Contemporary Art

Don’t forget your walking shoes when visiting Ben Brown’s 'Alighiero e Boetti: Regola e Regolarsi'.

Judging by the overall totals, the latest Modern and Contemporary art auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips in New York were something of a bump back to reality after the last two sales series posted the highest grossing totals on record.

This late untitled drawing by Arshile Gorky (1904-48) in pencil and crayon on paper was the highlight of a sale of Modern and Contemporary paintings held by Digard (25/20/14% buyer’s premium) on March 28 at Drouot in Paris.

One of the top-priced lots in a recent sale held by CRN Auctions (22% buyer’s premium) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 23 was this work on paper by Alexander Calder (1898-1976).

It is a rare event when a painting by Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017) turns up at a German auction, but on June 5, Van Ham can offer his 1996 painting Miami in its Modern and Contemporary sale.

The composition and use of colour make 'Monica nude with Lichtenstein', which is being sold by Ketterer Kunst in Munich on June 9, instantly recognisable as a work by American pop-artist Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004).

This Normandy beach scene by Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968) from c.1948-49 will be offered for sale by Gros & Delettrez at Drouot in Paris on June 20.

High-value Post-war and Contemporary art is increasingly on offer beyond Mayfair and the centre of the capital

French artist Nancy Delouis (b.1941) was born into an artistic family.

Art from the collection of Christine Poirot-Delpech was the object of a sell-out single-owner sale at Art Valorem (28.8% buyer’s premium inc tax) at Drouot on April 6.

Two separately consigned Modern Indian paintings were among the notable performers at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) in the early spring, one fetching an expected price but the other making a sum that was more of a surprise.

This untitled work from c.1945 by Ben Nicholson (1894-1982) comprises a mahogany relief applied with oil paint. It was offered at Mallams (25% buyer’s premium) of Oxford on May 17-18 as part of its Modern Art & Design sale.

Flying over a £200-300 estimate at a recent sale at Dawsons (25% buyer’s premium) in Maidenhead were two small mixed-media works by Maliheh Afnan (1935-2016).

The American artist Alex Katz (b.1927) is known for his large, brightly coloured and boldly delineated works.

Artcurial has two days of sales devoted to Impressionist and Modern and Postwar and Contemporary art in Paris on June 7-8.

The artist couple Christo (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) were obviously in equal measure creative, determined and patient.

The artist Júlio Pomar (1926- 2018) is considered one of the most important modern Portuguese painters.

Across more than 800 objects offered at the Krehbiel sale, the great majority were proper antiques.