1976 Alice Baber artwork leads impressive lineup at John Moran, Feb. 28
Alice Baber, ‘Axe in the Grove,’ estimated at $50,000-$70,000. Image courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers
LOS ANGELES — February 2023 is filled with many noteworthy days: Valentine’s Day, President’s Day and also John Moran’s Art + Design sale, taking place Tuesday, February 28 at noon Pacific time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers. Containing more than 300 lots, the sale will include works by Alice Baber, Hans Burkhardt, Roy Lichtenstein, Rosangela Renno, Margaret Keane, Bruno Munari, Alex Weinstein, Wucius Wong and Pablo Picasso. The variety of furniture is also impressive, featuring designers such as George Nakashima, Philip and Kelvin LaVerne, Frank Gehry, Charles and Ray Eames, Yves Klein, Eero Saarinen, Toyoda Hiroyuki, George Nelson and Rudolph Schelling Webermann. In the realm of decorative pieces, a couple of Venini glass vases are sure to win attention, coming from designers Tina Aufiero and Gio Ponti.
The star of the show in the category of fine art is Alice Baber’s Axe in the Grove, dating to 1966. Moran’s was fortunate to offer Baber’s 1976 work The Ghost in the Banyan Tree last year in its Summer Modern & Contemporary auction, where it achieved a new world auction record for the artist. Having an estimate of $3,000-$5,000 but bringing in a whopping $187,500 was proof that the market for women artists of the Post-War period is rising. This Art + Design sale will feature another example of the abstract expressionist’s use of deep rich hues in semi-transparent ovoids. Axe in the Grove has an estimate of $50,000-$70,000.
Hans Burkhardt, ‘Wilted Flowers,’ estimated at $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers
Representing abstract expressionism from a male perspective is Wilted Flowers, a 1969 piece by Hans Burkhardt. Burkhardt is known for his meticulously structured and balanced paintings that blur the distinction between abstraction and representation. His experimental investigative approach paralleled, and in many instances anticipated, the development of modern and contemporary art in New York and Europe. Estimated at $10,000-$15,000, Wilted Flowers is a strong example of the artist’s process of sketching in pencil, pastels or ink before building up his heavily layered, fleshy surfaces in oil.
Bruno Munari, ‘Environnement,’ estimated at $3,000-$5,000. Image courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers
There will be numerous sculptures in this auction, with the highlight being a work by Bruno Munari. Munari was an Italian artist, designer and inventor who contributed fundamentals to many fields of visual arts (painting, sculpture, film, industrial design and graphic design) in modernism, futurism and concrete art. Environnement, estimated at $3,000-$5,000, is a kinetic sculpture designed with aluminum, plastic filament and painted wood. Hailing from the private collection of Howard Wise of Howard Wise Gallery (New York, NY), this work is an optimal example of the forward-thinking approach to avant-garde fine art that the Howard Wise Gallery championed.
Philip and Kelvin LaVerne Etruscan center table, estimated at $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers
Along with fine art, this auction will feature some exquisite furniture and decorative art. For those that love the mid-century aesthetic, there will be a 1960s Philip and Kelvin LaVerne Etruscan center table. The father-son team had a studio in New York City, where they created beautiful, functional art pieces using a unique technique that took around six years to perfect. They created furniture in limited editions of 12, making their work highly collectible today. This sale will offer a bronze and pewter circular pedestal table with an acid-etched design on top and cut brass accents soldered to the base, estimated at $10,000-$15,000.
Frank Gehry Hat Trick chairs for Knoll, estimated at $2,000-$4,000. Image courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers
Besides lounge chairs, there will be multiple chair sets, including one by the architect and designer Frank Gehry. He designed the Hat Trick chairs for Knoll in 1990, inspired by the surprising strength of the apple crates he played on as a child. The ribbon-like designs transcend the conventions of style by exploring, as the great modernists did, the essential challenge of deriving form from function. This four-piece, bent-laminated maple and upholstered cushion set has an estimate of $2,000-$4,000.
Tina Aufiero for Venini Alboina glass vase, estimated at $1,000-$2,000. Image courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers
Within the selection of decorative art are a couple of standout glass vases. One is an Alboina glass vase by Tina Aufiero that she designed for Venini in 2004. Aufiero’s work spans the disciplines of art, sculpture, craft, design and technology. This vase, having a statuesque transparent glass body with suspended flecks of silver leaf surrounded by four rolled transparent tubular glass accent pieces, is estimated at $1,000-$2,000.
Gio Ponti for Venini art glass vase, estimated at $800-$1,200. Image courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers
The other must-see glass vase is also from Venini, designed by Gio Ponti in 2003. Ponti was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher. His career spanned six decades, but it was from 1946-1950 that he collaborated with the Venini glass factory, designing objects such as vases, bottles and chandeliers. Estimated at $800-$1,200, his vase features alternating stripes of cobalt blue, emerald green and transparent Murano glass radiating from a central point on the base.
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