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"Painting is a visual language where everything in the painting is meaningful, is important. It's coded."
—Titus KapharPainted in 2013, Fade With Time is a spectacular embodiment of Titus Kaphar’s acclaimed oeuvre that re-examines the history of Black representation in the historical narrative. Showcasing the artist’s signature whitewash technique featured in his 2017 Ted Talk (see below), the present work looks to a 19th century photograph of John Wallace Comer—a Confederate lieutenant of the 57th Alabama Infantry and brother of future Alabama governor B. B. Comer—and his body servant Burrell. Inverting the protagonist through his leitmotif of presence and absence, Kaphar renders Comer a ghostly figure through slashing strokes over his countenance, whilst bestowing Burrell with a dignified posture and expression exuding gravitas. Teetering between invisibility and visibility, erasure and exposure, Fade With Time manifests Kaphar’s remarkable painterly virtuosity in reimagining hidden truths to amend overshadowed histories.
John Wallace Comer, C.S.A. (Confederate States of America), with his servant, Burrell, 1860-1869. Alabama Department of Archives and History, MontgomeryDuring the Civil War, Black Confederate soldiers were often slaves brought into battle by members of slaveholding families enlisted in the Confederate Army. One of 61 slaves working on the Comer family plantation and just 16 years old, Burrell saved Comer’s life when he became injured during the Battle of Atlanta in 1864, carrying the wounded officer five miles to safety. Though Comer commended Burrell’s bravery, he maintained throughout the war that Burrell was not a true soldier due to the color of his skin. The photograph reflects not a comrade in arms but a master-servant relationship seen throughout the canonical tradition of portraiture. Whilst Comer confidently sits in uniform gripping his sword, Burrell is awkwardly posed with his hat in hand, wearing attire denoting his sub-status within the infantry regiment.
William Hogarth, Captain Lord George Graham, (1715-47), in his Cabin, 1742-1744. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Great Britain, Image: Album / Art Resource, NY"If we are not honest about our past, then we cannot have a clear direction towards our future."
—Titus KapharThroughout his celebrated practice, Kaphar employs deconstructive gestures such as shredding, cutting, and tarring to reconstruct new narratives through visual and conceptual force. Imbuing meaning into materiality, the artist mixes white pigment with linseed oil for his whitewash compositions. "The important thing to understand about whitewashing and painting and—in the way that I do it—is it's kind of temporary,” Kaphar elucidated. “The materials that I put inside of the paint, it becomes more translucent over time. As I'm whitewashing these figures, they're not permanently removed. I'm trying to shift the viewer's gaze for a moment.”i
In Fade With Time, Kaphar at once upends traditional modes of Black representation in historical portraiture and alludes to the dialectical forces that shaped America’s legacy. The whitewash not only shifts our gaze to the redeemed Black figure, but also to the highly rendered sword presented in striking contrast to the effaced subject—a poignant reminder of history’s lingering impact. Depicting the finely rendered Black protagonist partially faded with his meekly delineated White counterpart, the composition could be read as Burrell’s erasure through Comer’s spectral presence, or Burrell’s duly respected presence through Comer’s erasure—presenting a striking palimpsest of a past that cannot be erased, but can be amended.
Cut from the Archives
Property from an Important European Collection, with a Portion of the Proceeds to Benefit an Artist’s Residency Program
The present work arrives at auction in support of a unique philanthropic program that is dedicated to advancing the development of rising and mid-career artists through expanding networks and opportunities to promote cultural and artistic exchange.
i Titus Kaphar, quoted in Maria Garcia and Zoë Mitchell, “Contemporary Artist Titus Kaphar On How Art Can Address Justice,” WBUR NPR Radio Boston, August 20, 2018, transcript.
Description
The seller intends to donate the sale proceeds to a charity as designated in the heading. The buyer of this Lot should consult their individual attorneys to determine what, if any, tax benefit may be available to the buyer.
Provenance
Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present ownerArtist Biography
Titus Kaphar
Titus Kaphar’s work questions the nature of history and its representations in the past and today. By altering the materiality of his paintings, sculptures, and installations, Kaphar subverts conventional understandings of historical representations and exposes the uncomfortable and troubling realities of the racism in America’s past. Kaphar’s examinations of historical representations and the omissions of such representations encourage viewers to question their own relationships to history and understandings of the past. He strives to dislodge history from the past and to promote its relevance in the world today.
Kaphar’s work has received considerable acclaim, and his paintings have graced two covers of Time magazine. He is the recipient of a 2018 MacArthur Fellowship and his work is represented in such institutions as the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, and the Perez Art Museum Miami. He lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut.
Property from an Important European Collection, with a Portion of the Proceeds to Benefit an Artist’s Residency Program
5
Fade With Time
signed and dated "Kaphar 13" on the reverse
oil on canvas
87 5/8 x 61 1/8 in. (222.6 x 155.3 cm)
Painted in 2013.
Estimate
$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $816,500
Amanda Lo Iacono
New York Head of Department & Head of Auctions
+1 212 940 1278
aloiacono@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
New York Auction 17 November 2021
1
Shara Hughes
Inside Outside
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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2
Jadé Fadojutimi
My Umbrella Has A Nourishing Disguise
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $877,000
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3
Ewa Juszkiewicz
Girl in Blue
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $730,800
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4
Kwesi Botchway
Green Sofa
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $214,200
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5
Titus Kaphar
Fade With Time
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $816,500
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6
David Hammons
Puzzling Times
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $877,000
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7
Raymond Pettibon
No Title (Let him come...)
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $3,418,000
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8
Joan Mitchell
Untitled
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $11,870,000
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9
Georgia O'Keeffe
Crab’s Claw Ginger Hawaii
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $7,748,000
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10
Alexander Calder
White Moon
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,628,000
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11
Cecily Brown
Untitled
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $6,140,500
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12
Willem de Kooning
Composition
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
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13
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate $1,800,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $2,692,000
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14
This lot is no longer available.
15
Amy Sherald
Welfare Queen
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $3,902,000
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16
Francis Bacon
'Pope with Owls'
Estimate $35,000,000 - 45,000,000
Sold for $33,000,000
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17
Luc Tuymans
Wallpaper
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,250,000
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18
Pierre Bonnard
Panier de fruit
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $4,991,000
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19
Honor Titus
Linden Blvd Jazz Radio
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $163,800
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20
Matthew Wong
Time After Time
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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21
Avery Singer
European Ego Ideal
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $4,023,000
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22
Mark Tansey
Garden
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $2,934,000
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23
KAWS
THE WAY HE KNOWS
Estimate $850,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $1,542,500
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24
Wassily Kandinsky
Fliessend
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
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25
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (from Famous Negro Athlete Series)
Estimate $750,000 - 1,100,000
Sold for $2,450,000
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26
Peter Saul
Ice Box #3
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
Sold for $441,000
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27
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (The Door)
Estimate $6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Sold for $8,549,500
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28
Emily Mae Smith
Feast and Famine
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $1,361,000
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29
Gerhard Richter
Weiß (White)
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $5,717,000
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30
Robert Ryman
Series #25 (White)
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,421,500
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31
Frank Stella
Double Concentric Square
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $1,845,000
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32
Carmen Herrera
Amarillo y Negro
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $630,000
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33
Andy Warhol
The Last Supper/Be a Somebody with a Body
Estimate $6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Sold for $6,806,000
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34
Christopher Wool
Blue Fool
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,179,500
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35
This lot is no longer available.
36
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
Six PM, Malaga
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $567,000
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37
Mickalene Thomas
Portrait of Qusuquzah #5
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $504,000
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38
Mike Kelley
Memory Ware Flat #3
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,179,500
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39
George Condo
Collision Course
Estimate $1,800,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $2,450,000
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40
Bruce Nauman
Untitled (from Fifteen Pairs of Hands)
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $983,000
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41
David Hammons
Untitled
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $3,660,000
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42
Nicolas Party
Houses
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $1,724,000
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43
Hurvin Anderson
Country Club—Mixed Doubles
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $604,800
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44
Max Ernst
Ohne Titel (les hommes ne le sauront jamais)
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $504,000
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45
Max Ernst
Kachina, le chien de Peggy Guggenheim
Estimate $280,000 - 350,000
Sold for $277,200
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46
Cy Twombly
Untitled
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $786,250
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47
Reggie Burrows Hodges
On the Verge: Green
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $567,000
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48
Max Ernst
Portrait de Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $176,400
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