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In Short
Myths and Monsters
Evoking ancient hieroglyphics, Robert Nava’s mythical monsters teeter between commemorative gravitas and childlike levity. Intrigued by the mystery inherent to viewing ancient images, such as those in cave painting, when viewed within a contemporary context, the artist envisions enigmatic creatures with untold stories.
Source material photographed in the artist's studio. “For me, it was more interesting to incorrectly draw an arm or fuck it up by breaking all the rules I learned”
– Robert Nava
Cranach the Elder, The Legend of the Mouth of Truth, 1534. Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, bpk Bildagentur / Germanisches Nationalmuseum / Jurgen Musolf / Art Resource, NY
Nava’s earliest memories are of making drawings as a child: “My mom would always bring stacks of computer paper home from her work in Chicago; and there would always be crayons and pencils around to just draw.”[i] By the time he was a teenager, he was already trained in painting hyperrealist images in the Renaissance style. While in university, Nava was encouraged to explore other visual languages, a journey which ultimately led him to his current style. “This idea of ‘seriousness in play’ was always at the root of my ideas,” Nava articulated.
Huma Bhabha, Untitled, 2017. Private collection, Artwork
© Huma BhabhaNava’s approach was informed by myriad influences spanning art history, from the Old Masters to Huma Bhabha, ancient art—primarily Egyptian, Mayan, and Sumerian—to Vincent van Gogh. Interested in the soul and immense impact of the these images, Nava also became obsessed with the “mistakes” he found in the works by this diverse selection of creators. “And even looking at a Renaissance painting, I would be looking for error, like mistakes were more alive to me. By drawing things ‘incorrectly,’ I found more things to do in that realm,” Nava explained. “So that's why I find it more interesting and why I draw and paint like this. It's been like that since probably 2007 or 2008, but now it's getting really refined, and I know what I want to do more.”[ii]
According to art journalist Keith Estiler, “before touching the canvas, Nava spends hours rigorously sketching out the forms he wants to create in his sketchbook. This practice allows him to confront the canvas with unbridled confidence” while blasting techno music. “After drawing multiples of the same motif on paper, he attacks the canvas to build his new hybridized monster.”[iii]
[i] Robert Nava, quoted in Lance De Los Reyes, “Robert Nava's Secret Friends,” Office Magazine, April 22, 2020, online.
[ii] Robert Nava, quoted in Sasha Bogojev, “In Conversation with Robert Nava,” Juxtapoz, September 18, 2019, online.
[iii] Keith Estiler, “Robert Nava’s New Mythologies,” HYPEBEAST, March 19, 2020, online.Collector's Digest
Nava’s exhibitions at Night Gallery, V1 Gallery, and Sorry We’re Closed were sold out, and The Tunnel marks the artist’s auction debut.
Read more about Robert Nava here.Provenance
Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels
Private Collection
Acquired from the above by the present ownerArtist Biography
Robert Nava
Robert Nava (b. 1985) is a contemporary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Using a rough and
free-flowing hand, Nava recreates the innocent and unlearned art of childhood. His works are
“carefully done wrong,” subverting the rigid fundamentals of painting and conventions of
completeness that Nava learned as an MFA student at Yale University. Nava’s paintings often
feature imagined mythological figures and histories of the artist’s creation whose drama is
brought to life with the frenetic energy of the artist’s brush.
Property from an Important East Coast Collection
9
The Tunnel
each signed and dated “Nava 19” on the reverse
acrylic and spray paint on canvas, diptych
each 78 3/4 x 39 1/2 in. (200 x 100.3 cm)
Executed in 2019.
Estimate
$40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $162,500
Amanda Lo Iacono
Head of Evening Sale
New York
+1 212 940 1278
20th Century and Contemporary Art Evening Sale
New York Auction 2 July 2020
1
Titus Kaphar
Untitled (red thread lady)
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $187,500
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2
Matthew Wong
Mood Room
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $848,000
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3
Lucas Arruda
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $350,000
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4
Helen Frankenthaler
Head of the Meadow
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $3,020,000
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5
Joan Mitchell
Noël
Estimate $9,500,000 - 12,500,000
Sold for $11,062,500
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6
Christina Quarles
Placed
Estimate $70,000 - 100,000
Sold for $400,000
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7
Francis Picabia
Portrait de femme
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $350,000
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8
KAWS
COMPANION (DETAIL OF CROWD SHOT)
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,380,000
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9
Robert Nava
The Tunnel
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $162,500
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10
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Victor 25448
Estimate $8,000,000 - 12,000,000
Sold for $9,250,000
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11
George Condo
Stump Head
Estimate $900,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,050,000
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12
Banksy
Monkey Poison
Estimate $1,800,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $2,000,000
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13
Maxfield Parrish
Humpty Dumpty
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $740,000
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14
Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe
Shade of Black
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $250,000
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15
Charles White
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $800,000
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16
Ali Banisadr
Motherboard
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $572,000
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17
Gerhard Richter
Abstraktes Bild (801-3)
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $3,680,000
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18
Albert Oehlen
Im Museum II
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $560,000
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19
Thomas Struth
Notre Dame, Paris
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $400,000
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20
David Hammons
Hidden Drawing (Jordan begins 8th season as No. 1)
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $181,250
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21
Julio González
L'arlequin / Pierrot ou Colombine
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $920,000
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22
Amoako Boafo
Joy in Purple
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $668,000
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23
Fernando Botero
Woman
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,004,000
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24
Donald Judd
Untitled
Estimate $550,000 - 750,000
Sold for $680,000
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25
Sturtevant
Stella Gran Cairo
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $620,000
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