1990
1990 Swamped by Doig
2021 SOLD for $ 40M by Christie's
Peter Doig applies a rich kaleidoscope of colors on large size canvases, assimilating the pictorial inputs of the top masters of his century including Klimt, Pollock and Richter, knowing to mingle figurative and abstract. Questioning and criticizing the role of humanity and its incongruous traces in nature, Doig states an admiration for Hopper.
He caught a prolific inspiration in a still from the 1980 film Friday the 13th, which turns out to have been a nightmare in the following of the story. The picture of the swamp in the moonlight just before or just after the crime already raises the question of humans physically lost within nature.
As for Monet's lily pond, the image includes both the shore and its reflection in water. The lone white empty canoe shifting on the tropical lagoon and its perfect reflection are too sparkling for their light to come only from the moon. This intense internal lighting is meaning that it is the last remaining element from some human civilization.
Swamped, oil on canvas 197 x 241 cm painted in 1990, was sold by Christie's for $ 26M on May 19, 2015, lot 5A, and for $ 40M on November 9, 2021, lot 9A.
On February 7, 2007, Sotheby's sold at lot 7 for £ 5.7M a painting of similar size dated 1990-1991 whose title White Canoe removes the hint to the movie inspiration of the series.
Relying in his own memory, Doig did not take references to other film images in his career. Having grown partly in Ontario, he was possibly also influenced in that canoe series by Tom Thomson's hallucinatory paintings in the Canadian wilderness and his mysterious death in 1917 by drowning in the so called Canoe Lake in that state.
He caught a prolific inspiration in a still from the 1980 film Friday the 13th, which turns out to have been a nightmare in the following of the story. The picture of the swamp in the moonlight just before or just after the crime already raises the question of humans physically lost within nature.
As for Monet's lily pond, the image includes both the shore and its reflection in water. The lone white empty canoe shifting on the tropical lagoon and its perfect reflection are too sparkling for their light to come only from the moon. This intense internal lighting is meaning that it is the last remaining element from some human civilization.
Swamped, oil on canvas 197 x 241 cm painted in 1990, was sold by Christie's for $ 26M on May 19, 2015, lot 5A, and for $ 40M on November 9, 2021, lot 9A.
On February 7, 2007, Sotheby's sold at lot 7 for £ 5.7M a painting of similar size dated 1990-1991 whose title White Canoe removes the hint to the movie inspiration of the series.
Relying in his own memory, Doig did not take references to other film images in his career. Having grown partly in Ontario, he was possibly also influenced in that canoe series by Tom Thomson's hallucinatory paintings in the Canadian wilderness and his mysterious death in 1917 by drowning in the so called Canoe Lake in that state.
1990 WOOL
1
ri-ot
2015 SOLD for $ 30M by Sotheby's
Our time is of great violence, fueled by the media. The public is no longer satisfied by its daily surrounding as if we liked being disturbed by events that ultimately do not concern us. The cinema is an element of this permanent shock.
By painting gigantic stenciled words in an unchanged typography and arrangement between 1988 and 1992, Christopher Wool contributes to this aggression. His works painted in enamel on aluminum are minimalist in order to concentrate the emotion within the short text. Wool is altogether removing from his art figure, color and texture, thus going still further than Jasper Johns.
He also standardizes formats in 1990. The repeatability of the pictorial process also enables the artist to transform his paintings into multiples. The exhibition of Wool's messages challenges the viewer on the nature and risks of the action, violent or inappropriate.
He does not attribute titles to his artworks, because the displayed word is sufficient. By limiting us to the year 1990 and the format 274 x 183 cm, we find many examples.
The Untitled reading RI-OT was sold for $ 30M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015 from a lower estimate of $ 12M, lot 7.
By painting gigantic stenciled words in an unchanged typography and arrangement between 1988 and 1992, Christopher Wool contributes to this aggression. His works painted in enamel on aluminum are minimalist in order to concentrate the emotion within the short text. Wool is altogether removing from his art figure, color and texture, thus going still further than Jasper Johns.
He also standardizes formats in 1990. The repeatability of the pictorial process also enables the artist to transform his paintings into multiples. The exhibition of Wool's messages challenges the viewer on the nature and risks of the action, violent or inappropriate.
He does not attribute titles to his artworks, because the displayed word is sufficient. By limiting us to the year 1990 and the format 274 x 183 cm, we find many examples.
The Untitled reading RI-OT was sold for $ 30M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015 from a lower estimate of $ 12M, lot 7.
2
cats-inbag-bags-in-river
2015 SOLD for $ 17M by Christie's
From the same series and in the same technique and size as the example above, an Untitled reading CATS-INBAG-BAGS-IN-RIVER was sold for $ 17M by Christie's on November 10, 2015, lot 41 B.
For this specific opus, the artist revealed the cinematographic source of his inspiration : a phrase from the 1957 film Sweet Smell of Success.
For this specific opus, the artist revealed the cinematographic source of his inspiration : a phrase from the 1957 film Sweet Smell of Success.
3
rund-ogru-ndog-run
2018 SOLD for $ 15.2M by Christie's
From the same series and in the same technique and size as the examples above, an Untitled reading RUND-OGRU-NDOG-RUN was sold for $ 15.2M by Christie's on November 15, 2018, lot 12 C.
4
fo-ol
2014 SOLD for $ 14.2M by Christie's
From the same series and in the same technique and size as the examples above, an Untitled reading FO-OL was sold twice by Christie's, for £ 4.9M on February 14, 2012, lot 5, and for $ 14.2M on November 12, 2014, lot 7. It was sold for $ 14M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2019, lot 21.
1990 Abstraktes Bild by RICHTER
1
712
2014 SOLD for $ 29M by Christie's
The Abstraktes Bild 712 is a masterpiece prepared by Gerhard Richter to begin the 1990s.
Working in that series from 1988, he his now mastering his use of a wide rake to apply liquid paint. This squeegee is a hard tool that disrupts the previous layers when they become almost dry. The process is repeated until the color balance of the work meets his wish.
This vertical oil on canvas 260 x 200 cm overall is one of the tallest. Also the nicely mingling ruby red, sapphire blue and golden yellow are enhanced by a final layer of silvery gray which provides a brightening veil onto the whole. The choice of these primary colors enables to reach almost the entire spectrum.
An Abstraktes Bild by Richter has no figurative meaning. The uneven distribution of color densities may generate the illusion of a blister, as if this area was part of a living being. 712 is arguably one of the closest to Monet's Nymphéas and to their famous admirer Rothko.
Abstraktes Bild 712, painted in 1990, was sold for $ 17.5M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 4 and for $ 29M by Christie's on May 13, 2014, lot 15.
Working in that series from 1988, he his now mastering his use of a wide rake to apply liquid paint. This squeegee is a hard tool that disrupts the previous layers when they become almost dry. The process is repeated until the color balance of the work meets his wish.
This vertical oil on canvas 260 x 200 cm overall is one of the tallest. Also the nicely mingling ruby red, sapphire blue and golden yellow are enhanced by a final layer of silvery gray which provides a brightening veil onto the whole. The choice of these primary colors enables to reach almost the entire spectrum.
An Abstraktes Bild by Richter has no figurative meaning. The uneven distribution of color densities may generate the illusion of a blister, as if this area was part of a living being. 712 is arguably one of the closest to Monet's Nymphéas and to their famous admirer Rothko.
Abstraktes Bild 712, painted in 1990, was sold for $ 17.5M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 4 and for $ 29M by Christie's on May 13, 2014, lot 15.
2
722-2
2008 SOLD for $ 15M by Sotheby's
The Abstraktes Bild 722-2 painted in 1990, oil on canvas 200 x 180 cm, was sold for $ 15M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008, lot 23.
The illusion of water and reflection is in the follow of the 712.
The illusion of water and reflection is in the follow of the 712.
3
725-1
2022 SOLD for HK$ 200M by Sotheby's
The Abstraktes Bild 725-1 is an oil on canvas 225 x 200 cm divided like a diptych by a central vertical line in two partly joining abstract sceneries. Its vibrant flows evoke an area of rough water like a Monet's pond that would have completed its drift into abstraction.
Painted in 1990, 725-1 was sold for HK $ 200M by Sotheby's on October 7, 2022, lot 1219. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The 725 series has five opuses. In the follow, the 726 and 727 are true diptychs, each of them 250 x 175 cm overall. The 727 is subtitled Canaletto.
Painted in 1990, 725-1 was sold for HK $ 200M by Sotheby's on October 7, 2022, lot 1219. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The 725 series has five opuses. In the follow, the 726 and 727 are true diptychs, each of them 250 x 175 cm overall. The 727 is subtitled Canaletto.
1990 Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica by Hockney
2018 SOLD for $ 28.5M by Sotheby's
David Hockney has his studio in Santa Monica. In the mid afternoon he returns home to Hollywood Hills by the Pacific Coast Highway. The journey is long and repetitive. In 1990 he prepares a 90-minute tape of Wagner's music on a rhythm that matches the immutable sequence of the visited landscape.
He installs a control panel and twelve speakers in his vintage red convertible Mercedes. He names My Wagner Drive this unprecedented audio-landscape work that has no meaning outside his usual transit on the highway.
At that time Hockney is not very active in his main occupation as a graphic artist. He wants his art to be happy but many of his friends are dying of AIDS. Wagner's road helps him against his doubts.
On May 16, 2018, Sotheby's sold for $ 28.5M from a lower estimate of $ 20M Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, oil on canvas 198 x 305 cm painted in 1990, lot 21.
This painting is an accumulation of rare colors in closed surfaces. Its naive geometric composition meets the taste of the classical Chinese landscape that brings together several observation points for a more spectacular effect, in opposition to works inspired by photography. The winding road is the only evidence of a human intervention.
Later in a trend towards monumental painting, Hockney will divide the landscape into a grid of autonomous canvases, confirming that even when his subject is unique his point of observation is not. Painted in 1998 the 169 x 167 cm view of the Grand Canyon is an example of this once again unconventional phase. This study in fifteen parts was sold for £ 6M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2017.
He installs a control panel and twelve speakers in his vintage red convertible Mercedes. He names My Wagner Drive this unprecedented audio-landscape work that has no meaning outside his usual transit on the highway.
At that time Hockney is not very active in his main occupation as a graphic artist. He wants his art to be happy but many of his friends are dying of AIDS. Wagner's road helps him against his doubts.
On May 16, 2018, Sotheby's sold for $ 28.5M from a lower estimate of $ 20M Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, oil on canvas 198 x 305 cm painted in 1990, lot 21.
This painting is an accumulation of rare colors in closed surfaces. Its naive geometric composition meets the taste of the classical Chinese landscape that brings together several observation points for a more spectacular effect, in opposition to works inspired by photography. The winding road is the only evidence of a human intervention.
Later in a trend towards monumental painting, Hockney will divide the landscape into a grid of autonomous canvases, confirming that even when his subject is unique his point of observation is not. Painted in 1998 the 169 x 167 cm view of the Grand Canyon is an example of this once again unconventional phase. This study in fifteen parts was sold for £ 6M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2017.
1990 Thud by Lichtenstein
2021 SOLD for HK$ 110M by Sotheby's
For Roy Lichtenstein, graphic art is an illusion. He reveals such a truth in 1965 with his series of large format Brushstrokes. The mirror is a similar source of inspiration. In 1964 the Girl in mirror is directly viewed only in her blonde hair from backside but her hilarious face is framed within the mirror held by her hand. An example from an edition in porcelain enamel on steel 107 x 107 cm was sold by Phillips for £ 4.8M on March 7, 2019.
Roy revisits the theme of the reflections after 1988, now associated with his signature appropriation of comics.
On April 19, 2021, Sotheby's sold for HK$ 110M Reflections on Thud!, oil and acrylic on canvas 140 x 244 cm painted in 1990, lot 1112 from a lower estimate of HK $ 78M.
The image features a tyrannosaurus falling dead on its back with its mouth opened on its fangs. The source is a comics as evidenced by the onomatopoeia of the fall, THUD. The foreground is made of four slightly oblique parallel bars of uneven width, suggesting that the scene is viewed through a pattern of invisible glass, potentially oblique or distorting.
Such an interesting experimentation with a possible multiple angle of view had a follow in the period of the nude blondes at home. Nudes in mirror stages two women in different sizes, both facing a unique framed mirror. Tiny details reveal that the farthest is not the result of a multiple reflection of her teammate. This 1994 painting 254 x 213 cm was sold for $ 21.5M by Phillips on May 15, 2013.
Roy revisits the theme of the reflections after 1988, now associated with his signature appropriation of comics.
On April 19, 2021, Sotheby's sold for HK$ 110M Reflections on Thud!, oil and acrylic on canvas 140 x 244 cm painted in 1990, lot 1112 from a lower estimate of HK $ 78M.
The image features a tyrannosaurus falling dead on its back with its mouth opened on its fangs. The source is a comics as evidenced by the onomatopoeia of the fall, THUD. The foreground is made of four slightly oblique parallel bars of uneven width, suggesting that the scene is viewed through a pattern of invisible glass, potentially oblique or distorting.
Such an interesting experimentation with a possible multiple angle of view had a follow in the period of the nude blondes at home. Nudes in mirror stages two women in different sizes, both facing a unique framed mirror. Tiny details reveal that the farthest is not the result of a multiple reflection of her teammate. This 1994 painting 254 x 213 cm was sold for $ 21.5M by Phillips on May 15, 2013.
