UNSEEN PAINTINGS BY WORLD'S HIGHEST SELLING FEMALE ARTIST - JOAN MITCHELL FOR SALE AT BONHAMS AND BANKSY’S ‘CHE GUEVARA ON SKATES’ Two Joan Mitchell triptychs, gifted to her closest friend Patricia Molloy, are estimated to make £350,000 - 500,000 at Bonhams Our Coverage Sponsored by Maine Woolens
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The Post-War & Contemporary Art auction at Bonhams New Bond Street saleroom, taking place at 4pm on Friday 17 October, will be led by two untitled Joan Mitchell oil abstractions valued at £250,000 – 350,000 and £100,000 – 150,000 respectively.
Head of Bonhams’ Post-War and Contemporary Department, Ralph Taylor, said: ‘We are delighted to have the opportunity to offer two unseen triptychs from the 1970s by the world’s pre-eminent female painter, Joan Mitchell.
‘These masterworks are offset against a stunning and monumental work by the Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo, a Mobile by Post-War great Alexander Calder, a delicate work on paper by Wols and two abstract oils from Gerhard Richter.
‘In addition we are pleased to announce A* quality artworks from the most highly sought-after artists of the moment, including JR, Walead Beshty, Jacob Kassay, Christion Rosa, David Ostrowski, Os Gemeos and Banksy, to name but a few, for this forthcoming auction on October 17th. This is further evidence of the great strength in depth that we are able to offer in Post-War & Contemporary Art at Bonhams.’
Joan Mitchell bestrides the commercial art market like no other female artist. Bloomberg recently revealed that the combined sales of Mitchell’s works between 1985 and 2013, which included the auction of the most expensive piece by a female artist ever sold, had reached a staggering $239.8m.
It is clear, then, that Mitchell’s star has long been on the rise, and Suzanne Gyorgy, global head of art advisory and finance at Citi Private Bank, has testified to it being now more common than ever to see a Mitchell hanging on the wall in any ‘serious collector’s home.’ Yet the paintings featured in the Bonhams sale hold a great significance besides the growing import of their creator. They were gifts to the artist’s dear friend, Patricia Molloy, and their beauty and intensity gesture towards the passionate relationship which existed between the two.
Although the details of their first meeting remain unclear, it is certain that by the mid-1960s Molloy was living with Mitchell as a tenant in her little studio-apartment at 60 St Mark’s Place, New York, a one-room flat with ‘fourteen-foot ceilings’ and ‘north light from three windows overlooking the street.’ So treasured was this space that when Mitchell eventually moved out, Molloy stayed on and took over the lease.
And it was while they lived together in that East Village brownstone that Molloy became a fixture in Mitchell’s life, inspiring her in life and art for 15 years. When the painter gifted her friend the two paintings for sale at Bonhams, she gave with it a fervently written letter which bears witness to Molloy’s importance to the creative process: ‘You made me paint – you always have – am I clear? Even if I shut you up and put you down. Glad you’re here, J.’
The paintings are rare among Mitchell’s early-1970s work, smaller than the enormous canvases which dominated that period. Each panel of the first painting is anchored by a block of deep and textured colour, in onyx-green, eau-de-nil and thick Madonna-blue, around which flit gestures of celadon, mustard, brightest white and bitter orange. The larger painting is an unsecure tumult of marks, from tangerine and sienna brown through deep-sea green, icy blues and whites. They are wonderful outpourings of disordered emotion, capturing the profound feeling between the artist and her companion.
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is the world’s third largest auctioneer of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street and Knightsbridge; and a further three in the UK regions and Scotland. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Connecticut in the USA; and Germany, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Australia. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments go to www.bonhams.com.
