CLEVELAND – On Wednesday, March 9, starting at 10 pm Eastern time, Gray’s Auctioneers will hold a Modern and Contemporary Art sale featuring works by Julio Le Parc, Dorothy Hood, Tony Smith and Clarence Van Duzer. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Light has obsessed humans throughout the millennia. While scientists discovered the wave and particle nature of light, artists have always demonstrated the effects of light. In the mid-20th century, art and science came together in the work of Light and Space artists such as Julio Le Parc (Argentinian, b. 1928-). Le Parc connects light with space and movement to create elegant structures of kinetic art.
Le Parc’s Colonne-lumineuse from 1963 is the top lot in the sale, carrying an estimate of $80,000-$120,000. His seemingly innocuous honeycomb of lucite comes alive when the power is switched on, creating multicolored spheres that twirl and dance in a joyful, mesmerizing rhythm. Colonne-luminuese is no stranger to Cleveland. It was exhibited twice at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and it was in the personal collection of Henry Hawley III, the eminent Curator of Decorative Art at The CMA from 1960-2002.
Gray’s is proud to partner with The Cleveland Foundation in the auction of 29 works from the foundation’s collection. Chief among them is Tony Smith’s (American, 1912-1980) bright orange Plexiglas maquette for Last, his final monumental steel sculpture, which he created for the Frank Lausche Ohio State Building in downtown Cleveland. The hue of Smith’s sculpture stands out against the dark grays of architect Fred Toguchi’s creation. Last was built with funds that included a grant from the Cleveland Foundation. It captures the vibrant energy of the city, a feeling the maquette successfully emulates. The Last maquette is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
Gray’s draws attention to the broad democracy of Cleveland’s artistic community with the 50 lots of Modern and Contemporary Art in the sale. While some of the featured artists are coming to auction for the first time, others, such as Le Parc, Smith and the female Modernist painter Dorothy Hood (American, 1919-2000) have established and eager followings. Hood’s Untitled oil on canvas, estimated at $20,000-$30,000, is expected to soar.
Rounding out the highlights in the March 9 sale is Clarence Van Duzer’s (American, 1920-2009) work Green, Orange, Blue. Created in 1965, the acrylic on Masonite with brass rods is estimated at $2,000-$4,000.
[av_button label=’Click to view the auction catalog and sign up to bid’ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ link=’manually,https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/237400_modern-and-contemporary-art/?page=1&sort=lotNumber’ link_target=” size=’small’ position=’center’ label_display=” title_attr=” color_options=” color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ btn_color_bg=’theme-color’ btn_custom_bg=’#444444′ btn_color_bg_hover=’theme-color-highlight’ btn_custom_bg_hover=’#444444′ btn_color_font=’theme-color’ btn_custom_font=’#ffffff’ id=” custom_class=” av_uid=’av-7ebzsw2′ admin_preview_bg=”]
View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/
