There are 314783 lots that match your search criteria. Subscribe now to get instant access to the full price guide service.
Click here to subscribeBATMAN ADVENTURES #12 - (1993 - DC) - First appearance of Harley Quinn in comics + Low initial print run only adds to the factors making it one of the most desirable comics of the 1990s + Currently valued at #5 on Overstreet's Top 20 Modern Age Comics list - Mike Parobeck cover and interior art - Flat/Unfolded - a photographic condition report is available on request
Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004)Cut Out Nude (Green) 1965 signed and dated 65acrylic, pencil and paper collage laid on board43.1 by 57.5 cm. 16 15/16 by 22 5/8 in.Footnotes:ProvenanceSidney Janis Gallery, New York (#11266)Private Collection, USBarbara Mathes Gallery, New York (CA1833)Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1995In the late 1950s, Tom Wesselmann began a series of small collaged nudes in interior settings, composed from magazine cuttings. From 1961, these provided the compositional basis for his acclaimed and iconic Great American Nude series. Wesselmann's nudes, with their simplified curves and passages of rich colour are arguably the most widely recognised pieces, not only of his extensive and celebrated career, but epitomise the American Pop avant-garde that defined a generation championing progressive attitudes in the midst of the glamourisation of Hollywood and the proliferation of televisual and print media. In this present work, Cut Out Nude (Green) from 1965, the enticing image of a brunette woman, languishingly posing with her arms stretched over her head is rendered in piquant clarity in painted, collaged elements. She appears to us as an idealised and attractive female form, a modern Venus. Her relaxed pose suggests she is completely at ease in her nudity with visible tan lines and a wide joyful smile, reclined in an intimate display evoking historical depictions of women in their private spaces. This is not a figure that is submitting to the viewer, but instead appears to be relishing the attention and freedom her position allows. Wesselmann is not concerned with surface or sculpting – there is no hint of dimension to his nude – but rather we are presented with flat forms and brilliant colours, so definitive of iconic works produced at the height of Pop Art in the 1960s.He often intentionally left the faces of his models blank, avoiding the suggestion of a portrait and allowing his viewers to be open to individual interpretation and leave room for the imagination. The only features Wesselmann includes here are those essential to sensual simplification such as lips and nipples, poignantly identified in bright red, believing that any intonation of personality would interfere with the forthrightness of the subject.Wesselmann consistently referenced the classical representation of the nude throughout his figurative painting. In the present work, the one-dimensional, central figure of the nude is illuminated with a bright green palette and flattened composition. His theme has strong art historical credentials in the motif of the sleeping Venus, evolving into the reclining Odalisque, that adorns the walls of the world's greatest museums in the paintings of Ingres, Manet and Matisse. The latter's influence on Wesselmann was especially profound, identified in his own fluid and supple forms. Wesselmann's voluptuous reclining nudes put a new spin on Matisse's Odalisques, yet we can clearly identify inspiration from the sensuousness of Matisse's forms and vibrant palette. Invigorated by the shifting, luxurious forms of Matisse; Wesselmann shunned the almost clinical eye of his Pop contemporaries in favour of colours and subjects that were at once recognisable and ideal.Wesselmann approached and revived the theme of the artist's muse in a completely novel way. His Great American Nudes as modern odalisques represent the most exceptional examples of his iconic visual language and capture the cultural energy of Post-War America that was going through significant shifts in second wave feminism, sexual liberation and hippie movements. The Great American Nudes established Wesselmann as a master of colour and collage, whose deft manipulation of art historical and contemporary symbols distinguished him as one of the leading American Pop artists of his time.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Banksy (B. 1975)Bomb Love 2002 tagged on the turnover edgespray paint on canvas25.4 by 20.3 cm.10 by 8 in.This work was executed in 2002. Footnotes:This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Pest Control Office.ProvenanceSanta's Ghetto, LondonSimon Finch, London Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2004Bomb Love is pure Banksy: provocative, bitingly satirical and yet tender. Always a vicious opponent of mass media and casual consumerism the sense that today's youth are being sold aggression instead of innocence, war instead of play explodes from the canvas in a flash of bubble-gum pink. The little girl sporting a ponytail tightly hugs onto the cumbersome military weapon as if it were her favourite cuddly toy and this is redolent of his Girl and Balloon in its whimsicality, and Kids on Guns in its wistful agony. All three images are stone cold classics by the artist coming from the zenith of the artist's most celebrated period. The image that first appeared as a black-and-white stencil on the streets of East London in 2001 has since become an iconic Banksy motif which is highly sought after by collectors. Executed on canvas and tagged with the artist's distinctive signature, Bomb Love from 2002 is executed onto a rosy base colour reminiscent of infanthood that enhances the motif and gives the work itself an innocent and naïve quality. Bomb Love is fresh to the market and whilst the artist later executed a print version of the popular subject, works on canvas from the series are rare at auction with the last comparable work having been offered over a decade ago. Banksy's works intend to shock, yet they also aim to engender thought-provoking discourse through their simple visual elements. The proximity of someone so vulnerable, yet so close to danger, is undoubtedly compelling, and through Banksy's clever dichotomy, the artist is sending a message of optimism to the universe, with the aspiration that one day love will overcome war. The image appeared in his autobiographical book Wall and Piece, alongside the caption 'I like to think I have the guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no-one else believes in – like peace and justice and freedom' (the artist in: Wall and Piece, London 2005, p. 29). Bomb Love is charged with a veiled anti-war sentiment and through his rendering, Banksy is tackling international concerns, and critiquing the government and the media for the rose-tinted glasses worn during periods of brutal warfare.This evident juxtaposition of the fragilities of childhood, closely intertwined with the atrocities of war, is an ironic combination of subject matters common in Banksy's Street art. The depiction of a young child heightens the emotions of love, loss, and hope and there is seemingly an appetite amongst collectors for this powerful motif of lost innocence. Earlier in 2021 an original of Girl with Ice Cream on Palette from 2004 sold for £1,100,000 in Bonhams' Post-War and Contemporary sale in London. The artist's empathetic and consistent dialogue within a contemporary global crisis is to be admired and there is an attractive irony to Banksy's compassion. The hybrid street artist and social activist rose to prominence in the 1990s as a graffiti maverick, rejecting any form of government control. Banksy's close encounters with the police in his early years led him to adopt his signature stencils; spraying onto a ready-made template allowed the artist to execute his works quickly, whilst sheltering behind his concealed identity. According to Banksy, 'all graffiti is low-level dissent, but stencils have an extra history. They've been used to start revolutions and to stop wars' (the artist in: Tristan Manco, Stencil Graffiti, London 2002). Despite the use of stencilling by other notorious street rebels, such as Blek le Rat and Shepard Fairey, Banksy has placed himself in a category of his own and has superseded any expectation of graffiti subculture's success. His outlaw status and anti-establishment street art are the essence of his prolific career and practice. He is perhaps the most important artist to emerge in Britain since the turn of the millennium and this signature work can be seen as a signature example of the artist at his very best.Banksy's ever-growing popularity is testament to his remarkable ability to react and adapt to the contemporary art market, and the world at large. He repeatedly appears in the public eye, and in August 2021 the artist was recognised for the undertaking of his A Great British Spraycation, in which he installed several graffiti pieces across the English coastline, bringing joy and whimsy to local neighbourhoods. He continues to construct his own narrative, and his decision to stay anonymous despite his international attention, makes Banksy an intoxicating enigma.Executed in 2002, Bomb Love is a prime model of Banksy's enduring anti-war art of the last two decades, and in keeping with the context of the sale, the work will be accompanied alongside another highly evocative Banksy piece from the same year, Rude Copper.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WARREN R. DAWSON. 'A Leechbook or Collection of Medical Recipes of the Fifteenth Century.' First edtion, original gilt cloth, unclipped print on paper dj, title in red and black, MacMillan nd Co, London, 1934, fine: With twenty-four mostly horticultural and botanical books. (25) Dr Rob Senior arrived in West Cornwall from his native Yorkshire in the early 1960’s where he took up his vocation as a young GP and served the local community for 40 years. At the age of 12, Rob bought a book on Cacti. It was his first book, and established the twin passions of his life, books and plants. His library is a fabulous, eclectic collection of books, largely on plants and horticulture, but also nature and many other subjects, all brought together by a man with a curious and inquisitive mind. Condition: please request a condition report if you require additional information regarding the condition of this lot Postage: £45 Please note that the postage quote is an estimate of the amount that we would charge to send the item to a buyer in the UK. If you are outside of the UK, or there is no estimate shown here, please contact postage@davidlay.co.uk for a bespoke quote.
AESOP'S FABLES. 'Fables of Aesop and Others, Translated into English with instructive Apllications; And a Print before each Fable.' By Samuel Croxall, the seventeeth edition, modern binding, profusly illustrated, toning throughout to tight and tidy text block, J and R Tonson, London, 1760. Condition: please request a condition report if you require additional information regarding the condition of this lot Postage: £19.56 Please note that the postage quote is an estimate of the amount that we would charge to send the item to a buyer in the UK. If you are outside of the UK, or there is no estimate shown here, please contact postage@davidlay.co.uk for a bespoke quote.
PHIL ROGERS. 'Throwing Pots: Ceramic Handbooks.' Orig wps, 1995, vg; PAUL SCOTT. 'Ceramics and Print: Ceramic Handbooks.' Orig wps, 1994, vg. Condition: please request a condition report if you require additional information regarding the condition of this lot Postage: £19.56 Please note that the postage quote is an estimate of the amount that we would charge to send the item to a buyer in the UK. If you are outside of the UK, or there is no estimate shown here, please contact postage@davidlay.co.uk for a bespoke quote.
Loading...
