Taking place November 13, 2024, Rago / Wright will present its live Post-War and Contemporary Art sale, featuring a dynamic selection of artworks by art-historical masters and icons. From a playful 1989 sculpture by Pop artist Keith Haring, Untitled (Two Dancing Figures), to a collection of vibrant works by French Nouveau Réalisme artist Niki de Saint Phalle, the sale promises to bring collectors on a journey through some of the most significant movements, styles, and oeuvres of the 20th and 21st century.
Below, we explore just a few of the top lots from the Post-War and Contemporary Art sale this month with Rago / Wright.
Miyoko Ito, Kachina (1973)
Est. $100,000–$200,000
Miyoko Ito, Kachina (1973). Courtesy of Rago / Wright.
American artist Miyoko Ito (1918–1983) is best known for her atmospheric abstractions, influenced by Cubism and the School of Paris as well as the work of Hans Hofmann. Ito frequently made works that dialogued with each other either through their visual arrangements or their titles. The present lot, Kachina (1973), subtly alludes to the 1969 work Katchina, a painting held in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. The titles refer to terms associated in Hopi and Pueblo cultures with an ancestral spirit, while the composition evokes an abstracted interpretation of kachina dolls or masks.
Bob Thompson, Bird War (1964)
Est. $60,000–$80,000
Bob Thompson, Bird War (1964). Courtesy of Rago / Wright.
Recognized for his bold and vibrant abstractions, Bob Thompson (1937–1966) created work that masterfully integrates elements of Old Master painting, Abstract Expressionism, and the musicality of jazz. In Bird War (1964), Thompson references an iconic 1814 work by Francisco Goya, The Second of May 1808, incorporating the overall pattern of the work but embellishing it with profuse color and bird motifs. The work speaks to the persistency of humanity’s conflicts. Contributing to a potential double meaning of the title as well is the suggestion that it also refers to jazz musician Charlie “Bird” Parker, as Thompson was an avid jazz enthusiast.
Sol LeWitt, Squiggly Brushstrokes (1996)
Est. $90,000–$120,000
Sol LeWitt, Squiggly Brushstrokes (1996). Courtesy of Rago / Wright.
A pivotal figure in the development of Conceptual art and Minimalism, Sol LeWitt (1928–2007) continues to be lauded as a touchstone of 20th-century American art who worked across a diverse range of mediums—installation, painting, printmaking, and drawing, to name just a few. Some of his best-known works include his wall drawings, of which he created more than 1,200. Marked by a penchant for bright colors and clear line work, as can be seen in Squiggly Brushstrokes (1996), LeWitt’s body of work has become as recognizable as it is influential in the trajectory of contemporary art.
Robert Indiana, LOVE (Blue and Red) (1966/2001)
Est. $180,000–$240,000
Robert Indiana, LOVE (Blue and Red). Courtesy of Rago / Wright.
In the stretch of 20th-century American art, there is perhaps no one work as singularly well-known as the “Love” motif conceived by Robert Indiana (1928–2018) in the early 1960s. Inspired by a sign he observed as a child in church, the design became a sensation in 1964, when New York’s Museum of Modern Art used it on a Christmas card. This led to Indiana creating the design as a sculpture in 1970, first showing it at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Over the following decades and numerous iterations and colorways, the work has become an icon of art history.
Niki de Saint Phalle, Les baigneurs (1974)
Est. $60,000–$80,000
Niki de Saint Phalle, Les baigneurs (1974). Courtesy of Rago / Wright.
Self-taught French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002) created a body of work that ultimately stood apart from the trends and movements popularized in the 20th century. Despite not undertaking traditional art training, Saint Phalle was surrounded by like-minded contemporaries, including Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jean Tinguely, all of whom influenced her exuberant, vivid style. Working for over two decades with the expert sculpture fabricators at the Haligon Fine Art workshop, where Les baigneurs (1974) was made along with seven other lots in the Rago / Wright sale, her unique creative vision was brought to life.
Sam Gilliam, Tapestry IV (1991)
Est. $80,000–$120,000
Sam Gilliam, Tapestry IV (1991). Courtesy of Rago / Wright.
At the core of artist Sam Gilliam’s (1933–2022) enduring legacy was a singular innovation: painting unconfined by the stretcher. A student of Washington Color School artist Kenneth Noland, Gilliam leveraged the fluidity of the canvas to create paintings that fully operate in three dimensions, draped and hung in a manner reflective of their context. Tapestry IV (1992), which was a gift by the artist to educator, artist and author Necia Harkless, exemplifies this unique approach to the medium, which borrowed from the ethos of sculpture.
The Post-War and Contemporary Art sale with Rago / Wright will be held November 13, 2024, at 11 a.m. EST.