Schnabel Shard's - A plate painting by Julian Schnabel at the Contemporary Art Auction of the Vienna Dorotheum on 25th November 2009

Julian Schnabel (1951 geb.) Untitled, 1983, oil,
ceramic plates, bondo on wood,
2-part, 275 x 245 x 25 cm,
Valuation: € 200.000 - 300.000

Julian Schnabel is considered something of a prince among contemporary US artists, with a particularly high standing in the field of Neo-Expressionism. Cool minimalism was never really his thing. Instead, Schnabel's œuvre is characterised by large formats and Baroque opulence. His works reach out into the third dimension using fractured fragments of glass or ceramic affixed to wood – producing Schnabel's signature "Plate Paintings". 

One such Plate Painting (Untitled) by Schnabel, showing a woman flanked by two men, will be presented by the Dorotheum at its upcoming auction of contemporary art on 25th November 2009. The two-part object-painting dating to 1983 measures 25 cm in thickness and is valued at between 200.000 and 300.000 Euro. 

Schnabel, who liked to transgress the boundary between High and Low Art, was equally well known for his acts of self dramatising eccentricity, such as his legendary appearances dressed in pyjamas, and for his work as a film director. He once did a portrait of the New York nineteen-eighties star painter „Basquiat“, who died young, and later became famous for the film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" – a touching and poetic treatment of the death of Schnabel's father – which won the award for best director at Cannes in 2007. 

Coupled with a resurgent interest in the nineteen-eighties, the reassessment and revival of that wild decade's art – significantly influenced by Schnabel himself – seems only a matter of time. 

Auction:
CONTEMPORARY ART, Wednesday, 25th November  2009, 5:00 P.M.

Public Viewing:
from 14th November 2009

Expert:
Mag. Patricia Palffy, Tel. + 43 1/515 60-386
patricia.palffy@dorotheum.at

Venue:
PALAIS DOROTHEUM, Wien 1, Dorotheergasse 17

Press Office:
Mag. Doris Krumpl, Tel. + 43 1/515 60-406
doris.krumpl@dorotheum.at

Julian Schnabel (1951 geb.) Untitled, 1983, oil, ceramic plates, bondo on wood, 2-part, 275 x 245 x 25 cm, Valuation: € 200.000 - 300.000