NEW YORK, 25 MARCH 2025, Amid market enthusiasm, Phillips has added a new Editions session to its spring calendar with the introduction of MODERNISM 1880-1960: Editions & Works on Paper, taking place alongside the marquee Post-War and Contemporary Editions & Works on Paper sale. The inaugural session will include 101 lots of master prints by key Modernist European, American, and South American artists of the Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Expressionism, Constructivism, Orphism, and other pivotal movements of the period. The introduction of the new session is a testament to Phillips’ strong momentum in the category, with annual sales achieving a 130% increase over the past decade and with 43% of buyers in 2024 being new to Phillips. MODERNISM 1880-1960 will be held live on 16 April at 2pm EDT, followed by the Editions & Works on Paper sale, which will take place across four sessions from the evening of 16 April through 17 April. Highlights from the seasonal sale will feature a strong offering of Post-War and Contemporary works.
Kelly Troester, Deputy Chairwoman and Worldwide Co-Head of Editions, said, “The market for prints and multiples has reached new heights in recent years, and we have seen a particular opportunity to highlight works of the wide-ranging Modern period. In presenting this new session, we have an opportunity to celebrate a transformative period in which artists redefined the boundaries of visual expression to the edge of possibility. Works included in the sale represent not only aesthetic achievement, but also technical achievements in fine art printmaking, which guided and influenced future generations of artists.” Cary Leibowitz, Deputy Chairman and Worldwide Co-Head of Editions, said, “It has been wonderful to see such demand for Editions across the globe over the past few seasons, and 2025 is proving to be an exciting moment for the category. Phillips held more Editions auctions globally in 2024, and we continue to grow. This month, Phillips became the first auction house to host a dedicated Editions sale in Hong Kong, and the addition of a new sale in New York also underscores collectors’ appetite. Our live marquee Editions sale in April will present a fantastic selection of Post-War, Pop, and Contemporary works, appealing to collectors of all levels and interests. We look forward to welcoming those in New York to our exhibition preview, which opens to the public on 9 April.”
MODERNISM 1880-1960 features 101 lots, with works spanning time, geographies, styles, and mediums of printmaking. The session offers collectors the opportunity to acquire works that embody the spirit of experimentation and creativity born from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Leading the sale is Marc Chagall’s Sur la terre des Dieux (In the Land of the Gods),1967, a complete set of 12 colorful lithographs, dense with the artist’s characteristic use of symbolism inspired by the Classical literature and mythology of ancient Greece.
Marc Chagall Sur la terre des Dieux (In the Land of the Gods), 1967, selected prints shown Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000 Also included in a lineup of rare, complete, signed sets is Joan Miró’s Le Lézard aux plumes d'or (The Lizard with Golden Feathers), a significant livre d’artiste from 1971 featuring 15 lithographs inspired by the artist’s 1948 poem by the same name. This example is deluxe, with an additional signed and numbered suite on Japanese paper. The portfolio explores themes of metamorphosis and regeneration, drawing on ancient mythology and the lizard's ability to regenerate its own limbs. Miró's Surrealist style, influenced by children's art and Catalan folk art, is evident in the whimsical and colorful compositions. An important figure within the Provincetown, Massachusetts woodcut community of the early 20th century, Juliette Nichols’ work features prominently in the sale. The artist broke ground at the Provincetown Art Colony with her white-line woodcuts, an innovative technique in printmaking at the time. Featured is the largest group of Nichols’ work known to date, including 33 total impressions of 15 woodcuts and white- line woodcuts and an additional two works on paper depicting classic, colorful scenes of bathers, landscapes, and seascapes.
Juliette Nichols Skating, c. 1916 Estimate: $2,500 - 3,500 Among other highlights is Sonia Delaunay’s Poésie de mots, poésie de couleurs (The Poetry of Words, The Poetry of Colors), published for her 1962 exhibition at Galerie Denise René. This set includes six gouache pochoirs accompanied by poems by Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé, and eminent avant-garde figures such as Blaise Cendrars, Joseph Delteil, Philippe Soupault, and Tristan Tzara. Another extraordinary work of Modernism is Edward Hopper’s 1923 drypoint, Railroad Crossing. This richly inked, evocative work exemplifies Hopper’s transition to printmaking after his limited early commercial success as a painter. The scene portrays a solitary man and his cow waiting to cross railroad tracks amidst a deluge, rendered through expressive lines and etched tonalities. This sparse composition presages the poignant feelings of isolation that permeate much of Hopper’s later work. The sale also features two significant images by Pablo Picasso of Françoise Gilot, his linear lithograph, Françoise, from 1956 and the atmospheric portrait Françoise sur fond gris (Françoise on Grey Background), a rare proof from 1950. Additionally, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s unique trial proof, Melancholie. - Nackte Frau. - Selbstbildnis mit Erna from 1922, and M.C. Escher’s mesmerizing Other World from 1947, will be showcased. Lastly, a special and unique mine de plomb drawing by Paul Klee, Elefantengruppe (Group of Elephants) from 1917, will be featured, highlighting the artist’s idiosyncratic style.
Sonia Delaunay Poésie de mots, poésie de couleurs (The Poetry of Words, The Poetry of Colors), 1962 Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000 This selection features 19 iconic images by Andy Warhol, including Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, and Bald Eagle from his Endangered Species series. Leading the collection is the rare Double Mickey (1981), a unique color variant encrusted with diamond dust, showcasing Warhol's fascination with repetition and pop culture. The collection also includes works from Roy Lichtenstein's iconic Reflections series, such as his virtuosic Reflections on Girl and Reflection on Conversation, which explore themes of appropriation and optical illusion using comic book imagery. Other notable pieces include Joan Mitchell's Sunflowers III (1992), Ad Reinhardt's Ten Screenprints (1966), and Frank Stella’s Double Gray Scramble (1973).
Contemporary highlights include a diverse range of artists, many of whom utilize non-traditional printmaking materials. Ellen Gallagher's De Luxe is a 60-piece tour-de-force combining various printing processes and materials like crystal, velvet, and toy googly eyes. De Luxe explores constructs of feminine beauty through Postwar magazine advertisements. Mike Kelley's Lenticular 4 uses comic book imagery and illuminated lenticular technology, used to create images that appear to change or move when viewed from different angles, to delve into themes of past burdens. Other notable highlights include Jean-Michel Basquiat's Superhero Portfolio, Robert Colescott's monumental quadriptych Pontchartrain, Amy Sherald's Hope is the thing with feathers (The little bird) and Handsome, Rashid Johnson's Untitled Anxious Red, Yayoi Kusama's Pumpkin (Green), Ruth Asawa's Chair, Louise Bourgeois' Together, and David Hockney’s, Bora Bora (1973). A preview of the MODERNISM 1880-1960 and the April Editions & Works on Paper auctions will be open to the public from 9 to 15 April 2025 in Phillips’ New York galleries at 432 Park Avenue.
Roy Lichtenstein Reflections on Girl, from Reflections Series, 1990 Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000 Jean-Michel Basquiat Superhero Portfolio, 1982-87/2022 Louise Bourgeois Together (MoMA 1119), 2004 Estimate: $40,000 - 60,000 Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000 Amy Sherald Handsome, 2020 Estimate: $30,000 - 50,000 Amy Sherald Hope is the thing with feathers (The little bird), 2021 Estimate: $30,000 - 50,000 Robert Colescott Pontchartrain, 1997 Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000 Frank Stella Double Gray Scramble, 1973 $40,000 - 60,000 Rashid Johnson Untitled Anxious Red, 2021 Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000 Mike Kelley Lenticular 4, 2007 Estimate: $40,000 - 60,000 Auction: 16-17 April 2025 Auction viewing: 9-15 April 2025 Location: 432 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Click here for more information: MODERNISM 1880-1960: Editions & Works on Paper, https://www.phillips.com/auction/NY030625 Editions & Works on Paper, https://www.phillips.com/auction/NY030225
(Press Release)
