Art d’Amérique Latine ~ Latin American Art
Christie’s Paris Galleries
June 10, 2004
www.christies.com
Christie’s Paris Galleries
June 10, 2004
The sale Art d’Amérique Latine (Latin American Art), traditionally held in New York, will be hosted this year at Christie’s elegant Parisian salesroom at Avenue Matignon. During a festive evening event on June 10, François Curiel, Chairman of Christie’s Europe and Director of Christie’s France, will conduct the auction. Not only will this extraordinary sale showcase some of the finest works of Latin American masters, it will also shed a fascinating light on the enduring fertile exchange between Latin American art and European artistic capitals. The sale will feature 100 works including paintings by Rufino Tamayo, Wifredo Lam, J.C. Orozco and Fernando Botero.
The French capital especially had a mesmerizing effect on the young Latin American artists that roamed the streets of Montparnasse where Picasso, Léger, Modigliani and many other creative geniuses worked, exhibited and socialized. The subsequent influences of Cubism, Fauvism, Surrealism and other movements on the style, technique and palette of these aspiring young artists can not be underestimated and these chance encounters - sometimes brief, sometimes lasting – have influenced generations of Latin American artists even today.
“The similarities between Tamayo and Dubuffet are as revealing as their differences.” (Paz)
It was Octavio Paz who made this observation, thereby also referring to Tamayo’s capacity to capture ‘sun.’ The sale offers several significant works from Tamayo’s oeuvre, including Claustrofobia, a painting the artist executed in 1954 (estimate: $800,000-1,000,000). Also featured are El fumador from 1945 (estimate: $350,000-400,000) and Mujer con canasta de manzanas, circa 1940 (estimate: $40,000-60,000).
“For the work’s force to burst forth, the drawing has to be demanding on the outside and reduced to the extreme on the inside.” (Botero)
Two paintings by Fernando Botero, Los Amantes, 1977 (estimate: $500,000-700,000) and El mariscal de campo, 1983 (estimate: $350,000-450,000), depict his trademark round massive figures, which overtake the immediate space around them. The military uniform on the figure in the latter work illustrates Botero’s personal connection to Colombian iconography, and both paintings solidify his status as one of the most prolific and alluring artists from Latin America. The sale also features a bronze by the artist, Reclining Venus (estimate: $400,000-600,000).
“Je veux, de toutes mes forces, peindre le drame de mon pays, Cuba.” (“I want with all my might, paint the drama of my country, Cuba.”) (Lam)
Cuban-born Wifredo Lam arrived in Paris in 1938. As a Surrealist painter in the 1930s, Lam’s gouache on paper mounted on canvas, La ventana, II, 1935 (estimate: $200,000-250,000), is an early example of how Parisian movements and especially the works of Matisse influenced his style. A later work by Lam, Quatre mains pour un être, 1967 (estimate: $250,000-300,000), represents the evolution of Lam’s style in the late 1960s. Untitled, 1947 (estimate: $400,000-450,000), is another fine illustration of his work.
“A strange thing, this life in exile, when we saw each other every day … Breton, Masson, …hordes of people, many of them young.” (Matta)
Chilean-born Roberto Echaurren Matta worked principally in Paris and New York and was an active member of the Surrealists during the 1930s. His works are noted for reconciling his early Cuban influences with the European avant-garde. Offered this spring are Matta’s Le Cyclopedic (estimate: $250,000-300,000) and Espacio de la especie, 1962 (estimate: $200,000-300,000). The latter represents an otherworldly landscape wrought with internal tension.
Further highlights include Diego Rivera’s Madre y niño, 1934 (estimate $700,000-900,000); José Clemente Orozco’s La cantina, 1941(estimate: $700,000-900,000); Angel Zarraga’s Septiembre, 1917 (estimate: $400,000-600,000); Francisco Toledo’s Personajes y animales, 1970 (estimate: $450,000-550,000) and Tomás Sánchez’s Meditadores y un canal, 1995 (estimate: $80,000-120,000).
Christie’s premises on Avenue Matignon are conveniently located between the Champs Elysées and Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré, in the heart of the well-known district of galleries and antique dealers on the Right Bank. The original building was renovated to include extensive galleries and auction facilities, offices and warehouse space, resulting in 4,500 square meters of comprehensive, state-ofthe- art public and office space.
Auction: Art d’Amérique Latine: June 10 at 6 p.m.
Viewing: Christie’s New York by appointment: May 21 – 27
Christie’s Paris Galleries: June 5 - 9
www.christies.com
