Provenance
Sprüth Magers Lee, London
Paul Frank McCabe
Catalogue Essay
'I think it's true that if we look side by side at a painting and a photograph, we tend to right away see the painting as somebody's version of the real world, and with a photograph we tend to suspend disbelief and think it refers in a tangible way to the real world.' (John Baldessari in interview with Christian Boltanski, “What is Erased”, John Baldessari From Life, Nîmes, 2005, pp. 72-75).

John Baldessari’s art actively resists all categorisation because, as he frequently protests, the preconceptions surrounding certain mediums or techniques are falsities that need to be re-evaluated. Using his own artistic production as a means to underscore these issues, Baldessari’s oeuvre now consists of paintings, photography, videos, installations and sculptures not to mention the huge array of amalgamations of these that also incorporate a breadth of images both made and found.

Constantly striving to find new ways of merging photography and painting, Two Dogs and Two Aliens (2002) is a striking example of Baldessari’s artistic preoccupations. Painting in bright colours on top of a photograph of a seascape with two dogs, Baldessari unites the two mediums. However, the flat voids of colour seem abruptly jarring as they only appear in the top third of the vertical work that then extends and divides into three further sections. Creating parallels through the framing method used in this work, with the pieces from his Intersection Series, Baldessari similarly juxtaposes two disparate concepts that are outlined in the title: the seascape and aliens. Perhaps influenced by the release of the popular film Signs that same year, or the public’s consistent fascination with intergalactic beings in movies in general, Baldessari creates a shadowlike silhouette, sections of which are scattered in the top band of the composition. The recognisably enlarged heads hark back to the cinematic representations of these extra terrestrial beings whose appearances have been the subject of much variation.

Considering Baldessari’s interest in ridiculing the assumption that photography is a more honest medium than painting, it is highly pertinent that the much-contested theme of aliens is incorporated into this work. For generations alien hoaxes have filtered through the media – the seemingly reliable photographic proof put forward by those who claim to have seen UFOs or aliens, often proved to be manipulated or constructed. 'For most of us photography stands for the truth, but a good artist can make a harder truth by manipulating forms or pushing paint around. It fascinates me how I can manipulate the truth so easily by the way I juxtapose opposites or crop the image or take it out of context.' (John Baldessari quoted in: Coosje van Bruggen, John Baldessari, New York 1990, p. 56).

Property from the Estate of Dr. Fredric S. Brandt, Miami

Ο◆13

John Baldessari

Two Dogs and Two Aliens

2002
digital photo with acrylic on Sintraplate
214.9 x 182.9 cm (84 5/8 x 72 in.)

Estimate
£200,000 - 300,000 ‡

Sold for £266,500

Contact Specialist
Peter Sumner
Head of Contemporary Art, London
psumner@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4063

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London 14 October 2015 7pm

1
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Blue Eyes Brown Hanging Perforated Mark M3.d)
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £116,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
2
Rosemarie Trockel
Study for Old Friend
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡♠
Sold for £200,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
3
Peter Doig
Bird House
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £242,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
4
Richard Prince
Untitled (Cowboy)
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡
Sold for £602,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
5
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Three-Tiered Perspective)
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ‡
Sold for £842,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
6
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate £1,500,000 - 2,500,000 ‡
Sold for £2,266,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
7
Christopher Wool
Untitled (Jazz death)
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,314,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
8
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,930,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
9
Yoshitomo Nara
Missing in Action
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ‡
Sold for £1,986,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
10
Anish Kapoor
Untitled
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
Sold for £458,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
11
Keith Haring
Untitled
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £218,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
12
Keith Haring
Untitled (Head Stand)
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £482,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
13
John Baldessari
Two Dogs and Two Aliens
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £266,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
14
Ed Ruscha
Pneumatic Muscles Hydraulic Smiles
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡
Sold for £386,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
15
George Condo
Stranger on a Plane
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £194,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
16
Albert Oehlen
Omegasachen-35
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡♠
Sold for £302,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
17
Damien Hirst
Aminobenzoyl Hydrazide
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £362,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
18
Alighiero Boetti
Alternandosi e Dividendosi
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡♠
Sold for £302,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
19
Lucio Fontana
Concetto Spaziale, Attese
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ♠
Sold for £1,314,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
20
Cy Twombly
Untitled
Estimate £8,000,000 - 12,000,000 ‡
Sold for £7,922,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
21
Mark Bradford
Constitution IV
Estimate £2,000,000 - 3,000,000 ‡
Sold for £3,778,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
22
Tauba Auerbach
Untitled (Fold)
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,426,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
23
Danh Vo
VJ Star
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡♠
Sold for £602,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
24
Richard Prince
Untitled (Couples)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
Sold for £152,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
25
Urs Fischer
Horse Fraud
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £362,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
26
Cory Arcangel
Photoshop CS: 110 by 72 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient "Russell's Rainbow" (turn transparency off), mousedown y=25300 x=17600, mouse up y=4300 x=17600
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £158,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
27
Yayoi Kusama
Infinity-Nets (OPARHJ)
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
Sold for £530,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
28
Sterling Ruby
SP60
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000
Sold for £482,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
29
Josef Albers
Homage to the Square: Wide Sight (study)
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
Sold for £338,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
30
Neo Rauch
Die Lage
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £866,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
31
Anselm Kiefer
The Secret Life of Plants
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £362,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
32
Anselm Kiefer
Paete non Dolet
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £218,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
33
Antony Gormley
Domain XV
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡♠
Sold for £218,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
34
This lot is no longer available.
35
Jonas Wood
D.J.
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000
Sold for £62,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
36
Richard Prince
Untitled (portrait)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
Sold for £98,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
37
KAWS
Snoopy: Red Baron
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
Sold for £128,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London 14 October 2015 7pm

Create your first list.

Provenance

Catalogue Essay

Ο◆13

John Baldessari

Two Dogs and Two Aliens

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.