William N. Copley - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale London Monday, June 25, 2018 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Galerie Renate Fassbender, Munich (acquired from the artist in 1978)
    Private Collection, The Netherlands
    Private Collection, Denmark (acquired from the above)

  • Exhibited

    The New York Cultural Center, CPLY X-Rated: An Exhibition of New Paintings and Drawings, March - May 1974
    The Art Institute of Chicago, Seventy-First American Exhibition, 15 June - 11 August 1974, no. 10, p. 10 (illustrated)
    Kunsthalle Bern; Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne-Centre Georges Pompidou, William N. Copley, October 1980 - January 1981, no. 89, p. 99
    Antwerp, Lens Fine Art, Tentoonstelling, January - February 1981, no. 8

  • Artist Biography

    William N. Copley

    American • 1919 - 1996

    William N. Copley, also known by the name of CPLY, drew attention to himself in the late 1940s by fusing elements of Surrealism and Pop Art.  Copley focused on symbols of American pop culture—staples of American society including pin-up girls, cowboys and the flag—and transformed them into more accessible, universal icons that could appeal to both men and women without bias.

    In the '70s, Copley distinguished himself from the rest of the Surrealists by attempting to represent the tumultuous relationship between erotic and pornographic symbolism. He celebrated the female body, sexual freedom and, most of all, the promiscuity of America.

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140

The Conformist

signed and dated 'CPLY '73' lower right; further titled '"The Conformist"' on the stretcher
acrylic on canvas
114.5 x 147.3 cm (45 1/8 x 57 7/8 in.)
Painted in 1973.

Estimate
£40,000 - 60,000 

Sold for £75,000

Contact Specialist
Tamila Kerimova
Specialist, Head of Day Sale
+ 44 20 7318 4065
tkerimova@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale

London Auction 26 June 2018