?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 50,000 - $ 80,000
ALFONSO OSSORIO Untitled (Sidrach, Misach and Abednego).
Mixed-media on panel, 1962. 458x766 mm; 18 1/4x29 7/8 inches. Signed, titled "SidrachMisachAbednego" and dated in ink, verso. Acquired directly from the artist by the current owner; private collection, Connecticut.
Ossorio's (1916-1990) title refers to the prophet Daniel's three companions in the Babylonian exile of the Jews. The scion of a Philippine sugar magnate, Ossorio was one of the early practitioners of Abstract Expressionism, and in the 1950s he formed important friendships with Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) and Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985). They showed Ossorio the value of looking inward for artistic inspiration, and his surrealistic imagery began to evolve into more abstract, outwardly expressionistic work.
In the early 1960s, Ossorio began to create the assemblages for which he became famous, such as the current lot. He labeled them "congregations," harkening back to his lifelong fascination with Christianity developed during his youth in the Philippines, and evoking the process of coming together.
