William Wegman Waterfront Bridge and Pier
William Wegman
b. 1943
Waterfront Bridge and Pier
Executed in 2001.
signed, titled, and dated
found postcards and watercolor on paper
22 by 29 ½ in. (56 by 75 cm.)
Framed: 25 ¼ by 32 ½ by 1 ¼ in. (64 by 82.6 by 3.2 cm.)
Please note that while this auction is hosted on Sothebys.com, it is being administered by the Aspen Art Museum, and all post-sale matters (inclusive of invoicing and property pickup/shipment) will be handled by the Aspen Art Museum. As such, Sotheby’s will share the contact details for the winning bidders with the Aspen Art Museum so that they may be in touch directly post-sale.
Condition Report:
Please contact bid@aspenartmuseum.org for condition report.
Catalogue Note:
"I have a lot of postcards. Suitcases filled with them. Friends give them to me, artists, my sister, people who inherit them, people who collect them for years and then don’t know what to do with them. Some are pretty and others are not. There are divided cards, pictures within pictures, cards with words, cards that are terribly designed and others notable for their lack of design. There is variety!
Since the early 90s, postcards have found their way into my paintings. The cards that I use determine the direction of the painting, suggesting style and scale and the problem of how, for instance, a Madonna Inn postcard from the 70s could possibly connect to a postcard of General Grant’s bedroom becomes an interesting problem for me. The postcards lead me in directions I could not have imagined."
William Wegman is an American artist best known for his portraits of his Weimaraner dogs. “My Weimaraners are perfect fashion models,” he said of his subjects. “Their elegant, slinky forms are covered in gray—and gray, everyone knows, goes with anything.”
Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1943, William Wegman received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston and an MFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His work has been exhibited extensively in both the United States and abroad, including solo exhibitions at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1982); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1988); Whitney Museum of American Art (1992); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2001); and The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2002). The retrospective “William Wegman: Funney/Strange” was held at the Brooklyn Museum, and traveled to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach; the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover; and Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (2006-07). The Bowdoin College Museum of Art presented “William
Wegman: Hello Nature,” a major survey of over 100 nature-related works by the artist in various media (2012), which traveled to Artipelag, Värmdö, Stockholm, Sweden (2013). “William Wegman: Improved Photographs,” a survey exhibition, was held at the Jepson Center, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA (2017). In 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Art organized “Before/On/After: William Wegman and California Conceptualism,” an exhibition of the early 70s work of Wegman and his fellow Los Angeles artists. The Shelburne Museum organized “William Wegman: Outside In,” a comprehensive survey in 2019. “William Wegman: Being Human,” an international touring exhibition of his large-format Polaroids, traveled to venues including Palais de L’Archevêché, Arles; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand; MASI, Lugano; Photomuseum den Haag, The Hague; and Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea (2018-21). Wegman’s work is in many important public collections including Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Since his first exhibition at Sperone Westwater in 1990, Wegman has exhibited regularly at the gallery (1992, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2022).
Provenance:
Kindly donated by Sperone Westwater
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William Wegman
b. 1943
Waterfront Bridge and Pier
Executed in 2001.
signed, titled, and dated
found postcards and watercolor on paper
22 by 29 ½ in. (56 by 75 cm.)
Framed: 25 ¼ by 32 ½ by 1 ¼ in. (64 by 82.6 by 3.2 cm.)
Please note that while this auction is hosted on Sothebys.com, it is being administered by the Aspen Art Museum, and all post-sale matters (inclusive of invoicing and property pickup/shipment) will be handled by the Aspen Art Museum. As such, Sotheby’s will share the contact details for the winning bidders with the Aspen Art Museum so that they may be in touch directly post-sale.
Condition Report:
Please contact bid@aspenartmuseum.org for condition report.
Catalogue Note:
"I have a lot of postcards. Suitcases filled with them. Friends give them to me, artists, my sister, people who inherit them, people who collect them for years and then don’t know what to do with them. Some are pretty and others are not. There are divided cards, pictures within pictures, cards with words, cards that are terribly designed and others notable for their lack of design. There is variety!
Since the early 90s, postcards have found their way into my paintings. The cards that I use determine the direction of the painting, suggesting style and scale and the problem of how, for instance, a Madonna Inn postcard from the 70s could possibly connect to a postcard of General Grant’s bedroom becomes an interesting problem for me. The postcards lead me in directions I could not have imagined."
William Wegman is an American artist best known for his portraits of his Weimaraner dogs. “My Weimaraners are perfect fashion models,” he said of his subjects. “Their elegant, slinky forms are covered in gray—and gray, everyone knows, goes with anything.”
Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1943, William Wegman received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston and an MFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His work has been exhibited extensively in both the United States and abroad, including solo exhibitions at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1982); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1988); Whitney Museum of American Art (1992); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2001); and The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2002). The retrospective “William Wegman: Funney/Strange” was held at the Brooklyn Museum, and traveled to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach; the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover; and Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (2006-07). The Bowdoin College Museum of Art presented “William
Wegman: Hello Nature,” a major survey of over 100 nature-related works by the artist in various media (2012), which traveled to Artipelag, Värmdö, Stockholm, Sweden (2013). “William Wegman: Improved Photographs,” a survey exhibition, was held at the Jepson Center, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA (2017). In 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Art organized “Before/On/After: William Wegman and California Conceptualism,” an exhibition of the early 70s work of Wegman and his fellow Los Angeles artists. The Shelburne Museum organized “William Wegman: Outside In,” a comprehensive survey in 2019. “William Wegman: Being Human,” an international touring exhibition of his large-format Polaroids, traveled to venues including Palais de L’Archevêché, Arles; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand; MASI, Lugano; Photomuseum den Haag, The Hague; and Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea (2018-21). Wegman’s work is in many important public collections including Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Since his first exhibition at Sperone Westwater in 1990, Wegman has exhibited regularly at the gallery (1992, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2022).
Provenance:
Kindly donated by Sperone Westwater
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