Post War — A509 Auction Modern, Post War & Contemporary, Evening & Day Sale
Fernando Botero Angulo was a Colombian painter and sculptor, celebrated for his volumetric stylization of figures and objects in his works. Born in Medellín, Colombia, Botero's signature style, known as "Boterismo", portrays people and animals in exaggerated and inflated shapes, often conveying social criticism or humor.
Fernando Botero's journey into the art world was marked by his early rejection of traditional artistic paths, opting instead to explore an innovative style that would later dominate his career. His art, infused with a mix of political satire and playful humor, has graced numerous galleries and public spaces worldwide. Notable public installations include his sculptures in Park Avenue, New York City, and the Champs-Élysées in Paris. His works are in the collections of many major international museums and have fetched high sums at auctions.
Fernando Botero's ability to capture the human condition through rounded, corpulent figures has endeared him to a global audience. His notable works such as "The Presidential Family" and "The Death of Pablo Escobar" are poignant commentaries on Colombian politics and society. Furthermore, Botero donated significant numbers of his works to Colombian museums, enriching the cultural heritage of his native country.
His influence extends beyond paintings and sculptures, as Fernando Botero has also engaged with social issues through his art. His series on Abu Ghraib prison abuses reflects his commitment to human rights and his capacity to address painful subjects through his distinct aesthetic.
For those interested in the vibrant world of art and culture, Botero's work remains a testament to the power of visual satire and cultural commentary. To stay updated on exhibitions and auctions featuring Fernando Botero’s works, sign up for alerts and dive deeper into the rich legacy of this monumental artist.
Karl Horst Hödicke is a German artist, a pioneer of German Neo-Expressionism and new figuration, and one of the most important representatives of German post-war painting.
After moving to Berlin in 1957, Hödicke encountered the eventful history of Berlin - the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War, and reunification - and reflected it in his paintings.
Alighiero Fabrizio Boetti, known as Alighiero e Boetti, was an Italian conceptual artist, considered to be a member of the art movement Arte Povera.
Perhaps best known is Boetti's series of large embroidered maps of the world, called simply Mappa.
Sigmar Polke was a German painter and photographer.
Polke experimented with a wide range of styles, subject matters and materials. In the 1970s, he concentrated on photography, returning to paint in the 1980s, when he produced abstract works created by chance through chemical reactions between paint and other products. In the last 20 years of his life, he produced paintings focused on historical events and perceptions of them.
Georg Baselitz is a German painter, sculptor and graphic artist. In the 1960s he became well known for his figurative, expressive paintings. In 1969 he began painting his subjects upside down in an effort to overcome the representational, content-driven character of his earlier work and stress the artifice of painting. Drawing from myriad influences, including art of Soviet era illustration art, the Mannerist period and African sculptures, he developed his own, distinct artistic language.
Jonas Burgert is a German figurative artist living and working in Berlin.
Jonas Burgert graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and studied as a graduate student (Meisterschueler) under Prof. Dieter Hacker in Berlin, and his work has been characterized from the very beginning by its vivid originality.
Burgert's paintings are filled with fantastic figures of the most unimaginable proportions. In the spaces of his panoramic paintings, one is immersed in a visual chaos of narrative layers, amidst mysterious events, strange figures and creatures. Jonas Burgert's large-format paintings are dominated by the grotesque, the bizarre and the surreal. Nightmarish zombie-like figures invade his pictorial worlds, frightening and appealing at the same time.
Since 1998 his work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions around the world, Jonas Burgert is now very successful and his works are very willingly acquired by many galleries.
Heinz Mack is a German artist. Together with Otto Piene he founded the ZERO movement in 1957. He exhibited works at documenta in 1964 and 1977 and he represented Germany at the 1970 Venice Biennale. He is best known for his contributions to op art, light art and kinetic art.
Heinz Mack is a German artist. Together with Otto Piene he founded the ZERO movement in 1957. He exhibited works at documenta in 1964 and 1977 and he represented Germany at the 1970 Venice Biennale. He is best known for his contributions to op art, light art and kinetic art.
Gerhard Richter is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German artists and several of his works have set record prices at auction.
Heinz Mack is a German artist. Together with Otto Piene he founded the ZERO movement in 1957. He exhibited works at documenta in 1964 and 1977 and he represented Germany at the 1970 Venice Biennale. He is best known for his contributions to op art, light art and kinetic art.
Samuel Lewis Francis, an American painter and printmaker, was known for his pivotal role in postwar American painting and his contributions to the Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting movements. Born in San Mateo, California, Francis' early life was marked by a deep personal loss and a significant injury during his service in the Army Air Corps, which led him to pursue painting while recovering in a hospital. His work, characterized by splashes of bright contrasting colors against expansive white canvases, drew international acclaim, particularly in Europe and Japan, underscoring his influence on the global art scene.
Francis' art evolved through various phases, from monochromatic works to vibrant, large-scale pieces, and was deeply influenced by his time in Paris and Japan, reflecting elements of Tachisme and possibly Zen Buddhism. Notable for creating large murals and his "Edge" series, Francis also founded The Lapis Press, further contributing to the art community by producing visually compelling texts. Despite facing health challenges towards the end of his life, he remained prolific, leaving behind a legacy celebrated through the Sam Francis Foundation, which aims to perpetuate his creative legacy.
Francis' artworks are held in prestigious collections worldwide, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Centre Pompidou-Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris, highlighting his enduring influence on contemporary art. His auction records and continued recognition in solo exhibitions posthumously underscore the lasting impact of his work on both collectors and the art community.
For those passionate about modern art and its history, staying informed about Samuel Lewis Francis' contributions and the ongoing exhibitions of his works can be enriching. Sign up for updates related to Francis to ensure you don't miss out on new sales and auction events showcasing his vibrant legacy.
André Lanskoy was a Russian painter and printmaker who worked in France. He is associated with the School of Paris and Tachisme, an abstract painting movement that began during the 1940s.
Jesús Rafael García Soto was a Venezuelan artist, renowned for his pioneering work in kinetic and op art, which sought to create an immersive experience that blurred the lines between the artwork and the viewer. Born in 1923, Soto embarked on a journey that would see him at the forefront of a movement that emphasized the visual dynamics of art, integrating sculpture, painting, and viewer participation in novel ways. His exploration of geometric abstraction and optical effects led to the development of his distinctive style, characterized by the use of materials such as plexiglass to create engaging optical illusions and vibrant, moving sculptures.
Soto's journey into the realms of kinetic art was marked by significant milestones, including his participation in the groundbreaking 1955 exhibition, Le Mouvement, at the Denise René gallery in Paris. This event was instrumental in defining the kinetic art movement, with Soto alongside artists like Yaacov Agam, Marcel Duchamp, and Victor Vasarely, presenting works that invited viewers to experience art in a dynamic, interactive manner. His quest for a new visual language led him to experiment with the dematerialization of form, creating artworks that seemed to dissolve into their surroundings, thereby challenging the viewer's perceptions of space and form.
Throughout his career, Soto remained dedicated to exploring the intrinsic relationships between space, movement, and viewer perception. His creations, ranging from the "Penetrables" series—immersive environments made of hanging strands that visitors could walk through—to large-scale murals and public sculptures, have been celebrated worldwide. His works are part of major collections and have been exhibited extensively, including at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Gallery in London, demonstrating his lasting influence on contemporary art.
For art collectors and enthusiasts intrigued by the fusion of art and motion, Jesús Rafael García Soto's work offers a profound exploration of the kinetic art movement's possibilities. His contributions to art are not just visual spectacles but invitations to engage directly with the kinetic energy and vibrancy of the world.
To stay updated on exhibitions and sales featuring Jesús Rafael García Soto's work, sign up for updates. This subscription ensures you're informed about new product sales and auction events related to this visionary artist, offering unique opportunities to experience the dynamism of kinetic art firsthand.
William Nelson Copley was an American painter, writer, gallerist, collector, patron, publisher and art entrepreneur. His works as an artist have been classified as late Surrealist and precursory to Pop Art.
John Wesley was an American painter, known for idiosyncratic figurative works of eros and humor, rendered in a precise, hard-edged, deadpan style. Wesley's art largely remained true to artistic premises that he established in the 1960s: a comic-strip style of flat shapes, delicate black outline, a limited matte palette of saturated colors, and elegant, pared-down compositions. His characteristic subjects included cavorting nymphs, nudes, infants and animals, pastoral and historical scenes, and 1950s comic strip characters in humorously blasphemous, ambiguous scenarios of forbidden desire, rage or despair.
Andy Warhol, born as Andrew Warhola Jr., was an American visual artist, film director, and producer, who played a pivotal role in the development of the Pop Art movement. His art delved into the interplay between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture, especially prevalent in the 1960s. Warhol was renowned for his diverse range of media, which included painting, silkscreening, photography, film, and sculpture.
Warhol's journey began in Pittsburgh, where he was born and raised, initially making a name for himself as a commercial illustrator. His New York studio, "The Factory," became a famous hub for intellectuals, celebrities, and various artistic minds. He was known for creating the notion of "Warhol superstars" and popularized the phrase "15 minutes of fame."
His contribution to the art world is significant, with notable works like "Campbell's Soup Cans" (1962) and "Marilyn Diptych" (1962), as well as his experimental films like "Empire" (1964) and "Chelsea Girls" (1966). These works not only define his career but also underscore the essence of the Pop Art movement.
Warhol's influence extended beyond his artwork. He managed and produced the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground, founded Interview magazine, and wrote several books, including "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol" and "Popism: The Warhol Sixties." Living openly as a gay man before the gay liberation movement, Warhol's personal life was as influential as his professional endeavors.
Tragically, Warhol's life was nearly cut short in 1968 when he was shot by radical feminist Valerie Solanas. He eventually passed away in 1987 due to cardiac arrhythmia following gallbladder surgery. His legacy continues, with The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh standing as the largest U.S. museum dedicated to a single artist.
Warhol's art remains highly collectible and valuable. His works, like the "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)" and "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn," have fetched staggering amounts at auctions, signifying his enduring impact on the art market.
For art collectors and experts, Andy Warhol's work represents a crucial intersection of pop culture and fine art, offering a unique perspective on consumerism and celebrity. His pieces are not just art; they are historical landmarks that capture a transformative era in both art and society.
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Michael van Ofen is a German artist who lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Van Ofen's works are based on well-known paintings from the nineteenth century. He takes them apart into pictorial elements and reassembles them like a mosaic or a puzzle, in the process creating a new work, alienated from its roots, but faithful to its original idea and form. The objects in the artist's works are divided down to the brushstrokes, they are usually dominated by a single color.
Jiří Georg Dokoupil is a Czech-German painter and graphic artist. He was founding-member of the German artist group Mülheimer Freiheit and the Junge Wilde Art movement, which arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Sigmar Polke was a German painter and photographer.
Polke experimented with a wide range of styles, subject matters and materials. In the 1970s, he concentrated on photography, returning to paint in the 1980s, when he produced abstract works created by chance through chemical reactions between paint and other products. In the last 20 years of his life, he produced paintings focused on historical events and perceptions of them.
Theodoros Stamos was a Greek-American painter. He is one of the youngest painters of the original group of abstract expressionist painters (the so-called "Irascibles"), which included Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko. His later years were negatively affected by his involvement with the Rothko case.
Ulrich Erben is a German painter. From 1980 to 2005, he was a Professor of Painting at the Kunstakademie Münster (University of Fine Arts Münster). He is known as a master of the color field style of abstract painting, closely related to abstract expressionism, in which he creates tension between a defined surface structure, his own method of applying paint to a canvas, and the relationship of various shades of white or color to each other in their placement as part of a composition on the flat plane of a canvas. In 1986 and 2008, he was awarded the Konrad-von-Soest Prize for Visual Arts by the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (Landscape Society Westphalia-Lippe).
Edward Maurice FitzGerald "Robyn" Denny was one of a group of young artists who transformed British art in the late 1950s, leading it into the international mainstream. Reacting against the mainstream St Ives School of landscape-based painting and inspired by Abstract Expressionism, American films, popular culture and urban modernity, they saw abstract painting as their only conceivable route.
Heinz Mack is a German artist. Together with Otto Piene he founded the ZERO movement in 1957. He exhibited works at documenta in 1964 and 1977 and he represented Germany at the 1970 Venice Biennale. He is best known for his contributions to op art, light art and kinetic art.
Markus Prachensky is an Austrian artist, one of the leading figures of the Austrian avant-garde and a representative of the Informel and Tachisme styles.
Originally influenced by Piet Mondrian, Prachensky developed his typical visual language in 1956. In the same year, together with Wolfgang Hollega, Josef Mikl and Arnulf Rainer, he founded the artist group St. Stephan (Gruppe St. Stephan).
Prachensky lived and worked alternately in Paris, Vienna, Berlin and Los Angeles. He returned to Europe in 1970 and was director of the painting master class at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1983 to 2000.
Keeping with formal expression, for many years the artist used only a fierce, irresistible red. Later he included green, purple, black and brown, and yellow in his painting palette. The main elements of many of his paintings are vertical stripes with layers of color superimposed on them.