On 16 December, Bellmans Auctioneers will present their 'Expanding Collections: A Collection of Contemporary Art' sale. The catalogue contains nearly 150 unique works, with many pieces by internationally-renowned artists, such as Zhang Huan, Richard Long and Adam Fuss. With everything from known masterpieces to undiscovered gems, the sale represents an exciting opportunity for new and seasoned contemporary art collectors alike.
Wim Wenders is an Oscar-winning director, and his photographs have a distinctly cinematic quality. Wenders eschews digital cameras, preferring film for its warm cast and slightly unpredictable nature. Many of his photographs are almost snapshots, elevated by their impeccable framing. On the Alexanderplatz, Berlin is one such photograph, depicting a group of anonymous men in uniform standing in a public square while pedestrians dart though the background.
Born in Henan, Zang Huan is one of the influential and provocative artists working today. Although he is best known for his performance art and conceptual works, he works in several media and also creates sculptures, paintings and photographs. His mixed-media Fight a Flood (Memory Door) is part of a series that explores Chinese history and heritage. The photo collage is superimposed onto a carved wooden door that the artist salvaged from the countryside, bringing new life to the traditional antique.
One of the premier contemporary landscape photographers, Thomas Joshua Cooper drew inspiration from artists such as Ansel Adams and Alfred Stieglitz. Cooper prefers using black-and-white film, transforming complex landscapes into captivating, almost abstracted, images. He frequently travels to remote or desolate places, and First View of the Rio Grande in the Big Bend, The Big Hill, Big Bend National Park, Texas captures the steep cliffs and rocky landscape surrounding the languid river.
Born in London, Adam Fuss found a love of photographing nature and specialises in abstract compositions with dramatic contrasts. His photograph Untitled (Red Snake in Water), which will appear during the sale, is a cibachrome print in deep red. An extremely rare process now, cibachrome was the only process for producing photographic prints directly from colour transparency film.
Several works by the British artist Mark Alexander will appear during the sale, including the oil painting Via Negativa. Alexander frequently reinvents iconic paintings and motifs by painting them in his own distinctive style, characterised by tiny, meticulous brushstrokes. Here he revisits Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, capturing the original silhouette and texture of the subject while removing the colour entirely.
The Scottish artist John Bellany pioneered a style that melded Impressionism with Naive painting, and he often explored dark themes within his bright, almost childlike paintings. Maid of the Forth depicts a woman by the sea with a cat at her side and a fish balanced on her head, while she gazes steadfastly past the viewer. Bellany was raised in a small fishing village, and portraits of fishwives appear frequently in his oeuvre.
'Expanding Collections: A Collection of Contemporary Art' will take place on 16 December at 6 pm. The sale is live with an auctioneer, and will be broadcast online. Bids will also be accepted online and by telephone, and absentee bidding is available.
