Three choice lots from upcoming Heritage auctions
Modern & Contemporary Art
Described by The New Yorker’s Peter Schjeldahl as “the most efficacious American political illustration since ‘Uncle Sam Wants You,’” Shepard Fairey’s HOPE (Barack Obama) launched the guerilla street artist-turned-pop art wizard into the mainstream consciousness, bringing global recognition to his work. This monumental collage-and-stencil original comes from a group of three unique collages produced by Fairey in 2008. Aside from the present work, one was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.; another is in a private collection.
Shepard Fairey HOPE (Barack Obama), 2008
Hand-finished collage, stencil and acrylic on paper
69-3/4 x 45-3/4 inches (177.2 x 116.2 cm) (sheet)
Unique work from a series of three variants
Auction: May 14
Trading Card Games
Featuring artwork by Christopher Rush, Black Lotus from Magic: The Gathering’s Alpha Edition is the most sought-after trading card in existence. The card is part of the most powerful group of cards in the entire game, known as the Power Nine. Wizards of the Coast released the Alpha Edition in August 1993, and it was so successful the Beta edition was printed just two months later. With a print run of just 1,100 copies, this card is scarce in any condition. BGS has certified 10 copies earning an EX-MT 6 grade with 250 graded higher.
Magic: The Gathering Black Lotus Limited Edition (Alpha) BGS Trading Card Game EX-MT 6
Wizards of the Coast, 1993
Auction: May 17-18
Movie Posters
Marlene Dietrich come-hithers to life on this seldom-seen one-sheet, where her name’s more prominent than even the film’s title. Dietrich’s final film with director Josef von Sternberg, who first made her his Blue Angel, is “a surreal tale of erotic passion and danger set amid the tumult of carnival in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Spain,” per The Criterion Collection. That’s plainly evident in the poster, which seduces like a Technicolor last-call come-on as the heavy-lidded Dietrich warns, “Kiss me … and I’ll break your heart.”
The Devil Is a Woman (Paramount, 1935)
Very Fine- on linen
One sheet (27 x 41 inches), Style B
Auction: May 25