Robert Longo - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session New York Wednesday, November 16, 2022 | Phillips

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  • Robert Longo’s Them (Russian Bomb) is apocalyptic and sublime in intensely contrasted charcoal rendering of a mushroom cloud. The artist's stunning depiction of a nuclear event engages with the power of atomic images while nodding to the debate over nuclear technology and testing, contending with the issue’s complex contemporary relevance. The physical power of the work, drawn from seminal images of nuclear tests published during the Cold War, inspires both fear and awe.

     

    The present example is a superb preparatory drawing for Russian Bomb/Semipalatinsk, 2003, held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

     

    Robert Longo, Russian Bomb/Semipalatinsk, 2003. Museum of Modern Art, New York
    Robert Longo, Russian Bomb/Semipalatinsk, 2003, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Image: © The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY, Artwork: © Robert Longo/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York
    • Provenance

      Metro Pictures, New York
      Private Collection (acquired from the above)
      Thence by descent to the present owner

357

Them (Russian Bomb)

signed with the artist's initials and dated "RL 2003" lower right; titled "Them (Russian Bomb)" lower left
ink and charcoal on vellum
image 15 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (39.4 x 29.2 cm)
sheet 19 x 19 3/4 in. (48.3 x 50.2 cm)

Executed in 2003.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$30,000 - 50,000 

Contact Specialist

Patrizia Koenig
Specialist, Head of Day Sale, Afternoon Session
+1 212 940 1279
pkoenig@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session

New York Auction 16 November 2022