The September 30 Modern and Contemporary Art auction at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers offered a monumental Peter Saul with a presale estimate of $250,000 – 350,000. Saul’s Guernica, 1974, sold for $575,000, setting a record for the artist at auction.
The fluorescent psychedelic painting is an interpretation of Pablo Picasso’s famed 1937 anti-war piece, Guernica, depicting the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War. Saul’s 1974 version, Saul’s Guernica, is an art historical riff reflecting his own objections to the Vietnam War. Its large scale and vibrant colors showcase Saul’s melting cartoon imagery and surrealist funk approach to painting.
Alternate versions of the painting have previously sold at auction in 2007 and 2008. The painting sold by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers was offered from the estate of Robert and Lois Orchard of St. Louis, Missouri and sold to a West Coast buyer.
Additional highlights of the sale include two works by Fernand Léger, a painting titled Deux femmes tenant des fleurs from 1954 that sold for $800,000 and a gouache titled Paysage Village from 1914 that sold for $725,000. Bob Thompson’s Landscape with Blue Nude, 1965, sold for $197,000 and Gabriel Munter’s Blumen mit weisser rose II, 1950, sold for $106,250.
The Modern and Contemporary Art auction was following by a Fine Prints evening sale where Picasso’s Francoise sur fond gris, 1950, sold for $106,250.
