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Depicting a young Black man wearing a rich gold-colored jacket with jeans set against a tropical backdrop, Cinga Samson’s Two piece 1 is a powerful example of this rising artist’s celebrated oeuvre. Embodying the likes of the male counterpart to Mickalene Thomas’ bold female figures, the man poses in a cool, confident stance. The surreality of the setting is amplified by the figure’s striking eyes, rendered as glowing white orbs of spectral light. At once inviting and mysterious, familiar and extraordinary, the present work embodies Samson’s unique subjectivity and painterly assurance that “prove[s] himself to be a vital emerging figure in contemporary painting.”i Emblematic of the artist’s up-and-coming presence in the art world, White Cube announced its global representation of Samson recently in May 2021.
![[left] Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of Paul Guillaume, 1916. Museo del Novecento, Milan, Image: © Alinari Archives / Mauro Magliani / Art Resource, NY [right] Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Young Man, ca. 1483. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Image: Art Resource, NY](https://phillips.vo.llnwd.net/v1/web_dev/lot-component/155360_FIG 1-2_ea1c2481-3626-4c8a-a34f-16c3ab9b10e2.png)
[left] Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of Paul Guillaume, 1916. Museo del Novecento, Milan, Image: © Alinari Archives / Mauro Magliani / Art Resource, NY [right] Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of a Young Man, ca. 1483. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Image: Art Resource, NY "In all my art books, African artists are in the last chapter, if at all…I want you to look at my work and think, ‘That’s exquisite, that’s incredible, I am blown away — and I know it is completely African,’ without feeling that it is lacking."
—Cinga SamsonBest known for his lush figurative paintings that border on the ethereal, Samson fuses themes of spirituality and superstition drawn from his upbringing in Ethembeni, a village in the South African countryside, with those of aspiration and identity, looking to the works of Egon Schiele and Andrew Wyeth, among others. Typically using himself or his brother as the model, Samson stages his settings with found décor, as he explains, “in my own environment or in the Jungle (palms, flowers, etc...). After that, I use the photo we produce to paint with oil on canvas. I don’t invent; I mostly use elements that already exist in the picture.”ii On the sources of his subject matter, he elucidated, “My inspiration streams out of my youth and my desires. It also comes from my very spiritual background. I use everything around me: the source of my desires and aspirations, my relatives, my nature, my background… I dig inspiration from who I am; I am a young African male.”iii While Samson has noted the deep influence of Western artists on his work, including Alberto Giacometti, Paul Gauguin, Francis Bacon, and Louise Bourgeois, what ultimately foregrounds his practice is preserving the dignity of his heritage. As he cheekily expressed, “It’s that Serena Williams excellence, which, if you deny it, you know you’re just evil.”iv
"The moon was low and very bright, it was shining on us and reflecting the white of our eyes. It remains such a strong memory that every time I work on a painting, I remember this night. The eyes of my characters remind me of this moonlight; it’s a spiritual reference."
—Cinga Samson
Edvard Munch, Moonlight, 1895. National Gallery, Oslo, Image: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY According to the artist, the source of the captivating eyes of his figures derives from a singular moment in his youth when he was wandering with his cousin by a river in a forest, where they were met with the moon’s subliminal light. Encapsulating the significance of spirituality in his work, the eyes have become to know to be Samson’s signature motif. As Siddhartha Mitter of the New York Times observed, “Then there are the eyes. Mr. Samson leaves them empty, milky ovals on otherwise finely rendered faces that invert the quizzical gaze of figures in a Belkis Ayón collograph, and echo the ghostly migrants returned from a sea disaster who prowl Dakar in Mati Diop’s film 'Atlantics,' demanding accounts. Mr. Samson’s people — including himself, through a set of small, intense self-portraits…aren’t angry, but won’t cooperate with the viewer’s gaze. They navigate an exploitative world without sacrifice, spiritually armed.”v By imbuing his figures with a confident and impenetrable aura, Samson’s acclaimed practice aims to create an image of power for the African community while avoiding the sole association of his work to the political conversation. In his words, “I make art for the love of doing it. I am not an activist, I am not involved in any political movement: I am just an African man. I don’t want to bring the stigmas of Africa into my work…As soon as we engage those topics, people think it’s our identity, and it becomes our identity. Our goal as the young generation is to get ourselves out of the black stereotype such as sickness or racism. We are part of the new identity of the African continent.”vi
Cut from the Archives
i Meara Sharma, “An Artist Who Doesn’t Want to Feed Western Fantasies About Africa,” The New York Times Style Magazine, February 21, 2020, online.
ii Cinga Samson, quoted in “Discussion with Cinga Samson,” Perrotin, December 2018.
iii Ibid.
iv Meara Sharma, “An Artist Who Doesn’t Want to Feed Western Fantasies About Africa,” The New York Times Style Magazine, February 21, 2020, online.
v Siddhartha Mitter, “What to See Right Now in New York Art Galleries,” The New York Times, March 11, 2020.
vi Cinga Samson, quoted in “Discussion with Cinga Samson,” Perrotin, December 2018.Provenance
blank projects, Cape Town
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2018
1
Two piece 1
signed and dated "CINGA SAMSON 2018" on the reverse
oil on canvas
45 1/4 x 35 3/8 in. (114.9 x 89.9 cm)
Painted in 2018.
Estimate
$25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $378,000
Amanda Lo Iacono
Head of Auctions
New York
+1 212 940 1278
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
New York Auction 23 June 2021
1
Cinga Samson
Two piece 1
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $378,000
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2
Jadé Fadojutimi
Untitled
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $390,600
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3
Salman Toor
Fort Greene
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $478,800
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4
Avery Singer
Untitled
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $4,144,000
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5
Matthew Wong
The Reader
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $2,329,000
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6
Winston Churchill
The Moat, Breccles
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,845,000
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7
Matthew Wong
Field in a Dream
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $2,934,000
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8
Jean Dubuffet
L'homme à la toque
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,571,000
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9
Emily Mae Smith
Waiting Room
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $756,000
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10
Nicole Eisenman
Whatever Guy
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $840,700
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11
Norman Lewis
Abstract City
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,119,000
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12
Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol
Bananas
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,300,000
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13
David Hockney
A Neat Lawn
Estimate $9,500,000 - 10,500,000
Sold for $11,000,000
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14
Vija Celmins
Untitled (Ocean)
Estimate $5,500,000 - 6,500,000
Sold for $7,748,000
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15
Carmen Herrera
Green and Orange
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,200,000
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16
This lot is no longer available.
17
Brice Marden
Elements III
Estimate $3,200,000 - 3,800,000
Sold for $5,233,000
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18
Amoako Boafo
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $655,200
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19
Titus Kaphar
Untitled III
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $1,058,500
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20
Amy Sherald
It Made Sense...Mostly In Her Mind
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $3,539,000
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21
Wayne Thiebaud
Winding River
Estimate $6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Sold for $9,809,000
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22
Mark Rothko
Untitled
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $3,700,000
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23
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Batman
Estimate $1,600,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,800,000
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24
Keith Haring
Untitled (For John Sex)
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $899,000
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25
Takashi Murakami
Red Demon and Blue Demon with 48 Arhats
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $6,080,000
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26
Gerhard Richter
Abstraktes Bild (940-2)
Estimate $4,500,000 - 5,500,000
Sold for $5,112,000
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27
Joan Mitchell
Untitled
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $3,902,000
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28
Willem de Kooning
East Hampton V
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $3,055,000
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29
Amy Sillman
Flower Giver
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $598,500
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30
Alexander Calder
Fourteen Black Leaves
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,300,000
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31
This lot is no longer available.
32
Julie Curtiss
Three Widows
Estimate $110,000 - 150,000
Sold for $466,200
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33
Norman Rockwell
My Mother (Soldier with French Woman)
Estimate $350,000 - 500,000
Sold for $504,000
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34
Richard Prince
Nurses Dormitory #3
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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35
Mickalene Thomas
Portrait of Jessica
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $1,542,500
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36
Andy Warhol
Mao
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $3,000,000
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37
Georg Baselitz
Drei Herzen (Three Hearts)
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $2,450,000
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38
Carl Andre
36 Copper Square
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $2,692,000
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39
Robert Rauschenberg
Untitled (Elemental Sculpture)
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $315,000
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40
Bruce Nauman
Musical Chair
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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41
David Hammons
It’s Not Necessary
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $5,475,000
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42
Andy Warhol
Shadow (Double)
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $877,000
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43
Toyin Ojih Odutola
Quality Control
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $340,200
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44
Robert Colescott
Gift of the Sea
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $504,000
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45
Dana Schutz
Swiss Family Traveling
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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46
Banksy
Love Is In The Air
Estimate $1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,179,500
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47
Keith Haring
Untitled
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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48
Louise Bourgeois
Labyrinthine Tower
Estimate $550,000 - 750,000
Sold for $756,000
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49
Paul McCarthy
White Snow Dwarf (Doc)
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $403,200
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50No Reserve
Jeff Koons
Gazing Ball (Demeter)
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000 •
Sold for $998,000
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