Contemporary Curated
Live Auction: 12 March 2021 • New York • Session 1, Lots 1 - 59, 10:00 AM EST • Session 2, Lots 101 - 176, 1:00 PM EST

Contemporary Curated 12 March 2021 • 10:00 AM EST • New York

S otheby’s Contemporary Curated is honored to be partnering with Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winning actress, singer and producer, as well as an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and SAG nominee Cynthia Erivo as this season’s curator. Erivo is not only an art enthusiast with a unique style and strong point of view, she also is passionate about the empowerment of women and, in particular, women of color. To thank Erivo for her involvement and to celebrate International Women’s Month, Sotheby’s will be supporting The Loveland Foundation which is close to Erivo’s heart. The Curated sale is now open for advance bidding and the exhibition is on view by appointment only on the 3rd Floor of Sotheby’s now until March 11th at 5pm. The Sale is a Live sale on March 12th beginning at 10am EST (Lots 1-59) and 1pm EST (lots 101-176) that will accept advance, absentee, phone and online bidding.

The March sale features a selection of trailblazing artists who define the postwar period including Ed Ruscha, Romare Bearden and Mary Corse, as well as innovative painters on the forefront of contemporary art including Kehinde Wiley, Julie Mehretu and Sherrie Levine.


Meet Our Curator: Award-Winning Actor, Singer, Songwriter & Author Cynthia Erivo
Wayne Thiebaud
Dark Heart Cake
Estimate: 1,800,000 – 2,500,000 USD
Dark Heart Cake
An exquisite example of Wayne Thiebaud's most mouthwatering and iconic paintings of sweet treats, Dark Heart Cake embodies both the artist’s singular mastery of still-life painting and career-long exploration of the American psyche. Typifying Thiebaud's distinctive technique, the luscious pinks of the isolated petit four dynamically stands out from its rich magenta background with a captivating luminosity. Since the mid-1950s, Thiebaud's confectionery treats, which have become some of the best-known...
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Let Them Eat Cake

Discover Exceptional Works by Ed Ruscha
Marlene Dumas’s Handy – A treatise on gender, sexuality, voyeurism and agency
Marlene Dumas
Handy
Estimate: 600,000 – 800,000 USD
Handy
Atreatise on gender, sexuality, voyeurism and agency, Marlene Dumas' Handy distills the artist's most essential conceptual aims into an intimate yet powerful canvas. Emerging from the darkness, the subject of the present work exposes their genitals while gazing toward the viewer, a phosphorescent blur of pinks and crimsons seemingly illuminated by a camera's flash. Handy presents an unfixed vision, one which makes ambiguous questions of control, performance, subjugation and empowerment. Delineated with a masterful economy of means, Handy speaks to a documentary basis while transcending the objective nature...
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Master Studies on Paper
Revolutionizing the Figure

Visit the Exhibition

Following the guidelines for the Phase Four reopening of Manhattan, we are able to accommodate clients in our building by appointment only. To schedule an appointment to view property from this sale please click here or contact appointmentsNY@sothebys.com or +1 212 606 7171. You can read more about our safety requirements here.

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