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Roy Lichtenstein's ‘Explosion' is contained in a sealed Plexiglas box frame. The 1967 color lithograph, 22 by 6 17 inches, has a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.

Art lovers look for blockbusters at Clark Cierlak Fine Arts auction Aug. 9

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

Roy Lichtenstein's ‘Explosion' is contained in a sealed Plexiglas box frame. The 1967 color lithograph, 22 by 6 17 inches, has a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘Explosion’ is contained in a sealed Plexiglas box frame. The 1967 color lithograph, 22 by 6 17 inches, has a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. – With a dearth of summer blockbusters at theaters filmgoers may look beyond Hollywood for entertainment. Clark Cierlak Fine Arts has an alternative: classic movie posters. The company will offer about a dozen original movie posters along with paintings, prints and sculpture at its Fine Art Estate Auction on Sunday, Aug. 9.

LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

A gallery preview will be Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Doors open at 10 a.m. and the auction starts at 11 a.m. Pacific. Clark Cierlak Fine Arts is located at 14452 Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Getting top billing is a gigantic – 81 by 41 inches – three-sheet poster from the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice, starring Sean Connery. The poster, which is linen-backed and framed, is in excellent condition and expected to sell for $1,500-$3,000.

A colorful and graphic one-sheet (41 by 27 inches) poster for the 1953 MGM release The Naked Spur starring Jimmy Stewart and Janet Leigh is expected to roundup $400-$600.

The auction will also feature a collection of vintage photographs by the likes of Scavullo, Philippe Halsman and George Hurrell. The latter’s larger than life (36 by 48 inches) portrait of Rita Hayworth is from an edition of 50. The framed gelatin silver print is estimated at $3,000-$4,000.

The bulk of the auction, however, will be modern and contemporary prints and paintings.

Highly anticipated are six rare paintings by Oskar Fischinger (German/American, 1900-1967), all originally gifted from the artist to a prominent collector.

“Fischinger paintings are hard to find, and to have six in one sale is a rare delight,” noted Clark Cierlak.

The paintings date from 1939 into the 1960s and estimates on them range from $1,000 to $3,000 each.

Carrying the highest estimate ($20,000-$25,000) is a color lithograph titled Mounting the Ebony Horse by Marc Chagall from the 1948 series Arabian Nights. Signed in pencil and inscribed “pl. 12” from a numbered edition of 90, the image measures 14 1/2 by 11 inches. The starting bid is $15,000.

A sugar-lift etching by Wayne Thiebaud (American, 1920) is titled Sugar Cones. The sheet is 13 by 11 1/4 inches and has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate.

“This may be a first for this image ever to come to the auction block, and there is a concurrent Thiebaud exhibition of Food prints at the Norton Simon Museum of Art (Pasadena, Calif.),” said Cierlak, noting it is possibly a rare proof from an unrealized edition.

Also featured is a collection of 1960s pop prints from a granddaughter of Edward G. Robinson, including a Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997) color lithograph titled Explosion. From a numbered edition of 100, the 22- by 17-inch sheet was printed by Holland Workshop in 1967. It has a $5,000-$6,000 estimate. Other artists from the group include Robert Motherwell, Ellsworth Kelly and Sam Francis.

For details call the gallery at 818-783-3052.

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

Click here to view Clark Cierlak Fine Arts’s complete catalog.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

‘Flying Object' was acquired directly from artist Oskar Fischinger (German/American, 1900-1967). The 13- by 19 1/4-inch oil painting has a $2,000-$3,000 estimate. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
‘Flying Object’ was acquired directly from artist Oskar Fischinger (German/American, 1900-1967). The 13- by 19 1/4-inch oil painting has a $2,000-$3,000 estimate. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
From the 1948 series Arabian Nights comes Marc Chagall's color lithograph ‘Mounting the Ebony Horse.' The vivid blues reflect the sultry nights of the Middle East, noted Clark Cierlak. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
From the 1948 series Arabian Nights comes Marc Chagall’s color lithograph ‘Mounting the Ebony Horse.’ The vivid blues reflect the sultry nights of the Middle East, noted Clark Cierlak. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
Wayne Thiebaud (American, b. 1920) used the sugar-lift etching technique, also known as lift-ground etching, in creating his 1964 composition ‘Sugar Cones.' The technique preserves the artist's brushwork and permits broad areas of color instead of thin, dry lines. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
Wayne Thiebaud (American, b. 1920) used the sugar-lift etching technique, also known as lift-ground etching, in creating his 1964 composition ‘Sugar Cones.’ The technique preserves the artist’s brushwork and permits broad areas of color instead of thin, dry lines. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
Bond is back and bigger than ever. This original giant three-sheet poster, 81 by 41 inches, promotes the 1967 James Bond film ‘You Only Live Twice' starring Sean Connery. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
Bond is back and bigger than ever. This original giant three-sheet poster, 81 by 41 inches, promotes the 1967 James Bond film ‘You Only Live Twice’ starring Sean Connery. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
Viewing this 36- by 48-inch gelatin silver print of Rita Hayworth by photographer George Hurrell's is the next best thing to seeing the movie starlet again on the silver screen. From an edition of 50, the signed print has a $3,000-$4,000 estimate. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.
Viewing this 36- by 48-inch gelatin silver print of Rita Hayworth by photographer George Hurrell’s is the next best thing to seeing the movie starlet again on the silver screen. From an edition of 50, the signed print has a $3,000-$4,000 estimate. Image courtesy Clark Cierlak Fine Arts.