Houston is one of the leading forces driving the Latin American Modern and Contemporary collecting market. The Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Latin American Art Department and its International Center for the Arts of the Americas have led the way in bringing international attention and educating art collectors in this field. Prestigious well established art galleries, specializing in Latin American art, attract collectors from around the globe. The recent arrival of annual art fairs helped to enhance the Houston art scene by featuring many Latin American galleries. Until now, Houston lacked an auction house specializing in Latin American art.
On March 20th, Morton Auctioneers & Appraisers Fine Art Sale will offer 73 lots by some of Latin America’s best known modern and contemporary artists. Important paintings and sculptures by artists such as Wifredo Lam, Antonio Berni, Mario Carreño and Francisco Zúñiga will be auctioned at Morton’s Houston salesroom.
This event marks a new phase in the success of the Mexican auction house Morton Subastas. Morton is the only Latin American auction house to have an international presence beyond its country of origin and is the only with a subsidiary in the United States.
Leading Morton’s sale will be Antonio Berni’s Juanito y sus Amigos, 1960 Tempera (estimate: $250,000 – $350,000), Francisco Zúñiga’s, 1938 oil, Mujeres (estimate: $85,000 – $100,000) and Mario Carreño’s Desnudo de Muchacha, 1942 (estimate $100,000 – $120,000). |
| |
FRANCISCO ZÚÑIGA, Mujeres, 1938
Oil on canvas
Estimate: $85,000-100,000 |
|
JOSÉ CHÁVEZ MORAD0, Hamaca, 1950
Oil on canvas laid down on board
Estimate: $8,000-12,000
|
Sculptures will also feature prominently in the sale. A Wifredo Lam silver sculpture Pez, 1962, cast by Fonderia Mariani in Italy, will be offered along with two other Cuban bronzes, Mascarón de Proa, 1974 by Mario Carreno (estimate $30,000 – $35,000) and a Roberto Fabelo sculpture from the Animalia Series (estimate $25,000 - $35,000).
The auction will have a selection of artists from the Mexican School, including José Chávez Morado and Raul Anguiano, as well as traditional Mexican paintings by Guillermo Gomez Mayorga and Luis Amendolla. Mexico’s Surrealist movement will be represented by three works by Sofia Bassi. On offer will also be Mexican works by the mid-century Ruptura generation artists Rodolfo Nieto, Ricardo Martínez, Francisco Icaza, Luis Filcer among others. The Mexican Geometric Abstraction movement will be exemplified by an acrylic by Fernando Garcia Ponce. |
The later part of the sale will be devoted to prints of important Latin masters Rufino Tamayo, Mathias Goeritz, Jose Luis Cuevas and others.
|
