Modern Art & Design Auction

Los Angeles Modern Auctions
Preview April 25 – May 5, Auction May 6, 2012 12 p.m.

above:Edward Wormley Pair of Cane-Back chairs
(photography by David John)

This Sunday May 6, 2012 at 12 p.m. LAMA's Modern Art & Design Auction will be held at their Van Nuys Warehouse. This afternoon, I previewed the lots including works from Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Tom Wesselmann, Robert Rauschenberg, R.M. Schindler, Ed Ruscha, Greta Grossman, Karel Appel, Louise Nevelson, Charles Eames, Claes Oldenburg, and Richard Neutra to name a few.

The design auction market continues to gain momentum. "Last year our sales reached $8.5 million, nearly doubling our previous record of $4.5 million set in 2008,” stated Peter Loughrey. Further, LAMA recently named Dan Tolson as the new Director of 20th Century Decorative Art & Design.

As an interior designer, I look to LAMA for knowledge & expertise, and their selection of international design + art. I've included a selection of photographs of works that caught my attention on today's preview. LAMA's catalog is online here, and the preview is ongoing, till their May 6th Auction.

See you there! - David John


Read Peter Loughrey's interview with YHBHS here, from 2010:
"Peter Loughrey was raised in rural Maryland by antique-collecting parents. He has early memories of visiting antique shops and decorative arts museums; both were slow and deliberative compared to the fast pace of auctions."

Greta Magnusson Grossman Desk with rare top storage unit
Glenn of California designed 1952 Model no.6200 and 6200A, Est: $10,000 - $15,000

Charlotte Perriand
Pair of Perriand stools plus one of a simlilar style,
Galerie Sentou designed 1970 Mahogany

Le Corbusier!!!! Bogota Aubusson
1950 Handwoven wool From the edition of 6
Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000 (in background)

John Follis & Rex Goode
"Sombrero" Architectural Pottery designed 1949

Serge Mouille Lampadaire Simple floor lamp
Studio designed 1953; early production , Estimate: $15,000 - $20,000

Carson Thomson Prototype articulated table
Studio designed c. 1965 Mahogany and enameled steel






Edward Durell
Stone Stool Fulbright Furniture designed 1945 Oak

Stan Bitters Group of four bird feeders Hans Sumpf designed c. 1960
Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500

"Founded in 1992 by Peter Loughrey, Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) is the first auction house to specialize in selling 20th century Modern Art & Design. LAMA holds four auctions a year, plus occasional exhibits that are open to the public. From the casual buyer to the most dedicated collector, LAMA auctions offer quality, vetted modern material in every price range, including paintings, prints, furniture, and decorative objects. With 25 years experience in the modern art and design field, LAMA has carved a niche into the international market through milestone auctions featuring artists and designers such as Charles and Ray Eames, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Paul Laszlo, Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, and R.M. Schindler. LAMA has also conducted auctions for prominent California estates, including those of James Prestini, James Byrnes, and Max Palevsky. From a single work of art to an entire estate, LAMA is quickly becoming the choice auction house on the West Coast to buy and sell Modern Art & Design."




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LAMA : Los Angeles Modern Auctions

"The December 11, 2011 Important Modern Art & Design Auction features over 500 lots of exceptional material from a prominent West Coast collection and includes rare examples of modern art and design by iconic 20^th century artists."




California design is not a superimposed style, but an answer to present conditions… It has developed out of our own preferences for living in a modern way."
- 1951 Greta Grossman


Greta Grossman : Step table
Lot 341: est. $2,000 - $3,000 designed c. 1952
"Walnut frame and lower shelf with Thermoset Plastic upper shelves and black iron legs with round walnut tips."

go see the Auction Preview:
December 1 – 10, 2011 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.





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LAMA Auction this weekend....
The Collection of Richard Dorso: October 9, 2011

YHBHS installation at LAMA

Last few days of "Permanent Light" at LAMA. View lots online here...

"Interior designer David John admits that he felt a little overwhelmed when Los Angeles Modern Auctions director Peter Loughrey asked him to style a vignette using some of the 400-plus pieces in the Richard Dorso collection, which includes works by the likes of Sam Maloof, John McCracken and John Baldessari, to be auctioned Oct. 9." (LA Times article)

"The one-owner auction with no reserves of The Collection of Richard Dorso will feature a lifelong collection of over 400 works of art spanning much of the 20th century. Highlights include works by John Baldessari, Robert Cottingham, Paul Wonner, John McCracken, Richard Tuttle, and Gustav Klimt.

As a participating gallery of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945 – 1980, LAMA presents Collecting in Los Angeles 1945 – 1980, a three-week exhibit that explores the collecting practices of Richard Dorso and the role of the collector in the evolution of the L.A. art scene. The three-week exhibit concludes with the auction of the entire collection on October 9, 2011."

image by Bethany Nauert

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Jerry McMillan's torn bags
" It is portal to a world of discovery, as his collection has been to me."







Over the past month, I've been immersed in Richard Dorso's collection that will be up for auction on October 9 at LAMA. Dorso's vast collection spans many decades, countries, and mediums. Like all great collectors, he collected what simply captured his heart and imagination. His collection speaks of not only the art, but of the people he interacted with, friends, art dealers, and artists. Last week while working with his collection for the upcoming YHBHS installation, I came across a sculpture, protected in a plexiglass glass box: inside, a torn paper bag revealing a "door." A portal to a new world of discovery, as his collection has been to me. This work is Untitled (torn bag) from 1971, by Jerry McMillan.

Jerry McMillan is also part of Cherry Martin's restaging of curator Peter Bunnellʼs landmark 1970 exhibition, Photography into Sculpture. "Described in the original wall text as “the first comprehensive survey of photographically formed images used in a sculptural or fully dimensional manner,” Photography into Sculpture brought together a cross-section of artists from across the United States and Canada. The show encapsulated the radical gestures of late 1960's photographic practice, both inside and outside the photo world. " Cherry Martin's programming is some of the best in this city, and this show is another example of their approach to contemporary + historical programming that is so needed, and so rare to find in a private gallery.

It's a rocking time to be in L.A. Make time for Pacific Standard Time events, or you'll be sorry.... - David John



images above:

Left: Lot 84 Jerry McMillian Untitled (Torn Bag) 1971 Mixed Media #52 of 100 11" x 6" x 5"; Box 13" x 8.5" x 7" Estimate $200 - 300 To be offered in the October 9, 2011 Auction of The Estate of Richard Dorso at LAMA

Right: Jerry McMillan Torn Bag 1968 Photo-offset craft paper bag construction with shelf and Plexiglas cover, Cherry Martin Gallery






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