1995
1995 Benefits Supervisor Sleeping by Freud
2008 SOLD for $ 33.6M including premium by Christie's
Relying on his knowledge of art history, Lucian Freud is not like everyone else. His considerations on others are not based on the expression of faces or attitudes but on the smallest details of entirely naked bodies, male and female, which he observes endlessly like a zoologist who has to describe a rare specimen.
Leigh Bowery has been one of his male models since 1988. Leigh is a post-punk dancer, stylist and creator of night clubs. He outrageously exhibits his homosexuality with exuberant make-up, high heels and latex body tights.
In 1990 Leigh invites Lucian to meet Sue Tilley who is benefits supervisor in an employment agency and cashier of one of his clubs in Piccadilly. Sue is 33 years old and weighs about 137 kg. She is an interesting specimen : Lucian considers that her flesh without muscle has generated an unusual texture of the skin, of which he observes all the folds and shadows.
From 1993 to 1996 Sue is featured in four paintings. She is alone in the last three images, huddled on a sofa and then in an armchair to endure without tiring the repetitive sitting sessions which occupy every Saturday and Sunday and sometimes more for several months in a row.
Freud used Sue's professional occupation as a nickname. Benefits Supervisor resting, oil on canvas 151 x 161 cm painted in 1994, was sold for $ 56M including premium by Christie's on May 13, 2015. The folded legs accentuate the swellings of the body. The head tilted back does not matter.
Benefits Supervisor sleeping, oil on canvas 151 x 219 cm painted in 1995, was sold for $ 33.6M including premium by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 37. The body is reclining on the sofa with an acceptable head position on a cushion, probably at the request of the model, bringing a better impression of quiet intimacy. Please watch Christie's interview with Sue Tilley beside this painting before the sale.
Leigh Bowery had died of AIDS in December 1994. Sue Tilley will publish a biography of him in 1997.
Leigh Bowery has been one of his male models since 1988. Leigh is a post-punk dancer, stylist and creator of night clubs. He outrageously exhibits his homosexuality with exuberant make-up, high heels and latex body tights.
In 1990 Leigh invites Lucian to meet Sue Tilley who is benefits supervisor in an employment agency and cashier of one of his clubs in Piccadilly. Sue is 33 years old and weighs about 137 kg. She is an interesting specimen : Lucian considers that her flesh without muscle has generated an unusual texture of the skin, of which he observes all the folds and shadows.
From 1993 to 1996 Sue is featured in four paintings. She is alone in the last three images, huddled on a sofa and then in an armchair to endure without tiring the repetitive sitting sessions which occupy every Saturday and Sunday and sometimes more for several months in a row.
Freud used Sue's professional occupation as a nickname. Benefits Supervisor resting, oil on canvas 151 x 161 cm painted in 1994, was sold for $ 56M including premium by Christie's on May 13, 2015. The folded legs accentuate the swellings of the body. The head tilted back does not matter.
Benefits Supervisor sleeping, oil on canvas 151 x 219 cm painted in 1995, was sold for $ 33.6M including premium by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 37. The body is reclining on the sofa with an acceptable head position on a cushion, probably at the request of the model, bringing a better impression of quiet intimacy. Please watch Christie's interview with Sue Tilley beside this painting before the sale.
Leigh Bowery had died of AIDS in December 1994. Sue Tilley will publish a biography of him in 1997.
1995 Nude with Red Shirt by Lichtenstein
2012 SOLD for $ 28M including premium by Christie's
In 1993 Roy Lichtenstein reinterpreted the comics that had made his glory thirty years earlier. The evolution of manners and the new freedom acquired and claimed by young women allow him to strip them to the nude.
In the first works in the series, exhibited by Castelli in November 1994, the aesthetics of voluptuous curves often take precedence over narration. Amorous thoughts already appear in some scenes.
In the Nude with Yellow Flower, sold for $ 23.6M including premium by Christie's on May 15, 2013, the young woman phones while preparing a flower for her interlocutor. In the 1960s comics she wore a swimsuit.
Nude with Red Shirt, oil and acrylic on canvas 198 x 168 cm painted in 1995, was sold for $ 28M including premium by Christie's on November 14, 2012, lot 39.
In her bedroom, the young blonde slips her shirt over her shoulders. The viewer's attention is focused on the bare skin. In the original image, she wore underpants. The narrative figures are only seen at second reading.
The left edge of the image is broken by the hair of a woman. What is she doing ? Roy does not give his solution but in the original comic book she was the sister. The framed portrait of a young man on the nightstand leads to conclude that the main character is heterosexual.
In the following year the women are more overtly exciting. A Seductive Girl was sold for $ 31.5M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2013.
In the first works in the series, exhibited by Castelli in November 1994, the aesthetics of voluptuous curves often take precedence over narration. Amorous thoughts already appear in some scenes.
In the Nude with Yellow Flower, sold for $ 23.6M including premium by Christie's on May 15, 2013, the young woman phones while preparing a flower for her interlocutor. In the 1960s comics she wore a swimsuit.
Nude with Red Shirt, oil and acrylic on canvas 198 x 168 cm painted in 1995, was sold for $ 28M including premium by Christie's on November 14, 2012, lot 39.
In her bedroom, the young blonde slips her shirt over her shoulders. The viewer's attention is focused on the bare skin. In the original image, she wore underpants. The narrative figures are only seen at second reading.
The left edge of the image is broken by the hair of a woman. What is she doing ? Roy does not give his solution but in the original comic book she was the sister. The framed portrait of a young man on the nightstand leads to conclude that the main character is heterosexual.
In the following year the women are more overtly exciting. A Seductive Girl was sold for $ 31.5M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2013.
1995 Hope and Jealousy of the Naked Woman
2017 SOLD for $ 24M including premium
An often iconoclastic theorist in many genres of painting, Roy Lichtenstein appreciates when turning 70 years old that the viewer wants nude women. He observes: "If you draw three lines that look like a nude, people see a nude".
To join this everlasting theme of art, he undresses the young women from the sentimental stories of his old magazines. In a first phase he chooses apartment scenes with one or two girls in their usual occupations. The condition of women has changed, fortunately, and these scenes which once would have been risqué are no longer shocking.
The old artist then takes a step forward towards eroticism. He reads again a sentimental story published in 1964 in Heart Throbs magazine. His young woman is the conformal copy of the original blonde except that now she is naked. He removes the texts which explained too directly her dramas.
On May 18 in New York, Sotheby's sells at lot 8 an oil and acrylic on canvas 148 x 152 cm painted in 1995. The press release of April 10 announces an estimate in the region of $ 20M.
In the comic book the woman is sitting and leaning on the edge of the bed and dreams of her success : Danny likes me; He likes me for me ; He does not know I can be beautiful. Once stripped by Roy she retains from the original version a too thick and too red mouth assessing that despite her perfect body her sex appeal is vulgar.
This painting is named Nude sunbathing, a surprising title since the original indoor scene is not contradicted in the nude version. Tentatively Roy was looking for an occupational excuse to justify the increasing eroticism of his art.
In the following year the taboos are finally removed with a charming image re-appropriated from further in the same story. In the comics the young woman in bed cannot fall asleep because her Danny is in love with another girl. Her gaze is languid. Roy takes off her nightgown : Seductive Girl was sold for $ 31.5M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2013.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
To join this everlasting theme of art, he undresses the young women from the sentimental stories of his old magazines. In a first phase he chooses apartment scenes with one or two girls in their usual occupations. The condition of women has changed, fortunately, and these scenes which once would have been risqué are no longer shocking.
The old artist then takes a step forward towards eroticism. He reads again a sentimental story published in 1964 in Heart Throbs magazine. His young woman is the conformal copy of the original blonde except that now she is naked. He removes the texts which explained too directly her dramas.
On May 18 in New York, Sotheby's sells at lot 8 an oil and acrylic on canvas 148 x 152 cm painted in 1995. The press release of April 10 announces an estimate in the region of $ 20M.
In the comic book the woman is sitting and leaning on the edge of the bed and dreams of her success : Danny likes me; He likes me for me ; He does not know I can be beautiful. Once stripped by Roy she retains from the original version a too thick and too red mouth assessing that despite her perfect body her sex appeal is vulgar.
This painting is named Nude sunbathing, a surprising title since the original indoor scene is not contradicted in the nude version. Tentatively Roy was looking for an occupational excuse to justify the increasing eroticism of his art.
In the following year the taboos are finally removed with a charming image re-appropriated from further in the same story. In the comics the young woman in bed cannot fall asleep because her Danny is in love with another girl. Her gaze is languid. Roy takes off her nightgown : Seductive Girl was sold for $ 31.5M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2013.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1995-1996 The House in the Blizzard
2017 SOLD for $ 21M including premium
Inspired by his childhood in Canada, Peter Doig recreates within his head an ideal of life in the wilderness, sheltered in an anonymous cabin. His memory is emotional and not topographical. He searches endlessly in the old images the models of his desire.
At the same time he is a very good connoisseur of modern and ancient painting techniques, and a meticulous and talented artist who does not hesitate to use very large formats to share his fantasies.
On November 16 in New York, Phillips sells Red House, oil on canvas 200 x 250 cm dated 1995-1996, lot 12 estimated $ 18M.
Red House feeds his favorite theme : it expresses the winter with the snow on ground and trees. The house, which may be a lumberjack camp, has a bright color under the twilight sun sifted through a heavy sky. The scattered flakes bring a rhythm to the whole composition. In the foreground, sectioning the image in the middle, the leafless trunk of a birch focuses the boundary between the artist and his own dream.
This little place of a chilled paradise is made to be inhabited, just like the winter villages by Brueghel. The men however must not disturb the balance of the dream. They are much more numerous than usually in Doig's scenes and divided into active groups, but they are reduced to their silhouettes according to the usual practice of the artist.
At the same time he is a very good connoisseur of modern and ancient painting techniques, and a meticulous and talented artist who does not hesitate to use very large formats to share his fantasies.
On November 16 in New York, Phillips sells Red House, oil on canvas 200 x 250 cm dated 1995-1996, lot 12 estimated $ 18M.
Red House feeds his favorite theme : it expresses the winter with the snow on ground and trees. The house, which may be a lumberjack camp, has a bright color under the twilight sun sifted through a heavy sky. The scattered flakes bring a rhythm to the whole composition. In the foreground, sectioning the image in the middle, the leafless trunk of a birch focuses the boundary between the artist and his own dream.
This little place of a chilled paradise is made to be inhabited, just like the winter villages by Brueghel. The men however must not disturb the balance of the dream. They are much more numerous than usually in Doig's scenes and divided into active groups, but they are reduced to their silhouettes according to the usual practice of the artist.
1995 McLaren F1
2017 SOLD for $ 15.6M by Bonhams
The F1 is the best but the security rules are not the same in America. The central position of the driver is tolerated but the side seats for the passengers are not allowed. Other differences include bumper height, headlights and cooling system. A company named Ameritech makes the changes necessary for the legalization in a way that can be easily and completely reversible. 7 F1 are processed by them around 1997.
On August 18, 2017, Bonhams sold for $ 15.6M as lot 73 an F1 made in 1995, chassis number 044, which had been in 1996 the first to be shipped to the United States, transformed by Ameritech and legalized. It was later returned to its original configuration as almost all (or all?) the F1 Ameritech.
It is announced as a dream car, consigned by its first owner with only 15,500 Km from new and an excellent history of services, in its original configuration without any further option. With a population of 64 in its basic version the McLaren F1 is however less rare than the Ferrari 250 GTO. Please watch the video shared by the auction house
On August 18, 2017, Bonhams sold for $ 15.6M as lot 73 an F1 made in 1995, chassis number 044, which had been in 1996 the first to be shipped to the United States, transformed by Ameritech and legalized. It was later returned to its original configuration as almost all (or all?) the F1 Ameritech.
It is announced as a dream car, consigned by its first owner with only 15,500 Km from new and an excellent history of services, in its original configuration without any further option. With a population of 64 in its basic version the McLaren F1 is however less rare than the Ferrari 250 GTO. Please watch the video shared by the auction house
1995 Spray by Wool
2021 SOLD for $ 13.2M by Sotheby's
The untitled opus P244 is an enamel on aluminum 200 x 152 cm painted by Christopher Wool in 1995. The mingled looping lines in the style of Brice Marden were made by using a spray gun and liquified paint.
These strong black loops are sprayed over a partly erased but still visible background of various abstract patterns, inspired from Rauschenberg's Erased de Kooning Drawing.
P244 was sold for $ 13.2M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2021, lot 103.
The untitled opus P219 is an enamel on aluminum 228 x 152 cm painted in the same year. The mingled looping lines generated some drippings, anticipating by ten years the style of Twombly's Bacchus. On the background, pre-existing floral patterns had been erased by a layer of white.
P219 was sold for $ 10.4M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2019, lot 21.
These strong black loops are sprayed over a partly erased but still visible background of various abstract patterns, inspired from Rauschenberg's Erased de Kooning Drawing.
P244 was sold for $ 13.2M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2021, lot 103.
The untitled opus P219 is an enamel on aluminum 228 x 152 cm painted in the same year. The mingled looping lines generated some drippings, anticipating by ten years the style of Twombly's Bacchus. On the background, pre-existing floral patterns had been erased by a layer of white.
P219 was sold for $ 10.4M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2019, lot 21.
1995 Hothouse Doll by Nara
2020 SOLD for HK$ 103M by Phillips in association with Poly
Yoshitomo Nara spent twelve years in Germany, from 1988 to 1994 studying art in Düsseldorf and until 2000 in his studio in Cologne. The clear line appeals to the Japanese, accustomed to prints and manga.
To express his relationship to the world, the artist paints portraits of baby girls, with changing facial expressions. They do not play. They are malicious or treacherous. The color of the garment confirms the expression : light blue to be nice, deep red to be nasty.
On December 3, 2020, Phillips in association with Poly sold at lot 5 for HK $ 103M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M Hothouse Doll - in the White Room III. It is illustrated by Phillips in a very short video.
Painted in 1995, this acrylic on canvas 120 x 110 cm is a seminal work of this series. The title describes the scene. The child is seated, legs tight and arms dangling, like a doll that has been installed on the floor. Hothouse has a meaning of incubator : she wants to express a maturity greater than her apparent age in order to inspire adults. The space around her is uniformly white. She is a nice girl, with a blue dress.
The artist has given up the distortions of the face. The diverging strabismus of the wide almond-shaped eyes brings an enigmatic and distant temperament that the artist will reuse throughout his career.
To express his relationship to the world, the artist paints portraits of baby girls, with changing facial expressions. They do not play. They are malicious or treacherous. The color of the garment confirms the expression : light blue to be nice, deep red to be nasty.
On December 3, 2020, Phillips in association with Poly sold at lot 5 for HK $ 103M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M Hothouse Doll - in the White Room III. It is illustrated by Phillips in a very short video.
Painted in 1995, this acrylic on canvas 120 x 110 cm is a seminal work of this series. The title describes the scene. The child is seated, legs tight and arms dangling, like a doll that has been installed on the floor. Hothouse has a meaning of incubator : she wants to express a maturity greater than her apparent age in order to inspire adults. The space around her is uniformly white. She is a nice girl, with a blue dress.
The artist has given up the distortions of the face. The diverging strabismus of the wide almond-shaped eyes brings an enigmatic and distant temperament that the artist will reuse throughout his career.
1995 Bloodline : Big Family by ZHANG XIAOGANG
1
No 2
2020 SOLD for HK$ 98M by Christie's
Zhang Xiaogang started in 1993 his great series named Bloodlines - Big Family. Based on the model of ancient family photos, these groups of two, three or four individuals express the contradiction between the political requirement of an undifferentiated behavior and the need for everyone to live his own life.
Zhang groups multiply in 1994, all of them morally similar but physically different.
In 1995, the social revolution brought about by the events of Tiananmen Square is already lasting since six years. Zhang added only five paintings to his series but in very large size, 180 x 230 cm.
The Bloodline - Big Family No. 3 of 1995 displays three characters. The facial lines are the same as if the individuality of the father, mother and unique child required by the authority were crushed by the system. Mao collar tunics are dull and military. The gaze is sad and the mouth is dumb.
The younger is slightly smaller in the middle. For preparing the future, he has been enlisted with the Comrades : he exhibits the Mao badge and the red armband. This family reveals in silence the social and political scream of Zhang: the dehumanized future that is offered to the Chinese is not acceptable.
The Bloodline - Big Family No. 2 from the same series was sold by Christie's on December 2, 2020 for HK $ 98M from a lower estimate of HK $ 38M, lot 119.
Zhang groups multiply in 1994, all of them morally similar but physically different.
In 1995, the social revolution brought about by the events of Tiananmen Square is already lasting since six years. Zhang added only five paintings to his series but in very large size, 180 x 230 cm.
The Bloodline - Big Family No. 3 of 1995 displays three characters. The facial lines are the same as if the individuality of the father, mother and unique child required by the authority were crushed by the system. Mao collar tunics are dull and military. The gaze is sad and the mouth is dumb.
The younger is slightly smaller in the middle. For preparing the future, he has been enlisted with the Comrades : he exhibits the Mao badge and the red armband. This family reveals in silence the social and political scream of Zhang: the dehumanized future that is offered to the Chinese is not acceptable.
The Bloodline - Big Family No. 2 from the same series was sold by Christie's on December 2, 2020 for HK $ 98M from a lower estimate of HK $ 38M, lot 119.
2
No 3
2014 SOLD for HK$ 94M by Sotheby's
The Bloodline - Big Family No. 3 was sold twice by Sotheby's : for HK $ 47M on April 9, 2008 and for HK $ 94M from a lower estimate of HK $ 65M on April 5, 2014, lot 145.
1995 Spider II by Bourgeois
2017 SOLD for $ 11.6M by Christie's
By realizing her spiders in bronze from 1995 Louise Bourgeois concretizes with an indestructible material her lifelong fantasies about the intrauterine relations. The cohort of these protective spiders form a deeply feminine surrealist universe. The bronzes are edited in six copies plus an artist's proof.
Spider I (127 x 117 x 31 cm) and II (185 x 185 x 57 cm) conceived in 1995 and Spider IV (203 x 180 x 53 cm) conceived in the following year have a lowered body that invites to apply them on a wall. The right rear leg of Spider IV is folded simulating an upward walking.
Spider III (48 x 84 x 83 cm) designed in 1995 is raised on its legs and anticipates the gigantic bronzes of 1996 and 1997 that can be used as garden shelters. The culmination of this evolution is the 9.20 m high spider named Maman made in 1999 which can be used as a city monument.
On November 15, 2017, Christie's sold for $ 11.6M a Spider II edited in 1995, lot 7 B. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Spider I (127 x 117 x 31 cm) and II (185 x 185 x 57 cm) conceived in 1995 and Spider IV (203 x 180 x 53 cm) conceived in the following year have a lowered body that invites to apply them on a wall. The right rear leg of Spider IV is folded simulating an upward walking.
Spider III (48 x 84 x 83 cm) designed in 1995 is raised on its legs and anticipates the gigantic bronzes of 1996 and 1997 that can be used as garden shelters. The culmination of this evolution is the 9.20 m high spider named Maman made in 1999 which can be used as a city monument.
On November 15, 2017, Christie's sold for $ 11.6M a Spider II edited in 1995, lot 7 B. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
