Tuesday, June 13, 2023 | 12:00pm PDT

LOS ANGELES, June 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As we approach the second half of 2023, John Moran Auctioneers will present their bi-annual Modern & Contemporary Fine Art sale, Tuesday, June 13^th at 12:00pm PDT. This auction features works by many important arts of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, including paintings, prints and multiples, photography, and sculpture by Alice Baber, Jacques Lipschitz, Karl Benjamin, Joan Miró, Damien Hirst, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Herb Ritts, among others. This sale will also feature a capsule collection of works from the estate of the esteemed New York gallerist, Howard Wise, including important works by Charmion von Wiegand, Takis, Nam June Paik, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Peter Hujar.

Howard Wise (1903-1989) was an important American art patron and gallerist who left an indelible mark on the American art scene. After beginning his career as an industrialist, Wise sold off his family business to pursue his interests in the arts. He opened his first gallery in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio in 1957, where he exhibited works by prominent contemporary European artists that proved to be unpopular with his Midwestern audience. In 1960, Wise made the decision to relocate his business to New York City and opened his gallery on 57th Street to great acclaim. Over the next several decades, the Howard Wise Gallery became a hub for the international avant-garde art scene. 

Growing international acclaim and recognition as a major female figure of the Abstract Expressionist movement is Alice Baber (1928-1982). Back in August of 2022, Moran's had achieved a new world auction record for the artist, $187,500 (including buyer's premium) for her work, "Swirl Of Sounds – The Ghost In The Banyan Tree," 1976. Then, in their February 2023 Art + Design auction, interest in Baber grew exponentially and her "Axe In The Grove," 1966, hammered in a whopping $275,000 (including buyer's premium)—earning the artist an even better world auction record! Now, on the heels of this momentum, collectors have another chance to be a part of Baber's red-hot market, this time with her paintings, "The Sound of the Summer Hermit" and "The Key of Sound and Light," 1976, with an estimate of $50,000-70,000, and "Light Ladder," 1966, estimated $20,000-30,000.

—Brenda Smith, John Moran Auctioneers
brenda@johnmoran.com

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SOURCE John Moran Auctioneers