Henry Darger
General Thomas Phelan Tamerlene, General Black Brooks, And General Estrabrook Starring
Found at
Sothebys,
New York
Contemporary Art Day Auction, Lot 166
15. Nov - 15. Nov 2019
Contemporary Art Day Auction, Lot 166
15. Nov - 15. Nov 2019
Estimate: XX.XXX
Price realised: XX.XXX
Price realised: XX.XXX
Description
Henry Darger
1892 - 1973
GENERAL THOMAS PHELAN TAMERLENE, GENERAL BLACK BROOKS, AND GENERAL ESTRABROOK STARRING
John MacGregor states that “for a considerable period, Darger seems to have taken on the task of painting small portraits of all the leading generals who fought in the Glandco-Angelinian wars -both the good and evil participants. Usually several of these small images are placed on a single piece of cardboard, like pages in a family album, with the name of the general printed below. Frequently they appear on both sides of the heavy cardboard, wh
The consistent size and format of these portraits, as well as the extreme age of the cardboard they are mounted on, suggest that this body of work was produced more or less at one time. Over seventy individual portraits survive. In a sense the painted portraits of generals represent the commencement of Darger's own work, as well as the beginning of his involvement with an extremely important technique. In creating these portraits, he abandoned
Almost invariably, one can detect a more “sophisticated" prototype behind the drawing, and traces of distinct personalities. But the uniqueness of these naive portraits lies in Henry's wonderfully awkward and simplified copies. It was through the supposedly mechanical act of tracing that an insignificant photograph could be transformed into an original Darger drawing and fitted perfectly into the naive narrative style of The Realms. The drawing
watercolor, carbon tracing and graphite on paperboard
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
1892 - 1973
GENERAL THOMAS PHELAN TAMERLENE, GENERAL BLACK BROOKS, AND GENERAL ESTRABROOK STARRING
John MacGregor states that “for a considerable period, Darger seems to have taken on the task of painting small portraits of all the leading generals who fought in the Glandco-Angelinian wars -both the good and evil participants. Usually several of these small images are placed on a single piece of cardboard, like pages in a family album, with the name of the general printed below. Frequently they appear on both sides of the heavy cardboard, wh
The consistent size and format of these portraits, as well as the extreme age of the cardboard they are mounted on, suggest that this body of work was produced more or less at one time. Over seventy individual portraits survive. In a sense the painted portraits of generals represent the commencement of Darger's own work, as well as the beginning of his involvement with an extremely important technique. In creating these portraits, he abandoned
Almost invariably, one can detect a more “sophisticated" prototype behind the drawing, and traces of distinct personalities. But the uniqueness of these naive portraits lies in Henry's wonderfully awkward and simplified copies. It was through the supposedly mechanical act of tracing that an insignificant photograph could be transformed into an original Darger drawing and fitted perfectly into the naive narrative style of The Realms. The drawing
watercolor, carbon tracing and graphite on paperboard
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
Auction result misses estimated price range
In November 2019 a collector was able to acquire the work General Thomas Phelan Tamerlene, General Black Brooks, And General Estrabrook Starring by Henry Darger for USD 27,500.00 (€ 24,956.89). This price was achieved in the auction Contemporary Art Day Auction at Sothebys in New York and was even below the estimate range of USD 30,000.00 – 50,000.00 set by the auction house. Of course, this price has nothing to do with the top prices that other works by Henry Darger achieve. The highest price we have observed so far was reached by the work Sans Titre in December 2014 with an auction result of EUR 601,500.00.
Auktionsergebnis verfehlt die Schätzpreisspanne
Im November 2019 konnte ein Sammler die Arbeit General Thomas Phelan Tamerlene, General Black Brooks, And General Estrabrook Starring von Henry Darger für USD 27.500,00 (€ 24.956,89) erwerben. Dieser Preis wurde in der Auktion Contemporary Art Day Auction bei Sothebys in New York erzielt und lag noch unterhalb der von dem Auktionshaus angesetzten Schätzpreisspanne von USD 30.000,00 – 50.000,00. Dieser Preis hat freilich nichts mit den Spitzenpreisen zu tun, die andere Arbeiten von Henry Darger erzielen. Den höchsten von uns bisher beobachteten Preis erreichte die Arbeit Sans Titre im Dezember 2014 mit einem Auktionsergebnis von EUR 601.500,00.
Henry Darger - Auction history
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