JEFF KOONS
Cracked Egg (Magenta), Executed in 1994-2006
Estimate: £10 million to £15 million
Cracked Egg (Magenta), Executed in 1994-2006
Estimate: £10 million to £15 million
From 6 to 14 February in London, Christie’s will present an outstanding season of exhibitions and auctions dedicated to Post-War & Contemporary Art, representing the most important artists and movements of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Francis Outred, Christie’s Head of Post-War & Contemporary Art, Europe: “’Following on from the success of New York in November, when new records for any auction globally, any work of art at auction and any work by a living artist were achieved, Christie’s is delighted to present another exceptional series of Post War and Contemporary art auctions in London this February. The ground-breaking Italian spirit of Arte Povera emanates from the special collection of ‘Eyes Wide Open’ where major works by Pascali, Pistoletto and Fabro mix with their forebears Fontana, Burri and Manzoni and their international heirs in Schutte, Eliasson, Kapoor and Trockel to name but a few. We are also celebrating a British odyssey starting with Francis Bacon’s stunning ‘George Dyer Talking’ from the same period, 1966, Bridget Riley’s ‘Chant 2’ which won the Golden Lion in Venice in 1968 and ending with the group of works from the key exhibition of contemporary art from the last couple of decades, ‘Sensation’. The generation of Hirst, Hume, Ofili and Saville often quote Arte Povera as a profound influence so to be able to bring these works together in February is particularly resonant. Following Koons’ record-breaking sale in New York the appearance of his celebrated ‘Cracked Egg’ for the first time at auction should create tremendous excitement, and the Gerhard Richter ‘Abstraktes Bild’ is the finest abstract painting I have ever worked with. This should be a season to remember.”
This exceptional week of sales begins with Eyes Wide Open: An Italian Vision, a single-owner auction and exhibition featuring the largest and most important private collection of Arte Povera ever to be shown in the UK. The exhibition will open on 5 February and will be displayed across all three floors of Christie’s Mayfair Gallery in New Bond Street (until 14 February). The stand-alone auction will take place on 11 February at Christie’s King Street.
The February season is led by the Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 13 February 2014, which will offer 49 works representing each decade of the past 60 years and reflecting watershed moments in contemporary art. The evening auction is led by masterpieces by Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter and Jeff Koons and is expected to realize £87 million to £107.5 million, the second highest pre-sale estimate for a London auction in the category at Christie’s, and the highest for the February season. The Evening auction will also showcase the evolution of British art from the 1960s to the present day, with outstanding examples by Francis Bacon, Bridget Riley, Gerald Laing, Jenny Saville, Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili, Gary Hume and Peter Doig.
