Prints + Multiples 
26 February 2020
Prints + Multiples 
151

Robert Cottingham b.1935

Six works from the Rolling Stock Series

1992
etching and aquatint in colors
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $3,072
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Lot includes:
For Armyn: 20 h x 28 w inches (sight).
For Chuck: 34.75 h x 19.75 w inches (sight).
For Mark: 21.75 h x 30.25 w inches (sight).
For Trish: 26.25 h x 26.75 w inches (sight).
For Leslie C.: 26.5 h x 24.75 w inches (sight).
For Jesse: 28 h x 21.25 w inches (sight).
Each signed, titled, dated and numbered to lower edge ‘Rolling Stock, ... 23/60 Cottingham 1992’. These works are number 23 from the edition of 60 printed by Harlan & Weaver Inc., New York and published by Creative Works Editions, Kyoto.
provenance: Parasol Press, New York | James W. Hyams Collection
exhibited: Get Real: Photorealist Prints from the James W. Hyams Collection, 2004, University of Richmond Museum, Piedmont Arts, Martinsville, Virginia, University of Lynchburg, Virginia, Radford University, Virginia, and Rahr-West Art Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin | Photorealist Prints from the James W. Hyams Collection, 2005-2006, Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University, Virginia, and Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center, Virginia | Collecting Prints: Selections from the Collection of James W. Hyams, 2016, Piedmont Arts, Martinsville, Virginia

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The James W. Hyams Collection

James W. Hyams started collecting art in 1967 when he was a student in college. The first work Hyams purchased—Vegetable Soup Can from Campbell’s Soup I by Andy Warhol—was paid for in installments and hung in his dorm room. A few years later, he purchased his second work by Warhol and from there collecting became a way of life. 

Over the years, Hyams has amassed a stunning collection of prints from 1960s to the present day. From Warhol to Hirst, or Lichtenstein to Doig, his collection is about as contemporary as it gets. Focusing on works that he likes by influential artists, his collection of more than 400 prints is an exceptional survey of the most important art movements of the second half of the 20th century and the start of the 21st century.  

Generous with his collection, Hyams has loaned many works to galleries and universities, sharing his collection with a public audience. Further, his pieces are proudly on display in his home, his acclaimed interior widely published. 

I don't buy pieces that I don't like. But I do have a purpose in my collection. I am interested in buying key artists from the period.

James W. Hyams

Robert Cottingham b. 1935

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Born in 1935, Robert Cottingham is a painter and printmaker whose body of work finds inspiration in the urban American landscape. After graduation from the Pratt Institute in 1963, he began his advertising career in Los Angeles. He ultimately left the field to pursue painting, but the influence of the ad world can be seen in the execution of his work.

Although regarded as a Photorealist, Cottingham maintains that he is a realist painter working in a long tradition of Americana painters. His subjects range from mid-20th century commercial signage and architectural details to railroad boxcars and storefront marquees. An interest in typography is seen through the isolation of words and letter forms cropped into photo-realistic, dynamic compositions.

Cottingham’s work is among many of the most important collections both in the United States and Europe including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Gallery in London, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited in the Centre national d’art contemporain in Paris, Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. He lives and works in Connecticut.

Auction Results Robert Cottingham

Robert Cottingham

House with Awnings

estimate: $80,000–120,000

result: $52,063

Robert Cottingham

American Signs (portfolio of twelve works)

estimate: $15,000–20,000

result: $20,000

Robert Cottingham

Rialto

estimate: $15,000–18,000

result: $18,750

Robert Cottingham

American Signs (portfolio of twelve works)

estimate: $15,000–20,000

result: $15,000

Robert Cottingham

An American Alphabet

estimate: $20,000–30,000

result: $12,500

Robert Cottingham

American Signs portfolio

estimate: $15,000–25,000

result: $11,520

Robert Cottingham

Tip Top

estimate: $8,000–12,000

result: $7,500

Robert Cottingham

Rolling Stock Series Study

estimate: $5,000–7,000

result: $6,930
151