PRESS RELEASE

PHILLIPS de PURY & COMPANY ANNOUNCES HIGHLIGHTS FROM ITS 80s AUCTION IN NEW YORK

WORKS BY ANDY WARHOL, , JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, DAVID SALLE, KENNY SCHARF, , ETTORE SOTTSASS JR., MARC NEWSON, TOM WESSELMANN, ANNIE LEIBOVITZ, ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, JENNY HOLZER, HERB RITTS, LAURIE SIMMONS

SALE DATE: DECEMBER 17, 2010 2PM

VIEWING: DECEMBER 8 - 17, 2010 Jean-Michel Basquiat Six Works , 1981

LOCATION: Phillips de Pury & Company, 450 West 15th Street, New York, NY 10011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York – Phillips de Pury & Company is pleased to announce highlights from the forthcoming 80s auction. The sale will present a vibrant collection of works from the iconic decade, including contemporary art, photographs, design and editions. Enzo Cucchi Fucile , 1982

The sale catalogue features editorial photoarticles that celebrate how the art of the 80s continues to resonate today. The pieces show not only how the 80s have influenced contemporary art but how contemporary art has changed the way we see art from this pivotal moment in cultural production. Interviews and photography shoots with Kiki Smith in Rome; with the collectors who specialize in 80s art, Michael and BZ Schartz ; and with RoseLee Goldberg , the Director of Performa who was recently listed among the top ten most powerful people in the artworld by ArtReview’s power 100. Grace Jones is highlighted as an influencer and cultural icon of the 80s, tracing her legacy in fashion and music. The Object Lesson: Silence Equals Death by Keith Haring contextualizes Haring’s work in light of the ACT UP movement, and the intersection of activism and art that was particularly fervent in the 80s. Keith Haring, Untitled , 1982

The 1980s is the decade that ushered in such pop-culture milestones as MTV, graffiti fever, Apple computers and power dressing, contemporary art reflected the electric buzz and vibrancy that typified the era’s music, street-culture, technology and fashion.

Highlights from the 80s auction include:

Jean-Michel Basquiat Six works: i) Untitled (Standing figure with dog); ii) Untitled (Kneeling Figure); iii) Untitled (Head and Torso); iv) Untitled (Mira PaYa); v) Untitled (Reclining figure); vi) Untitled (Standing Figure), 1981 estimated at $150,000 - $250,000, showcase Basquiat’s true drawing skill, which Kenny Scharf, Untitled , 1987 played a significant role throughout his prolific, yet short career. The six works present the essential element and expression of his form and understanding of line. Richard D. Marshall, quoted in E. Navarro’s Jean-Michel Basquiat: Works on Paper states “For Basquiat, the drawings nourished the paintings and the paintings evolved into drawings in a circular and replenishing cycle.” This lot

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shows the invaluable message and physicality of his work and lasting mark on contemporary art.

Additional works by Jean-Michel Basquiat sparkle throughout the sale including, After Leonardo , 1983 estimated at $25,000 - $35,000. This complete set of five screenprints in color illustrates the process of drawing by recreating the casualness of the studio with the drops of ink and graphite on each print, inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Anatomical drawings.

Enzo Cucchi , Fucile , 1982 estimated at $80,000 - $120,000, is a prime example of the artist’s work, particularly in its thick brushstrokes, noticeably rough surface texture and stark color scheme. Cucchi operated at the forefront of the Jean-Michel Basquiat, After Leonardo , Transavanguardia (“beyond avant-garde”) movement in the 1970s and 80s, which 1983 attempted to overturn the prevailing minimalist aesthetic and reintroduce symbolism and emotion into painting. Cucchi plays with sculptural elements in this work by placing another yellow-handled gun, this one ceramic, on the wall next to the canvas. The title of the painting, Fucile , translates to “gun,” and the viewer is left wondering to which gun it refers—the two-dimensional one or its three-dimensional assassin.

Kenny Scharf’s Untitled (Head) , 1987 estimated at $50,000 to $70,000 celebrates the phenomenon of the 80s through his boundless humorous and vast imagination. His playful and innovative imagery introduced a much needed Andy Warhol, After the Party , 1979 eccentricity to the 80s and offered a new visual experience—a culmination of the 50s science fiction films, the 60s a-go-go comedies and musicals, and the 70s cult movies. This work commemorates the magnetic creativity of the daring artist and the vibrant decade.

Keith Haring Untitled , 1982 estimated at $10,000 - $15,000, an original drawing on the inside cover of the Exhibition Catalogue, Keith Haring, produced by Gallery, New York in 1982, is truly an exceptional document of the 1980's. The catalogue functioned as a gift to visitors on the night of Keith’s first major gallery show. It was a way to share Keith’s ephemeral work with his then expanding audience, whom he had met all over New York while creating his Annie Leibovitz, Keith Haring, New York 1986 chalk drawings across the city. Several of the books were annotated and signed by the artist at the gallery upon the request of people visiting the exhibition. The texts herein are timely and personal, including a thoughtful entry by David Shapiro, which recounts his arrival to Keith’s studio with a weighty list of questions for the artist whose clever response was - "let’s publish the questions!" Its small scale, many illustrations and photographs of the city and the artist himself, and most importantly, hand drawn dedications, allude to a personal scrap book brimming with memories of the 80s and the artist who defined the decade.

Andy Warhol is a 1980s fixture with the factory, club scene, and pop culture art. His After the Party , 1979 estimated at $8,000 - $12,000 is apropos in setting the scene on the dawn of a debaucherous decade. Andreas Feininger Time Square, Calvin Klein Girl, New George Condo’s Untitled suite , 1989 estimated at $4,000 - $6,000 is rare to the York 1981 auction block. This complete set of seven etchings is unique because Condo did not produce many etchings and he is well known for his use of color. The use of black and white underscores his technique.

Annie Leibovitz’s iconic portrait of a body-painted Keith Haring, taken in 1986, in which the artist is camouflaged to near-disappearance inside his studio, will be offered at $8,000- 12,000.

Tina Barney’s Beverly, Jill and Polly , 1982 and The Card Game , 1986, showcase Barney’s glance into the private lives of her upper class friends and family. The Lyle Owerko, Untitled from The Boombox Series , 2009 works are each estimated at $5,000- 7,000.

Fashion of the 80s is seen in Andreas Feininger’s Times Square, Calvin Klein

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Girl, New York , 1981, estimated at $3,000- 5,000, as well as Horst . P. Horst’s iconic image Round the Clock I, New York , 1987 offered at $8,000- 12,000. Both are prime examples of the photographers’ work during the decade that emphasized excess and bold sexiness.

The boombox, a symbol of the decade’s street and music cultures alike, is elevated in a larger-than-life photograph by Lyle Owerko , estimated at $3,000- 5,000.

Photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe from the Collection of Lisa Lyon is a selection of five images that encapsulate the decade’s sassy style. Featuring Robert Mapplethorpe Lisa Lyon , 1982 her androgynous duality, an image of Lisa as fashion model, Lisa Lyon , 1982, estimated at $4,000- 6,000 is juxtaposed with an image of her as stalwart bodybuilder, also estimated at $4,000- 6,000.

Two major figures of 80s design are featured in the auction: Shiro Kuramata and Ettore Sottsass Jr .

Kuramata’s designs in the 80s are considered particularly important for their use of industrial materials like steel mesh, aluminum, glass and acrylic, are frequently noted as being reflective of contemporary Japan’s cultural dynamism, earning him the Japan Cultural Design Award in 1981. Shiro Kuramata’s Pair of “Sing Sing Sing” chairs , circa 1985 estimated at $3,000 - $5,000 employ industrial steel piping and mesh but convey playfulness through swooping curves and colorful paint, and his Flower vases, including his Set of three “ Flower vase #1 ” circa 1989 estimated at $1,500 - $2,000, “ Flower vase #2 ” circa 1989 estimated at $1,500 - $2,000 and his “ Flower Vase #3 ” circa 1989 estimated at $2,000 - $3,000 as well as his “ Acrylic Floor Stand A ” floor lamp , circa 1985 estimated at $4,000 - $6,000 are composed primarily of acrylic, utilize natural and artificial light to enhance basic geometric forms and create the Shiro Kuramata illusion of floating. “Acrylic Floor Stand A” floor lamp , ca. 1985 With this playfulness and creative energy, it’s no surprise Kuramata joined the seminal 80s design collective Memphis, founded by Ettore Sottsass Jr . Sottsass, whose prolific architectural, industrial and furniture design career established him at the forefront of 20 th century design, established Memphis, a group of international designers and architects, whose work was exemplary of the Postmodernism of the 80s. Often characterized by use of bold colors and unconventional combinations of shapes, the Memphis philosophy is evident in Sottsass’s “Ashoka” table lamp , 1981 estimated at $3,000 - $5,000 and his “Mobile Giallo” cabinet , 1988 estimated at $12,000 - $18,000.

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Contacts:

London Ettore Sottsass Jr. Giulia Costantini “Mobile Giallo” cabinet 1988 Head of Communications [email protected] + 44 20 7318 4010

Fiona McGovern Communications Assistant [email protected] + 44 20 7318 4010

New York Anne Huntington Communications Manager [email protected] +1 212 940 1210