It's not one of the iconic, bawdy images that the public might immediately think of when this artist's name is mentioned, but it's a tour de force. It's a haunting and powerful composition of a type that we won't see again on the market.
It was an extremely desirable collection that was heavily competed for, and we were thrilled to have it, ... we have a lot of interest in them, and I fully expect that we will be selling those pictures in private transactions within the coming days.
People were falling over themselves to bid on this (Diebenkorn) work. There was some frantic bidding in the sale room and on the telephone.
He was at the height of his maturity. ... It's not just a depiction of him as an artist, it's more of a psychological portrayal of him -- his difficult and somewhat turbulent character, ... It's a very piercing, powerful image that clients are very much responding to.
This is not the type of picture that appears on the market. This work, in fact, has never been sold before publicly and has only been sold twice before privately. So, this is a major moment in the art market and the public has responded accordingly.
