1986
See also : Sculpture Germany Richter USA USA II Koons Warhol Later Warhols Self portrait Animals Alps Christianity
1986 A Carrot Eater
2019 SOLD for $ 91M including premium
Jeff Koons began his artist's career by gathering casts and ready-mades in solo and group exhibitions. In 1979 Inflatables assembles vinyl flowers with mirrors. He exhibits Equilibrium in 1983 and Luxury and Degradation including the Jim Beam train in 1986.
With Statuary in 1986 and Banality in 1988, Koons pushes kitsch to the rank of a major art : his unlimited exploitation of the consumer society is ultra-modernist, in the wake of the everyday objects hugely increased by Oldenburg.
Statuary includes ten stainless steel sculptures. The terrible banality of this group is broken by the two highest pieces in a total opposition of style : a bust of Louis XIV 117 cm high and a rabbit 104 cm high. With this Rabbit, Koons makes a great promotion for his own art. The closest antecedent is the unique Bunny which had slipped into his previous series of inflatable flowers.
The new rabbit has smooth forms and no face. It brings up to the position of its mouth a carrot in which some visitors see a sexual symbol, an impression reinforced by the information that the steel had been molded over an inflatable doll. The spectators satisfy their own ego by contemplating themselves in the mirror-like surface of the rabbit. The artist's statements complacently maintain all these ambiguities.
After this great success of his rabbit, Koons appreciates that other figures or toys much stylized and disproportionately enlarged will have a considerable impact on the public. His Celebrations, designed from 1994 in a range of colors, will offer a similar mirror effect.
Rabbit was edited in three units plus one artist's proof. Number 2/3 is estimated $ 50M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 15 B. The Louis XIV artist's proof was sold for $ 10.8M including premium by Christie's on May 13, 2015.
With Statuary in 1986 and Banality in 1988, Koons pushes kitsch to the rank of a major art : his unlimited exploitation of the consumer society is ultra-modernist, in the wake of the everyday objects hugely increased by Oldenburg.
Statuary includes ten stainless steel sculptures. The terrible banality of this group is broken by the two highest pieces in a total opposition of style : a bust of Louis XIV 117 cm high and a rabbit 104 cm high. With this Rabbit, Koons makes a great promotion for his own art. The closest antecedent is the unique Bunny which had slipped into his previous series of inflatable flowers.
The new rabbit has smooth forms and no face. It brings up to the position of its mouth a carrot in which some visitors see a sexual symbol, an impression reinforced by the information that the steel had been molded over an inflatable doll. The spectators satisfy their own ego by contemplating themselves in the mirror-like surface of the rabbit. The artist's statements complacently maintain all these ambiguities.
After this great success of his rabbit, Koons appreciates that other figures or toys much stylized and disproportionately enlarged will have a considerable impact on the public. His Celebrations, designed from 1994 in a range of colors, will offer a similar mirror effect.
Rabbit was edited in three units plus one artist's proof. Number 2/3 is estimated $ 50M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 15 B. The Louis XIV artist's proof was sold for $ 10.8M including premium by Christie's on May 13, 2015.
1986 Sacrifice and Sharing
2017 SOLD for $ 61M including premium
Shy and famous at the same time, Andy Warhol was discussing with friends throughout his career before selecting his most popular themes. The story of the dollar at the very beginning of his realization of multiples is typical. In 1985 the gallery owner Alexander Iolas suggests a new theme of interpretations of Leonardo's Last Supper to be exhibited in Milan across the street from the permanent location of the original.
Warhol is working hard on this project that had everything to seduce him. For devout Catholics the Last Supper is the founding act of the mystical Christianity by which Christ announces his death and resurrection and especially his sharing with the whole mankind.
Warhol had himself something like a resurrection in 1968 when his heart restarted after the assassination attempt. He felt that he was going to die during the surgical operation of his gallbladder which was inevitable but was constantly postponed by him. This intuition was right.
In that impulse Warhol realized about 100 variations around Leonardo's Last Supper in 1986 while about 20 were enough for the Milan exhibition. He did not take as model the original painting but two poor photographs of old copies. This final project brilliantly terminates his own pop art revolution by which the visual message and the ability to copy and multiply it are more important than the skill even when the artist is Leonardo himself.
This series includes a few monumental pieces in a perfect repetition that reaches the infinite. Christ 112 times in yellow which is a reproduction of a detail measures 203 x 1069 cm. This artwork was sold for $ 9.5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008.
On November 15 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 13 B a multiplication of the entire picture, Sixty Last Suppers. This 295 x 998 cm canvas which is undoubtedly the largest in the series and perhaps even in his entire career in terms of surface was not included in the Milan exhibition. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Warhol is working hard on this project that had everything to seduce him. For devout Catholics the Last Supper is the founding act of the mystical Christianity by which Christ announces his death and resurrection and especially his sharing with the whole mankind.
Warhol had himself something like a resurrection in 1968 when his heart restarted after the assassination attempt. He felt that he was going to die during the surgical operation of his gallbladder which was inevitable but was constantly postponed by him. This intuition was right.
In that impulse Warhol realized about 100 variations around Leonardo's Last Supper in 1986 while about 20 were enough for the Milan exhibition. He did not take as model the original painting but two poor photographs of old copies. This final project brilliantly terminates his own pop art revolution by which the visual message and the ability to copy and multiply it are more important than the skill even when the artist is Leonardo himself.
This series includes a few monumental pieces in a perfect repetition that reaches the infinite. Christ 112 times in yellow which is a reproduction of a detail measures 203 x 1069 cm. This artwork was sold for $ 9.5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008.
On November 15 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 13 B a multiplication of the entire picture, Sixty Last Suppers. This 295 x 998 cm canvas which is undoubtedly the largest in the series and perhaps even in his entire career in terms of surface was not included in the Milan exhibition. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
1986 Fright Wig by WARHOL
Intro
Andy Warhol was a devout Catholic. His multiplication of identical pictures of Marilyn throughout his career and of Mao in 1972 and 1973 may be interpreted as an attempt to have some of his images becoming as recognizable as Christ on the cross.
In the 1960s Andy also processed his self-portraits as a shy man half hidden in the shadow to observe the world.
His mystical preaching restarts in 1986 with his remakes of Leonardo's Last Supper, in whole or limited to details. He gets an intuition that the exemplary character that he has long sought in the modern world is indeed himself in the like of a mad man. Warhol is no longer human, he is being transformed by himself into a half-god of contemporary art.
He is already 58 years old and his face is aging. He greatly exaggerates his physical decline with a shaggy wig, his head cut under the chin, haggard eyes and an open mouth that are turning his head into a hollowed mask on a black background. The lines of the face are wasted as if they announced the next transformation of the artist into a skeleton.
This unconventional disembodied head offsets the expectations of well-thinking people in the same power as, many years before, the famous photo of Einstein sticking out his tongue.
Reusing the technique of his early masterpieces he paints this unique view in acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas by multiplying sizes and colors. The largest format in the Fright Wig series is 270 x 270 cm, used in seven canvases.
Andy also made multi-colored psychedelic pictures from the same original photo. One of them, 204 x 204 cm, displays a bright yellow face half canceled by floating scraps of a dull green and blue wrap, like in a apotheosis from life to death. It was sold for $ 18.7M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2022, lot 12.
Andy Warhol died unexpectedly in February 1987, seven months after the exhibition of that ultimate premonitory series of selfies at the Anthony d'Offay gallery in London.
In the 1960s Andy also processed his self-portraits as a shy man half hidden in the shadow to observe the world.
His mystical preaching restarts in 1986 with his remakes of Leonardo's Last Supper, in whole or limited to details. He gets an intuition that the exemplary character that he has long sought in the modern world is indeed himself in the like of a mad man. Warhol is no longer human, he is being transformed by himself into a half-god of contemporary art.
He is already 58 years old and his face is aging. He greatly exaggerates his physical decline with a shaggy wig, his head cut under the chin, haggard eyes and an open mouth that are turning his head into a hollowed mask on a black background. The lines of the face are wasted as if they announced the next transformation of the artist into a skeleton.
This unconventional disembodied head offsets the expectations of well-thinking people in the same power as, many years before, the famous photo of Einstein sticking out his tongue.
Reusing the technique of his early masterpieces he paints this unique view in acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas by multiplying sizes and colors. The largest format in the Fright Wig series is 270 x 270 cm, used in seven canvases.
Andy also made multi-colored psychedelic pictures from the same original photo. One of them, 204 x 204 cm, displays a bright yellow face half canceled by floating scraps of a dull green and blue wrap, like in a apotheosis from life to death. It was sold for $ 18.7M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2022, lot 12.
Andy Warhol died unexpectedly in February 1987, seven months after the exhibition of that ultimate premonitory series of selfies at the Anthony d'Offay gallery in London.
1
Purple
2010 SOLD for $ 32.5M by Sotheby's
Five paintings in color were executed simultaneously in the largest format from the series, 270 x 270 cm, showing the same image respectively in green, blue, purple, yellow and red.
The purple painting was sold for $ 32.5M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2010. Its color is sinister and mesmerizing. The press release and image of the lot are shared by AuctionPublicity.
The purple painting was sold for $ 32.5M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2010. Its color is sinister and mesmerizing. The press release and image of the lot are shared by AuctionPublicity.
2
Red
2011 SOLD for $ 27.5M by Christie's
The sale of the disturbing purple version 270 x 270 cm by Sotheby's in 2010 was a revelation. Estimated $ 10M, this work was sold for $ 32.5M. The pre-sale press release indicated that only one other version was still in private hands.
The terrible red Warhol, in same size, was sold for $ 27.5M by Christie's on May 11, 2011. The image is shared by Art Market Monitor.
The terrible red Warhol, in same size, was sold for $ 27.5M by Christie's on May 11, 2011. The image is shared by Art Market Monitor.
3
Set of Six Small Size
2018 SOLD for £ 22.6M by Christie's
Andy prepared the Fright Wig seriec in various sizes and colors from a single image, as he had done before for his series of celebrities and for the flowers. For that ultimate series, the smallest versions were intended to be kept in a sequence of hanging strictly defined by the artist.
A set of six acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 56 x 56 cm was sold for $ 30M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2014, lot 23. It had been illustrated by Sotheby's in a pre sale video. Still complete from its original configuration it was sold for £ 22.6M by Christie's on March 6, 2018, lot 9.
A set of three mid-size 102 x 102 cm each was sold for £ 11.5M by Sotheby's on February 27, 2008.
A set of six acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 56 x 56 cm was sold for $ 30M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2014, lot 23. It had been illustrated by Sotheby's in a pre sale video. Still complete from its original configuration it was sold for £ 22.6M by Christie's on March 6, 2018, lot 9.
A set of three mid-size 102 x 102 cm each was sold for £ 11.5M by Sotheby's on February 27, 2008.
1986 RICHTER
Intro
Gerhard Richter conscientiously serializes his Abstraktes Bild (AB) in chronological order, in series ranging from one to ten paintings. A review of the 1986 millésime, AB 588 to AB 619, tracks the evolution of the technique and inspiration of the artist in this very important transition year which includes the first use of the squeegee.
At the beginning of 1986, Richter already goes further than other abstract artists by an extensive use of the range of colors and a great brightness. The first AB's of 1986 are often inspired by landscape views in which we try to recognize waterfalls of various shapes. Lines are separating the various areas in the image.
At the beginning of 1986, Richter already goes further than other abstract artists by an extensive use of the range of colors and a great brightness. The first AB's of 1986 are often inspired by landscape views in which we try to recognize waterfalls of various shapes. Lines are separating the various areas in the image.
1
AB 599
2015 SOLD for £ 30.4M by Sotheby's
In 1986 Gerhard Richter redefines abstract art. He gradually escapes evocation. He also wants to stand out from abstract expressionism in favor of a chaos of colors for which it will however be necessary to provide an overall logic.
His innovation is not only the use of the squeegee but the conjunction of this new tool with the brush and the knife. By mingling impastos and transparent veils, the artist creates shimmering effects while using the full range of colors.
Abstraktes Bild 599 is sparkling, with bright contrasts amidst a geometric structure somewhat reminiscent of Boccioni's futuristic compartmentalization. This 250 x 300 cm oil on canvas was sold for £ 30.4M by Sotheby's on February 10, 2015, lot 37. The seminal work of this style was the opus 590 titled SDI, possibly a reference to the Cold War.
Chaos is here replaced by a double movement of forces, horizontal and vertical. This is one of his earliest uses of the squeegee which is still challenged by the brush. Many remorses indicate all the care paid to the realization of this painting in a large size that brings to it the role of a demonstrator.
The artist offers 599 with a full chromatic scale structured in blocks with visible border lines between the colored areas. The clear parts display an opulent shine.
The gigantic culmination of this phase is the two Claudius, AB 603 and AB 604, 311 x 406 cm each. Offered by Christie's on October 19, 2008 at the start of the crisis of the art market, AB 604 was not sold.
His innovation is not only the use of the squeegee but the conjunction of this new tool with the brush and the knife. By mingling impastos and transparent veils, the artist creates shimmering effects while using the full range of colors.
Abstraktes Bild 599 is sparkling, with bright contrasts amidst a geometric structure somewhat reminiscent of Boccioni's futuristic compartmentalization. This 250 x 300 cm oil on canvas was sold for £ 30.4M by Sotheby's on February 10, 2015, lot 37. The seminal work of this style was the opus 590 titled SDI, possibly a reference to the Cold War.
Chaos is here replaced by a double movement of forces, horizontal and vertical. This is one of his earliest uses of the squeegee which is still challenged by the brush. Many remorses indicate all the care paid to the realization of this painting in a large size that brings to it the role of a demonstrator.
The artist offers 599 with a full chromatic scale structured in blocks with visible border lines between the colored areas. The clear parts display an opulent shine.
The gigantic culmination of this phase is the two Claudius, AB 603 and AB 604, 311 x 406 cm each. Offered by Christie's on October 19, 2008 at the start of the crisis of the art market, AB 604 was not sold.
2
1986 AB 612-4 Still
2016 SOLD for $ 34M by Sotheby's
AB 612-4, 225 x 200 cm, titled Still, was sold for $ 34M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Sotheby's on November 17, 2016, lot 13.
To execute Still, the artist used jointly brushes and squeegees. The contribution of the squeegee adds a smooth veil over the impasto. The dividing lines are now disappearing.
The title is interesting. Still is of course not a movie picture. The website gerhardrichter.com provides the official English translation : Quiet. AB 615 and AB 616 are named Courbet. Nothing prevents AB 612-4 to be a tribute to another master : Clyfford Still. The large red area on the left in AB 612-4 may be an echo to Still's hells. The intermingling colors that open the new signature style of Richter remind the shredded separations between Clyfford Still's colors.
AB Courbet 616 was sold for $ 26.5M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2013, lot 22.
To execute Still, the artist used jointly brushes and squeegees. The contribution of the squeegee adds a smooth veil over the impasto. The dividing lines are now disappearing.
The title is interesting. Still is of course not a movie picture. The website gerhardrichter.com provides the official English translation : Quiet. AB 615 and AB 616 are named Courbet. Nothing prevents AB 612-4 to be a tribute to another master : Clyfford Still. The large red area on the left in AB 612-4 may be an echo to Still's hells. The intermingling colors that open the new signature style of Richter remind the shredded separations between Clyfford Still's colors.
AB Courbet 616 was sold for $ 26.5M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2013, lot 22.
3
1986 AB Courbet by Richter
2013 SOLD for $ 26.5M by Sotheby's
Gerhard Richter rarely reveals his inspirations. A.B. Courbet comes a little later in the nomenclature, with two works which are not series, 615 and 616, oils on canvas 300 x 250 cm. The compositions are not similar : 615 has a luminous lozenge which draws attention to the upper part of the image.
Titles that refer to another artist are exceptional, and the Still above is not the American master of that name. The total abstraction and the mixing of colors cannot have anything to do with the French master of pre-impressionist realism. The colors may evoke Monet's garden. Monet's views of the Parliament of London will indeed explicitly inspire Richter in the following year.
Richter maintains his revolutionary desires. The creation of his abstract chaos has an anarchist motivation. "Courbet" is his homage to one of his most innovative and uncompromising predecessors, indirectly attesting to his satisfaction with his own results. A.B. Courbet 616 was sold for $ 26.5M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2013, lot 22.
Titles that refer to another artist are exceptional, and the Still above is not the American master of that name. The total abstraction and the mixing of colors cannot have anything to do with the French master of pre-impressionist realism. The colors may evoke Monet's garden. Monet's views of the Parliament of London will indeed explicitly inspire Richter in the following year.
Richter maintains his revolutionary desires. The creation of his abstract chaos has an anarchist motivation. "Courbet" is his homage to one of his most innovative and uncompromising predecessors, indirectly attesting to his satisfaction with his own results. A.B. Courbet 616 was sold for $ 26.5M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2013, lot 22.
1986 Jim Beam Train by Koons
2014 SOLD for $ 34M by Christie's
Before exploring the universal themes through his Celebrations, Jeff Koons had reused the most kitsch images of America. Introducing ready-mades and toys in art exhibitions is not a glorification of the trivial but an invitation to Americans to flush out the unspoken or even unspeakable depths of their culture.
In 1986 Jeff prepares his second solo exhibition, Luxury and Degradation, a title that is by itself the key to his artistic approach. The theme is alcohol, which had put so much trouble to the Americans before and during Prohibition. Reproductions of old advertisements were exhibited to exacerbate the danger of consumerism.
The central work of Luxury and Degradation is a toy train on rails 2.90 m long cast in stainless steel. Jeff made it from a plastic and porcelain train used as a decanter of bourbon by the Jim Beam brand.
The Jim Beam JB Turner Train by Jeff Koons includes the steam-type locomotive from the old days of the Wild West with six wagons. It is loaded with some Jim Beam bourbon, hidden to the public, thereby reactivating the frustration of the drinkers during Prohibition. Built in 1867, the so named John B. Turner locomotive was a legend of the Wild West.
The material used by Koons is interesting for two reasons. Stainless steel is a reminder of the growth of American industry and of the fortune of Carnegie. Its impeccable polishing is the beginning of the exploration by Koons of the artistic strength of perfect metal surfaces. His first steel Rabbit imitating an inflatable toy dates from the same year.
The train was edited in three units, plus an artist's proof. The tax stamps for the alcohol were affixed by the Jim Beam company. The artist's proof was sold for $ 34M by Christie's on May 13, 2014, lot 28. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In 1986 Jeff prepares his second solo exhibition, Luxury and Degradation, a title that is by itself the key to his artistic approach. The theme is alcohol, which had put so much trouble to the Americans before and during Prohibition. Reproductions of old advertisements were exhibited to exacerbate the danger of consumerism.
The central work of Luxury and Degradation is a toy train on rails 2.90 m long cast in stainless steel. Jeff made it from a plastic and porcelain train used as a decanter of bourbon by the Jim Beam brand.
The Jim Beam JB Turner Train by Jeff Koons includes the steam-type locomotive from the old days of the Wild West with six wagons. It is loaded with some Jim Beam bourbon, hidden to the public, thereby reactivating the frustration of the drinkers during Prohibition. Built in 1867, the so named John B. Turner locomotive was a legend of the Wild West.
The material used by Koons is interesting for two reasons. Stainless steel is a reminder of the growth of American industry and of the fortune of Carnegie. Its impeccable polishing is the beginning of the exploration by Koons of the artistic strength of perfect metal surfaces. His first steel Rabbit imitating an inflatable toy dates from the same year.
The train was edited in three units, plus an artist's proof. The tax stamps for the alcohol were affixed by the Jim Beam company. The artist's proof was sold for $ 34M by Christie's on May 13, 2014, lot 28. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1986 Snow and Wind
2021 SOLD for HK$ 230M by Sotheby's
Expatriate in Paris since 1955, Chu Teh-Chun is reunited with his Chinese roots during a trip in 1983. In the meantime, he had specialized in abstract art in oil on canvas. He now wants his art to express the basics of nature, in very large formats. Les Eléments Confédérés, polyptych 162 x 650 cm dated 1984-1985, was sold for HK $ 114M including premium by Sotheby's on July 8, 2020.
Under these conditions, his amazed discovery of the movement of snow in the mountains in December 1985 was not fortuitous.
He watches the sublime Swiss Alps from his train window when a storm hits. The squall throws snowflakes and fog on a scenery of rocks and trees which changes at every moment by the movement of the train. As soon as he arrives, he rushes to his brushes to express what nature has just taught him. He will work for fifteen years on this theme, varying the effects of texture without ever returning to the figurative.
Harmonie Hivernale, painted in 1986, is one of the very first works in this series. This triptych 193 x 385 cm overall reproduces the whirlwinds blowing the snow and revealing the rocks in turn. It was sold for HK $ 230M from a lower estimate of HK $ 80M by Sotheby's on April 18, 2021, lot 1020. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The ultimate outcome is the expression of snowfall. He achieved this in 1999 by bringing a pointillism to Vertige Neigeux, a 200 x 400 cm diptych started in 1990, sold for HK $ 92M including premium by Christie's on November 26, 2016.
Under these conditions, his amazed discovery of the movement of snow in the mountains in December 1985 was not fortuitous.
He watches the sublime Swiss Alps from his train window when a storm hits. The squall throws snowflakes and fog on a scenery of rocks and trees which changes at every moment by the movement of the train. As soon as he arrives, he rushes to his brushes to express what nature has just taught him. He will work for fifteen years on this theme, varying the effects of texture without ever returning to the figurative.
Harmonie Hivernale, painted in 1986, is one of the very first works in this series. This triptych 193 x 385 cm overall reproduces the whirlwinds blowing the snow and revealing the rocks in turn. It was sold for HK $ 230M from a lower estimate of HK $ 80M by Sotheby's on April 18, 2021, lot 1020. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The ultimate outcome is the expression of snowfall. He achieved this in 1999 by bringing a pointillism to Vertige Neigeux, a 200 x 400 cm diptych started in 1990, sold for HK $ 92M including premium by Christie's on November 26, 2016.
