cool british is back at Bonhams New Bond Street in London, paying homage to the freshness of the iconic British spirit. On March 29, the third edition of the annual themed sale will feature 252 works of art, prints, fashion, photography and pop culture memorabilia, including works by some of Britain’s greatest cultural icons, Banksy to Tracey Emin via the Beatles, will be offered.
Bonhams co-head of sales Janet Hardie described the event as “a wonderful showcase of British creativity across different decades and art forms”. Another co-manager of the sale, Carolin von Massenbach, said the sale “undeniably offers a good argument for Britain’s image as a cool cultural player”.
The heart of the sale is the work of one of the UK’s most famous exports: no less than 11 works by Banksy are up for grabs, including an example of the famous ‘Girl with Balloon’ stencil mural series painted around London from 2002.
Another work proposed by Banksy is Nola (White), originally appeared on walls in New Orleans in 2005 to commemorate the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Banksy reversed the protective purpose of the umbrella, turning it into the cause of the flood of girls, in a comment on the failure of government institutions to adequately protect citizens. Nola (White) is estimated at £70,000 to £100,000 ($84,500 to $120,700).
One of the most notable pieces is a print by Mick Jagger from Andy Warhol’s “Mick Jagger Portfolio”, signed by the artist and numbered 227/250 – it is also signed in marker by Jagger himself. Warhol first met the rock star in 1964 while the Rolling Stones were touring the United States, but it wasn’t until 1975 that they came together to create a series of ten serigraphs. Jagger, staying with his wife Bianca at Warhol’s Montauk home, sat down for the Polaroids that would become the ‘Mick Jagger Portfolio’. The screen print is expected to fetch between £60,000 and £80,000 ($72,400 to $96,500).
The sale includes a limited edition Tracey Emin International woman suitcase in collaboration with the French baggage handler Longchamp. Emin used a range of her Le Pliage bags to explore the idea of an ‘international woman’ traveling in search of ‘international love’ with an ‘international man’.
Each of the 200 suitcases made by Emin bears a signed rosette with a hand-drawn Longchamp logo and a city, street name or hotel that reminded him of a moment of love. The bag is expected to fetch between £2,000 and £3,000 ($2,414 to $3,620).
The end Lady Vivienne Westwood was one of the few pioneers at the intersection of fashion, art and popular culture. The sale features several of her creations, including a pink spandex Boulle dress from the Dressing Up fall/winter 1991-1992 collection. The look was modeled by Linda Evangelista on the runway and has an estimate of £800-£1,200 ($965-$1,448).
British Cool also offers a selection of works by Ian Emes, inspired and created for pink floydthe world tour of their flagship album The Dark Side of the Moon (1974). Emes was initially not interested in animation until he saw the Beatles film yellow submarine, which inspired him to explore the possibilities of the medium. He then created the animated film French windows for Pink Floyd. This project was technically ambitious. He produced 5,640 drawings, each traced onto celluloid sheets and painted.
The original animated cels offered in the sale include Time – The countdowna multi-cel set up for the album The Dark Side of the Moon. This work, which is expected to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000 ($24,126 to $36,205) —was selected by the band to serve as the poster for their remastered 50th anniversary release of the album.
Other artists in the sale include David Hockney, Julien Opieand Damien Hirst, as well as photographers Brian Duffy, Terry O’NeillTim Walker and Mario Testino.
Bonham’s cool british The auction will take place at 101 New Bond Street in London on March 29.
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