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Guy de Cointet, ‘Lost at Sea (…from a lagoon to another),’ $105,000. Courtesy of LAMA and LiveAuctioneers

Zlotnick collection sets artist records at LA Modern auction

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Guy de Cointet, ‘Lost at Sea (…from a lagoon to another),’ $105,000
Guy de Cointet, ‘Lost at Sea (…from a lagoon to another),’ $105,000. Courtesy of LAMA and LiveAuctioneers

VAN NUYS, Calif. – Los Angeles Modern Art (LAMA)‘s May 3 auction On the Arts: The Diana Zlotnick Collection of post-war modern and contemporary art yielded extraordinary results. It established new world records for multiple artists, including Guy de Cointet, Michael and Magdalena Frimkess, Channa Horwitz and Ron Miyashiro. Overall, the sale far exceeded its low estimate, with 99% of the collection selling to yield a total of $2,122,599.

Top-selling lots included Andy Warhol’s Marilyn ($187,500) and Flowers ($93,750), as well as two Verifax collages by Wallace Berman: Untitled, which realized $143,750, and Silent Series #10, which earned $118,750. A billboard poster produced on the occasion of Roy Lichtenstein’s 1967 solo exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum garnered more than five times the high estimate, selling for $88,400.

Channa Horwitz, ‘Noisy,’ $87,500
Channa Horwitz, ‘Noisy,’ $87,500. Courtesy of LAMA and LiveAuctioneers

Among the world record-breaking lots were multiple works by Los Angeles artist Channa Horwitz, whose 1990 work Noisy achieved more than 17 times its high estimate with a selling price of $87,500. Paintings by the late conceptual artist Guy de Cointet, in particular two paintings used as props in the artist-directed performances of the 1970s, did exceptionally well: Lost at Sea (…from a lagoon to another) more than tripled its high estimate and established a new artist record when it sold for $105,000, while Tuvol (Sophie Rummel) sold for more than double its high estimate, with a result of $75,000.

Ron Miyashiro, ‘Concord No. 8,’ $21,250
Ron Miyashiro, ‘Concord No. 8,’ $21,250. Courtesy of LAMA and LiveAuctioneers

A small assemblage by Ron Miyashiro, Concord No. 8, sold for 10 times its high estimate, realizing $21,250 and establishing a new artist record. Multiple vessels by Michael and Magdalena Frimkess far surpassed their high estimates, with the Katzenjammer Kids and Lobster Pot vases each realizing $43,750 and breaking the world record previously held by Bonhams.

Michael and Magdalena Frimkess, ‘Katzenjammer Kids’ (left) and ‘Lobster Pot,’ (right) both of which sold for $43,750
Michael and Magdalena Frimkess, ‘Katzenjammer Kids’ (left) and ‘Lobster Pot,’ (right) both of which sold for $43,750. Courtesy of LAMA and LiveAuctioneers

“This auction is one of the greatest achievements of my career,” said Rago/Wright/LAMA Partner Shannon Loughrey. “Presenting this important Los Angeles collection to our newly expanded national audience mirrors Diana’s vision and will carry on her legacy throughout the arts community for another generation.” CEO Richard Wright noted, “It was a privilege to handle this iconic LA collection. In the end, Diana’s vision and commitment to artists was recognized by the market.”

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