1987
1986-1987 Tryptich by Bacon
2022 SOLD for £ 38.5M by Christie's
Throughout his life, Francis Bacon never had an easy temperament. He tried to confront his inner self with the world without falling into a story telling. His preference to triptychs may be interpreted s a frustration of not being a movie maker.
One of his latest triptychs is made of three scenes without a relationship one another, excepted that the same pavement appears on both side elements and that the three actions emerge from a same deep black rectangular gate, certainly a reference to the nothingness.
This artwork is in the signature large format of the artist, composed of three panels 198 x 148 cm each, in oil, pastel, aerosol paint and dry transfer lettering on canvas. It is dated 1986-1987 and titled Tryptich, a mis-spelling that brings some timelessness and cannot be a blunder.
The central panel is personal. It features the head on John Edwards with the nude body and shadow of the late George Dyer.
The two side panels are referencing the drama of the political world from period press clippings of 1919 and 1940.
The left side is the figure of President Wilson leaving the Treaty of Versailles negotiations. The serious President who had just defined the fate of Europe has his dangling arms which call for the same disabled mood as Velazquez's pope.
The right side is a detail of the mess in Trotsky's working room in Mexico after his assassination, which prefigures the famous garbage in Bacon's studio. Possibly Trotsky's fate was for Bacon a reminiscence of the Oresteia.
This triptych was sold for £ 38.5M by Christie's on March 1, 2022, lot 38.
One of his latest triptychs is made of three scenes without a relationship one another, excepted that the same pavement appears on both side elements and that the three actions emerge from a same deep black rectangular gate, certainly a reference to the nothingness.
This artwork is in the signature large format of the artist, composed of three panels 198 x 148 cm each, in oil, pastel, aerosol paint and dry transfer lettering on canvas. It is dated 1986-1987 and titled Tryptich, a mis-spelling that brings some timelessness and cannot be a blunder.
The central panel is personal. It features the head on John Edwards with the nude body and shadow of the late George Dyer.
The two side panels are referencing the drama of the political world from period press clippings of 1919 and 1940.
The left side is the figure of President Wilson leaving the Treaty of Versailles negotiations. The serious President who had just defined the fate of Europe has his dangling arms which call for the same disabled mood as Velazquez's pope.
The right side is a detail of the mess in Trotsky's working room in Mexico after his assassination, which prefigures the famous garbage in Bacon's studio. Possibly Trotsky's fate was for Bacon a reminiscence of the Oresteia.
This triptych was sold for £ 38.5M by Christie's on March 1, 2022, lot 38.
1987 The King of Badlands
2020 SOLD for $ 32M including premium
The successive discoveries of tyrannosaur fossil skeletons allow us to better understand the characteristics of this beast which lived at the end of the Cretaceous just before the final disaster of that era 66 million years ago. Stan is one of the specimens which provided the most elements to these analyzes.
We have to face the facts : the tyrannosaurus, a distant successor to the allosaurus, had characteristics much more efficient than humans, in terms of sight and smell, running speed, strength and appetite. I have no reliable data about its intelligence.
The deposits are mainly concentrated on the Hell Creek Formation, an island continent bordering Montana, the Dakotas and Wyoming. The distribution of the species was certainly wider, but the swamps of these Badlands originally limited the dispersal of the skeletons and provided good conditions for fossilization. More than 50 specimens have been found.
Hell Creek has been known since the beginning of the 20th century as a reservoir of tyrannosaurs. It was an amateur prospector who discovered in 1987 the hip bones of a specimen that was given his own first name, Stan. An error in paleontological interpretation delayed the researches. The excavation required 30,000 hours of work between 1992 and 1995. This male tyrannosaurus, approximately 70% complete in mass, is one of the largest specimens, measuring 11.3 m between the muzzle and the tip of the tail.
Traces on the bones provide valuable informations on the life of prehistoric animals. Stan had lesions created by the teeth of other tyrannosaurs. His broken neck had been healed by fusion of two injured vertebrae. He ate an edmontosaurus and a triceratops just before his death. In our time he plays the stars with more than 60 complete casts for use in museums and exhibitions.
The fossil includes 188 original pieces, compared with the 350 bones of a complete animal. The skull is almost perfect. Missing elements are represented by casts. It will be sold without a reserve price by Christie's in New York on October 6, lot 59 estimated $ 6M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Stan deserves a similar notoriety as Sue, the 12.3 m long male tyrannosaurus found by a lady named Sue in 1990, which was sold for $ 8.4M including premium by Sotheby's on October 4, 1997.
We have to face the facts : the tyrannosaurus, a distant successor to the allosaurus, had characteristics much more efficient than humans, in terms of sight and smell, running speed, strength and appetite. I have no reliable data about its intelligence.
The deposits are mainly concentrated on the Hell Creek Formation, an island continent bordering Montana, the Dakotas and Wyoming. The distribution of the species was certainly wider, but the swamps of these Badlands originally limited the dispersal of the skeletons and provided good conditions for fossilization. More than 50 specimens have been found.
Hell Creek has been known since the beginning of the 20th century as a reservoir of tyrannosaurs. It was an amateur prospector who discovered in 1987 the hip bones of a specimen that was given his own first name, Stan. An error in paleontological interpretation delayed the researches. The excavation required 30,000 hours of work between 1992 and 1995. This male tyrannosaurus, approximately 70% complete in mass, is one of the largest specimens, measuring 11.3 m between the muzzle and the tip of the tail.
Traces on the bones provide valuable informations on the life of prehistoric animals. Stan had lesions created by the teeth of other tyrannosaurs. His broken neck had been healed by fusion of two injured vertebrae. He ate an edmontosaurus and a triceratops just before his death. In our time he plays the stars with more than 60 complete casts for use in museums and exhibitions.
The fossil includes 188 original pieces, compared with the 350 bones of a complete animal. The skull is almost perfect. Missing elements are represented by casts. It will be sold without a reserve price by Christie's in New York on October 6, lot 59 estimated $ 6M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Stan deserves a similar notoriety as Sue, the 12.3 m long male tyrannosaurus found by a lady named Sue in 1990, which was sold for $ 8.4M including premium by Sotheby's on October 4, 1997.
#AuctionUpdate @ChristiesInc sets a #WorldAuctionRecord for a #TyrannosaurusRex named #STAN which sold for $31,847,500 #crushing the estimate of $6-8M. pic.twitter.com/0QM9iWMKjt
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) October 7, 2020
1987 Tribute to the Unknown Landscape Painter
2018 SOLD for $ 32M including premium
Gerhard Richter increasingly masters his technique from the moment he applies oil paint in translucent layers with a wide squeegee. The mixing between the wet layers provides a detailed and complete chromatic range. Large gestures with the rake generate vertical and oblique lines of tension. The skill of the artist leads him to create very large formats.
In 1986 the brush is still used, especially to obtain over-shine sprinkles that reinforce or contradict the lines of forces. Abstraktes Bild 599, 300 x 250 cm, was sold for £ 30.4M including premium by Sotheby's on February 10, 2015. AB Still 612-4, 225 x 200 cm, was sold for $ 34M including premium by Sotheby's on November 17, 2016.
On November 14 in New York, Sotheby's sells as lot 8 Abstraktes Bild 636, diptych of total size 260 x 400 cm painted in 1987. The image is dominated by irregular vertical lines in light shades. An ascending and descending oblique pattern ensures the texture. Partially masked by this network, an incandescent zone remains more visible at the bottom of the left side.
In late 1987 and early 1988 for an exhibition in London, Richter painted abstract expressions of colors to evoke the views of the city by Monet. Brick Tower 643-1, 200 x 140 cm, was sold for £ 14.1M including premium by Christie's on July 1, 2015. St James 653-1, 200 x 260 cm, was sold for $ 22.7M including premium by Sotheby's on November 17, 2016.
AB 636 is an abstract work without identification of a naturalistic inspiration. With the domination of verticals, it is however tempting to see the edge of a forest lit by the sun, after Cézanne or Shishkin.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
In 1986 the brush is still used, especially to obtain over-shine sprinkles that reinforce or contradict the lines of forces. Abstraktes Bild 599, 300 x 250 cm, was sold for £ 30.4M including premium by Sotheby's on February 10, 2015. AB Still 612-4, 225 x 200 cm, was sold for $ 34M including premium by Sotheby's on November 17, 2016.
On November 14 in New York, Sotheby's sells as lot 8 Abstraktes Bild 636, diptych of total size 260 x 400 cm painted in 1987. The image is dominated by irregular vertical lines in light shades. An ascending and descending oblique pattern ensures the texture. Partially masked by this network, an incandescent zone remains more visible at the bottom of the left side.
In late 1987 and early 1988 for an exhibition in London, Richter painted abstract expressions of colors to evoke the views of the city by Monet. Brick Tower 643-1, 200 x 140 cm, was sold for £ 14.1M including premium by Christie's on July 1, 2015. St James 653-1, 200 x 260 cm, was sold for $ 22.7M including premium by Sotheby's on November 17, 2016.
AB 636 is an abstract work without identification of a naturalistic inspiration. With the domination of verticals, it is however tempting to see the edge of a forest lit by the sun, after Cézanne or Shishkin.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1987 The Triumph of the Squeegee
2020 SOLD for HK$ 215M including premium
For Gerhard Richter, the role of the artist is to create an image. It can be figurative or abstract : he strives to bring these two extremes together. It is not by chance that he titled Abstraktes Bild (AB) his very long series of abstract paintings.
In the early 1980s, he created multicolored abstractions by successively adding and removing layers of transparent colors on his canvases, preferably with shiny backgrounds. He developed the technical solution to meet this need in 1986 by using wide squeegees plus a finish with the brush.
Gaitonde did not give explanations on the creation of his own abstractions, but the rake has certainly also the main role. While the Zen artist reveals a variety from a monochrome, Richter achieves an intricate tangle of brilliant colors that connects him to Pollock and de Kooning.
Richter is skilled. He quickly acquires the mastery of his squeegees. In 1987 he no longer needs the brush. AB 649-2, oil on canvas 200 x 200 cm, is estimated HK $ 120M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 6, lot 1118.
While preparing for an exhibition in London, Richter had fun creating abstractions based on the colors of Monet's Parliaments. His inspiration for AB 649-2 is not known, but this opus is included in the nomenclature after AB Brick Tower (643-1) and AB Tower (series 646 and 647) and before the other titles of London (series 652 and 653).
In the early 1980s, he created multicolored abstractions by successively adding and removing layers of transparent colors on his canvases, preferably with shiny backgrounds. He developed the technical solution to meet this need in 1986 by using wide squeegees plus a finish with the brush.
Gaitonde did not give explanations on the creation of his own abstractions, but the rake has certainly also the main role. While the Zen artist reveals a variety from a monochrome, Richter achieves an intricate tangle of brilliant colors that connects him to Pollock and de Kooning.
Richter is skilled. He quickly acquires the mastery of his squeegees. In 1987 he no longer needs the brush. AB 649-2, oil on canvas 200 x 200 cm, is estimated HK $ 120M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 6, lot 1118.
While preparing for an exhibition in London, Richter had fun creating abstractions based on the colors of Monet's Parliaments. His inspiration for AB 649-2 is not known, but this opus is included in the nomenclature after AB Brick Tower (643-1) and AB Tower (series 646 and 647) and before the other titles of London (series 652 and 653).
1986-1987 Girl with Closed Eyes by Freud
2022 SOLD for £ 15.2M by Christie's
Girl with closed eyes, oil on canvas 46 x 60 cm painted by Lucian Freud in 1986 and 1987, is the tender portrait of a serene girl with a quiet smile through her slightly parting lips. Its model is identified as Janey, a friend of the artist. It displays the details of the flesh in the thick impasto of a wide range of hues of the skin.
While the nude figure is here cropped below the breast, it may be seen in the following of the Naked portrait with reflection painted in 1980, sold for £ 11.8M by Christie's in 2008. In both examples the fully grown woman is reclined on her back in a relaxed attitude and viewed from above in a diagonal composition.
Girl with closed eyes was sold for £ 15.2M from a lower estimate of £ 10M by Christie's on March 1, 2022, lot 36.
While the nude figure is here cropped below the breast, it may be seen in the following of the Naked portrait with reflection painted in 1980, sold for £ 11.8M by Christie's in 2008. In both examples the fully grown woman is reclined on her back in a relaxed attitude and viewed from above in a diagonal composition.
Girl with closed eyes was sold for £ 15.2M from a lower estimate of £ 10M by Christie's on March 1, 2022, lot 36.
1987 Richter in the Wake of Monet
2015 SOLD for £ 14.1M including premium
The development by Richter of his painting technique with the squeegee in 1986 opened a new era of his creativity, which ceased at that time to rely on an imitation of photography.
One of his first trials, opus 599, 300 x 250 cm, completed with the brush, offers a full chromatic range with a brightness that equals the best of Klimt. It was sold for £ 30,4M including premium by Sotheby's on February 10, 2015.
The latest works by Monet were regarded as precursors to abstract art with color effects created by shaping a thick material. Richter knows that his own technique can bring the same result of a subtle blend of colors.
A.B. (Abstraktes Bild) 616, subtitled Courbet, 300 x 250 cm, also painted in 1986, is a fine example of this influence, with colors that can be compared to the rose gardens of Giverny. This abstract work was sold for $ 26,5M including premium by Sotheby's on November 13, 2013.
In 1987-1988, Richter executes fourteen paintings for an exhibition in London. Subtitles evoke monuments. The style is abstract, but the balance of shapes and colors is inspired directly by the Parliament views painted by Monet in 1900.
The central figure of a tower is visible on A.B. 643-1, 200 x 140 cm, subtitled Brick Tower, painted in 1987. This oil on canvas is estimated £ 12M for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 1, lot 17.
One of his first trials, opus 599, 300 x 250 cm, completed with the brush, offers a full chromatic range with a brightness that equals the best of Klimt. It was sold for £ 30,4M including premium by Sotheby's on February 10, 2015.
The latest works by Monet were regarded as precursors to abstract art with color effects created by shaping a thick material. Richter knows that his own technique can bring the same result of a subtle blend of colors.
A.B. (Abstraktes Bild) 616, subtitled Courbet, 300 x 250 cm, also painted in 1986, is a fine example of this influence, with colors that can be compared to the rose gardens of Giverny. This abstract work was sold for $ 26,5M including premium by Sotheby's on November 13, 2013.
In 1987-1988, Richter executes fourteen paintings for an exhibition in London. Subtitles evoke monuments. The style is abstract, but the balance of shapes and colors is inspired directly by the Parliament views painted by Monet in 1900.
The central figure of a tower is visible on A.B. 643-1, 200 x 140 cm, subtitled Brick Tower, painted in 1987. This oil on canvas is estimated £ 12M for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 1, lot 17.
1987-1988 To Léger by Marden
2021 SOLD for $ 17M by Sotheby's
In 1984 Brice Marden visited an exhibition devoted to the masters of Japanese calligraphy. For this artist in love with Asian culture, it was a revelation. He started a new style that comes in parallel with the calligraphic trend of Islamic painting.
Before that, he had been a minimalist in the follow of Jasper Johns, making paintings in oil and wax composed of colored stripes of equal size strictly juxtaposed. He now goes as far to get rid of colors superseded by gradations of grey, applying paint from liquefied thin to opaque dense in a broad gesture with a brush attached to a long stick.
An oil on canvas 127 x 91 cm dated 1986-1987 made of intersecting line fragments in light grey and dark grey over a grey background was sold for $ 3.5M by Christie's on November 13, 2019, lot 18 B.
Marden reintroduces the colors, now in curved lines beside a Western art inspiration. An oil on canvas 213 x 152 cm painted of black and burgundy lines in 1987-1988 was sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 4. It is numbered 11 from a series of 12 and subtitled To Léger.
Cold Mountain, a series begun in March 1988, is a culmination of Marden's Asian inspiration. Cold Mountain was the nickname of Han Shan, a legendary Tang poet. The first opus, oil on canvas 270 x 360 cm titled Path and completed in 1989, was sold for $ 9.6M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2010, lot 29.
Taking the principle of juxtaposition, the artist wrote the artwork in eight overlapping vertical columns of lines in gradations of grey on white background, a hybrid between gestural art and calligraphy. In the sixth and last Cold Mountain completed in 1991, the pseudo-calligraphic columns again disappeared for a mingling of the lines on the whole surface.
Before that, he had been a minimalist in the follow of Jasper Johns, making paintings in oil and wax composed of colored stripes of equal size strictly juxtaposed. He now goes as far to get rid of colors superseded by gradations of grey, applying paint from liquefied thin to opaque dense in a broad gesture with a brush attached to a long stick.
An oil on canvas 127 x 91 cm dated 1986-1987 made of intersecting line fragments in light grey and dark grey over a grey background was sold for $ 3.5M by Christie's on November 13, 2019, lot 18 B.
Marden reintroduces the colors, now in curved lines beside a Western art inspiration. An oil on canvas 213 x 152 cm painted of black and burgundy lines in 1987-1988 was sold for $ 17M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 4. It is numbered 11 from a series of 12 and subtitled To Léger.
Cold Mountain, a series begun in March 1988, is a culmination of Marden's Asian inspiration. Cold Mountain was the nickname of Han Shan, a legendary Tang poet. The first opus, oil on canvas 270 x 360 cm titled Path and completed in 1989, was sold for $ 9.6M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2010, lot 29.
Taking the principle of juxtaposition, the artist wrote the artwork in eight overlapping vertical columns of lines in gradations of grey on white background, a hybrid between gestural art and calligraphy. In the sixth and last Cold Mountain completed in 1991, the pseudo-calligraphic columns again disappeared for a mingling of the lines on the whole surface.
1987 Nothing to be gained any more
2020 SOLD for $ 9.3M including premium
Warhol's success was a model for Basquiat. Andy agrees to help his younger colleague and they create four-handed paintings in 1984 and 1985. The failure of an exhibition of these works permanently separates the two artists.
Basquiat is in poor health. The effects of drug are already visible in 1985 through dark spots on his face. His notoriety is an aggravating factor. The former street artist does not know what to do with his money. Like Rothko at the height of his fame, he observes that his admirers are no more decoding his messages. By reaction Jim Crow, painted in 1986, is an unambiguous protest against slavery.
Warhol's sudden death in February 1987 had a catastrophic effect on Basquiat. The young man now understands that the expression of his social revolt through his art will never serve any purpose.
In 1981 his themes had been dynamic and excessive with a nice tangle of bright colors. In 1986 he replaces the street art of the teenagers by a road art of hobos, for which he was inspired by a semiotics manual, the Symbol Sourcebook by Henry Dreyfuss. The hobos (homeless boys) are the itinerant daily workers, who communicate with each other by drawing symbols on the walls for identifying the dangers.
Victor 25448, acrylic, oilstick, wax and pencil on paper laid on canvas 183 x 333 cm, was sold for $ 3.5M including premium by Christie's on May 13, 2008 and is estimated $ 8M for sale by Phillips in New York on July 2, lot 10.
This desperate work was made in 1987. The character is disfigured, blinded, drawn and quartered, in a hopeless world inscribed in three places with the IDEAL tag on advertising objects that symbolize the capitalist oppression.
In the lower left corner, Basquiat grouped together several of the hobo symbols collected by Dreyfuss, with their meanings. They include the very discouraging "Nothing to be gained here", which Basquiat also used in the same year in Riddle Me This Batman, and "A beating awaits you here".
Basquiat could not do without music and he owned 3,000 records. 25448 is the reference in the catalog of the music editor Victor for a 1936 song by Al Bowlly.
Basquiat is in poor health. The effects of drug are already visible in 1985 through dark spots on his face. His notoriety is an aggravating factor. The former street artist does not know what to do with his money. Like Rothko at the height of his fame, he observes that his admirers are no more decoding his messages. By reaction Jim Crow, painted in 1986, is an unambiguous protest against slavery.
Warhol's sudden death in February 1987 had a catastrophic effect on Basquiat. The young man now understands that the expression of his social revolt through his art will never serve any purpose.
In 1981 his themes had been dynamic and excessive with a nice tangle of bright colors. In 1986 he replaces the street art of the teenagers by a road art of hobos, for which he was inspired by a semiotics manual, the Symbol Sourcebook by Henry Dreyfuss. The hobos (homeless boys) are the itinerant daily workers, who communicate with each other by drawing symbols on the walls for identifying the dangers.
Victor 25448, acrylic, oilstick, wax and pencil on paper laid on canvas 183 x 333 cm, was sold for $ 3.5M including premium by Christie's on May 13, 2008 and is estimated $ 8M for sale by Phillips in New York on July 2, lot 10.
This desperate work was made in 1987. The character is disfigured, blinded, drawn and quartered, in a hopeless world inscribed in three places with the IDEAL tag on advertising objects that symbolize the capitalist oppression.
In the lower left corner, Basquiat grouped together several of the hobo symbols collected by Dreyfuss, with their meanings. They include the very discouraging "Nothing to be gained here", which Basquiat also used in the same year in Riddle Me This Batman, and "A beating awaits you here".
Basquiat could not do without music and he owned 3,000 records. 25448 is the reference in the catalog of the music editor Victor for a 1936 song by Al Bowlly.
1987 Pod and Stick
2013 SOLD 7.7 M$ including premium
Cy Twombly was one of the most disturbing artists of the last century. Signs that spread across his paintings belong to no language but invite reflection on the origin and mechanism of written communication. In graphology, the positioning of "text" and the graphic details are more important than the word.
The exegesis of Twombly requires a detailed study taking into account the evolution of his scribbles. It shall find a logical place to a surprising bronze made in Rome in 1987, for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15.
A stick is plugged into the ground. A poppy stem planted just below it joins the stick by a knot at two thirds of height, culminating in the pod at 1.93 m high. Here is the link to the catalog.
The fate of plant and stick are inseparable, but their languages are opposed. The stick is straight and the plant is flexible. The object is strong, but the vegetable is weak with its seed that curves the top of the stem. The link between these two elements is a help and not a fight, but what can it serve to help a simple poppy to build its flower?
Twombly's sculptures, made for his own pleasure, are extremely rare on the art market, especially in this dimension.This bronze is estimated $ 6M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very curious tribute to the poppy was certainly the most unusual artwork in May 2013 New Yorksales. It got a good price, $ 7.7 million including premium.
The exegesis of Twombly requires a detailed study taking into account the evolution of his scribbles. It shall find a logical place to a surprising bronze made in Rome in 1987, for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15.
A stick is plugged into the ground. A poppy stem planted just below it joins the stick by a knot at two thirds of height, culminating in the pod at 1.93 m high. Here is the link to the catalog.
The fate of plant and stick are inseparable, but their languages are opposed. The stick is straight and the plant is flexible. The object is strong, but the vegetable is weak with its seed that curves the top of the stem. The link between these two elements is a help and not a fight, but what can it serve to help a simple poppy to build its flower?
Twombly's sculptures, made for his own pleasure, are extremely rare on the art market, especially in this dimension.This bronze is estimated $ 6M.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very curious tribute to the poppy was certainly the most unusual artwork in May 2013 New Yorksales. It got a good price, $ 7.7 million including premium.
1987-1988 Ocean by Vija Celmins
2021 SOLD for $ 7.7M by Phillips.
Vija Celmins begins her artistic career in Los Angeles in the wake of pop art by painting images of ordinary objects and reproductions of black and white photographs. Influenced also by the art in shades of grey by Morandi, she specialized in graphite drawing from 1965, starting with hyperrealist enlargements of photographs of clouds shot by herself.
In 1968 she modified her technique by drawing on a paper previously covered with an acrylic paint. Through more than ten years she photographed and painstakingly copied the swell of the Pacific Ocean from the end of the pier at Venice Beach in LA.
The total absence of land and life brings an illusion of infinity which can be compared with the paintings by Agnes Martin. The respective distance of the undulations of the sea brings the perspective that is lacking in the art of Martin. These patterns of line may also be compared with the op art of Bridget Riley.
She went back to oil painting in an intention to give more "weight", in her own wording, to her works in that theme. An Untitled oil on canvas 36 x 42 cm painted in 1987-1988 was sold for $ 7.7M from a lower estimate of $ 5.5M by Phillips on June 23, 2021, lot 14. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In 1968 she modified her technique by drawing on a paper previously covered with an acrylic paint. Through more than ten years she photographed and painstakingly copied the swell of the Pacific Ocean from the end of the pier at Venice Beach in LA.
The total absence of land and life brings an illusion of infinity which can be compared with the paintings by Agnes Martin. The respective distance of the undulations of the sea brings the perspective that is lacking in the art of Martin. These patterns of line may also be compared with the op art of Bridget Riley.
She went back to oil painting in an intention to give more "weight", in her own wording, to her works in that theme. An Untitled oil on canvas 36 x 42 cm painted in 1987-1988 was sold for $ 7.7M from a lower estimate of $ 5.5M by Phillips on June 23, 2021, lot 14. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
