On 6 March 2019, Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction will see Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott's 1969 portrait from the collection of Barney A. Ebsworth (estimate over £30m).
The painting will be unveiled and in show a New Y from 8 al 12 February, before being exposed to London twigs 2 al 6 March 2019. The Evening Auction is a key part of XNUMXth Century BC auctions Christie's which will take place in London from February 22 to March 7, 2019.
Marc Porter, President of Christie's Americas, commented: “It is an honor to present the Hockney Double Portrait by Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, which is not only a stunning example of the artist's most celebrated series, but is also a poignant depiction of one of the 20th century's greatest curators. Hockney captured Geldzahler at a particularly decisive moment when the curator was organizing his most revolutionary exhibition. The show, officially titled New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970, received such a level of fanfare that it would soon become known universally as the Henry's Show. 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of that investigation, which would ultimately alter the course of Geldzahler's career and art history as we know it today, making the sale of this painting extremely timely."
Henry Geldzahler e Christopher Scott they are a brilliant meditation on human and visual relationships. Hockney's closest friend, Henry Geldzahler – the legendary curator, critic and king of the New York art world – dominates the center of the composition, framed by towering skyscrapers. Christopher Scott at right as a fleeting apparition.
Painted in 1969, it is the third work in the career-defining series of seven double portraits that Hockney created between 1968 and 1975.
With four collections in museum collections, these seven-by-ten-metre canvases represent the culmination of the artist's naturalistic style. Another example from this series, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), sold at Christie's New York in November 2018 for $90,3 million, setting a new world auction record for any work by a living artist .
While focusing on Geldzahler and Scott, the work ultimately celebrates the relationship between Geldzahler and Hockney: two artistic giants at the height of their powers. Geldzahler gazes out from the canvas like an icon at the center of an altarpiece, watching the painter's every move. Hockney's returning gaze is palpable in the work's crisp, clear perspective, and seemingly affirmed by the addition of tulips – his favorite flower of his, and a deeply personal motif. The pair met at Andy Warhol's studio in 1963 and quickly became friends. At the time of the painting, Geldzahler – a curator at Metropolitan Museum of Compaction – was working on his landmark exhibition New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970, which quickly became known as "Henry's Show." This groundbreaking investigation into contemporary American art would ignite his career, leading one journalist to call him "the most powerful and controversial art curator alive." 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of Geldzahler's flagship exhibition. Hockney too was on the verge of international acclaim, buoyed by the success of the double portraits he had already completed.
The painting was acquired by the gallery that year from Harry N. Abrams Books, the famed art book publisher and distinguished collector, and remained in his family collection until 1992. Under this direction, it was featured in a number of significant exhibitions, including Pop Art Redefined – one of the first shows of the newly founded Hayward Gallery in 1969.
In 1997, it became one of the final pieces to enter Ebsworth's prestigious collection, offering a rare British addition to one of the world's greatest assemblages of 1929th-century American art. Long admired by the collector, it has taken its place alongside Edward Hopper's 2017 masterpiece Chop Suey, as well as important works by artists such as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Georgia O'Keefe. For twenty-two years, the painting hung in Ebsworth's home and starred in major museum exhibitions – most recently Hockney's retrospective for his 18th birthday, originally from Tate Britain, London (XNUMX-XNUMX).
In a world first auction, the sale of the Collection Ebsworth marks the first time an art auction at this price level has been recorded on one blockchain. Christie's and Artory, a leading art-focused technology provider, has partnered to create a secure digital ledger for the sale of the Ebsworth Collection, in the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that has guided Mr. Ebsworth's career. The introduction of this technology for this sale continues Christie's legacy of leading the industry by introducing technological innovations in the context of important collections, for the maximum benefit of our customers. Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, by David Hockney, will be registered along with all other lots sold as part of the Ebsworth Collection.
