £20 million at auction since 2020 per Artprice data.
1975 George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware by Colescott
2021 SOLD for $ 15.3M by Sotheby's
In the mid 1970s Basquiat was a teenager and Kerry James Marshall was an art student. The pioneer in considering that Black figures are absent in the museums was Robert Colescott.
Colescott managed to parody iconic pieces from the art of the White, transferring some characters from white to black with wit and humor. His models were Manet, van Gogh, Picasso or van Eyck's Arnolfini. In terms of race relations, Manet's Olympia with the nude white lady assisted by a black servant was a perfect target and the 1980 Déjeuner sur l'Herbe by Colescott was a delightful revenge.
Colescott's masterpiece in that style is titled George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware and subtitled Page from an American History Textbook.The reappropriated piece is an 1851 patriotic painting owned by the Met Museum.
The boat is full of joyful Negroes in various occupations, inspired from pejorative stereotypes. Details are social or funny, including the VOTE inscribed on a cap and the bare buttocks of a well dressed woman. The leader at the prow in the attire of a US Revolutionary War officer is not George Washington but George Washington Carver.
Rigged by this memorial first name, Carver was born in slavery during the US Civil War. He went to be a successful agricultural scientist who engineered suitable solutions against the depletion of the soil by the extensive culture of cotton.
This acrylic on canvas 200 x 250 cm painted in 1975 was sold for $ 15.3M from a lower estimate of $ 9M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2021, lot 108. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Commenting this specific work, the artist said : "It is the satire that kills the serpent".
Colescott managed to parody iconic pieces from the art of the White, transferring some characters from white to black with wit and humor. His models were Manet, van Gogh, Picasso or van Eyck's Arnolfini. In terms of race relations, Manet's Olympia with the nude white lady assisted by a black servant was a perfect target and the 1980 Déjeuner sur l'Herbe by Colescott was a delightful revenge.
Colescott's masterpiece in that style is titled George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware and subtitled Page from an American History Textbook.The reappropriated piece is an 1851 patriotic painting owned by the Met Museum.
The boat is full of joyful Negroes in various occupations, inspired from pejorative stereotypes. Details are social or funny, including the VOTE inscribed on a cap and the bare buttocks of a well dressed woman. The leader at the prow in the attire of a US Revolutionary War officer is not George Washington but George Washington Carver.
Rigged by this memorial first name, Carver was born in slavery during the US Civil War. He went to be a successful agricultural scientist who engineered suitable solutions against the depletion of the soil by the extensive culture of cotton.
This acrylic on canvas 200 x 250 cm painted in 1975 was sold for $ 15.3M from a lower estimate of $ 9M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2021, lot 108. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Commenting this specific work, the artist said : "It is the satire that kills the serpent".
1975 The Hibiscus by Wu Guanzhong
2015 SOLD for RMB 69M by Poly
Allowed at the end of the Maoist period to resume his artistic activities in Beijing, Wu Guanzhong feels a deep sense of joy and freedom. He uses the symbol of the abundant flowering of spring, perfectly expressed by the subtle colors of oil painting on canvas.
A plum tree in full bloom painted in 1973, 90 x 70 cm, was sold for HK $ 67M by Sotheby's on April 4, 2015.
In that phase of restart, the art of Wu now offers a very wide diversity. Yet in 1975 when he observes the blossoming hibiscus in front of his small garden, he reuses a composition similar as for the plum tree. The tree occupies almost the entire surface of the image, but now the house is visible in the background. A magpie perched on the roof edge certainly translates his retrieved freedom.
This simple and beautiful shrub provides to the painter the depth of thought of a philosopher. He loves flowers but did not plant this tree that has grown to be higher than the roof of his house. A few years later, the tree was gone but the art remains.
The Hibiscus by Wu, 120 x 80 cm, was sold by Poly for RMB 63M on June 3, 2011. and for RMB 69M on June 3, 2015, lot 4006. The history of this painting in the new catalog does not refer to the 2011 auction but the descriptions and images are perfectly consistent.
A plum tree in full bloom painted in 1973, 90 x 70 cm, was sold for HK $ 67M by Sotheby's on April 4, 2015.
In that phase of restart, the art of Wu now offers a very wide diversity. Yet in 1975 when he observes the blossoming hibiscus in front of his small garden, he reuses a composition similar as for the plum tree. The tree occupies almost the entire surface of the image, but now the house is visible in the background. A magpie perched on the roof edge certainly translates his retrieved freedom.
This simple and beautiful shrub provides to the painter the depth of thought of a philosopher. He loves flowers but did not plant this tree that has grown to be higher than the roof of his house. A few years later, the tree was gone but the art remains.
The Hibiscus by Wu, 120 x 80 cm, was sold by Poly for RMB 63M on June 3, 2011. and for RMB 69M on June 3, 2015, lot 4006. The history of this painting in the new catalog does not refer to the 2011 auction but the descriptions and images are perfectly consistent.
1975-1976 Reclining Mother and Child by Moore
2024 SOLD for $ 11.6M by Sotheby's
Throughout his career the sculptor Henry Moore pursued two opposite obsessions related to the female body.
One of them is a post Cubist deconstruction, psychologically neutral, looking for geometric elements beside the waving shapes of the reclining body, adding voids or breaks. In 1951 the park monument 2.30 m long was cast in bronze in five copies plus one artist's proof. The proof was sold for $ 31M by Sotheby's in 2022.
The other theme is the arch-classical psychologically sensitive Mother and Child. She may be nude or draped. The elementary lines are realistic but the proportions may be changed.
A 72 cm high figure featuring a half nude small headed mother seated on a bench with the child on the lap and an apple in a hand for the baby to catch it was conceived in 1956 and cast in an edition of ten plus one artist's proof. One of them was sold for £ 5M by Christie's on February 4, 2014, lot 7. Another copy was sold for $ 3.36M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2024, lot 22. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.
The synthesis is at last achieved in a larger than life Reclining Mother and Child 213 cm long conceived and cast in 1975-76 in an edition of 7 plus 1 artist's proof by H. Noack in Berlin. The mother is nude and the child is an abstracted form.
The 3/7 was sold for $ 11.6M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2024, lot 19. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.
One of them is a post Cubist deconstruction, psychologically neutral, looking for geometric elements beside the waving shapes of the reclining body, adding voids or breaks. In 1951 the park monument 2.30 m long was cast in bronze in five copies plus one artist's proof. The proof was sold for $ 31M by Sotheby's in 2022.
The other theme is the arch-classical psychologically sensitive Mother and Child. She may be nude or draped. The elementary lines are realistic but the proportions may be changed.
A 72 cm high figure featuring a half nude small headed mother seated on a bench with the child on the lap and an apple in a hand for the baby to catch it was conceived in 1956 and cast in an edition of ten plus one artist's proof. One of them was sold for £ 5M by Christie's on February 4, 2014, lot 7. Another copy was sold for $ 3.36M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2024, lot 22. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.
The synthesis is at last achieved in a larger than life Reclining Mother and Child 213 cm long conceived and cast in 1975-76 in an edition of 7 plus 1 artist's proof by H. Noack in Berlin. The mother is nude and the child is an abstracted form.
The 3/7 was sold for $ 11.6M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2024, lot 19. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house.
