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contemporary masters

Postwar, contemporary masters compose Heritage auction May 2

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), 'East Hampton II,' 1968 Oil on paper laid on canvas 41 3/4 x 30 inches (106 x 76.2 cm) Estimate: $600,000-$8-00,000. Heritage Aucitons image
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), ‘East Hampton II,’ 1968, oil on paper laid on canvas, 41 3/4 x 30 inches (106 x 76.2 cm) Estimate: $600,000-$8-00,000. Heritage Aucitons image

 

NEW YORK – East Hampton II, 1968, Willem de Kooning’s 1968 masterpiece is expected to sell for $600,000-$800,000 in Heritage Auctions’ Modern & Contemporary Art auction May 2 in New York.

Special day and evening sales will offer fresh-to-market postwar American masters and color field sculpture and paintings, including Tantric, 1977 (below), by Hellen Frankenthaller (est. $500,000-$700,000). The auction begins at 1 p.m. Eastern at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion, 2 E. 79th Street (at Fifth Ave).

 

Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), ‘Tantric,' 1977, acrylic on canvas, 691/4in x 67-1/2in (175.9cm x 171.5cm). Estimate: est. $500,000-$700,000. Heritage Auctions image
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), ‘Tantric,’ 1977, acrylic on canvas, 69 1/4in x 67 1/2in (175.9cm x 171.5cm). Estimate: est. $500,000-$700,000. Heritage Auctions image

 

Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.

The day opens with a museum-quality selection of European masterpieces, such as Untitled (Composition lyrique), 1922, the iconic watercolor by Wassily Kandinsky (est. $400,000-$600,000) – a major turning point in his development of an abstract pictorial language, namely his adoption of strong geometric forms.

The day continues with the evening session – a celebration of fresh-to-auction postwar and contemporary American masters highlighted by Robert Rauschenberg’s Untitled, 1985 (below), at public action for the first time (est. $300,000-$500,000).

 

Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), ‘Untitled,’ 1985, acrylic, collage and pencil on fabric-laminated paper, 64 3/8in x 48in (163.5cm x 121.9 cm). Estimate: $300,000-$500,000. Heritage Auctions image
Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), ‘Untitled,’ 1985, acrylic, collage and pencil on fabric-laminated paper, 64 3/8in x 48in (163.5cm x 121.9 cm). Estimate: $300,000-$500,000. Heritage Auctions image

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.