S otheby’s October Contemporary Art Day Auction brings together an exciting group of works by some of the most sought-after artists of the moment. In the spirit of Frieze week, this season’s sale combines an exceptional selection of contemporary works, by artists including Bridget Riley, Cecily Brown, Flora Yukanovich, Glenn Brown, and Banksy as well as a curated edit of the latest Phygital pieces from artists at the cutting edge of creativity, such as Larva Labs, FEWOCiOUS, Hackatao and Kenny Schacter, this sale brings the old and the new.
We are also delighted to be launching WWF’s Art For Your World campaign this October, with a collection of works from significant contemporary artists such as Tracey Emin and Jadé Fadojutimi, the funds from which will be used to support key areas of WWF’s work that contribute to combatting climate change.
Sotheby’s is delighted to offer a superb selection of works from the collection of one of the most important artists of our time, Anish Kapoor. Offered across the London Contemporary Art Evening and Day auctions and in our private selling exhibition in London alongside the October sales, the collection is a testament to the aesthetic curiosity and conceptual rigor at the heart of Kapoor’s practice.
This edition of the Contemporary Art Day Sale presents an unprecedented assembly of works from Britain’s leading artists, showcasing exceptional quality and creative excellence. From Damien Hirst’s 1991 Apomorphine - the artist’s earliest ‘Spot Painting’ to come to auction - to works by Bridget Riley, Cecily Brown and Banksy, the sale provides a dazzling overview of the best in British art.
Sotheby’s is delighted to offer a selection of eight artworks donated by some of the most important and sought after artist of our time, including Tracey Emin and Jadé Fadojutimi, which will be sold to benefit the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The group forms part of the Art For Your World campaign, which seeks to raise funds and awareness to combat the climate crisis in a series of actions culmination in November 2021 to coincide with COP26 in Glasgow.
It’s been only 6 months since Sotheby’s jumped into the NFT fray with Pak’s The Fungible drop, followed by the first ever NFT minted on the blockchain in 2014 by Kevin McCoy (June, 2021). Since then there has been nothing short of an art world revolution; in the land of NFTism, a year has a warp speed spacetime that would make Einstein’s head spin.
NFTs have just made their first appearance at Art Basel in a section I curated (at Berlin’s Nagel Draxler Gallery) and the floodgates have not just opened but rather been torn asunder. While the galleries have generally been caught unawares, scratching their collective, conservative heads about how to react, the rocket has left the launchpad with the likes of Digital/Physical: A Modern Diptych including many of the OG NFT pioneers that have paved the way for the rest. The genie is out of the bottle, the ETH is in the ether, so enjoy what is by far the most exciting period I’ve yet to see in my more-than-three-decade art career!
When Sotheby’s asked me to help curate the section of the Digital / Physical : A Modern Diptych in the Contemporary Art Day Sale I was really honored. I thought a lot about who I’d want to see in an auction that treats NFT artists the way it treats the rest of the contemporary art world - which is a big, exciting step forward. There are so many amazing artists in the NFT space right now who also create beautiful physical pieces, so it was hard to only pick a handful.
I knew immediately I wanted to ask my friend and one of my favorite artists Victor Mosquera. He was someone I met early on in the NFT space, and we became big fans of each other. A lot of people know him for his calming digital pieces that usually touch on mental health and wellbeing. But what I love about him is that he is also a really talented painter. I knew that he would be a perfect fit.
Fewocious was another artist i reached out to right away. Meeting him towards the end of 2020 online, I could feel his energy and the energy of his art. At such a young age he has so much passion and touches so many people with his creations. You can’t not feel something when seeing his work. For this auction he stepped out of his comfort zone and created something completely next level that is a first for him.
I loved bringing traditional artists into this as well like the Haas Brothers who make incredible sculptures and paintings. Hueman comes from more the traditional art world but has always been pushing boundaries.
Cory Vanlew was an artist I found in March of this year. I was drawn to his bright blue and bold pinks that he used with his characters in his paintings. And i love the way Justin Roiland takes fine art and crosses over to animation world. He is someone we will look back on and realize he impacted culture in a big way.
This is such an exciting time. When I started expanding my traditional painting and sculpture practice into the NFT space, I found community like no other. A big part of my practice is about helping bridge the gap between that community and the traditional art world. This forum, one of the most prestigious sales of the year, is a really awesome context for us, and I think I speak for everyone that we are really grateful for the opportunity.
Read Less
“I am convinced that we do not live our lives but the lives of our values and belief systems. One of my values is to grow. By collecting art, I surround myself with things and mindsets that function in very different ways to my own. This is the basis for growth, one keeps an open mind”
Works from the Pomeranz Collection, Vienna are featured in the upcoming Contemporary Art Day Sale, London, open for online bidding on 8th October 2021.
Born in 1969 in Odessa, on the Black Sea, Eduard Pomeranz moved to Vienna to attend secondary school and went on to study economics. Alongside his successful professional career as a businessman, art collecting persists as one of his main concerns for Eduard Pomeranz and his wife Jana. The couple established the Pomeranz Collection in Vienna in 2007, enabling their passion for art to acquire a solid basis under the form of a private foundation.
“Collecting is a way to grow. I myself work in the financial sector and it is very important for me to expand the intellectual space that is defined here with additional spaces. One of these spaces is art. Seen in this way, collecting is a way to broaden my horizons”
The Pomeranz Collection brings together artists and contemporary works in all mediums. The two collectors’ main intention is to be actively involved in the promotion of contemporary art in its international dimension. Their thorough interest in the Zeitgeist is reflected in their choice of works, displaying a deepened knowledge in the field of the avant-garde. Simultaneously, the collection reflects the couple’s personality and their perception of the world and society. It examines art as a cross-border category, across generations and across geographies. The works offered in the Contemporary Art Day Sale this October in London are exceptional examples of these tendencies, including works by Jenny Holzer, Lawrence Weiner and John McCracken.
The Pomeranz Collection is distinctively marked by a strong interest in the sophisticated forms of Minimalist and Conceptual art, both in their historical examples and in its current expressions, as well as a focus on the performance aspects of key figures of recent art history and an increased attention on the eastern avant-garde. Through their collection, they demonstrate a heightened sensitivity to storytelling and a unique willingness to display issues related to history and memory. Eduard Pomeranz provided an insight into his method of selection for his collection, as he stated: “I have a computer program for the evaluation of artists and works of art according to their market presence, auction results and so forth, which I then filter through my own criteria. I go to art fairs myself, but talking to and advising curators and art advisors is what’s most important.”
