Under the Hammer

Deborah Ripley's Selects from Geometric Abstraction

Bonhams is pleased to present the second annual Geometric Abstraction auction, a themed sale of 141 prints and multiples by abstract and minimal masters who use geometry in their practice.

Deborah Ripley, Director of Prints & Multiples, is a recognized print expert nationwide with more than 30 years' experience. She has written and lectured about print collecting for numerous publications, including Forbes online, Print Collector's Newsletter, Artnet Magazine, and Art on Paper.

Here, she turns the spotlight on three artists with works on offer in Geometric Abstraction taking place on February 22 in New York.

Lot 5.

Edna Andrade (1917-2008)
Chêne-Bourg I, 1974

Lot 5. Edna Andrade (1917-2008), "Chêne-Bourg I," 1974. Estimate: $2,500 - 3,500

Lot 5. Edna Andrade (1917-2008), Chêne-Bourg I, 1974. Estimate: $2,500 - 3,500

Lot 5. Edna Andrade (1917-2008), Chêne-Bourg I, 1974. Estimate: $2,500 - 3,500

Edna Andrade was a pioneering figure in Op art in the 1960s, who has recently gained long overdue posthumous recognition. Her prints Chene-Bourg I, 1974 and Green Weather, 1972 both feature intricate patterning, illustrating the artist's connection to what she describes as the "ancient tradition of anonymous artisans"- in effect the unsung work of women. Andrade’s work was recently highlighted in the 150 Year Anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2020.

Lot 35.

Sara Cwynar (born 1985)
CMYK Print Test Panel (Darkroom Manuals) (4 works)

Lot 35. Sara Cwynar (born 1985), "CMYK Print Test Panel (Darkroom Manuals) (4 works)." Estimate: $1,000 - 1,500

Lot 35. Sara Cwynar (born 1985), CMYK Print Test Panel (Darkroom Manuals) (4 works). Estimate: $1,000 - 1,500

Lot 35. Sara Cwynar (born 1985), CMYK Print Test Panel (Darkroom Manuals) (4 works). Estimate: $1,000 - 1,500

Sara Cwynar is a Canadian-born artist interested in manipulating old and new technologies to create forms that are both nostalgic and cutting-edge. In her portfolio of four silkscreens, Print Test Panel (Darkroom Manuals), 2014, she borrows an image from a 1980s darkroom manual that demonstrates printmaking, and transforms it, through scanning and digital manipulation into different colorways. The resulting prints harken back to the benday-dot printing processes of the 1960s, as well as the nostalgia of Op Art, but are also surprising optical illusions.

Lot 36.

Nassos Daphnis (1914-2010)
SS 14-78

Lot 36. Nassos Daphnis (1914-2010), "SS 14-78." Estimate: $700 - 800

Lot 36. Nassos Daphnis (1914-2010), SS 14-78. Estimate: $700 - 800

Lot 36. Nassos Daphnis (1914-2010), SS 14-78. Estimate: $700 - 800

Nassos Daphnis was a Greek-born American painter and sculptor recognized for his mastery of geometric abstraction. He was a member of the iconic art dealer Leo Castelli’s stable of artists (that included Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns) for forty years and his work is in many major museums. Daphnis’s works fell out of fashion in the 1980s when figurative expression by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and conceptual artists such as Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst were on the rise. Over the past few years, however, Daphnis’s exquisite geometric forms in his paintings and prints have found a new appreciative audience as illustrated in SS 14-78 and SS 29-76.

Deborah Ripley is Director of Prints & Multiples based in New York. She can be reached at deborah.ripley@bonhams.com

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