500 Gallery Surveys 20th-Century Art Movements in Upcoming August Sale

During the 20th century, art in Europe and the United States experienced a period of intense metamorphosis. Artists increasingly turned from the soft brushstrokes of Impressionism and the ornate details of Art Nouveau to more abstract, experimental styles. The period gave rise to dozens of distinct 20th-century art movements, many of which responded to the rise of world war and capitalism. 

The upcoming August Pop Modern Mix sale from 500 Gallery examines these notable 20th-century art movements through works attributed to or in the manner of some of the most prominent modern artists. Live bidding will begin on August 21, 2024 at 5:30 PM EDT. Read on to find more information about the key artists and styles represented in the catalog. 

Cubism – Georges Braque 

Before Pablo Picasso’s name became synonymous with Cubism, Georges Braque worked alongside his more famous colleague to develop a new way of viewing the world. Braque was a Frenchman who dabbled in Fauvism before taking a more experimental bent. Between 1908 and 1912, Braque started to explore geometry and perspective in his paintings, considering how objects and people could be viewed from multiple angles simultaneously. He collaborated with Picasso until World War I drove them apart. 

A Cubist still life painting in the manner of Georges Braque is among the leading lots of this upcoming event (lot #199; estimate: USD 25,000 – $35,000). This geometric scene is rendered in deep, earthy shades of brown and green. A vase, mortar, pestle, and several covered containers are shown on a patchwork table. 

Dada – Jean Arp 

While World War I set Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso on separate artistic paths, the war also gave rise to another 20th-century art movement: Dada. This avant-garde movement spanned visual art, literature, performance, sculpture, and beyond. Faced with catastrophic violence and the horrors of chemical weapons, artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Jean Arp, Max Ernst, and Man Ray rejected reason and aesthetics in their work. They instead turned to irrationality and chaos as a response to the society they lived in. Jean Arp was a key figure in the Dada movement. He was a regular of the Cabaret Voltaire, where fellow Dadaists met and organized, and Arp’s work later contributed to dreamy Surrealism. 

An oil on canvas painting in the manner of Jean Arp will be included in the upcoming 500 Gallery event (lot #102; estimate: $8,000 – $12,000). This framed canvas comes to auction from a Madison, Wisconsin private collection. It depicts curved black fish and tadpoles swimming between two large green fronds. The work is signed to the lower right. 

Pop Art – Tom Wesselmann 

Other radical art movements emerged in the middle of the 20th century. Pop Art grew exponentially in the mid- to late 1950s and focused on incorporating popular culture into fine art. Abstract Expressionism was the dominant style for a period, and younger artists of the mid-20th century increasingly rejected its elaborate paint splatters and emphasis on personal emotion. In the United States, figures such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg began to make art with advertising images, found objects, and magazine clippings. These ideas and methods would be developed further by the likes of Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Tom Wesselmann. 

An oil on canvas titled Smoker in the manner of Tom Wesselmann will be available in this 20th-century art sale (lot #125; estimate: $20,000 – $25,000). Wesselmann rose to fame in the 1960s with his Great American Nude series and assemblage still lifes. He preferred to depict everyday objects, distancing himself from the more consumerist sensibilities of his Pop Art contemporaries. Wesselmann focused one series on mouths, particularly a pair of lipsticked lips holding a cigarette. That imagery appears in the offered lot as well. 

The August Pop Modern Mix auction will begin at 5:30 PM EDT on August 21, 2024. Interested collectors may bid live or participate online via Bidsquare. Find additional coverage of this sale on Auction Daily.