John Moran Auctioneers is set to present their Modern & Contemporary Art auction on Tuesday, June 11th, 2024, at noon PDT. This highly anticipated event will showcase an impressive array of works by prominent artists from the 20th and 21st centuries, including Raimonds Staprans, George E. Hughes, Pablo Picasso, Masami Teraoka, Norman Rockwell, Jacques Lipchitz, Alec Monopoly, Marc Chagall, Joe Basso, Senaka Senanayake, Hunt Slonem, Ruth Armer, Peter Alexander, Henrietta Berk, Linda McCartney, and Joan Miró.
The highlight of the auction is a newly discovered painting by Raimonds Staprans, titled “Blue Skies, Red Paint,” 1994. This significant piece, estimated at $100,000-$200,000, marks a return for Staprans to the Moran auction block after they set a world auction record for the artist last August with his painting “A Study of Down Rolling Oranges with a Staid Neon Apple,” 1995, which sold for $237,500. “Blue Skies, Red Paint” was previously exhibited at the Mendenhall Gallery in Pasadena, CA, from January 13-February 8, 1996. Another Staprans piece in the auction, “A Can and Orange,” 1996, estimated at $20,000-$40,000, was purchased from the same gallery during their 1997 exhibit.
The auction will also feature two works by George E. Hughes, the acclaimed New York artist and illustrator known for his work with The Saturday Evening Post. His pieces, “Gossiping Neighbor,” 1951, and “Don’t Block The Driveway,” 1953, are both estimated at $25,000-$35,000 each. These nostalgic depictions capture the quintessential mid-century American life.
Norman Rockwell, another iconic Saturday Evening Post artist, will be represented by a study for his oil painting, “The Land of Enchantment.” This piece, appearing as a double-page spread in the December 22, 1934, edition of The Saturday Evening Post, is currently held in the collection of the New Rochelle Library in New York and is estimated at $20,000-$30,000.
Masami Teraoka, a defining artist of the contemporary ukiyo-e style, merges traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques with elements of American pop culture and current events. His piece “Rabbit Island Catfish,” from the 1992 New Wave Series, estimated at $20,000-$30,000, portrays a Western tourist washed ashore in Japan, exemplifying his evocative and satirical style.
This auction promises to be a notable event, offering collectors the opportunity to acquire significant works from some of the most influential artists of the modern and contemporary periods.