Contemporary Art: A Glance On The Ames Collection @ Sotheby`s, New York

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - The one percent is collecting a lot of nice things. If you are not a close friend of them you will never see these treasures. But there are exceptions. Last week`s art auctions offered the rare opinion to spot one of the amazing private art collections. Sotheby´s auctioned the collection of Ann and Steven Ames. Steven, who had made a fortune as partner of the Wall Street firm Oppenheimer, became so taken with German painters of a certain generation that he went back to school, getting a master’s in art history at Columbia (artnews). His thesis was on Gerhard Richter.

Oppenheimer & Co

Oppenheimer & Co, became so taken with German painters of a certain generation that he went back to school, getting a master’s in art history at Columbia (artnews). His thesis was on Gerhard Richter. The collection will now be spread all over the world.

The collectors had amassed a lot paintings by the admired Gerhard Richter and other artists (day auction  evening auction  ). This collection - Sotheby`s auctioned 25 paintings for together $122.7 million (artnews) - will now get spread all over the world. I present here my favorites from the show - a very subjective selection as usual.

On top of this post you can see Richter´s "A.B., Still" (1986, oil on canvas) Estimate: $20 million–$30 million; realized: $34 million. This painting was the highest selling lot of Sotheby`s post war & contemporary art auction. Above this paragraph are more Richter abstracts: "A B, St. James" (1988, oil on canvas) Estimate $20 million - $30 million, sold for $ 22,737,500;
followed by "Landschaft/Landscape" (1992, oil on canvas) Estimate $5 million — $7 million, sold for $5,862,500
& "Ziege/Goat" (1984, oil on canvas) Estimate $8 million — $12 million, sold for
$8,986,000.


                       Personal Snapshots

Like many other artists Richter has been exploring a lot of different styles. Some of his paintings are based on photographs like "Familie Hötzel" (1966, oil on canvas)  Estimate
$3 million— $4 million, apparently unsold. The painting may belong to the artist`s early works when he enlarged and transferred photographs such as personal snapshots or images drawn from newspapers and magazines. He then blurred the images by dragging a dry brush over wet pigment.

There were more Germans. Above you can see Sigmar Polke`s "Untitled" (1998, acrylic and artificial resin on polyester fabric, in artist's frame) Estimate $2,5 million — $3,5 million, sold for $3,132,500  &  "Ein Stück Malerei/A Piece of Painting" by Georg Baselitz (1966, oil on canvas) Estimate $800,000 — $1,200,000, sold for $1,452,500.

There were ohter favorites of mine, including Anselm Kiefer with his painting "Dein Aschenes Haar, Sulamith"  (1981, oil and straw on canvas) Estimate $2 million — $3 million, sold for $2,112,500. The title refers to the poem "Death Fugue" by  Paul Celan: "A man lives in the house he plays with the serpents he writes he writes when dusk falls to Germany your Golden hair Margarete your ashen hair Sulamith we dig a grave in the breezes there one lies unconfined …"



              American Super Stars

The collection also included American Super Stars like Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist Willem de Kooning: "Untitled" (1976-77, oil on canvas) Estimate $8 million— $12 million, sold for $10,362,500 & "Unttiled XXXIX" (1983, oil on canvas) Estimate $8 million — 12 million, sold for $9,8 million.

They had more abstracts of course, for instance "Untitled" by Per Kirkeby (1991, oil and chalk on panel) Estimate $30,000 — $40,000, sold for $72,500
followed by Amy Sillman` s "P" (2007, oil on canvas) Estimate $70,000 — $100,000, sold for
$504,500. Wow
& Ryan Sullivan` s "Untitled" (2013, oil, enamel and latex on canvas) Estimate
$50,000 — $70,000, apparently unsold.

The "Plantation" by Tomory Dodge (2006, oil on canvas) reminds me of the approaching Christmas season. Estimate $25,000 — $35,000, sold for $36,250



                                Worth The Money

I also was impressed by this photo-realist painting by Robert Bechtle called "20th and Mississippi-Night" (2005, oil on canvas) Estimate $180,000 — $250,000, sold for $212,500.

 I am not sure whether Ann agreed to this painting, but he earned the money. "Ela" by
Paulina Olowska  (2010, oil on linen) And Ela was worth the money, the painting got an Estimate $20,000 — $30,000 and was sold for $112,500.

It looks´like that George Condo´s star is rising. Some of his paintings could easily beat the estimates: From above  "Toy Head" (2012, oil on canvas) Estimate $150,000 — $200,000, sold for $564,500; 
 "Woman on Brown Chair" (2007, oil on canvas) Estimate $500,000 — $700,000,
sold for $972,500
& "Big John" (oil on canvas, in artist's chosen frame) Estimate $250,000 — 435,000, sold for $948,500.

Enjoy!