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Lowell Nesbitt

Capsule Auctions’ March 31 sale features postwar, contemporary art

Wyatt Barrett
Wyatt Barrett
Lowell Nesbitt, 'Mr X and Three,' 1964, $3,000-$5,000. Image courtesy Capsule Auctions
Lowell Nesbitt, ‘Mr X and Three,’ 1964, $3,000-$5,000. Image courtesy Capsule Auctions

NEW YORK — Capsule Auctions presents its Spring Energy auction event, a curated selection of modern, postwar and contemporary artworks from New York estates and collections. Spring Energy will begin Wednesday, March 31 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Absentee and live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.

Capsule’s consignment specialists often work with artists’ estates. Spring Energy introduces select artworks from the estate of Lowell Nesbitt. Selected items from Nesbitt’s long and noteworthy career will come to auction for the first time.

The art in this sale include thematic imagery that align with the pivot in subject matter to realism from Nesbitt’s work in abstraction. It is understood that this shift was influenced by the acclaimed Robert Indiana in 1962, who was a friend and contemporary of Nesbitt.

Lowell Nesbitt, 'Caged Tiger,' 1981, $2,000-$4,000. Image courtesy Capsule Auctions
Lowell Nesbitt, ‘Caged Tiger,’ 1981, $2,000-$4,000. Image courtesy Capsule Auctions

Mr X and Three displays Nesbitt’s pursuit and transition to realism while also incorporating abstract motifs. Nesbitt was known as one of the first American artists to include X-ray imagery in his paintings and Mr X and Three is a wonderful execution of that subject matter.

Featuring similar interests as friend Robert Mapplethorpe, Nesbitt is known for his large-scale flowers and fruit compositions that can range up to 72 inches x 114 inches (as seen in Fruit on Quilt with Pineapple). Don’t miss a caged tiger, an iris, and more with these wonderful selections to juice up your collection.

Lowell Nesbitt, Fruit on Quilt with Pineapple, 1988, $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy Capsule Auctions
Lowell Nesbitt, ‘Fruit on Quilt with Pineapple,’ 1988, $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy Capsule Auctions

Nesbitt’s works are represented in many corporate and public collections, including, but not limited to, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Butler Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Fogg Art Museum, the High Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Library of Congress, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Museum of Modern Art New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the Worcester Art Museum, and the Yale University Art Gallery.

Lowell Nesbitt, 'Grapes,' 1980, $1,500-$2,500. Image courtesy Capsule Auctions
Lowell Nesbitt, ‘Grapes,’ 1980, $1,500-$2,500. Image courtesy Capsule Auctions

The Spring Energy event from Capsule Auctions will take place on Wednesday, March 31 starting at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Click here to sign up now for absentee or live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.

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