Material Culture held a weekend of auctions dedicated solely to the superb self-taught art collection of Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme. In an exclusive arrangement with the auction house, Demme brought a multitude of sculpture and painting to the sales, totaling over 1,000 lots.
“Direct from the Eye: The Jonathan Demme Collection of Self-Taught Art” was a compendium of Demme’s travels and tastes that transcends borders, encompassing Haitian and American self-taught artists from the 1940s to the present, contemporary intuitive painters from Jamaica, as well as art from Africa, South America and Europe.
The auctions were held on Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30, commencing at 11 AM EST on both days. Highlights of the auction are shown below:
Lot 857 – $43,750
Hector Hyppolite (Haitian/St. Marc, 1894-1948)
Birds and Flowers, c. 1946-47
Oil on canvas, 19.75” x 23.5”
Provenance: Dewitt Peters, Centre d’Art, Port-au-Prince Sotheby Parke Bernet, NY, 1982 Coll. Musée d’Art Nader, Port-au-Prince Exhibited/Illustrated Allegories of Haitian Life – Bass Museum, page 21= Exhibited Still Lifes to the Surreal: Selections in Haitian Art from 1945 to 1995 – Kresge Gallery, Ramapo College Illustrated Haiti et ses Peintres, page 293
Lot 279 – $32,500
Philomé Obin (Haitian/Cap-Haïtien, 1892-1986) Debacle des Cacos le 1/6/1915 (A Disaster for the Caco Guerillas on 19 June, 1915), c. 1947
Oil on cardboard, 20” x 24”
Provenance: Gloria Frank d’Haiti Exhibited/Illustrated A Haitian Celebration – Milwaukee Art Museum, pg 30 Island on Fire, plate 12, pg 38 Allegories of Haitian Life – Bass Museum, pg 50
Exhibited Still Lifes to the Surreal: Selections in Haitian Art from 1945 to 1995 – Kresge Gallery, Ramapo College
Lot 882 – $25,000
Hector Hyppolite (Haitian/St. Marc, 1894-1948)
Still Life with Bird, c. 1945-1947
Oil on artist paper laid down on board, 30.5” x 24.75”
Provenance: Larry Kent Centre d’Art, Port-au-Prince
Lot 860 – $13,750
Peterson Laurent (Haitian/St. Marc, 1888-1958)
L’Eglise Paroissiale de St. Marc, Haiti
Oil on cardboard, 25.25” x 37.5”
Provenance: Arte del Pueblo, NY DeWitt Peters, Haiti Centre d’Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti Conserved by Leon Sevilla, 2008
Lot 452 – $12,500
Wesner LaForest (Haitian, 1927-1965)
Couple with Landscape, c. early 1960’s
Oil on found wood panel, 22” x 9
Lot 839 – $12,500
Georges Liautaud
(Haitian/Croix-des-Boquets, 1899-1992)
Three Figures on Cross, c. 1960’s
Steel sculpture, 23.75” x 17.75” x 3.75”
Lot 224 – $11,875
Préfete Duffaut (Haitian/Jacmel, 1923-201)
Ships in Shipyard, c. 1946
Mixed media on paper, 4.5” x 17.5”
Earliest known drawing by Duffaut
Provenance: Musée Galerie Nader, M. et Mme Georges S. Nader
Lot 866 – $10,000
Jasmin Joseph (Haitian, 20th c.)
Taino Ceremony for the Dead, dated 11/12/74
Oil on masonite, 17” x 48”
Provenance: Selden Rodman, 1987 Exhibited/Illustrated Island On Fire, plate, 99, page 129 Allegories of Haitian Life – Bass Museum, page 44
Lot 429 – $9,375
Mallica “Kapo” Reynolds (1911-1989)
Dun Beholding, dated 1971
Oil on masonite, 24” x 30”
Lot 319 – $6,560
Edger Jean-Baptiste (Haitian/Bainet, b. 1917-1992)
Releve Un Mort Rebel, dated 1972
Oil on masonite, 17.75” x 22.75”
Lot 500 – $4,060
Jacques-Enguérrand Gourgue (Haitian/Port-au-Prince, 1930-1996)
Before the Tempest, c. mid-1960’s
Oil on masonite, 30” x 24”
Provenance: Christie’s New York, 1993
Lot 856 – $3,750
Wilson Bigaud (Haitian/Port-au-Prince, 1931-2010)
Assassination in Forest, c. 1949
Oil on masonite, 24.25” x 24.75”
Lot 676 – $3,250
Joseph Jean-Laurent
(Haitian/Croix-des-Bouquets, 1893-1976)
L’Ange-de-L’Eternel, c. 1960’s
Oil on masonite, 23.75” x 24”
Lot 892 – $2,750
Frantz Zéphirin (Haitian, 20th c.)
Soup of Democracy for Sale. US. $, c. 1990’s
Acrylic on canvas, 20” x 24”
Exhibited Still Lifes to the Surreal: Selections in Haitian Art from 1945 to 1995 – Kresge Gallery, Ramapo College
Lot 651 – $2,500
Drapeau/Vodou Flag (Haiti, 20th c.)
La Sirene, c. 1960’s
Sequins and beads on cloth, 37” x 25”
Rare three dimensional Vintage Flag