Lot 118: BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS (1945-2017), “Arriving Soon,” 1973 (oil and acrylic on canvas, in two parts, overall: 72 ⅝ by 105 ¼ inches / 184.5 by 267.3 cm). | Estimate $9 million-$12 million. UNSOLD
A MASTERFUL PORTRAIT ARTIST, Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) made paintings of friends, family, and acquaintances with timeless visual appeal, despite clearly representing a certain era. His uncanny, life-size depictions capture his subject’s individual spirit, invariably defined by a cool confidence and soulful style tuned to the late 1960s and 70s, the artist’s most prolific period in terms of portraits.
A diptych, “Arriving Soon” (1973) is among the largest paintings by Hendricks. A fascinating tableau featuring a female subject, a Coca-Cola cooler, and party balloons, the portrait was featured in The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction at Sotheby’s New York on Nov. 18. Estimated at $9 million to $12 million, the lot had the potential to sell for more than the artist’s existing $8.3 million auction record.
Hendricks often works with a limited palette. By contrast, “Arriving Soon” is full of color and the stark white background and deep charcoal gray floor provide the perfect foil for emphasizing the bright balloons and bold red Coke cooler, which appears to be refrigerated and coin operated.
What is “Arriving Soon” about? A rare horizontal portrait with disparate elements fashioning the scene, Hendricks keeps the viewer guessing. Who is the woman behind the sunglasses with reflective green lenses? What is she waiting for? What are the balloons about? Why is there a Coke cooler? How come it is unplugged?
The subject of the painting is Angie Johnson—the artist’s friend and a repeat sitter. His subject is perched on a small stool, holding a long yellow ballon. Sporting a perfectly round afro with a small streak of gray in the front, she is wearing octagonal-shaped shades and white, knee-high go-go boots. The “hot lips” image on her tank top channels the iconic logo of The Rolling Stones.
Hendricks discussed the portrait with Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem. The conversation was published in the exhibition catalog “Barkley Hendricks: Birth of the Cool” (2009).
Hendricks said: “Arriving Soon, the title comes from an Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson song … my girlfriend at the time had put balloons all over my studio because it was near my birthday … the painting was on the easel and I hadn’t finished it yet, and I turned around and saw some balloons in front of the piece, it was kind of Eureka! That’s it.”
“My girlfriend at the time had put balloons all over my studio because it was near my birthday … the painting was on the easel and I hadn’t finished it yet, and I turned around and saw some balloons in front of the piece, it was kind of Eureka! That’s it.” — Barkley L. Hendricks
Sotheby’s made a video to promote “Arriving Soon” (2017). An unidentified official highlighting the distinguishing qualities of the painting and the artist’s approach. | Video by Sotheby’s
The painting has an important exhibition history. In 1975, “Arriving Soon” was included in “Barkley Hendricks: Recent Paintings” at the Greenville County Museum of Art. According to Sotheby’s, it was the first solo show of a living Black artist in South Carolina. The painting covered the “Recent Paintings” catalog and five years later was also on view in “Barkley L. Hendricks: Oils, Watercolors, Collages and Photographs” (1980) at the Studio Museum.
Sotheby’s made a video to promote the painting, highlighting the lot’s distinguishing qualities and the artist’s approach. “The tight corpus of paintings he left behind today stands as a testament to the vitality, humanity, individuality, and charisma he afforded his subjects. All the while addressing the absence of people of color in the cannon of portrait painting,” an unidentified Sotheby’s official said.
“Hendricks also infused his compositions with distinctly American symbols. You have the Coca Cola refrigerator and the floating balloons behind his subject, which evoke a language of pop art and a sort of visual shorthand of Americana. They situate his figures firmly in their cultural moment.”
“Arriving Soon” was acquired directly from the artist in 2009 and remained in the same “distinguished American collection” until it came to auction. Sotheby’s estimate for the enigmatic portrait ($9 million-$12 million) was higher than the current record at auction for Hendricks (“Yocks,” 1975, a double portrait that sold for $8,377,500 at Sotheby’s New York in 2023).
Bidding was brief. Interest started at $8 million and rose to $8,850,000, but apparently failed to reach the minimum reserve. The lot went unsold. CT
* ALL SOLD PRICES include auction house premium fees
READ MORE about Sotheby’s The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction (Nov. 18) on Culture Type
FIND MORE about “The Tongue,” The Rolling Stones iconic “hot lips” logo John Pasche designed in 1970, when he was a student at the Royal College of Art, from The Great Story and V&A Museum, which holds the original artwork
BOOKSHELF
Published last year, “Barkley Hendricks: Solid!” is the first comprehensive exploration of the artist’s practice. A recently issued box set, features “Solid!” along with four individual volumes dedicated to particular aspects of Barkley Hendricks’s practice: photography, landscape paintings, basketball paintings, and works on paper. “Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool” documents the landmark traveling exhibition organized by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Also consider the recent exhibition catalog, “Barkley L. Hendricks: Portraits at The Frick.”
