Welcome to “On the Block”: ELLE Decor’s new series where we spotlight one spectacular piece going up for auction. Get your paddles ready.
Against a crystalline cobalt sky, the peaks of the Rocky Mountains jut upward, their ridges illuminated by sunlight. As dramatically as the summit slices into the sky, text, in a modern sans-serif, cuts across the canvas, screaming, “BLAST CURTAIN.”
The work, titled Blast Curtain (1999), is by prominent American artist Ed Ruscha and it will be up for auction next month, part of Spring Marquee Week at Christie’s New York.
Ruscha is most famous for his paintings of Standard gas stations and Pop Art canvases filled with massive text (notably, OOF, from 1962). But the works in his mountain series, characterized by depictions of the Rockies interjected with harsh, white typeface, are some of the most sought-after in his oeuvre.
Ruscha in front of Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas (1963), one of his most famous works.
“The market really loves them,” said Ana Maria Celis, head of post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s. She estimates that there hasn’t been a mountain painting directly comparable to Blast Curtain up for auction in over a decade. The auction house is estimating it will fetch between $4,000,000 and $6,000,000, but it could even surpass that. Ruscha’s lifetime auction record was $68 million for Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn In Half (1964).
It’s not just that it’s a Ruscha mountain painting—it’s that Blast Curtain is particularly striking. It’s large—64 inches by 64 inches. The mountains are clear and precise—in some of the other mountain paintings, they are intentionally blurry. And the text is winkingly wry.
“Blast curtains” refer to the barriers used to contain sound and flying debris for explosives. Mountains can be natural blast curtains, muffling noise and providing protection. But, Celis explains, the painting is mostly about its contrasts—both between the man-made (a blast or explosion) and natural world (the mountains) and also between Ruscha’s rolling landscape and the harsh typeface.
Blast Curtain in the Demirdjian’s London living room.
Celis also noted Ruscha’s broad appeal, which contributes to the painting’s popularity. “His work resonates tremendously. There’s a directness about having text that appeals to a new generation of collectors,” she says, “There’s something really on the nose about it, even though the references are often humorous or cheeky, and people really like that.”
The piece comes from Venezuelan-born philanthropist Tiqui Atencio and her husband, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and art collector Ago Demirdjian. Christie’s is auctioning 15 pieces from the Demirdjians’ London home. The selection also includes works by Damien Hirst, Carmen Herrera, Julie Mehretu, and Roni Horn. Blast Curtain was the centerpiece of the Demirdjians’ living room, situated between a Martin Kippenberger mirror and a Hirst.
Along with Blast Curtain, the other work selected by the Demirdjians to lead this group is Cecily Brown’s Bedtime Stories, which is also from 1999 and estimated to sell for between $4,000,000 and $6,000,000. The painting, abstract in shades of pink, “is juicy and pink and fleshy,” Celis says, “and it’s fabulous.”
For Art’s Sake: Selected Works by Tiqui Atencio & Ago Demirdjian will headline the 21st Century Evening Sale on May 14 with 15 works, followed by a large grouping in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale.
Annie Goldsmith is the senior editor and digital lead at ELLE Decor, where she covers design, culture, style, and trends. She previously held positions at The Information, covering technology and culture, and Town & Country, writing about news, entertainment, and fashion. Her work has also appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone, and the SF Standard.
