Late September Hindman sales exceed $7.5M

CHICAGO – Hindman Auctions presented its fall Fine Art sales this week, realizing more than $7.5 million across three days of sales and setting 15 new world auction records. A strong selection and intense bidding activity drove incredible results across the September 27 American and European Art, the September 28 Post War & Contemporary Art and the September 29 Prints & Multiples auctions. Martin Wong’s Persuit (El Que Gane Pierde – He Who Wins Looses) was the standout of the sales, setting a new world auction record for the artist and soaring past its presale estimate of $500,000 to $700,000 to achieve $1.1 million. Artworks by Hans Hofmann, Nicolai Fechin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Sonia Delaunay, Marc Chagall, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Frank Stella and Yvonne Thomas also achieved remarkable prices.

American and European Art | September 27

The September 27 American and European Art auction realized $2,367,563. The auction saw excellent engagement with Impressionist, Modernist and regionalist works.

Nicolai Fechin’s Study of a Woman (Portrait of Elena Konstantinovna Luksch-Makowsky) from circa 1906-1908 emerged as the top lot of the sale, achieving $680,000. Fechin is one of the most renowned portrait painters of the 20th century, and the subject of this artwork is considered to possibly be Marina Flamant Makovsky, daughter of noted Orientalist painter Konstantin Makovsky.

Notable sales also included Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Les Fleurs from 1913, which sold for $400,000, four times its presale estimate. The lot saw tremendous interest and competitive international bidding activity. Les Fleurs demonstrates the central role floral still lifes played throughout Renoir’s long career. His depictions of elaborate bouquets gave him the ability to experiment with the effects of light and color, and how small adjustments could impact shifts in tone, texture and form. In this work we see Renoir’s characteristic feathery brushwork showing anemones at different states of opening, with some petals fully opened to reveal their blue-black centers, while others remain as buds.

Another highlight was Sonia Delaunay’s Self-Portrait from 1916, which sold for $56,250, more than double its presale estimate of $20,000-$30,000.

Post War and Contemporary Art | September 28

The September 28 Post War and Contemporary Art auction achieved $3,439,000 with intense bidding activity throughout.

Martin Wong’s Persuit (El Que Gane Pierde – He Who Wins Looses) set a new world auction record and emerged as the top lot, ultimately selling for $1.1 million. Wong is recognized for his merging of social realism and visionary art styles, as well as considering themes such as ethnic and racial identities. He became known for documenting New York City in his works. This piece captures an ominous, authentic and gritty New York night and illusionistic wooden frame peppered with poetic phrasing, typically borrowed from his often collaborator Pinero.

Hans Hofmann’s Mutation in Transition was another top performer, which exceeded its presale estimate and sold for $764,000. Full of vibrant energy, the work is a multifaceted dialog between color, form and medium and a striking example of the innovative techniques that ensured the artist’s enduring legacy.

Additional highlights included Miyoko Ito’s Bird in Sunset, which realized $200,000, more than six times its presale estimate of $30,000-$50,000.

Prints and Multiples | September 29

The September 29 Prints & Multiples auction set new auction records and saw tremendous bidding activity across multiple sessions, ultimately achieving $1,449,313.

Andy Warhol’s John Wayne (from Cowboys and Indians) and Pablo Picasso’s Service Visage Noir were the top lots of the auction, with both selling for $112,500. Warhol’s John Wayne illustrates Warhol’s fascination with celebrity and consideration of how the West is glamorized by mass media; Pablo Picasso’s Service Visage Noir is made up of a complete set of 12 ceramic plates and more than doubled its presale estimate.

Other standout sales included Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s Carceri d’Invenzione portfolio, which exceeded its presale estimate of $20,000-30,000 to sell for $46,875.

A session of 30 artworks by Corita Kent from The School Sisters of Notre Dame, being sold to benefit the organization, saw tremendous success and soared past its expected total estimate to realize more than $60,000. Kent, an American Roman Catholic religious sister, artist, designer and educator, is known for her vibrant pop art serigraphs that advocated for a range of social causes.

 

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