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Ewa Juszkiewicz’s paintings engage the long history of artifice and concealment in Western portraiture. Working from traditional portraits of upper-class women, dating from the Renaissance to the 19th century, Juszkiewicz deftly reproduces the conventional settings and poses, but with a Surrealist twist: she completely covers the faces of her sitters, with drapery, florae and faunae, or, in the case of Untitled (after Ernst Thelott), 2019, the sitter’s own hair. Such concealment and (dis)identification speaks to the wider art history of female portraiture, and the ways in which beauty and conventions can hide our true selves.
Ernst Thelott, Elise Dorothea Friederike, Freifrau von Schaezler, geb. Freifrau von Süsskind, c. 1829-1831. The present work takes its name from Ernst Thelott’s portrait of Elise Dorothea Friederike, a Swabian baroness who died in 1831, aged just 21. As in Thelott’s portrait, Juszkiewicz’s interpretation places the young Elise in a decadent satiny gown, with puff sleeves and a ruched neckline. The background behind Elise is as fantastic as her dress, depicting a sunset over distant mountains, with a small branch or bush at lower left, all dwarfed by Elise’s enormous sleeves. Juszkiewicz meticulously reproduces these details from Thelott’s portrait, expertly capturing the transparent values of Elise’s sleeves; the painted surface of Untitled (after Ernst Thelott) is as smooth and shiny as any court portrait from history.
Juszkiewicz critical difference, of course, is the exchange of Elise’s frilly curls and calm, rosy-cheeked complexion for a braided up-do in reverse. One can imagine that Juszkiewicz was inspired by Elise’s topknot, but freshened up the look for the 21st century—the loosely braided hair in Untitled (after Ernst Thelott) is wonderfully contemporary, recalling the braided hairstyles of Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games that wove into 2010s fashion. More recent art historical referents, too, come to mind, like René Magritte’s work, Le viol, 1945, as the displacement of the sitter’s face immediately raises questions of identity, the uncanny, and individuality under the male gaze.
René Magritte, Le viol, 1945. Image: Banque d'Images, ADAGP / Art Resource, NY, Artwork: © 2023 C. Herscovici, Brussels / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Juszkiewicz’s erasure of her historical female subjects speaks to the anonymization and homogenization of women under beauty standards throughout history, and up through the present day. While Elise Dorothea Friederike is not a famous historical figure, her formal portrait reveals nothing about her personality; though her features are individualized, the 21st century viewer cannot distinguish her from the next young woman in a pretty dress. Juszkiewicz’s concealment of Elise’s face—as well as her identity, as the title Untitled (after Ernst Thelott) only names the artist, not the sitter—reminds us how little one can understand about a person from her appearance alone. “Paradoxically,” Juszkiewicz says, through concealment “I want to uncover individuality, character, emotions. I want to bring out the vitality.”
Collectors’ Digest
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After a decade of solo shows across Europe, Juszkiewicz had her debut at Gagosian, New York, with Ewa Juskiewicz: In vain her feet in sparking laces glow, Nov. 17, 2020-Jan. 4, 2021.
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Her work resides in esteemed museum collections, including those of the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw; The Long Museum, Shanghai; the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Miami; and le Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris.
i “Lot No. 1131#, Ernst Thelott,” Dorotheum, 2013, online.
ii Ewa Juszkiewicz, quoted in Claire Selvin, “Painter Ewa Juszkiewicz Wants to Shatter Conservative Ideas About Beauty,” ARTnews, Nov. 25, 2020, online.
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Provenance
Half Gallery, New York
Private Collection
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Ο◆9
Untitled (after Ernst Thelott)
signed and stamped with the artist’s signature and date “Ewa Juszkiewicz Ewa Juszkiewicz 2019” on the reverse
oil on canvas
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in. (80 x 60 cm)
Painted in 2019.
Estimate
$200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $635,000
Carolyn Mayer
Associate Specialist, Head of Evening Sale, New York
+1 212 940 1206
CMayer@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
New York Auction 17 May 2023
1
Noah Davis
Untitled
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $990,600
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2
Caroline Walker
Conservation
Estimate $150,000 - 350,000
Sold for $469,900
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3
Julien Nguyen
Jeu de Paume
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $127,000
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4
Pablo Picasso
Tête de femme au chignon
Estimate $6,000,000 - 9,000,000
Sold for $7,320,000
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5
This lot is no longer available.
6
Louise Bonnet
The Red Pants
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $406,400
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7
Yayoi Kusama
Red Stripes
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $2,722,000
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8
Yayoi Kusama
Blue Spots
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $3,206,000
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9
Ewa Juszkiewicz
Untitled (after Ernst Thelott)
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $635,000
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10
Andy Warhol
Self-Portrait (Fright Wig)
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,633,000
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11
Ed Ruscha
Dixie Red Seville
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
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12
Yoshitomo Nara
Guitar Girl
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,480,000
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13
Banksy
Banksquiat. Boy and Dog in Stop and Search
Estimate $8,000,000 - 12,000,000
Sold for $9,724,500
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14
Henry Taylor
Dakar, Senegal #3
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $584,200
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15
Robert Colescott
A Death of an Old Mulatta
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
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16
Rashid Johnson
Untitled Escape Collage
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $990,600
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17
This lot is no longer available.
18
Roy Lichtenstein
Mirror #7
Estimate $3,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for $2,843,000
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19
Damien Hirst
Reconciliation
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $927,100
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20
Robert Ryman
Mark
Estimate $3,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for $3,811,000
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21
Wayne Thiebaud
Chocolate Merangue
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,238,000
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22
Anna Weyant
Unconditional Love
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $609,600
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23
This lot is no longer available.
24
María Berrío
No One Can Hear You, Only the Wind
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $635,000
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25
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Standard Lotus XVI Face 44.15)
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $4,295,000
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26
Wayne Thiebaud
Levee and Cow
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $3,085,000
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27
Andy Warhol
Mao
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,117,600
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28
Andy Warhol
Mona Lisa Four Times
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,359,000
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29
Ed Ruscha
Manual Mobility
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $3,448,000
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30
Jadé Fadojutimi
The Menstrual Marshland
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $533,400
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31
Helen Frankenthaler
On the Road
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,875,000
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32
Robert Rauschenberg
Bath
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $444,500
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33
This lot is no longer available.
34
Sanya Kantarovsky
Deprivation
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $266,700
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35
Roy Lichtenstein
Girl in Mirror
Estimate $4,500,000 - 5,500,000
Sold for $5,505,000
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36
Issy Wood
Untitled (Harley's foot thing)
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
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37
Simone Leigh
Figure (Cobalt)
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $825,500
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38
Joan Miró
L’Espace
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $381,000
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39
Joan Miró
Femme et oiseau
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
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40
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
“Untitled” (March 5th) #2
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $635,000
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41
Sturtevant
Study for Warhol Marilyn
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $2,419,500
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