00:00So, to us, this is a real galvanizing moment for the art market.
00:25It's something that really hasn't been seen before.
00:28Universal art has not historically been the fulcrum of what auctions have seen, but I
00:32think this is something with such universal appeal, with such universal recognizability,
00:37that we really expect it to make a splash.
00:50When it debuted in 2019 at Art Basel in Miami, there were raucous crowds.
00:56It had to be removed from view for the safety of the other artworks.
01:00There was some, a performance artist ate the work.
01:03There are very, very few artworks of this century that provoke the degree of media furore
01:09which this banana taped to a wall did.
01:25What you're buying ultimately is a certificate of authenticity which comprises installation
01:30instructions which are remarkably specific as to the height from the floor that it needs
01:35to be hung, the angle of the duct tape, etc.
01:38The estimate for the work is one to one and a half million dollars.
02:08We also have the pleasure and the honor of offering the collection of Sydell Miller,
02:25one of the great collectors of the 20th century, if not the greatest female collector, certainly
02:30in the last 40, 50 years.
02:33That collection is anchored by incredible Monet Namphaea paintings, which is monumental
02:38in scale, a very rare 1925 Picasso...
03:03The fascination with Gillot as a person, as a sitter, coupled with the incredible strength
03:24of the market for Picasso and the desire for great portraits, particularly that are fresh,
03:30gives this a very unique opportunity to reset the market to an extent for portraits of Gillot
03:36specifically.
03:53This work, which is called La Grande Dame, or The Catwoman, as I mentioned is probably
03:58her most important, certainly most ambitious sculpture from the scale to the overall execution.
04:04What I love about it is that it incorporates all of Carrington's most important influences
04:10from Egyptian art, and there's very literal references to Egyptian mythology in here,
04:17to a Celtic mythology, you see for example the fox that's the leading soul to the underworld,
04:25to Mayan imagery and the influences of Mexico, where she was when she created this work in
04:30the very early 1950s.
04:55This is estimated at five to seven million dollars, which a year ago this time would
05:04have been the highest estimate ever placed on any work by Leonora Carrington by an order
05:10of five times magnitude.
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