ArtHitParade
ArtHitParade on Twitter
  • Home
    • Contact
  • Calendar
  • Top 10
    • Origin
    • From 600 BCE to CE
    • Years 1 to 1000
    • Years 1000 to 1300
    • 14th Century
    • 15th Century >
      • Years 1400-1429
      • Years 1430-1459
      • Years 1460-1479
      • Years 1480-1499
    • 16th Century >
      • Years 1500-1519
      • Decade 1520-1529
      • Decade 1530-1539
      • Years 1540-1569
      • Years 1570-1599
    • 17th Century >
      • Decade 1600-1609
      • Decade 1610-1619
      • Decade 1620-1629
      • Decade 1630-1639
      • Decade 1640-1649
      • Decade 1650-1659
      • Years 1660-1679
      • Years 1680-1699
    • 18th Century >
      • Decade 1700-1709
      • Decade 1710-1719
      • Decade 1720-1729
      • Decade 1730-1739
      • Decade 1740-1749
      • Decade 1750-1759
      • Decade 1760-1769
      • Decade 1770-1779 >
        • 1776
      • Decade 1780-1789
      • Decade 1790-1799 >
        • 1792
    • 19th Century >
      • Decade 1800-1809
      • Decade 1810-1819
      • Decade 1820-1829
      • Decade 1830-1839
      • Decade 1840-1849
      • Decade 1850-1859
      • Decade 1860-1869
      • Decade 1870-1879
      • Decade 1880-1889 >
        • 1885
        • 1887
        • 1888
        • 1889
      • Decade 1890-1899 >
        • 1890
        • 1892
        • 1895
        • 1896
    • 20th Century >
      • Decade 1900-1909 >
        • 1902
        • 1903
        • 1904
        • 1905
        • 1907
        • 1908
        • 1909
      • Decade 1910-1919 >
        • 1910
        • 1911
        • 1912
        • 1913
        • 1914
        • 1915
        • 1916
        • 1917
        • 1918
        • 1919
      • Decade 1920-1929 >
        • 1920
        • 1921
        • 1923
        • 1924
        • 1925
        • 1926
        • 1927
        • 1928
        • 1929
      • Decade 1930-1939 >
        • 1930
        • 1931
        • 1932
        • 1933
        • 1934
        • 1935
        • 1936
        • 1937
        • 1938
        • 1939
      • Decade 1940-1949 >
        • 1941
        • 1942
        • 1945
        • 1946
        • 1947
        • 1948
        • 1949
      • Decade 1950-1959 >
        • 1950
        • 1951
        • 1952
        • 1953
        • 1954
        • 1955
        • 1956
        • 1957
        • 1958
        • 1959
      • Decade 1960-1969 >
        • 1960
        • 1961
        • 1962
        • 1963
        • 1964
        • 1965
        • 1966
        • 1967
        • 1968
        • 1969
      • Decade 1970-1979 >
        • 1970
        • 1971
        • 1972
        • 1973
        • 1974
        • 1975
        • 1976
        • 1977
        • 1978
        • 1979
      • Decade 1980-1989 >
        • 1980
        • 1981
        • 1982
        • 1983
        • 1984
        • 1985
        • 1986
        • 1987
        • 1988
        • 1989
      • Decade 1990-1999 >
        • 1990
        • 1991
        • 1992
        • 1993
        • 1994
        • 1995
        • 1996
        • 1997
        • 1998
        • 1999
    • 21st Century >
      • Decade 2000-2009 >
        • 2000
        • 2001
        • 2002
        • 2003
        • 2004
        • 2006
        • 2007
        • 2008
      • Decade 2010-2019 >
        • 2017
      • 2020 to now >
        • 2021
  • Current Art
  • Renaissance
  • Painting
    • Ancient Painting >
      • Rembrandt
      • Oil on Copper
    • 18th Century Painting
  • Ancient Drawing
  • Art on Paper
  • Sculpture
    • Bust
    • Ancient Sculpture >
      • Roman Sculpture
    • Italian Sculpture
    • French Sculpture
    • Sculpture by Painters
  • Women Artists
    • Ancient Art by Women
    • O'Keeffe
    • Lempicka
    • Martin
    • Mitchell
    • Yayoi Kusama
    • Brown
  • Furniture
    • Chairs and Seats
    • Colonial Furniture
    • Ancient French Furniture
    • 18th Century Furniture
    • Modern Furniture >
      • Art Deco
    • Modern Tables
  • Prints
    • Ancient Prints
    • Modern Prints
  • Photo
    • Old Photos >
      • Travel Photos
      • Early French Photo
    • Photos 1900s 1910s
    • Photos 1920s 1930s
    • Photos 1970s 1980s
    • Sherman
    • Gursky
  • The Man
  • The Woman
  • Children
  • Man and Woman
  • Groups
  • Self Portrait
    • Self Portrait 2nd page
  • Nude
  • Abstract Art
    • Abstract Art - 2nd page
  • Landscape
    • Midi
    • Alps
    • Mountains in China
  • Cities
    • Venice
    • Paris
    • Los Angeles
  • Flowers
    • Bouquet
  • Animals
    • Bird
    • Cats
    • Horse
  • Tabletop
  • Early Still Life
  • Music and Dance in Art
    • Music in Old Painting
  • Sport in Art
  • Orientalism
    • Orientalism 1830-1900
  • France
    • Louis XV and XVI
    • Revolution and Empire
    • Louis XVIII to 2nd Empire
    • Ancient French Painting
    • Degas
    • Cézanne
    • Monet >
      • Monet before 1878
      • From Vétheuil to Giverny
      • London and Venice
      • Bassin aux Nymphéas
    • Renoir
    • Gauguin
    • Seurat and Signac
    • Lautrec
    • Matisse
    • Léger
    • Klein
    • Lalanne
    • Post War French Art
  • Italy
    • Ancient Italy >
      • Italian Painting 1280-1700
    • Canaletto
    • Modigliani
    • Fontana
  • Swiss Painting
    • Hodler
  • Giacometti
    • Giacometti 1947-53
    • Femme Debout
  • Bacon
    • Bacon before 1963
    • Bacon 1963-70
    • Later Bacons
    • Head Triptych
  • UK - 2nd page
    • Ancient England
    • George I to III
    • George IV to Victoria
    • British Royals
    • Turner >
      • Watercolor by Turner
    • Freud >
      • Early Freud
    • Hockney
    • Doig
    • Hirst
    • Banksy
  • Germany
    • Ancient Germany >
      • Cranach
    • Richter >
      • Richter before 1983
    • Germany - 2nd page
  • Van Gogh
  • Mondrian
  • De Kooning
  • Old Flanders and Belgium
    • Rubens
    • Flemish Art
    • Magritte >
      • Early Magritte
    • Belgium 2nd page
  • Picasso
    • Picasso before 1907
    • Picasso 1907-1931
    • Marie-Thérèse
    • Picasso later 1930s
    • Picasso 1940-1960
    • Picasso in Mougins
    • Prints by Picasso
  • Miro
  • Spain 2nd page
    • Ancient Spain
    • Gris
  • Klimt
  • Schiele
  • USA
    • US Independence
    • Development of USA
    • US Civil War
    • Wild West
    • US Painting before 1940
    • Rockwell
    • Calder
    • Rothko >
      • Early Rothko
      • Rothko 1957-70
    • Still
    • Pollock
    • Lichtenstein >
      • Lichtenstein after 1965
    • Warhol >
      • USA by Warhol
      • Celebrities by Warhol >
        • Elvis and Liz
      • Later Warhols
      • Prints by Warhol
    • Twombly
    • Prince
    • Koons
    • Wool
    • Basquiat
    • USA 2nd page
  • Central and South Americas
    • Mexico
  • China
    • Archaic China >
      • Ritual Bronzes
    • Northern Song
    • Southern Song and Yuan
    • Early Ming
    • Later Ming
    • Early Qing
    • Qianlong
    • Modern China >
      • Zhang Daqian >
        • Zhang Daqian before 1965
      • Fu Baoshi
      • Sanyu >
        • Sanyu before 1950
      • Wu Guanzhong
      • Zao Wou-Ki
    • New Chinese Painting
    • Chinese Porcelain >
      • Song to Yuan Porcelain
      • Ming Porcelain
      • Qing Porcelain
    • Chinese Art
    • Chinese Calligraphy
    • Chinese Furniture
    • Imperial Seal
    • Chinese Dragon
    • Jadeite
  • India
    • Gaitonde
    • Modern India
  • Persia
    • Safavid Carpets
  • Yoshitomo Nara
  • Russia
    • Russia 1700-1900
    • Kandinsky
  • Eastern Europe
    • Brancusi
    • Chagall
  • Northern Europe
    • Prints by Munch
  • Egypt
  • Tropical Africa
    • Congo
    • Gabon
    • Mask
  • Tribal Oceania
    • Easter Island
  • Australia
    • Colonial Australia
  • Islam
  • Buddhism
    • Early Buddhist Sculpture
    • Tibet and Nepal
  • Judaica
  • Christianity
    • Madonna and Child
  • Cars
    • Birth of Automobile
    • Cars of the 1910s
    • Cars of the 1920s
    • Cars of the 1930s >
      • Cars 1930-33
      • Cars 1934-35
      • Cars 1936-37
      • Cars 1938-39
    • Post War Cars
    • Cars of the 1950s >
      • Cars 1953-54
      • Cars 1955
      • Cars 1956-57
      • Cars 1958-59
    • Cars of the 1960s >
      • Cars 1960-61
      • Cars 1962-63
      • Cars 1964-65
      • Cars 1966-67
    • Cars 1970s 1980s
    • Supercars
    • Hypercars
    • Ferrari >
      • Early Ferrari
      • GT >
        • California Spider
      • Big Five
    • Alfa Romeo
    • Mercedes-Benz
    • Porsche
    • British Cars >
      • Aston Martin
      • Jaguar
      • McLaren
    • Bugatti
    • French Cars
    • Duesenberg
    • Ford and Shelby
    • Cars in Movies
    • Cars - 2nd page
  • Motorcycles
  • Jewels
    • White Diamond
    • Pink Diamond
    • Blue Diamond
    • African Gems
    • Jewels - 2nd page
    • Cartier
  • Silverware
    • Old Silverware
  • Coin
    • Antique Coins >
      • Roman Coins
    • Coins 1000-1775
    • Coins 1776-92
    • Coins 1793-1819
    • Coins 1820-49
    • Coins 1850-69
    • Coins 1870-99
    • 20th century Coins
    • US Gold Coins
    • Dollars and Eagles >
      • Silver Dollar
    • British Coins
    • Japanese Coins
    • Chinese Coins
  • Paper Currency
  • Medal and Decoration
  • Time Pieces
    • Clocks >
      • Old Clocks
    • Mechanical Craft ca 1800 >
      • Jaquet-Droz and Followers
    • Modern Watches
    • New Watches >
      • OnlyWatch
    • Patek Philippe >
      • Patek Philippe before 1950
      • World Time
      • Perpetual Calendar
    • Rolex
    • Watches 2nd page
    • English Time Pieces
    • French Time Pieces
  • Glass and Crystal
    • Glass before 1900
    • Tiffany Studios
  • Terracotta and Porcelain
    • Meissen
  • Textiles
  • Books
    • Incunabula
    • 16th Century Books
    • 17th Century Books
    • Fine Books 1700-1850
  • Literature
    • Literature in English
    • Literature in French
  • Poems and Lyrics
  • Autograph
  • Manuscript
    • Illuminated Christian Manuscript
  • Religious Texts
  • Political Writing
  • Comic Books
  • Illustration Art
    • Tintin
  • Travel
  • Space
    • Apollo 11
  • Maps
    • Ancient Maps
  • Movies
    • Screen Worn
  • Music
  • Musical Instrument
    • Stradivarius
    • Violin 2nd page
    • Guitar
    • Musical Instrument 2nd page
  • Pop Music
    • The Beatles
  • Poster
  • Sport
    • Sport Equipment
    • Sport Uniform
    • Sport Document
    • Sport Rewards and Medals
    • Sport Cards >
      • Sport Images before 1940
      • T206 Wagner
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Sport Cards 1940-92
      • Topps Mantle
      • Modern Sport Cards
    • Baseball >
      • Baseball Bat
      • Baseball Jersey
      • Babe Ruth
      • Lou Gehrig
    • Basketball >
      • Basketball Jersey
      • Jordan
    • Ice Hockey
    • Sport 2nd page
    • Olympic Games
  • Origins of Sports
  • Historical Arms
    • Blade and Armour
    • Colt in Lifetime
    • Later Colts
    • Winchester
    • Firearms - 2nd page
  • Toys
  • Doll
  • Games
  • Stamps
    • World Stamps
    • US Stamps
    • Inverted Jenny
  • Inventions
  • Optical Instrument
  • Sciences
    • Ancient Science
    • Sciences 1600-1800
    • Sciences from 1800
    • Astronomy
    • Physics
    • Medicine
  • Dinosaur
  • Computing
  • Nobel Medals
  • Whisky
    • Whisky 2nd page
  • Wine
  • Plus
    • Plus 17C
    • Plus 1880s
    • Plus 1910s
    • Plus Basquiat
    • Plus Qing Porcelain
    • Plus Tribal

1985

Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
​See also : Abstract art II  China  Modern China  Zao Wou-Ki  Sport in art  Los Angeles
1984

​​1985 Juin-Octobre 1985 by Zao Wou-Ki
2018 SOLD for HK$ 510M by Sotheby's

The architect I.M. Pei has considerably influenced the style of the great modern cities. When his fame becomes international, he revisits his native China. In the 1970s the Far East no longer wants its urbanism to follow the West. They always desire higher, more spectacular, more functional. Pei is building an office skyscraper 198 meters high in Singapore.

Zao Wou-Ki also made his own return to his sources. In the 1980s the originality of his abstract paintings inspired by East and West met with great success in the Far East.

Pei is creating in Singapore a complex named Raffles City based on a tower and two hotels, and incorporating a shopping center and a convention center. In 1985 the project is advanced enough to anticipate the interior design. Zao is traveling in the Far East. Pei makes him visit the Raffles site and commissions him a gigantic painting for adorning the grand lobby of the main building alongside abstractions by Ellsworth Kelly and Kenneth Noland in the minimalist taste of the architect.

Back in France, Zao prepares this work with a passion comparable to Monet opening with the Grandes Décorations the ultimate phase of his career. The result is a triptych of oils on canvas, 2.80 m x 10 m overall, which is installed in 1986 as planned and will remain there until 2005. Contrary to Zao's usual practice, the title is not a mere date but a period, Juin-Octobre 1985, thus confirming the prolonged attention given by the artist in its execution.

Juin-Octobre 1985 is the most monumental artwork in Zao's entire career. According to his inspiration in that decade, it evokes the mystical unicity between nature and the infinite. The incandescent center is seen beyond a dark curtain accented by strident blue. It was sold for HK $ 510M from an expectation beyond HK $ 350M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2018, lot 1004. 
Abstract Art - 2nd page
China
Modern China
Zao Wou-Ki
Decade 1980-1989

​1985 with Don Quixote and Jaguar by Basquiat
2021 SOLD for HK$ 290M by Sotheby's

Jean-Michel Basquiat comes from the street but he indeed cannot bring a wall into his studio or a fortiori into an exhibition room. During his stay in California in 1983, he appreciates that a wooden fence could be a good substitute to have the viewers remind the deep roots of his art.

This material unprecedented in pictorial art also invites to polyptychs. For the great narrative works, wood is thus an alternative to canvas of which a great example is the 1983 Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta, sold by Sotheby's in 2014 for $ 23.7M.

On June 18, 2021, Sotheby's sold for HK $ 290M an Untitled painted in 1985, lot 15. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

This acrylic and oilstick on wood is a triptych 217 x 275 cm overall. The idea of using raw material in major art is reinforced by the unequal depth of the three panels, up to 30 cm for the protruding right panel.

The most visible figure is a black alien, with an extensive double row of teeth and a body transparent to the bright white digestive system. Don Quixote riding his poor horse is a direct symbol of Basquiat's impossible social fight.

The three panels have different dominant hues. The common character of the three images is a jaguar whose colored body is over Don Quixote on the central panel. The tail is linking it to the protruding right panel. The otherwise nearly blank left panel has an oversized black drawing of the head with terrible fangs plus a hanging colored debris of the skin.

On February 10, 1985, The New York Times Magazine reported on 'New Art New Money' about the irresistible rise in fame of the 24 year old Basquiat. The cover page was illustrated with a seated portrait of Jean-Michel in front of the unfinished triptych narrated above, when the jaguar had not yet been added.

1985 Now's The Time by Basquiat
2023 SOLD for $ 28.6M by Sotheby's

From a teenager to his early death, Jean-Michel Basquiat was mad of jazz and bebop, collecting, DJ-ing, sax playing and occasionally recording. His arch-hero was the African American Charlie Parker.

Jean-Michel introduced the simulation of album covers in his art. Painted in 1983, the word painting without figure Discography Two was sold for $ 21M by Christie's on November 15, 2018, lot 24C.

1985 is the 30th year after Charlie's death at age 35, mentally disabled by alcohol and drug. Jean-Michel prepares a monumental representation of a 45 rpm vinyl in black acrylic on an irregular rough wood circle 235 cm in diameter.

The black disc is only inscribed in white oilstick with the small circle for the central hole, an irregular mid circle for the label, and the block letter scribble "NOW'S THE TIME" PRKR accompanied by a copyright sign.

Now's the Time is one of Parker's earliest hits, first recorded by him in 1945 in alto sax with his band. PRKR and the copyright are the revenge by Basquiat for Parker after he had been incorrectly removed of the authorship by the publisher of a reissue.

The Basquiat painting was sold for $ 28.6M by Sotheby's on May 18, 2023, lot 116.

​1985 Ocean Park by Diebenkorn
​2018 SOLD for $ 22.6M by Christie's

From 1967 to 1985 the series of paintings titled Ocean Park is the interpretation by Richard Diebenkorn of the atmosphere and colors of Santa Monica. Seeking the dazzling light as de Staël had done, he goes further by sublimating the landscape in abstract compositions.

During these two decades the emotions of the artist were changing. He interrupts Ocean Park in 1980 after opus 125. He feels the need for a greater realization of his vision on large canvases and composes opus 126 to 140 in 1984 and 1985.

On November 15, 2018, Christie's sold for $ 22.6M Ocean Park 137, oil on canvas 254 x 206 cm painted in 1985, lot 31 C.

Within the final sub-series, 137 is the only one that appears to be almost entirely devoted to the blue of the sea. Far from being monochrome, it offers shades that lead from left to right to the dominant zone in deep blue of the open sea.

The other paintings leave a significant place to the colors of the shore. The first of them, 126, is an abstract landscape in many colors with a structured geometry. This 236 x 206 cm oil on canvas painted in 1984 was sold for $ 24M by Christie's on May 17, 2018.

While still admiring the colors of what had been his frame of life since 1967, Diebenkorn was tired from Los Angeles. In 1986 he prospected to settle in the countryside and made his masterpiece of print, Green, 114 x 90 cm. A copy was sold for $ 530K by Sotheby's on May 2, 2014. He bought in 1987 an old house inside  a vineyard in Northern California.
Los Angeles

1985 Equilibrium by KOONS

​1
​One Ball
​2016 SOLD for $ 15.3M by Christie's

​Jeff Koons is the star of current art since he creates what the audience wishes to see. He talks too much for the purpose that people will believe in the universality of his artistic message. With his perpetual smile, he acts as a rare example of an optimistic creator.

In 1977, aged 22, he begins by making kitsch scenes with toys and objects. On the following year he imagines inflatable flowers and rabbits and builds them in painted vinyl. In 1980 his first exhibition entitled The New is an application of the ready made conception in a simulated trade show of household electrical equipment.

He must now find an artifact and a theme that would appeal to visitors from all social classes. Basketball, this sport from yard to competition, meets this requirement by its ability to generate champions while using some very simple equipment.

He acquires balls of Spalding brand but it is not foregone to amaze the public with such everyday pieces. He decides to display them frozen in flight with no visible structure like in a sports photograph. Or like a cosmic planet.

This is of course not possible. Yet it happens. Dr. Feynman who was one of the most brilliant physicists of his time proposes a magic. In 1985 after two years of trials, Koons puts his balls in aquariums filled successively with saturated salt water and pure water. The two densities do not mingle and the ball stands still at mid height of its showcase without raising or sinking. After several weeks some maintenance will be required.

The Equilibrium exhibition is the first success for Jeff Koons. Its central work is a minimalist tank with a solitary basket ball. The technique is demythified by so called "50/50" tanks in which the ball floats at the same height on a visible surface of water. Bronzes and posters on the theme of basketball complete the display.

On May 8, 2016, Christie's sold as lot 21 A for $ 15.3M a One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Spalding Dr. J Silver Series). The tank 83 x 40 cm is on a steel stand for​ an overall height of 165 cm. This installation is the number 1 from an edition of 2.

​On 
May 12, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 6.9M a Total Equilibrium Tank with two Spalding Dr J Silver balls, lot 7. This installation is the number 2 from an edition of 2.

The Equilibrium Tanks mark the first encounter between Jeff Koons and advanced technologies, anticipating the development of the reflective layers of his Celebrations. He also highlights s a symbol of life a basket ball that never deflates.

The star player "Dr J" Erving retired two years later.
Sport in Art

2
Aqualung
2021 SOLD for $ 15.2M by Sotheby's

Jeff Koons was a commodities broker at Wall Street, keen to push household equipment into art. As early as 1980 he conceived the entry of store-bought Hoover and Shelton vacuum cleaners in a museum.

His groundbreaking Equilibrium solo exhibition in May-June 1985 in New York was not limited to floating basketballs. On the themes of air and water, it included bronze renderings of artefacts selected from his happy childhood memory such as a snorkel, an inflatable deep sea life vest or an inflatable life raft.

For the scuba vest, the artist required a bronze replica of an Aqua-Lung Sea Quest in all the tactile details of its equipment and its textile folds, wrinkles and curves : tube, buckle, canister, knob and pocket. He was so demanding that the support by an experienced metallurgist had been necessary.

This piece marks the antagonism between real life, where it provides oxygen to maintain life in water, and the illusion of art, where the heavy bronze cannot but sink. Through art, such a banal artefact becomes un-effective.

Aqualung was cast in an edition of 3 plus an artist's proof, 69 x 45 x 45 cm, unpainted but with a gorgeous patina. The 3/3 was sold for $ 15.2M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 16.

1985 RICHTER

1
1985 573-1 Schwefel
2021 SOLD for HK$ 118M by Sotheby's

Gerhard Richter redefines painting. He joins Malevich when he considers that an oil on canvas is a finished product which does not need figurative references. In the 1970s, he attempts several forms of abstraction, including gray monochromes and color charts.

1982 is a year of great experimentation. On the figurative side, Richter paints icebergs. The shapes and colors dissolve, in a smoother way than in the weird blurry photo-realisms of the previous phase. In the same year, the candles are a pretext to approach the full extent of the colored spectrum.

The step is quickly taken. Also in 1982, the artist paints abstractions in very large format. Opus 492, Gelbgrün, is a diptych measuring 260 x 400 cm overall, sold for £ 10.9M by Sotheby's on March 7, 2018, lot 28.

On a light blue background, the artist added large floating shapes in strident yellow and bright green, through ample gestures inspired by Franz Kline's Action Painting. The squeegee appears as a complement to  brush and knife for providing a semi-automatism.

These experiments are convincing, and abstractions become predominant in Richter's art.

The opus 573-1, Schwefel (Sulphur), oil on canvas 200 x 300 cm painted in 1985, was sold by Sotheby's for $ 12.5M on November 14, 2018, lot 37, and for HK $ 118M on April 19, 2021, lot 1127.

The bright colors are more varied than in the example above, over a green background. The gestures are less ample, reducing the scarring effect. The composition is a clever mix between order and chaos. By this aspect, Schwefel is a precursor of the Abstraktes Bild 599, oil on canvas 300 x 250 cm painted in 1986, in which Richter adds the confrontation of horizontal and vertical. 599 was sold for £ 30.4M by Sotheby's in 2015.

2
575-2 SD
​2021 SOLD for £ 9.6M by Sotheby's

Three abstract paintings by Richter are listed by Sotheby's on October 14, 2021.  In the catalogue raisonné of the artist, they belong to the sub-series 575 and 576 of 3 oils on canvas each. They were gathered by the consignor in 1986, one of them directly from the artist. The three of them offer spatial suggestions in bright colors applied with squeegee and brush. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

The sub-series 575 is standardized at 200 x 200 cm.

575-2 is titled S.D. It was sold for £ 9.6M for a lower estimate of £ 7M, lot 16. The other titles are D.G. for 575-1 and Stuhl for 575-3. This unusual title possibly refers to the repartition of the colors that may suggest the edge of an oversized chair in the foreground right. Stuhl was sold for £ 2.15M by Sotheby's on June 21, 2007, lot 30.

3
576-1
​2021 SOLD for £ 7.9M by Sotheby's

The sub-series 576 is standardized at 180 x 120 cm. No other title than the generic Abstraktes Bild is provided.

In the same sale as above by Sotheby's on October 14, 2021, 576-1 was sold for £ 7.9M from a lower estimate of £ 5M, lot 17, and 576-2 for £ 5.9M, lot 18.

1985 de Kooning
2022 SOLD for $ 9.3M by Christie's

Willem de Kooning turns his eighties in 1984. Still able to paint large size canvases, he enjoys his freedom.

Going into pure abstraction, he felt that he had reached his top maturity. The independent artist was now happy to understand the expressivity of the pure colors in the follow of Matisse, Cézanne and Monet. His new style is made of intermingling floating colored ribbons in a spaced composition over a white or light background. The curves may be underlined.


An Untitled oil on canvas 223 x 195 cm painted in 1984 reaches an utmost efficiency without being minimalist. The ribbons are limited to two primary colors, red and blue.  Some segments of ribbons are underlined in the other color while width and thickness may vary. The background is a glowing white. The space behind the loops is not colored. It was sold for £ 6.1M by Phillips on March 2, 2023, lot 9.

A smaller Untitled 178 x 203 cm painted in 1985 in the same style was sold for $ 9.3M by Christie's on November 17, 2022, lot 48.

This opus is a reminder of his lifelong research of the limits between abstraction and figuration. Some segments of ribbons are underlined in the other color while width and thickness may vary. Guided by this pseudo-drawing, the observer may find the nude breasts, slimmed torso and buttocks of a female body.

On May 16, 2022, Sotheby's sold at lot 16 for $ 9M the Untitled XIII of 1984, oil on canvas 178 x 203 cm.  The crimson cascading lines, sometimes underlined in a paler crimson, and smaller blue lines are enclosing or not some large pale yellow areas on a white background.

On May 12, 2021, Sotheby's sold for $ 7.2M Stowaway, oil on canvas 203 x 178 cm painted in 1986 in mingled forms and subtle contrasts, lot 116.
1986
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.