Artist Profile
Since the early 1980s, painter Sue Williams has been exploring issues of gender inequality and injustice in her abstract, semi-abstract, and figurative works. Her work is a direct response to the historical cannon of hyper-masculine, Abstract Expressionism that championed icons such as Jackson Pollock, Willem DeKoonig, Mark Rothko, and Franz Kline. Within her paintings, Williams incorporates figures of genitalia, severed body parts, organs, and other fragments that often allude to sexual violence. This painting, made in 2000, comes as the artist was transitioning from her figurative works of the 80s and 90s. A beautiful example, the red and pink exude femininity, violence, as well as bodily vessels.
Artist Market
Williams is represented by 303 Gallery (NYC), Regen Projects (LA), Eva Presenhuber (Zurich), and Skarstedt (NYC and London). This is an excellent roster of agents, and the support of Skarstedt (for the last 4 years) which does a lot of work in the secondary market, should bode well for her market going forward. At her galleries, her prices are between $100,000 and $150,000 for a painting of this size. Recent auction results have varied pretty widely. In 2018, Williams achieved her two highest results of $137,000 and $120,000, with the latter being for a similar painting to this lot. More recently, auction prices have consistently been at the $75,000 level, and most likely this piece will sell for a lot more than this conservative estimate, but as they say in sports: that’s why you play the games. For the collector who likes this work, and it’s an excellent example of Williams as a painter, the opportunity to get it for around $60,000 is a nice deal both in the short and long term.
Sotheby’s Lot Page
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