Phillips is Holding Auctions on January 18 & 19, 2023 in London to Commemorate The Tenth Anniversary of its Editions Department

LONDON – 4 JANUARY 2023

Phillips is happy to commemorate 10 years of Editions auctions in London and to unveil the highlights of the January sales. The Evening Sale will be conducted by David Hockney and Andy Warhol and will showcase a selection of works by contemporary British artists Banksy, Cecily Brown, Grayson Perry, and Rachel Whiteread, in addition to a collection of significant modern works by Pablo Picasso.

The 310-lot assortment will be sold over the course of two days, in two sessions: 102 lots in the Evening Sale on January 18 and 208 pieces in the Day Sale on January 19. The sales are now live on Phillips.com, and the preview show will be open to the public at the Berkeley Square galleries of Phillips from January 11 to January 18, 2023.

Rebecca Tooby-Desmond, Specialist, Head of Sale, and Auctioneer, stated, "Following the success of our Global Editions auctions in 2022, which generated $40 million, the highest annual total in company history, we are thrilled to announce our first auctions of 2023 and to begin the year by commemorating a decade of Editions auctions in London. From David Hockney's etchings of his beloved dachshunds to Andy Warhol's series of diamond dust Reigning Queens to Pablo Picasso's finest etchings and linocuts, our January auctions feature some of the titans of 20th and 21st-century printmaking and explore the wide range of techniques that make collecting editions so enjoyable. The preview exhibition in London will be accessible to the public beginning on January 11 in advance of our auctions on January 18 and 19.

Andy Warhol, an American Pop artist, began his greatest portfolio of screenprints in 1985, showing the four female monarchs governing at the time. This auction includes all four photos from the diamond dust Royal Edition, which come from a private Dutch collection. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (shown on page 1), Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and Queen Ntfombi Tfwala of Swaziland comprised these four figures. Based on official or media portraits of these monarchs, the screenprint portfolio has four colour variations of each queen for a total of sixteen images. The screenprints were manufactured utilising a photographic silkscreen process that was important to Warhol's art and was used extensively in his paintings and screenprints.

David Hockney's Dog Wall is a monumental tribute to his two beloved dachshunds, Stanley and Little Boodgie, and consists of fifteen etchings (illustrated on page 1). Dog Wall attests to the artist's affection for his dogs and exemplifies his artistic talent by depicting them in a variety of reclining poses. Dog Wall is a collection of lovely etchings of dachshunds. Each print conveys a feeling of independence and serves as a fast study of the breed. Before the dogs raced off again, Hockney employs line changes to show the duo as quickly as accurately as possible, despite being captured in motion.

The auctions will be led by David Hockney and Andy Warhol, and will include significant modern works by Pablo Picasso, as well as contemporary British artists.

The auction also included five pieces from Hockney's iconic series, the Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire, a nature epic that captures both the nuance and the drama of winter's metamorphosis into spring. The series of sixty-one iPad drawings was created in advance of the artist's A Bigger Picture exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2012. In 2006, the artist went to his late mother's house in Bridlington in order to observe and document five Yorkshire springs, concentrating on the neighbouring Woldgate Woods. Beginning on January 1, 2011, and concluding in early June, the Arrival of Spring series describes how winter's ice roads, violet mists, and frozen trees gradually transform into late spring's lush greens, bright sky, and blooming flora.

Among the notable works by contemporary British painters is Grayson Perry's psychogeographical Map of an Englishman, a detailed picture of a made-up island. This is Perry's debut print and the start of a series of map etchings that he used to analyse his inner psyche and critique the world around him. Further British favourites include Cecily Brown's Untitled monotype from 2013, Banksy's renowned Girl with Balloon screenprint from 2004, and Rachel Whiteread's full Modern Chess Set from 2005.

An exceptional selection of 15 works by Pablo Picasso, including important etchings and linocuts, led by Minotaure aveugle guidé par Marie-Thérèse au pigeon dans une nuit étoilée (Blind Minotaur Guided Through a Starry Night by Marie-Thérèse with a Dove), is among the Modern highlights of the auction. This is the most well-known and beloved picture from Picasso's La Suite Vollard, a collection of one hundred etchings created between 1930 and 1937 that operate almost as diary entries during this pivotal phase in the artist's career. In this print, the artist concentrates on the famous profile of his partner and muse at the time, Marie-Thérèse Walter, who is seen cradling a dove, as well as introducing the signature minotaur creature. The minotaur is central to Picasso's inner mythology and occurs throughout his work, representing not just strength and masculinity but also weakness and insecurity. Picasso's extraordinary ability to master a range of printing processes throughout his life is shown by this rare-to-auction piece and the excellent array of portraits presented in this auction.

Auction: 18 & 19 January 2023
Auction viewing: 11-18 January 2023
Location: 30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX
Click here for more information: https://www.phillips.com/auctions/auction/UK030123