Roy Lichtenstein Sleeping Girl 1964 at Sotheby's New York. UPDATE: IT sold for $44,882,500
Roy Lichtenstein’s Sleeping Girl from 1964 is a highlight of Sotheby’s sale of contemporary art in New York next May 9. The Pop Art masterpiece is one of the high points of the artist’s comic book inspired paintings and an icon of Post-War American art. Paintings from the series are in major museums around the world including MoMA, New York. This work has remained in the private hands for the past 48 years.
“Sleeping Girl is one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century, counting iconic depictions of women by Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brancusi and Amedeo Modigliani among its peers,” commented Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s worldwide head of contemporary art. “Lichtenstein’s ‘girls’ are arguably his most desirable works today and Sleeping Girl has been coveted since it was acquired in 1964, the year it was painted. It is astonishingly fresh and vibrant, as if it were painted yesterday.” Prior to auction it will be shown in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, London and New York and is estimated at $30/40 million.
It was purchased by noted West Coast collectors and philanthropists Beatrice and Phillip Gersh, from the Ferus Gallery in 1964. The Gershes were founding members of The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (MOCA). Contemporary works by artists including Mark di Suvero, Susan Rothenberg, Tony Cragg and Kiki Smith will be offered from the Gersh collection at Sotheby’s this spring.