From the 25^th until 28^th November 2014, Dorotheum in Vienna will be placing Contemporary art in the spotlight. This upcoming major auction week will see the prominent German-speaking auction house showcasing an exciting array of international Modern and Contemporary art along with silver, jewellery, wrist and pocket watches. 

The Numbers Series by Robert Clark Indiana titled “Numbers One through Zero” will be one of the highlights from the Contemporary Art evening sale on the 26^th November. The numbers are a visual representation of the artist’s investigation of the symbolic, allegorical and formal meaning of numbers. Each number corresponds to a different stage in the life of man, with ‘3’ symbolising youth, ‘6’ representing the prime of our lives, and ‘8’ & ‘9’ being the final stages. The work is estimated at €750,000 – 900,000. 

Worthy of note are several works belonging to the so-called “Pittura Oggetto”, an object painting movement that characterised the Milan art scene during the 1960s. Lucio Fontana is credited as the most prominent pioneer of this radical art movement, which paved the way for the likes of Agostino Bonalumi, Enrico Castellani, Dadamaino and their peers to develop the genre.Last month Dorotheum’s London office, located in the heart of Mayfair, exhibited a selection of these works where they attracted great interest. 

Works in the sale include Lucio Fontana’s “Concetto Spaziale, Attese” (1965/6), Enrico Castellani’s “Superficie blu” (€240,000 – 320,000) and “Superficie gialla” (€170,000 – 220,000). Similar use of light and shading are apparent in the ridged canvas “Rosso” by Agostino Bonalumi (€180,000 – 200,000). Paolo Scheggi, who in May achieved a new world record at a Dorotheum auction, is present again with his “Zone Riflesse” from 1964 (€200,000 – 300,000). 

The auction will feature a number of works from a private Austrian collection not only including Martin Kippenberger, Alfons Schilling and Otto Muehl, but also several important paintings by Maria Lassnig, one of the most significant 20^th Century European female painters. From Lassnig’s early abstract works of the 1950s through to the 1980s, this sale offers a fine cross- section of diverse works from this artist’s oeuvre that span several decades and it was only just last year that she won the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale. “Der Wald (The Forest)” painted in 1985 is estimated at €220,000 – 320,000 and is an excellent example of Lassnig’s ‘Körperzustandsbilder’ (body awareness paintings), which she has continued to develop since 1949. In a unique way, her own body becomes a visual manifestation of her inner-self.  

One of the auction’s most important works will be a large untitled painting by Sigmar Polke. On a cardboard background, linear shapes like giant set-pieces, are transformed into the polychrome texture of a painting. The grid motif is altered and subjected to distortion; on a graphic and visual level, Polke references themes from advertising and cartoons €450,000 – 550,000). 

Tom Sachs’ assemblage “Hermès Value Meal Big Mac” combines a luxury brand with fast food, expensive with cheap; an ironic interplay of consumerism and symbolism (€30,000 – 40,000).

These auctions stand out as a result of the high quality and quantity of works, including further pieces by Anish Kapoor and young German star artist Jonas Burgert. From the collection of a European industrialist couple comes “Peinture a Haute Tension” painted by Elaine Sturtevant in 1969, currently enjoying popularity at the MOMA in New York. The collection also offers works by Alexander Calder and Anselm Reyle. 

One famous Austrian not to be missed at the Modern Art auction on the 25^th November is Egon Schiele with his “Seated Nude”, a charcoal on paper drawing dating to 1917, the year before his untimely death (€150,000 – 220,000) 

Flying the flag for Italian Modernism is Giacomo Balla with a brightly coloured wallpaper design (€80,000 – 100,000), modern by even today’s standards, and Gino Severini with a still life (€45,000 – 55,000). 

The official residence of British Royalty, St. James’s Palace, makes a casual sketch-like appearance in a 1935 oil painting by Raoul Dufy (€75,000 – 90,000). Also a flower pot painted in the typical and unmistakeable Bernard Buffet manner just waits to be handed over to a new owner (€50,000 – 70,000). 

At the Silver auction taking place on the 25^th November, lovers of fine table silver will find historical items from traditional silver manufacturing countries such as England, Germany, Austria and France. Russian silver comes with its own section which includes a pair of Count Shuvalov girandoles from Moscow bearing the maker’s mark WIBERG; Moscow 1846 (€40,000 – 60,000).

RICHLY SYMBOLIC Robert Indiana: Download article from DOROTHEUM myART MAGAZINE No 4 by P. Schäpers und S. Zimmermann

PITTURA OGGETTO: article from DOROTHEUM myART MAGAZINE No. 4 by Alessandro Rizzi

LIGHT AND SHADE Paolo Scheggi: Download article from DOROTHEUM myART MAGAZINE No. 4 by Alessandro Rizzi

AUCTION WEEK 25 - 28 NOVEMBER 2014
Silver Tuesday, 25th November 2014 1 pm
Modern Art Tuesday, 25th November 2014 6 pm
Contemporary Art Wednesday, 26th, Thursday 27th November 2014 6 pm 2 pm
Jewellery Thurdsday, 27th November 2014 6 pm
Wrist and Pocket Watches Friday, 28th November 2014 4 pm
Venue Palais Dorotheum, Vienna 1, Dorotheergasse 17
Viewing from Saturday, 15th November 2014