On the evening of 15 May, Sotheby’s held The Now and Contemporary Evening Sale in New York, bringing a sale total of US$127.1 million.. Leading the auction was an untitled work on paper by Jean-Michel Basquiat, which sold for US$16.3 million with fees.
Bidding for the lot opened at US$9.2 million and attracted interest from several in-room and telephone bidders. After around five minutes of bidding, it was hammered at US$13.7 million, a winning bid placed by the client of Johan Nauckhoff, Senior Business Getter, Geneva, paddle number 471.
Of the 41 lots on offer, 38 found new homes, resulting in a sell-through rate of 92.6%. The sale had a total hammer of US$105.4 million, against the total low estimate of US$102.4 million. Other highlights from the evening were the nine works from the collection of Roy and Dorothy Leichenstien, which were all sold and totaled US$29 million.
Lot 115 | Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) | Untitled, Oilstick on paper
Painted in 1981
127.6 x 160 cm
Provenance:
- Keitelman Gallery, Brussels
- Acquired from the above in 1989 by the present owner
Estimate: US$10,000,000-15,000,000
Hammer Price: US$13,700,000
Sold: US$16,365,000
1981 was a major year for Basquiat. From about the 10th grade, Basquiat utilized this character or pseudonym originally as a tag for graffiti work. As his reputation grew, he began appearing in other media proclaiming "SAMO IS DEAD" as he transitioned to mainstream success.
Coinciding with this development was a major period of transformation for the artist, having graduated from painting on scraps found in the street and reams of paper to a full studio. As such, Untitled is representative of an era where Basquiat underwent an artistic transformation that enabled him to build a style and creative identity that carried on through the rest of his career.
Basquiat in his New York studio in 1982
Created when Basquiat broke away from his street art origins and his pseudonym SAMO, this work came around the year when Basquiat entered the mainstream of the art world, during which works that were just named Untitled were being produced by him, including this work. This Untitled has a chaotic, bold, and assertive look to it, fitting as it is a painting of a warrior.
In Untitled, Basquiat portrays a warrior preparing to enter battle who is confident of his victory. Basquiat paints the warrior with a laurel wreath sitting on his head, a symbol of victory and martial prowess in Ancient Rome. The aggressiveness of the subject can be seen with the grid across where his chest is, representing muscles.
The portrayal of the muscles or ribs is a motif in Basquiat’s work as a reference to other Untitled works like Untitled (Boxer), where he paid homage to the character’s strength, but also the Biblical story of Adam’s rib creating Eve. There’s also a connection to his mother, as when Basquiat broke his arm when he was a child, his mother bought him an anatomy book, which would later influence his paintings of people.
The wreath sitting on the head of the subject
The painting is a frenzied mixture that is tied into its various themes and motifs, with this one featuring an array of religious symbols and backgrounds. The figure’s left hand is clawed, not dissimilar to the Aztec god of creation and knowledge, Quetzalcoatl. Meanwhile, the right arm is outstretched as a reference to Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. Both references are tied to the creation of humanity and add a more religious tone to this piece.
Color is also a major way in which Basquiat ties together his work. The “hamfisted” brushstrokes are done in an almost architectural way, commanding the painting and the audience’s gaze towards it. They also serve to segment and break up certain parts of the work, with certain colors representing feelings that Basquiat tries to convey. For example, the orange enhances and inflames gestures of the arm, while the redness around the eyes draws attention to their harsh gaze.
Lot 126 | Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) | Rigger, Oil, metal, rope, wood, fabric, plastic buttons, paper, graphite, and sand on canvas
Executed in 1961
259.1 x 152.4 x 26.7 cm
Provenance:
- Leo Castelli Gallery, New York (LC #RR D-112)
- Victor and Sally Ganz, New York (acquired from the above in May 1964)
- Private Collection (acquired from the above in 1997)
- Sotheby's New York, 18 May 2017, lot 18 (consigned by the above)
- Acquired from the above by the present owner
Estimate: US$8,000,000-12,000,000
Hammer Price: US$6,800,000
Sold: US$8,000,000
While artists like Roy Lichtenstein or Andy Warhol are considered the definitive New York pop artists, there were those who preceded them, such as Robert Rauschenberg. Born in Texas in 1925, his works could be considered proto-pop art, and his paintings that meshed everyday objects with art, known as Combines, a term he coined.
The idea for Combines came to him while he was living in New York City, following a long period of traveling around the US and Europe studying art. He often took discarded objects he found lying around the home and used them in his work.
On the matter, Rauchenberg stated that he "wanted something other than what I could make myself, and I wanted to use the surprise and the collectiveness… So the object itself was changed by its context, and therefore it became a new thing."
This lot came from the final series of Combines that Rauschenberg completed in the early 1960s. This lot, in particular, is meant to be an analysis of humanity’s industrialization meshed with an autobiography of the artist; as such, it is not just a combination of methods of art and materials, but also themes and ideas.
Robert Rauschenberg in 1968, after he finished his Combines series
Among his various Combine works, Rigger is unique as it is less complex and crowded; it lacks intricacy but does not sacrifice its artistic value, as it prioritizes purity and discretion. In many ways, Rauchenberg was similar to his abstract expressionist peers, as seen through bold horizontal lines of color that resemble the work of Franz Kline and Hans Hofmann. It’s his usage of dimension by attaching extra material to the painting that sets him apart, as a nail in the painting holds a rope and metal.
One of the interesting parts of this work is its provenance, as after being in the Leo Castelli Gallery after its completion, it was in the collection of Victor and Sally Ganz for over three decades. They were an odd collecting couple, as they only acquired works from a few artists, and they had an eye for who would become major names in the post-war era, such as Rauschenberg, Eva Hesse, and Frank Stella. Most famously, after they passed, their collection was auctioned by Christie’s in 1997 in what was the record-setting single-owner sale at the time, netting US$206.5 million across 58 lots, which included Rigger.
Lot 106 | Ed Ruscha (b.1937) | That Was Then This Is Now, Acrylic on canvas
Executed in 1989
106.7 x 243.8 cm
Provenance:
- Leo Castelli Gallery, New York (LC# ER 332)
- Fred Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles
- Jay Chiat, Los Angeles (acquired from the above in 1989)
- Sotheby's New York, 13 November 2002, lot 128 (consigned by the above)
- Private Collection, Belgium (acquired at the above sale)
- Phillips de Pury & Company London, 29 June 2009, lot 11
- Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Estimate: US$7,000,000-10,000,000
Hammer Price: US$7,000,000
Sold: US$7,795,000
While New York is probably the most famous center of the pop art movement, Los Angeles and the American West had their fair share of talent, with Ed Ruscha perhaps being the most famous. Born in Nebraska in 1937, Ruscha was original in media before transitioning into pop art, having been inspired when reading about artists in the movement.
While perhaps best known for his paintings of Southern California, its landscapes, and landmarks. For example, his record for the most expensive painting sold at auction is his 1964 Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half.
Ruscha’s work evolved with pop art trends, especially with the usage of words in his paintings. While partially inspired by his background in the commercial side of art, Ruscha was influenced to use words while in France and Spain in the summer of 1961. Ruscha saw street signs in foreign languages and began thinking of how to use words aside from their literal meaning. As such, Ruscha’s earliest word paintings used one-syllable words that were usually onomatopoeia, like “OOF.”
As Ruscha continued to work on these word art paintings, he began to play with their font as well, creating his own called "Boy Scout Utility Modern" in 1980. Not dissimilar to how the Hollywood Sign is written, it features curved letters that are squared off. The letters are also always done in full capitalization and are a stark contrast to the more rounded and chunky font seen in paintings like OOF.
Edward Ruscha | OOF (1962/Reworked in 1963) | Museum of Modern Art, New York City
In addition to changes in how Ruscha used font, he also started using more complex words and even sentences, being drawn to text he saw and seeking to manipulate it into his art. In the case of this work, he perhaps became interested in it following the phrase being the title for the 1985 drama movie That Was Then... This Is Now. Regardless of origins, it's a fairly enigmatic and powerful statement.
The meaning of the phrase is a conflict between the ideas of nostalgia and the present, and the style of works he was painting at the time. The “nostalgia,” or “that was then,” for him was his older paintings that included sunsets and landscapes that were bright and colorful. Meanwhile, the “this is now” element included works like this lot and others painted between 1988 and 1990 that were less clear, more elusive in meaning, and mysterious.
Other Highlighted Lots:
Lot 122 | Frank Stella (1936-2024) | Adelante, Metallic powder in polymer emulsion on canvas
Executed in 1964
245.1 x 420.4 cm
Provenance:
- Lawrence Rubin, New York
- Kasmin Limited, London (by 1964)
- Robert A. Rowan, Pasadena (by 1967)
- André Emmerich Gallery, New York
- Acquired from the above in 1968 by the present owner
Estimate: US$10,000,000-15,000,000
Hammer Price: US$6,500,000
Sold: US$7,000,000
Lot 123 | Gerhard Richter (b.1932) | Abstraktes Bild, Oil on canvas
Executed in 1990
122 x 102 cm
Provenance:
- Anthony d’Offay Gallery, London
- Acquired from the above in April 1991 by the present owner
Estimate: US$5,000,000-7,000,000
Hammer Price: US$5,650,000
Sold: US$6,943,000
Lot 117 | Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) | Reflections: Art, Acrylic, oil, and graphite on canvas | Roy's Lichtensteins: Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Executed in 1988
113 x 193.7 cm
Provenance:
- Estate of the artist
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: US$4,000,000-6,000,000
Hammer Price: US$4,450,000
Sold: US$5,479,000
Lot 120 | Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) | Woman: Sunlight, Moonlight, Acrylic on wood | Roy's Lichtensteins: Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Executed in 1996
106 x 66 x 35.6 cm
Provenance:
- Estate of the artist
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: US$4,000,000-6,000,000
Hammer Price: US$4,000,000
Sold: US$4,930,000
Lot 135 | Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) | Stretcher Frame with Cross Bars III, Acrylic, oil, and graphite on canvas | Roy's Lichtensteins: Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Executed in 1968
121.9 x 142.9 cm
Provenance:
- Estate of the artist
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: US$2,500,000-3,500,000
Hammer Price: US$4,000,000
Sold: US$4,930,000
Lot 118 | Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) | Bonsai Tree, Acrylic on wood | Roy's Lichtensteins: Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Executed in 1996
128.9 x 97.8 x 26.7 cm
Provenance:
- Estate of the artist
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: US$1,500,000-2,000,000
Hammer Price: US$3,400,000
Sold: US$4,198,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Sotheby's New York
Sale: The Now and Contemporary Evening Auction
Date: 15 May 2025
Number of Lots: 41
Lots Sold: 38
Lots Unsold: 3
Sell Rate: 92.6%
Sale Total: US$127,126,700