Collection of Jean and Jim Barrow | May 20, 2023
Sat, May 20, 2023 09:00AM EDT
Lot 183
James Rosenquist
Estimate: $300,000 - $500,000
Bid Increments
| Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 | $25 |
| $100 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $2,000 | $200 |
| $3,000 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 | $2,000 |
| $50,000 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $10,000 |
(American, 1933-2017)
Untitled, 1990, signed and dated verso on canvas "James Rosenquist 1990", oil on canvas backed with wood paneling, 79-7/8 x 66 in. (200.66 x 167.64 cm.); unframed
Note: “My idea was to do a new kind of picture that spilled out the front of the picture plane, instead of receding. Every painting in history had always been like looking out an aperture. But because of this advertising, which I hated, I wanted to try putting fragments of realistic objects into space and having the biggest one be so big you couldn’t quite tell what it was. I just wanted to make a mysterious painting. I still don’t know if I ever succeeded, but it was a feeling I had.” - James Rosenquist
This quote defines "painting below zero," a phrase coined by Rosenquist to explain his desire to take the viewer into virtual places by using the familiar, in this case the calla lilies, to create a platform for color and the nonobjective expression of art.
References: Ratcliff, C. (2017), "Below Zero: James Rosenquist's art eschews purity to reach an eye-popping clarity." Art & Antiques, April, 2017, pp 63-71
Literature: Esplund, Lance, "Mid-Century Modernizing", House and Garden, 168, no. 3 (March, 1999): 140 - 47, illus. p. 144, installation view.
Condition
some scattered light abrasions
Private Collection, acquired from the artist;
Phillips de Pury & Company New York, November 15, 2007, Lot 56, sold for $481,000 (with premium);
Collection of Jean and Jim Barrow
