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contemporary masters

Postwar, contemporary masters compose Heritage auction May 2

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), 'East Hampton II,' 1968 Oil on paper laid on canvas 41 3/4 x 30 inches (106 x 76.2 cm) Estimate: $600,000-$8-00,000. Heritage Aucitons image
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), ‘East Hampton II,’ 1968, oil on paper laid on canvas, 41 3/4 x 30 inches (106 x 76.2 cm) Estimate: $600,000-$8-00,000. Heritage Aucitons image

 

NEW YORK – East Hampton II, 1968, Willem de Kooning’s 1968 masterpiece is expected to sell for $600,000-$800,000 in Heritage Auctions’ Modern & Contemporary Art auction May 2 in New York.

Special day and evening sales will offer fresh-to-market postwar American masters and color field sculpture and paintings, including Tantric, 1977 (below), by Hellen Frankenthaller (est. $500,000-$700,000). The auction begins at 1 p.m. Eastern at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion, 2 E. 79th Street (at Fifth Ave).

 

Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), ‘Tantric,' 1977, acrylic on canvas, 691/4in x 67-1/2in (175.9cm x 171.5cm). Estimate: est. $500,000-$700,000. Heritage Auctions image
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), ‘Tantric,’ 1977, acrylic on canvas, 69 1/4in x 67 1/2in (175.9cm x 171.5cm). Estimate: est. $500,000-$700,000. Heritage Auctions image

 

Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.

The day opens with a museum-quality selection of European masterpieces, such as Untitled (Composition lyrique), 1922, the iconic watercolor by Wassily Kandinsky (est. $400,000-$600,000) – a major turning point in his development of an abstract pictorial language, namely his adoption of strong geometric forms.

The day continues with the evening session – a celebration of fresh-to-auction postwar and contemporary American masters highlighted by Robert Rauschenberg’s Untitled, 1985 (below), at public action for the first time (est. $300,000-$500,000).

 

Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), ‘Untitled,’ 1985, acrylic, collage and pencil on fabric-laminated paper, 64 3/8in x 48in (163.5cm x 121.9 cm). Estimate: $300,000-$500,000. Heritage Auctions image
Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), ‘Untitled,’ 1985, acrylic, collage and pencil on fabric-laminated paper, 64 3/8in x 48in (163.5cm x 121.9 cm). Estimate: $300,000-$500,000. Heritage Auctions image

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

contemporary masters