Moran Auctioneers postwar prints sale sparks bidding battles

MONROVIA, Calif. – Moran’s final prints and multiples auction of the year was filled with a curated selection of fine art prints from important artists including Chuck Close, Alexander Calder, Takashi Murakami and many more. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

Strong prices were realized throughout the day, Nov. 13, for prints from leading modern, postwar and contemporary artists. Alexander Calder’s (1898-1976 American) charming Three Elephants (above) was scooped up by an online bidder at the high estimate of $5,000. All prices realized include Moran’s 25 percent buyer’s premium). Several lots later, a Sam Francis (American, 1923-1994) color silkscreen Freshet printed in 1972 by Los Angeles’ own Gemini G.E.L. quickly outstripped its conservative $2,000 to $3,000 estimate to sell for $4,375.

A monochromatic etching with aquatint by pivotal African American artist Betye Irene Saar (American, b. 1926,) titled Sorceress & Seven Assorted Birds caused a bidding war when it opened. Two determined bidders battled for the $400-$600 print until one took home the prize for $2,000, indicating strong interest for an artist only now receiving her due (below).

A portfolio of 10 color screenprints from Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Austrian, 1928-2000) Look at it on a rainy day (Regentag Portfolio) was one of the more fantastic lots in the sale selling for $10,000 at the auction against its $7,000-$9,000 estimate.

Postwar works were not the only strong performers at the auction, Contemporary prints sold exceptionally well. Banksy’s rightfully notorious Di-Faced Tenner made an appearance, a coveted piece of the artist’s oeuvre that appropriates Britain’s iconic £10 note with the face of Princess Diana. The stellar example of this offset lithograph sold just above its $800-$1,200 estimate at $1,250.

A Jim Dine (1935-* American) lithograph, The Blue Heart, printed in 2005 and executed in bright hues sold comfortably within its $2,500 to $3,500 estimate for $3,437.50. One of two Chuck Close (American b. 1940,) prints in the sale was an iconic Self-Portrait., executed in 2012 as an edition of 50. Two bidders drove the print, estimated at $4,000-$6,000, just above the high estimate to realize a sold $7,500.

Prints from masters of the late 19th and early 20th century also performed well in the auction, giving a depth and breadth to the sale. A color lithographic poster from Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901), Aristide Bruant, Dans son Cabaret, sold within its $8,000 to $12,000 estimate for $8,750. A bucolic American lithograph from American Regionalist Grant Wood (1891-1942) of rolling hills folding into rows of planted fields was one of the most popular items on offer leading into the sale. The lithograph (below) soon outstripped its $4,000-$6,000 estimate to sell for $9,687.50.

A color lithographic poster from Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901), Aristide Bruant, Dans son Cabaret, sold within its $8,000 to $12,000 estimate for $8,750. John Steuart Curry’s (1897-1946 American) lithograph, John Brown, depicting the bearded abolitionist with arms outstretched in front of a raging tornado sold at the top of its $3,000 to $5,000 estimate for $5,000.