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"I’ve always been interested in masking, layering, dressing up and beautifying yourself and what that meant to black women. I’ve always wanted to make things that I haven’t seen before."
—Mickalene ThomasDepicting a fashionable, self-assured woman with a gaze redolent of Édouard Manet’s Olympia, Mickalene Thomas’ Portrait of Jessica exemplifies the artist’s vision of female beauty, sexuality, and power. At once subject and object, real and fictive, the woman is bedazzled from head to toe, exuding a brilliant shine and unremitting glamor from her adorned accessories to her own makeup and shadow. Executed in 2011, the present work features Thomas’ signature use of rhinestones as a symbol of both femininity and artifice, inviting viewers to examine her beauty while reflecting on beauty’s constructed nature.
Barkley Hendricks, Sweet Thang (Lynn Jenkins), 1975-1976. Museum of Modern Art, New York "I am always looking back at history and thinking about the images that have come before me and what they meant and how I can use them in my own way."
—Mickalene ThomasDrawing inspiration from canonical artists including Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Manet to pop culture icons of the 1970s, Thomas is best known for her vast body of portraits that deconstructs metanarratives of beauty, gender, and race. Reconstructing her figures in rhinestone-emblazoned paintings, Thomas models her Black female figures in classical poses against contemporary, collaged settings recalling the work of Romare Bearden to create at once multi-textured works and symbolically multi-layered works. The artist frequently depicts her close friends, lovers, and family members, who are as much real figures as they are muses in her art. “All of my muses,” Thomas expressed, “possess a profound sense of inner confidence and individuality. They are all in tune with their own audacity and beauty in such unique ways. They are unafraid to exude boldness and vulnerability at the same time, and most importantly, they are real.”i
[left] Gustav Klimt, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1901. Oesterreichische Galerie im Belvedere, Vienna, Image: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY [right] Pam Grier on the cover of Jet Magazine, August 9, 1973 Endowing her figures with an undeniable femininity by covering them in rhinestones, Thomas infuses her paintings with material and symbolic layers of meaning that address the notions of beauty and perception. Reminiscent of Byzantine mosaics and Gustav Klimt’s decorative aesthetic, the glimmering collage elements in the present work create a striking contrast to the sensually painted background. The shimmering diamantes not only embellish the furniture and the figure, but in some degrees are the figure—they are the contours of her skin and make up her voluptuous hair, overpainted with flaunting white acrylic pigment. By excessively layering her figures in this manner, “I’m also playing with artifice, what’s real and not real, and how we perceive things,” the artist explained.ii While Thomas focuses on the Black experience, her ultimate message conveys this notion on the universal level. “These elements are not necessarily about the black experience; it’s about the idea of covering up, of dress up and make up—of amplifying how we see ourselves. It’s beyond a black esthetic.”iii
i Mickalene Thomas, quoted in Katie Booth, “In Mickalene Thomas’s Awe-Inspiring Portraits, a Meaningful Reflection of Black Women in Art,” The New York Times, January 29, 2016.
ii Mickalene Thomas, quoted in Carol Kino, “A Confidence Highlighted in Rhinestones,” The New York Times, April 7, 2009, online.
iii Mickalene Thomas, quoted in “From the Archives: Mickalene Thomas on Why Her Work Goes ‘Beyond the Black Aesthetic,” in 2011,” ARTnews, September 14, 2018, online.Provenance
Lehmann Maupin, New York
Acquired from the above by the present ownerArtist Biography
Mickalene Thomas
American • 1971
Glamour and feminism need not be foes, as evinced by the wonderful work of Mickalene Thomas. The artist examines these qualities through the lens of the African-American female experience. Whether with her rhinestone-inflected, '70s-glam-inspired portraits of black beauty and power or her photographic installations of her mother's living room, Thomas personalizes while aestheticizing a visual conversation about race. By tackling classical art historical themes, she writes African-American aesthetics into traditional conventions.
Blockbuster retrospectives at the Brooklyn Museum and ICA Boston thrust Thomas into contemporary art's mainstage. Her platform extends her creative pursuits into fashion, interiors and DJ'ing. Thomas' market has also grown at a steady pace with auction prices increasing each year.
35
Portrait of Jessica
signed, titled and dated "Portrait of Jessica, 2011 M. Thomas" on the reverse
rhinestones, acrylic and enamel on panel
60 x 48 in. (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Executed in 2011.
Estimate
$200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $1,542,500
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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