The May 13th Post War & Contemporary Art auction at Freeman’s | Hindman is a thoughtful and creatively curated presentation of 114 lots of paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Spanning decades of Art History from the 1930s to the 2020s and ranging from well-established blue-chip makers to more emerging rising stars, the sale offers many opportunities to chase market darlings and discover the next big thing.

Among the top billing in the auction are one of Fritz Scholder's most iconic images Four Indian Riders (1967) that graced the cover of his landmark 2008 retrospective Indian/Not Indian; a jazz-witchy quintet of simple and strange paintings by of the moment Chicago Surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie, four of which belonged to artist friend Karl Priebe including an early and rare 1935 watercolor self-portrait with her expressively expression echoing cat; and an expansive 1977 Frank Stella mixed media wall relief from his Exotic Bird series. Other especially noteworthy lots in the sale are an important and richly saturated Magdalena Abakanowicz woven tapestry, a hypnotically vibratory Roy Lichtenstein Electric Seascape, an impactful geometric abstract by Mary Heilmann, and four dreamily stylized landscapes by Lois Dodd from the Estate of Metropolitan Museum of Art Trustee Emerita and Benefactor Eliot C. Nolen.

The auction also excitingly includes works from significant collections with added associative value. We are pleased to highlight works by Esteban Vicente, Alex Kontopoulos, and Ervand Kotchar that all once belonged to visionary collector Lydia Winston Malbin, who famously put on Detroit's first exhibition of abstraction in the early 40s. These are complemented by another Vicente and a Michael Goldberg painting that were part of Chicago gallerist and connoisseur Bud Holland's personal collection. Also featured is an efficiently minimal 1965 Dan Flavin black paper study gifted to his friend and photographer, Gretchen Lambert, who documented the work of Flavin as well as other artists in his circle. Property from the distinguished Estate of Mimi Kazon of New York includes elegantly precise hard edged mid 60s examples from Robert Smithson and Richard Anuszkiewicz, an intimately scaled and themed 1961 Tom Wesselmann Little Great American Nude painting and a Willem de Kooning work on paper fascinating acquired from The Wheel of Art at the fabled East Hampton Fishermen's Fair.

We are also thrilled to be collaborating with Los Angeles-based art advisor Emily Friedman on a guest-curated session of vibrant and compelling artworks aptly and poetically titled ‘A Vision in Color’. Encompassing lots 31 to 81, this cohesive grouping is anchored by a powerful selection of abstracts by once overlooked but nonetheless vital female artists including but not limited to Alice Baber, Emily Mason, Michael Corinne West, Ethel Schwabacher, and Sonia Getchoff. A more in depth look at this dynamic session can be found in the following feature of Head of Sale Zack Wirsum In Conversation with Emily Friedman.

Condition Report requests should be sent to fineart@hindmanauctions.com

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