How fabulous is Latin America? What a silly question. It's the birthplace of the margarita, the mariachi band, and the almighty Zorro. It's pretty fabulous. In recognition of the fabulosity of that corner of the world, Christie's is having a Latin American Art Sale November 17th and 18th. Yesterday I braved the rain and set out to see what goods they were offering this time around. What most people don't know is that, in the days before an auction, anyone can go see the pieces in exhibition- no big spending required- the exhibitions are free. For those of you who, like me, have champagne taste on a beer budget, and know how to find opportunities to indulge, (I like to call this "genteel poverty."), auction exhibitions are great. They're constantly changing and you can occasionally find some beautiful examples of museum-quality art that may never be available for public view again. So off to Christie's I went.
What I love about Latin American art is the mix of mediums (oil and sand on canvas is prevalent) and the bright colors, which were probably seen every day by these artists in their environment. The sale has works by, among others, Matta, Botero, and Toledo. Some pieces I was fascinated by were about other cultures. It's interesting to see, for example "Barrio Chino" (The Chinese Neighborhood) by Cuevas, or "La Balinesa" (The Balinese Woman) by Covarrubias, through the eyes of someone from Latin America.
My favorite pieces of the sale were the gouache pieces by Bermudez and Portacarrero, and "Prometheus" by Orozco, ink and oil on paper. Another beautiful piece is Kingman's "Untitled," which shows someone with their head in their hands. The right half of the painting has a haze of blue, the left a haze moving toward red. The subject is only shown by black strokes, and is wearing two bracelets, which might be handcuffs, giving a note of despair, but they are not joined by a chain, so it might be more hopeful. The mood is ambiguous, but it's visceral. This was probably my favorite piece.
Two others to point out are "Silencio a la Tres" by Sanchez. The landscape depicts a forest on a river, and at the center of the image is a clearing with a solitary figure sitting down. For me, the painting recalled medieval painting in its attention to environmental detail, and the tall, slender majesty of the trees. I thought this piece was gorgeous.
Another standout was "Venados" by Brunet, which shows two rams, in grisaille, locking horns. The background is just flames. The manner and subject almost recalls a comic book. Badass.
My descriptions fail to compare to the pieces, but this is an exhibition well worth seeing- not reading about! I hope that you'll either get to the exhibition before it closes or look it up online! To learn more about the sale, please visit: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=22170#action=paging&&intSaleID=22170&sid=98c0d980-9782-4dd6-a695-d7ed00f10f43&num=45&pg=1
Image courtesy of www.wikipedia.org
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