The Former Model Sells Freud, Ruscha, Auerbach, Hirst and Warhol
As previously reported, Sotheby’s will be selling a clutch of works owned by former model and rock star spouse, Jerry Hall, during the Frieze sales in London on October 15th and 16th. The collection is valued at a modest £1.5m–many of the works are prints or on paper–but the auction house hopes the celebrity connection will invigorate the bidding:
This exceptional collection reflects two chapters of Miss Hall’s extraordinary life and career: firstly at the forefront of the glamorous avant-garde in 1970s and 1980s New York and subsequently her family-oriented life in London, the adored city of Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach. Headlining the collection are Lucian Freud’s Eight Months Gone which he painted after meeting Jerry Hall at a dinner party, and Andy Warhol’s Dollar Sign which he gifted to Jerry Hall in recognition of her help with the production of his television show, Warhol TV. Works by Frank Auerbach, Robert Graham, Damien Hirst, David Bailey and R. B. Kitaj are also featured in the collection, alongside additional portraits of Jerry Hall by Ed Ruscha and Francesco Clemente.
Undoubtedly the highlight of the collection is Lucian Freud’s (b.1922) 1997 oil on canvas Eight Months Gone, which is a remarkably intimate and sincere portrayal of one of the world’s most beautiful women by one of the greatest painters of this era. Depicting the reclining Jerry Hall eight months pregnant with her fourth child Gabriel in 1997, this painting shows her natural serenity as an expectant mother. In this capacity it provides a tranquil counterbalance to the considerable catalogue of iconic images she made with the likes of Helmut Newton, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, and Francesco Scavullo during the preceding three decades.
Freud invests huge effort in his works and the present painting is especially noteworthy as there was clearly the nonnegotiable schedule of his sitter’s pregnancy. As the artist said when he first asked Jerry to sit for him: “Come tomorrow morning. We have to be quick, before you have the baby” (cited in Jerry Hall: The Model Muse, Sotheby’s at Auction, September-October, 2010, p.30). Jerry Hall played the part of artist’s muse from the moment she moved to Paris aged 16, first posing for the drawings of fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez. She described how “Lucian was pleased with the way that I could get back into exactly the same position with the same angles. He told me that very few people could do that, and that I made a very good artist’s model. I was used to holding the same position for long periods of time and loved the peace and tranquillity of Lucian’s studio: no phones rang and no one ever rang the doorbell […] we stayed friends and after Gabriel’s birth I took him along in his carry-cot and we met for delicious lunches” (Jerry Hall: My Life in Pictures, p. 232).
The most valuable work by estimate is the Frank Auerbach painting:
FRANK AUERBACH b. 1931
HEAD OF HELEN GILLESPIE IV
oil on canvas
61 by 61cm.
24 by 24in.
Executed in 1965.
700,000 GBP – 900,000 GBP
LUCIAN FREUD b.1922
EIGHT MONTHS GONE
oil on canvas
10.2 by 15.2cm.
4 by 6in.
Executed in 1997.
300,000 GBP – 400,000 GBP
LUCIAN FREUD b.1922
QUINCES
oil on panel
23.8 by 18.4cm.
9⅜; by 7¼in.
Executed in 1944.
150,000 GBP – 200,000 GBP
ANDY WARHOL 1928 – 1987
$
signed and dedicated To Jerry on the overlap
acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas
25.4 by 20.3cm.
10 by 8in.
120,000 GBP – 150,000 GBP
FRANCESCO CLEMENTE b.1952
JERRY HALL
signed and dated 1997 on the overlap
oil on canvas
117.4 by 234cm.
46½ by 92⅛in.
100,000 GBP – 150,000 GBP
EDWARD RUSCHA b.1937
SUNSET JUNCTION
signed twice, titled, and dated 1999 twice on the overlap
acrylic on canvas
50.8 by 61cm.
20 by 24in.
50,000 GBP – 70,000 GBP
ANDY WARHOL 1928 – 1987
DIAMOND DUSTED CHOCOLATES
signed and dated 1980 on the overlap
acrylic, silkscreen ink and diamond dust on canvas
36 by 28cm.; 14 by 11in.
30,000 GBP – 40,000 GBP
EDWARD RUSCHA b.1937
JERRY HALL, OCTOBER 23, 2003
signed, dated 2003 and dedicated For Jerry on the reverse
metal contour gauge
15.4 by 10.8 by 1.5cm.; 6¼ by 4¼ by⅝in.
25,000 GBP – 35,000 GBP
R. B. KITAJ 1932 – 2007
KING DAVID AFTER MB
signed, titled and dated 05 on the overlap; signed, titled and dated 05 on the stretcher
oil on canvas
30.5 by 31cm.; 12 by 12¼in.
15,000 GBP – 20,000 GBP
DAVID BAILEY b.1938
RON
signed, titled, dated 2006 and inscribed AP/Two on the reverse
gelatin silver print
image: 30.8 by 30.8cm.; 12⅛ by 12⅛in.
Printed in 2006, this work is from an edition of 10 plus two artist’s proofs.
10,000 GBP – 15,000 GBP
LUCIAN FREUD b.1922
FOUR FIGURES
signed with the artist’s initials and inscribed A.P.
etching on paper
image: 59 by 85.6cm.; 23¼ by 33¾in.
sheet: 68.5 by 94.6cm.; 27 by 37¼in.
Executed in 1991, this work is from an edition of 30.
6,000 GBP – 8,000 GBP
ROBERT GRAHAM 1938 – 2008
FEMALE FIGURE
signed and numbered 2/10 on the base
bronze with green patina
32.5 by 19.5 by 19.7cm.; 12¾ by 7⅝ by 7¾in.
15,000 GBP – 20,000 GBP
ROBERT GRAHAM 1938 – 2008
KRISTA
signed with the artist’s initials, titled and dated 7.96 on the base
bronze with brown and green patina
11 by 22 by 12.6cm.; 4⅜ by 8⅝ by 5in.
10,000 GBP – 20,000 GBP
DAMIEN HIRST b.1965
CORNISH PASTY (FROM THE LAST SUPPER)
signed
screenprint on paper
153 by 101cm.; 60¼ by 39¾in.
Executed in 1999, this work is from an edition of 150.
3,000 GBP – 5,000 GBP