Mark Bradford, Amy Sillman, and Alex Katz Lead Freeman’s | Hindman’s November Post War & Contemporary Art Auction in New York

On November 14, Freeman’s | Hindman will offer 57 works spanning painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, and prints in its New York Post War & Contemporary Art auction. The sale offers engaging and meaningful entry points for both seasoned connoisseurs and emerging collectors, and is anchored by two sophisticated, single-owner sessions: Property from a Distinguished Private Collection, Florida and The Collection of Dr. Gary London, Washington, D.C. Together, these collections provide a cohesive foundation for the sale, which is thematically unified by fresh and varied approaches to portraiture and abstraction.

 

Lot 46 | Mark Bradford, Untitled (a set of 3 works), 2007 | Estimate $300,000 – 400,000

 

Zachary Wirsum, SVP, Head of Department, Post War and Contemporary Art, says, “With a balanced equity of chance and design, our November Post War & Contemporary Art auction coalesced beautifully into a stunning presentation of compelling visual conversations between significant creative voices spanning the last seven decades of art making. There are both ahead-of-the-curve opportunities and sparkling covetable gems to chase, and we are extremely proud of what we are bringing to the block.”

 

Left to Right

Lot 24 | Alex Katz, Portrait of Al Held, 1963 | Estimate $150,000 – 250,000

Lot 20 | Mickalene Thomas, The Inversion of Racquel #2, 2021 | Estimate $250,000 – 350,000

 

Classical Portraiture Reimagined 

The auction is anchored by imaginative explorations of portraiture—one of art history’s most enduring and adaptable genres. The Collection of Dr. Gary London, Washington, D.C., forms the nexus of this exploration, bringing together diverse perspectives on identity, representation, and the artist’s gaze.

From this collection comes Alex Katz’s Portrait of Al Held (1963) (Lot 24, estimate: $150,000 – 250,000), a refined example of Katz’s pared-down, sharply flattened style. Katz, celebrated for his portrayals of friends and contemporaries, here turns his gaze to fellow artist Al Held, capturing the intimacy of friendship. Also featured is Gertrude Abercrombie’s Portrait of Eddie Millman (1936) (Lot 25, estimate: $60,000 – 80,000), painted during her early years with New Deal art programs. The portrait, one of the few full-body depictions in her oeuvre, reveals Abercrombie’s early experimentation with form and perspective. Her portrayal of Millman—a fellow Chicago artist associated with WPA mural projects—blends psychological depth with modernist abstraction, embodying the curiosity and confidence that would later define her Surrealist compositions. Adding to this conversation is Philip Pearlstein’s Two Models with Empire State Building, Night (1992) (Lot 34, estimate: $120,000 – 180,000). Known for his rigorous depictions of the nude, Pearlstein frames the figures against the distant glow of the Empire State Building, linking the intimacy of the studio to the expanse of the city beyond.

Contemporary portraiture finds renewed expression in Kehinde Wiley’s Street Thug (2004) (Lot 21, estimate: $150,000 – 250,000), which reinterprets the grand tradition of Old Master portraiture by placing contemporary Black subjects in positions of power and visibility. Similarly, Mickalene Thomas’s The Inversion of Racquel #2 (2021) (Lot 20, estimate: $250,000 – 350,000) celebrates Black femininity through lush color, pattern, and texture, merging art historical references with a distinctly modern vision of identity and beauty.

 

Lot 22 | Fritz Scholder, Insane Indian no. 25, 1972 | Estimate $100,000 – 200,000

 

Fritz Scholder: Truth and Transformation 

A standout group of six works by Fritz Scholder—an artist for whom Freeman’s | Hindman holds the top auction price and has long been recognized as a market leader—continues the portraiture theme through a different lens. Leading the group is Insane Indian No. 25 (1972) (Lot 22, estimate: $100,000 – 200,000) from the Collection of Barbara Berger, a haunting depiction that challenges the romanticized stereotypes of Native American representation. Painted at a time of social and cultural upheaval, the work channels both personal intensity and broader commentary on identity and visibility. Scholder’s fearless approach—infused with the visual energy of Pop Art and the emotional immediacy of Expressionism—redefined how Indigenous subjects were seen in contemporary art, cementing his status as one of the most vital voices in post-war American painting. Mark Bradford’s Social Abstraction The top lot of the sale is Mark Bradford’s Untitled (a set of three works), 2007 (Lot 46, estimate: $300,000 – 400,000). Bradford’s mixed media works on paper hold a defining place in contemporary American art for the way they expand abstraction while anchoring it in the social realities of urban life. Drawing from the legacies of Abstract Expressionism and post-minimalist collage, he transforms everyday materials—end papers, posters, and signage from his Los Angeles neighborhood—into richly layered compositions that carry both formal and social weight. In the three-part suite offered here, he demonstrates how the modernist pursuit of innovation can coexist with deep social engagement, reaffirming collage and abstraction as vital tools for cultural excavation and renewal.

 

Left to Right

Lot 5 | Charline von Heyl, Untitled, 2007 | Estimate $150,000 – 250,000

Lot 6 | Amy Sillman, Untitled, 2014 | Estimate $150,000 – 250,000

 

Property from a Distinguished Private Collection, Florida 

Freeman’s | Hindman is equally pleased to present Property from a Distinguished Private Collection, Florida, a curated session of seven works that exemplify the dynamism of contemporary painting. Among them, Charline von Heyl’s Untitled (2007) (Lot 5, estimate: $150,000 – 250,000) demonstrates her restless inquiry into what painting can be in the 21st century. Rejecting fixed categories, von Heyl’s layered, unpredictable surfaces invite the viewer into a space of visual and emotional discovery.

Also featured is Amy Sillman’s Untitled, 2014 (Lot 6, estimate: $150,000 – 250,000). Sillman’s paintings occupy a lively space between abstraction and figuration, where color and gesture become tools for probing emotion and perception. Her compositions evolve through layers of paint that reveal traces of revision, creating a sense of movement and psychological depth. In Untitled, Sillman juxtaposes muted tones with flashes of saturated color—acidic greens, dusky purples, and soft pinks—to evoke tension and surprise. Through this interplay of color, form, and gesture, she redefines abstraction as a deeply human and emotionally resonant practice.

 

 

Lot 19 | Jacob Lawrence, Time, 1953 | Estimate $100,000 – 150,000

 

Additional Highlights 

· Lot 19 Jacob Lawrence, Time, 1953 | Estimate: $100,000 – 150,000

· Lot 45 Sam Gilliam, Dorothy's Mondays, 1977 | Estimate: $100,000 – 150,000 

· Lot 29 Dame Elisabeth Frink, R.A., Wild Boar, 1957 | Estimate: $100,000 – 150,000

· Lot 2 Ken Price, Boo, 2007 | Estimate: $80,000 – 120,000

· Lot 40 Bernar Venet, Two Arcs of 236.5° Each, 1988 | Estimate: $60,000 – 80,000

· Lot 52 Andy Warhol, Red Lenin, 1987 | Estimate: $50,000 – 70,000

 

Sale Preview

The sale preview will be held at Freeman’s | Hindman’s New York gallery, 32 East 67th Street:

November 6, 7, and 10–13 | 10am–4pm November 8 | 11am–4pm Closed November