NEW YORK – On Feb. 7 Roland Auctions NY will present an important sale featuring over 500 lots of fine and decorative arts selected from choice estates throughout New York City. Most notable among the fine art in this auction are three early works on paper by the pioneering Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide absentee and Internet live bidding.
Yayoi Kusama’s innovative and influential career spans the entire postwar period and continues through present-day shows and exhibitions of new work worldwide. Throughout her life she has pushed the boundaries of burgeoning and established artistic movements from surrealism, pop and minimalism, to performance art and video. Kusama’s works are included in the permanent collections of important institutions including of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Tate Modern, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
These three early works were all created in Japan, prior to Kusama’s move to New York City in 1957, and as such are important rarities. This group of blue-chip art has been in the procession of the Beinfield family for nearly half a century. Originally given as a gift from noted New York City artist, film maker, and collector Babbette Beinfield Newburger to her brother William H. Beinfield, these essential works have been preserved in private hands ever since.
Remarking upon Roland’s good fortune in securing this consignment of important art, directly from the heirs of Beinfield, co-owner and principal auctioneer William J. Roland said, “None of these significant art works have come to us without considerable effort … though it is always nice to reap the rewards of the chase.” Indeed, the Feb. 7 auction is certain to be lively and well attended with the addition of blue-chip gallerists, museum representatives and collectors to Roland’s Greenwich Village salesroom.
Taken individually these pieces offer an enticing blueprint for later iconic themes found throughout the artist’s extensive body of work. Lot #421, Hidden Flame [1956]; Lot #422, Dirty Hands [1954]; and Lot #423 An Eye [1952] are all accomplished on paper in a myriad media including pastel, ink, gouache and watercolor. Embedded in these early works are elements of a then evolving visual vocabulary that reoccurs in following decades throughout her oeuvre: dots, eyes, pumpkins, “Infinity Webs” and undulating cosmic forms, all evocative of natural, astrophysical and spiritual sources.
Roland Auctions NY’s reputation for discovering and reintroducing significant works of fine art is further earned as bidders vie for paintings, prints, bronzes and other media not available in the marketplace for decades. This month’s estate pieces span European Old Master works through modern vanguards and contemporary emerging artists. Sought-after artists include Angel Botello, Dan Namingha , Erte, Frederick Prescot, Jean Puy, Louise Nevelson, Peter Beard and Adrien E. Gaudez.
In addition to 20th century modern art, mid-century design is strongly represented at Roland Auctions NY this month. Standouts among dozens of pieces in this category sought by collectors and enthusiasts will include Isamu Noguchi lighting, a Gilbert Rohde drop-front desk, Heywood Wakefield furniture, a Zolsnay iridescent glass vase, and a Loetz art glass tree trunk vase.
In tandem with this auction’s exposition of modernism are dozens of traditional 18th and 19th century American, French, Italian, and English tables, chairs, desks, and commodes. Among these fine pieces is a 19th century French bronze mounted table with multiple Sevres porcelain inserts.
Estate jewelry, in platinum, gold, and silver, is also available at every bidding level. These vintage and modern settings include diamond, sapphire, emerald and other precious gem stones in a wide variety styles. Standing out in this category is an Art Deco diamond encrusted and sapphire brooch.
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