NEW YORK – Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner’s 1944 Christmas card is a unique highlight of a Jasper52 fine paintings and prints auction to be conducted Tuesday, May 29. The Christmas card – signed by the famed American artists and printed in black in on light blue paper – is expected to sell for $10,000. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
The artist’s initials, date and address are noted in the print/plate (“JP/1944/46 E 8th”) and the verso, which is visible, is signed “Love – Lee + Jackson.” The card is matted and framed. The card (above) measures 5½ by 8¼ inches (sight). The verso measures 10½ by 8 inches (sight). The frame measures 17½ by 20½ inches. A Solomon & Co. Fine Art, New York, label is affixed to frame verso.
Pollock and Krasner, both American abstract expressionist painters, met while they both exhibited at the McMillen Gallery in 1942. They married in 1945, around the time Pollock was perfecting his “drip” technique, with which he would become permanently identified. Pollock, a major artist of his generation, died in 1956 at the age of 44 in an alcohol-related single-car accident when he was driving. Krasner, who died in 1984 at the age of 75, was an important influence on Pollock’s career and on his legacy.
Additional highlights in the 101-lot auction are:
– Henri Matisse’s 1940 lithograph on paper titled La Blouse Roumaine (below), which is signed by the French modern artist in the plate. The unframed sheet measures 24.75 by 19.5 inches. The image measures 22 by 17.5 inches.
– Pablo Picasso lithograph titled La Petit Corrida, signed and dated 1957, which measures 11 by 13 inches (18 by 21 framed).
– Peter Max signed serigraph titled Crab Nebular Man, 1971, 35½ by 43¼ inches framed. Max, a German-born American artist celebrated his 80th birthday last Oct. 19, making him one of the last living pop artists of his generation.
– Alexander Calder’s Black Forms on Stark Red is an unsigned lithograph released in an unknown edition size in 1959. The unframed work is in near-mint condition with a fold line down the middle as issued. “DLM stands for Derriere Le Miroir, literally translated as “behind the mirror,” which was a French art magazine published from the late 1930s until the early 1980s that featured limited edition prints of artists’ works.
– A Keith Haring signed lithograph poster for the ‘Crack Down on Crack’ benefit concert. Haring’s iconic bold lines and bright colors create a poster that serves as an example of his ability to effectively using art as a tool to incite social awareness.
Additional masters whose works are available in the Jasper52 auction are Joan Miro, Andy Warhol, Marc Chagall, David Hockney, Karel Appel and Red Grooms.
The auction will begin Tuesday, May 29, at 5 p.m. Eastern.
[av_button label=’View the fully illustrated catalog and bid on LiveAuctioneers.’ link=’manually,https://bit.ly/2KRSov8′ link_target=’_blank’ size=’medium’ position=’center’ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ admin_preview_bg=” av_uid=’av-2rns80′]