Isaac Julien
Love
About the SessionSpanning 4 centuries of global art history, The International Sale, presents 127 exceptional lots by artists from 27 countries across five continents. The auction highlights masterworks ranging from 17th century European paintings to post-2000 editions by contemporary artist's such as Mr Brainwash (lot 51), Jim Dine (lots 83-86), Isaac Julien (lot 108), Jeff Koons (45), and Lucas Samaras (lot 107 and 110). The sale is anchored by important pieces from Georg Baselitz, Erik Laubscher, Shirin Neshat, and a newly repatriated 1935 portrait by Irma Stern.
The auction's diversity is driven by rare museum-quality highlights, led by Irma Stern's Two Women (lot 31), which returns to South Africa after decades in a Berlin private collection. It is joined by Erik Laubscher's rare recto-verso painting Young Family / Construction (lot 48), an Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat photographic portrait linked to her award-winning Turbulent installation (lot 66), and a uniquely hand-coloured linocut by German master Georg Baselitz titled Das Pferd, Im Wald und auf der Heide Series (The Horse, in the Forest and on the Heath Series) (lot 72).
LOT 108
Isaac Julien
Love
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
About this Item
signed, dated, numbered 9/25 and inscribed with the title twice on the reverse; inscribed with the artist's name, date, title and medium on a label adhered to the reverse
Notes
Printed by Hare and Hound Press, Texas.
British artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien studied at St Martin's School of Art in London. He blends film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting, and sculpture to create powerful visual narratives. His work has been featured in prominent venues like the Centre Pompidou and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami. Julien, a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) recipient, showcased a significant exhibition at Tate Britain in 2023 and participated in the Whitney Biennial, 2025.
The present lot features a segment from a diptych print derived from Julien's film, Paradise Omeros, which is set in modern-day St. Lucia and inspired by Nobel Prize-winning epic Omeros by Caribbean poet Derek Walcott. The film explores the contrast between different cultures, ultimately highlighting the hybrid mental states that emerge from navigating multiple cultural identities. The present lot captures the tension between love and hate, ultimately portraying love's triumph1
1 Sotheby's (2021) Isaac Julien: Love/Hate, online, accessed 27 September 2024.
Provenance
The Linda Givon Collection.