When Roy Lichtenstein painted The Ring (Engagement) in 1962 he was, emotionally speaking, in a rather unstable position. One moment he felt the elation of a new romance and the next he felt the sorrow of estrangement from his first wife.
Happiness he found with Letty Lou Eisenhauer, who was working part-time at the university he taught in while she did her studies. Sadness he felt because he had accepted that his marriage to Isabel Wilson was beyond repair.
The strange juxtaposition is palpable in the painting, which is to go on sale at Sotheby’s New York Contemporary Art Evening Sale in May. The initial estimate price, incidentally, is a cool $50 million (approximately £33 million).
A masterpiece in every regard – thematically and stylistically – The Ring (Engagement) is a big, bold and bright comic book presentation of what is a defining moment in a relationship (not exclusively the rule, of course). Yes it’s profound, magical and oh so Hollywood but, as Sotheby’s notes, it’s also a “moment so commonplace in popular culture that it has become a pastiche”.
“The Ring (Engagement) is classic Lichtenstein,” said Alexander Rotter, co-head of Sotheby’s worldwide contemporary art department. “Dating from the key period and drawing on the artist’s most important theme of romance and love, the painting is one of the most significant Lichtenstein’s to appear at auction.”Lichtenstein,” said Alexander Rotter, co-head of Sotheby’s worldwide contemporary art department. “Dating from the key period and drawing on the artist’s most important theme of romance and love, the painting is one of the most significant Lichtenstein’s to appear at auction.”
In the 53 years it has been around, the work has only had two owners and currently belongs in the collection of Stefan T. Edlis, a wealthy Chicago businessman and philanthropist.
He commented: “Having amazed me from the moment I saw it, I find The Ring as beautiful today as it was all those years ago. We have lived with this iconic painting for nearly 20 years and hope it brings as much pleasure to the new owner as it has to me and my family.”
Prior to that it belonged to Jean Marie Rossi, a renowned French antiques dealer who had snapped up the painting in 1963 from the Ileanna Sonnabend Gallery in Paris. At the age of 25, he spent $1,000 (£672) in today’s money for this seminal work of art.
That this painting can possibly sell more than $50 million is testament to Lichtenstein’s popularity at auction. His work is much sought after by both collectors and investors alike and although he isn’t yet courting the same elevated prices as his pop art contemporary Andy Warhol, there is every potential for that to happen.
While it has been in private hands for over half a century, The Ring (Engagement) has nevertheless featured in many seminal exhibitions, including at Tate (1968),Fondation Beyeler (1998) and, recently on a travelling retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Centre Pompidou (2012).
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