Lot 252
  • 252

Willem de Kooning

Estimate
180,000 - 250,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Willem de Kooning
  • Untitled
  • signed
  • oil on paper mounted to board
  • 26 3/4 by 22 in. 68 by 55.9 cm.
  • Executed circa 1966.

Provenance

Private Collection (acquired directly from the artist)
Parke-Bernet, New York, 14 May 1970, Lot 43
Private Collection (acquired from the above sale)
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, 3 May 1974, Lot 513
Private Collection (acquired from the above sale)
Solomon & Co Fine Art, New York
Lila Miley Walen, Fort Worth (acquired from the above)
Sotheby’s, New York, 16 November 1995, Lot 272
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

 

Exhibited

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Masterworks from Fort Worth Collections: A Centennial Exhibition, April – June 1992, cat. no. 23, n.p., illustrated in color

Condition

This work is in good condition overall. There is light evidence of wear and handling along the edges of the board, which has discolored slightly with age, including a small loss at the upper left corner which is obscured by the top mat. The sheet has discolored slightly with age. All drying bubbles, wrinkling to the sheet and oil stains appear consistent with the artist's working method and chosen medium and from the time of execution. Under very close inspection, several scattered pinpoint brown accretions are visible throughout and and several horizontal cracks to the sheet, most notably at the lower left and right edges and upper right corner are visible. Also under very close inspection there is a pinpoint spot of loss along the bottom center edge of the sheet. Under Ultraviolet inspection, the aforementioned spot of loss appears to have benefited from light retouching. The board is cornered to the mat in all four corners and the outer border of the work is obscured by the mat. Framed under Plexiglas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

"De Kooning's celebration of human sexuality in his paintings from the 1960s coincided with the changing socio-cultural mores of the decade. Concurrent drawings make clear that he conflated his observations of sunbathers on Long Island beaches with contemporary advertising imagery to create his own libidinous equation of painting and sensual experience."

Judith Zilczer, A Way of Living: The Art of Willem De Kooning, New York 2014, p. 175