New York / Berlin, October 29, 2009 – artnet Auctions is now featuring the Modern + Contemporary Sale, an online auction featuring 70 artworks by 50 artists representing some of the most important artistic movements from the 20th century to the present.

Leading the sale is a group of early modern masterpieces including Untitled, ca. 1949, a pictographic pastel painting by American artist Adolph Gottlieb (estimate: $150,000-$200,000). Gottlieb is recognized as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. While he is perhaps best known for his “burst” abstractions, his early pictographic works are rare and highly sought after. Untitled is among the artist’s most accomplished works from this period. Other modern works include Magnificent Bay and Mountains with a Little Vagary, 1927 a surrealist nude by American painter and writer Rockwell Kent (estimate: $12,000-$15,000); Lake George, 1928 a richly hued waterscape by John Marin that was originally exhibited at the Stieglitz Gallery in 1929 ($150,000-$250,000); and Untitled, a 1960 painting by abstract expressionist Hans Burkhardt (estimate: $20,000-$25,000).

Also featured in the sale are important examples of the Dada, Surrealist and Fluxus movements by ground-breaking artists including Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Yves Tanguy and Nam June Paik. Among the highlights is the seminal work by Fluxus artist Nam June Paik, TV Cello (estimate: $210,000-$250,000). Now a world-famous artist, Paik was considered radical in the 1960s when he introduced video art, in the form of television, into performance art. TV Cello is one of a small number of unique versions and has rarely appeared at auction. An actual cello constructed of mixed media including Plexiglas and three working televisions, the artwork offers a performance within a performance, as the cello can be played while simultaneously the televisions roll an endless loop of another performance.

Bringing the sale to the present are works by cutting edge contemporary artists including John Chamberlain, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Anish Kapoor and Andy Warhol. Mezzomangle, 2007, is an extraordinarily realized recent work by the American Pop artist John Chamberlain. Chamberlain broke new ground in the 1960s with his “crushed car” metal sculptures. Mezzomangle adopts the familiar medium of painted and chromed steel. However, the subtle colors and delicate articulation of the metal is emblematic of the artist’s more refined later works. Other contemporary masterworks include Midnight Sun, Norway, 2003, a brilliant sunset executed in watercolor and gouache on paper by David Hockney (estimate: $350,000-$450,000) and Orange Circle, 1996, a dry-pigment sculpture by Anish Kapoor from the artist’s Wounds and Absent Objects series (estimate: $120,000-$150,000).

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