WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Palm Beach Modern Auctions' (PBMA) November 2nd event will reveal just how broad the contemporary art category has become, with a refined selection of abstract expressionist, outsider and street art; mid-century furniture, and superb minimalist sculptures from the estate of New York artist Larry Mohr (1921-2013).
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The Mohr consignment is an important one. An accomplished sculptor whose figural and abstract works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Georgia Museum of Art, Vassar College and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University, Mohr was renowned for his large-scale bronze and aluminum sculptures made of welded and bolted I-beams.
"Larry Mohr passed away earlier this year, and much of his art was left to museums. We were allowed to pick five sculptures from his estate to offer at auction and chose some incredible abstracts that we felt would appeal to our bidders," said PBMA auctioneer Rico Baca.
Among those five Mohr artworks is a signed and dated 1999 stainless steel sculpture, 14 inches high by 36 inches wide. Also standing 14 inches tall, a star-like bronze is titled "CXC XXIII." Each of the Mohr auction lots will be accompanied by a catalog from the Georgia Museum of Art's 1998 exhibition of Mohr's sculptures.
Works by some of today's most in-demand artists are entered in the 300-lot sale. Highlights include a Helen Frankenthaler signed 5-color screen print artist's proof titled "Spoleto," a Larry Rivers signed and dated (1968) mixed media cigar-box sculpture titled "Dutch Masters," and a Paul Jenkins signed and dated (1971) abstract lithograph in blues and greens, 3/100. A dramatic pop art screen print by sought-after American artist Alex Katz is titled "White Hat" and depicts in close-up a stylish woman in a navy-trimmed white Panama hat.
One of the most exciting categories in the sale is street art, led by a monumental work by one of the movement's true pioneers, San Francisco's Barry McGee.
"You don't often see Barry McGee's art at auction, certainly never a work as large as the one we will be auctioning, which measures 85.5 by 105 inches," said Baca.
The McGee artwork was painted on US Army surplus canvas and exhibited in San Francisco in the 1990s. "It's a quintessential, early McGee with impeccable provenance," said Baca. The McGee canvas is expected to make $50,000-$80,000.
When art and sculpture come together, the result is sculptural design, Baca explained. "Some of the designers whose work falls under this category are Jacques Duval-Brasseur, Willy Daro, Paul Evans and Piero Fornasetti. All four, along with several other notables, are represented in our November 2nd sale. In their studios, a design would begin as an artistic concept, but the finished product would emerge as a piece that doubled as a functional object."
Auction information: tel. 561-586-5500, e-mail Email. Website: www.modernauctions.com. View the auction catalog and bid absentee or live online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com or www.Artfact.com.