Giovanna Bertazzoni, Vice Chairman, 20th / 21st Century Art Department, Christie’s: “This October, Christie’s 20/21 season reflects the full breadth and diversity of the London art world as we mark 20 years of Frieze London. From the antiquities included as part of The Sam Josefowitz Collection, and the 1982 Basquiat masterwork leading the season through to the stunning painting created by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones to raise funds for MOWAA, the works offered reflect the vibrancy of our pioneering art capital. London has always played a pivotal role in galvanising the global art community, bringing together the creative minds who have shaped the cultural impact and legacy of this unique city. Christie’s is proud to play a key role in the London art ecosystem and this season seminal British artists – Freud, Hockney, Hirst and Rego – are presented alongside the very best in cutting edge contemporary practice – Longe and Evelyn. To respond to the power and prestige of Frieze Masters, it is serendipitous that we are offering The Sam Josefowitz Collection in October, in London. Sam Josefowitz lent his collection widely in order to share his passion for discovery with new audiences and we are deeply honoured to showcase many of these works in London once more, having previously been included in critically acclaimed group shows here. We look forward to celebrating all that makes London so compelling.”
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s paintings have continued to lead Christie’s 20/21 sales in London, New York and Hong Kong throughout 2023. This season, Future Sciences Versus the Man (1982, estimate: £9,000,000-12,000,000), an outstanding work from his celebrated series of ‘stretcher’ paintings, will lead the 20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale on 13 October. The painting was shown in the legendary 1982 exhibition at the Fun Gallery in New York and was recently included in the 2019 ‘Jean-Michel Basquiat’ show at the Brant Foundation, New York.
From Paula Rego’s theatrical composition to the densely-layered abstraction of Pam Evelyn’s work, the creative impact and legacy of pioneering British artists is represented throughout the 20th / 21st Century: London Evening Sale.
Paula Rego’s masterpiece Dancing Ostriches from Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ (1995) will be offered for the first time at auction. The work is estimated at £2,200,000-3,200,000 and is expected to set a new auction record for the artist. The work is an icon of Rego’s practice, capturing the fables, fantasies and frictions of female experience that underpin her art.
A centrepiece of the artist’s landmark career survey at Tate Modern, London in 2012, and unseen in public since that time, I am Become Death, Shatterer of Worlds (2006, estimate: £1,500,000-2,500,000) is a monumental butterfly painting by Damien Hirst, standing at over five metres wide.
The landscape-like aspects of Worked on Earth (2020, estimate: £30,000-50,000) are typical of Pam Evelyn’s abstract language, which is informed by the movement and energy of nature. Her compositions are not premeditated, but are instead born of an intuitive process that she has compared to a physical duel with painting, with new forms arising and submerging as chance, impulse and risk guide her decisions. This is the first time that the artist’s work has been offered at Christie’s.
Christie’s continues to lead the market for prestigious private collections with the first in a series of sales dedicated to the scholarly vision of Sam Josefowitz. Masterpieces from the Collection of Sam Josefowitz: A Lifetime of Discovery and Scholarship spans from Antiquities to Post-Impressionism and from Rembrandt to Giacometti.
An Assyrian Gypsum Relief of a Winged Genius (estimate: £2,500,000-4,000,000)was acquired by Sam Josefowitz in London in 1968. The beautiful relief depicts a winged Apkallu before the Sacred Tree, and was originally positioned in the Eastern suite of The Northwest Palace of King Ashurnasirpal in Room I.
Félix Vallotton’s Cinq heures (1898, estimate: £3,000,00-5,000,000) was last exhibited in London as part of the Royal Academy’s exhibition ‘Félix Vallotton: Painter of Disquiet’. The painting explores the theme of the morality play and is expected to set a new world auction record for Vallotton.
One of the most recognisable works from the National Gallery’s ‘1900: Art at the Crossroads’ exhibition in 2000, Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Autumn – Five Crosses: A preliminary work for the fresco in the Jusélius Mausoleum (1902, estimate: £800,000-1,200,000) is a masterpiece that combines Art Nouveau with Symbolism and was acquired by Sam Josefowitz from Christie’s in 1985. The work is expected to set a new benchmark for the artist’s market with a world auction record.
Contemporary African Art has been a seminal element of the Frieze Week programme at Christie’s since the ongoing collaboration with 1-54 was launched in 2020. Additional initiatives since then have also included ‘Bold Black British’, an exhibition curated by Aindrea Emelife in 2021, and the presentation of The Sina Jina Collection, the largest collection of contemporary art from Africa and the diaspora to be offered at auction, in 2022. This year, Christie’s and the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Nigeria are collaborating to raise funds for MOWAA initiatives including the presentation of the Nigerian Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, 2024 and the 20-acre Creative District in Benin City, including the Rainforest Gallery.
The full list of artists who have contributed works is as follows: ruby onyinyechi amanze; Àsìkò, Kwesi Botchway; Victor Ehikhamenor; Olafur Eliasson; Ibrahim El-Salahi; Oli Epp; Johnson Eziefula; Tunji Adeniyi-Jones; Sthenjwa Luthuli; Lakwena Maciver; Option Dzikamai Nyahunzvi; Odili Donald Odita; Oluseye; Uche Okeke; Bruce Onobrakpeya; Ben Osawe; Felix Osiemi; Osinachi;Zizipho Poswa; Yinka Shonibare; Emma Stern; and Stefania Tejada.
To read further information about the collaboration, please see Christie’s feature with Yinka Shonibari.
Philanthropy is at the heart of Christie’s sales programmes and across the Evening, Day and First Open platforms, the following initiatives will be supported:
South London Gallery: Alvaro Barrington’s Welcome (2023, estimate: £50,000-70,000) will mark the artist’s first inclusion in an Evening Sale at Christie’s. In the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on 14 October, further works by Federico Herrero, Sir Michael Craig-Martin and Bridget Riley will be offered.
Hassan Hajjaj’s Love Maroc (2010, estimate: £10,000-15,000) will raise funds to benefit Assafou Association in Support of the Earthquake Victims of Morocco.
Property sold to Benefit the Shifting Vision Artist Project Residency in Crete will include artworks by Alighiero Boetti and Anish Kapoor in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale.
Mona Hatoum’s Untitled (Basket II) (2014, estimate: £15,000-20,000) will be Sold to Benefit Earthquake Victims in Turkey in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale.
London continues to provide an international platform for new artists at auction and this season, Christie’s will present work by Alvaro Barrington, Jonathan Gardner and Honor Titus in an Evening Sale in the capital for the first time.
This is London. Everchanging. Forever Captivating.
This October, Christie’s celebrates ‘This is London’, reflecting the unique energy of the British capital, aligning with the 20th anniversary of Frieze London. London is, and always has been, a city of change, evolution, inclusion, dynamism, tradition and modernity. Christie’s will explore the infinite ways artists draw inspiration from the everchanging, yet forever captivating London, and at the heart of this will be our 20/21 sale series.
