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Curators' Picks: June 17 Prints & Multiples Showcase Auction
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Frank's Picks
Vice President, Modern & Contemporary Art
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What I love about Richard Serra's Galileo Galilei is its simplicity. There is nothing excessive here — just a few carefully placed elements that create a surprising sense of balance and quiet energy. While many of Serra's prints are known for their bold, heavy presence, this work feels more intimate and reflective. It shows how powerful Serra could be with the lightest touch, making Galileo Galilei a particularly memorable and distinctive work within his printmaking career. The title evokes Galileo's spirit of observation and discovery, while the composition invites careful looking and contemplation.
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What I enjoy most about Serenade from The Blue Guitar is the way David Hockney brings everyday objects to life. The guitar, chair, table, and other familiar forms seem to shift and interact in unexpected ways, turning an ordinary scene into something imaginative and playful. David Hockney drew inspiration from Wallace Stevens' poem "The Man with the Blue Guitar," which was itself inspired by Pablo Picasso's painting "The Old Guitarist" from his Blue Period. Stevens used the image of the blue guitar to explore how artists transform reality through imagination, and Hockney embraced that idea throughout this series. Rather than simply illustrating the poem, he created a body of prints that explores the act of seeing, interpreting, and reinventing the world — much as Picasso
and Stevens had done before him.
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Holly's Pick
Vice President, Modern & Contemporary Art, West Coast
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Fantasie des saisons (Les Saisons) reimagines the traditional theme of the four seasons through Salvador Dalí's surrealist vision. Rather than depicting Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter as conventional landscapes, Dalí transforms them into dreamlike allegories populated by metamorphic figures, flowering forms, and fantastical imagery. The portfolio was published by Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, Japan's first department store and a pioneering cultural institution that established an art gallery in 1907 and spent decades cultivating collectors through exhibitions and art programming. By the time Les Saisons
was issued, Mitsukoshi had become an important venue for international art, making it a natural partner for Dalí, whose imagery resonated with Japan's longstanding appreciation for the changing seasons.
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Rebecca's Pick
Consignment Director, Prints & Multiples, New York
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A colorful Katherine Bernhardt portrait of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who famously "took a knee" during the U.S. national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and racial injustice. At the time, he also wore his hair in a natural afro, a look that became both iconic and defiant.
His actions sparked a broader protest movement that intensified in 2017 after President Donald Trump urged NFL owners to "fire" players who protested during the national anthem. After becoming a free agent, Kaepernick was not signed by another team, a decision many attributed to political motives. He filed a collusion grievance against the NFL in 2017 and later reached a confidential settlement with the league in 2019. His protests gained renewed attention in 2020 during the George Floyd protests against police brutality and racism. This print inspires us to know and protect our rights.
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Desiree's Picks
Consignment Director, Prints & Multiples, Beverly Hills
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This portfolio of ten screenprints resonates with me so much because it encapsulates the artist's serene and contemplative approach to abstraction. Published in 1991, the portfolio translates Martin's signature visual language of delicate grids, subtle lines, and harmonious geometric forms into printmaking with remarkable precision. Reflecting the spiritual and meditative qualities that define her work, the compositions emphasize balance, order, and quiet beauty rather than overt expression. Considered one of Martin's most significant print projects, the portfolio would make a great addition to any collector's home!
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Dalí's prints captivate me so much because they take us to a world of Surrealism and whimsy. Part of a complete deck in which Dalí transformed each card into a fantastical composition, the King of Hearts combines regal symbolism with vibrant color and unexpected visual juxtapositions. As both a collectible print and a striking example of Dalí's late-period graphic work, King of Hearts is an exciting work to collect.
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Hannah's Pick
Cataloger and Associate Specialist, Fine Arts, Dallas
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Lillian Porter is celebrated for transforming found ceramic figurines and other commonplace objects into deeply evocative explorations of memory, identity, and cultural nostalgia. In this work, a small bust of Elvis Presley sits central, his iconic pompadour and youthful features rendered with an almost disarming simplicity. Delicate embroidery spills outward from the figure in looping, meandering lines that suggest invisible connections, memories, or stories unraveling beyond the image itself. As they wander across the composition, the embroidered strands coalesce into small motifs - including floral forms reminiscent of magnolia blossoms and a treble clef that subtly alludes to Elvis's enduring musical legacy. A single rhinestone affixed to the singer's shirt provides a
restrained flash of glamour, a fitting nod to the performer's association with spectacle and adornment. Through these tactile interventions, Porter elevates an otherwise ordinary object into something poetic and psychologically resonant, blurring the boundaries between portraiture, sculpture, and textile art.
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Whether you're building a collection or searching for the perfect statement piece, you'll find extraordinary opportunities in our June 17 Prints & Multiples Showcase Auction. Bidding closes at 1:00 PM Central Time, Thursday, June 17.
Sincerely,
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Frank Hettig
Vice President,
Modern & Contemporary Art
FrankH@HA.com
(214) 409-1157
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Holly Sherratt
Vice President, Modern & Contemporary Art,
West Coast
HollyS@HA.com
(415) 548-5921
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Desiree Pakravan
Consignment Director,
Prints & Multiples,
Beverly Hills
DesireeP@HA.com
(310) 492-8621
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Rebecca Lax
Consignment Director,
Prints & Multiples,
New York
BeckyL@HA.com
(212) 486-3736
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Hannah Ziesmann
Cataloger and Associate Specialist,
Fine Arts, Dallas
HannahZ@HA.com
(214) 409-1162
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