Seraphine Pick Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Seraphine Pick Art Value Price Guide

Aug. 09, 2021
SÉRAPHINE PICK Where Have You Been
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
Séraphine Pick Where Have You Been 1999 oil on canvas signed Séraphine Pick and dated 1999 in brushpoint lower right 910 x 660mm PROVENANCE Private collection, Auckland. Acquired from Brooke/Gifford Gallery, Christchurch, 1999. EXHIBITIONS Where have you been? (Frances Hodgkins Fellowship 1999 exhibition), Hocken Library, Dunedin, 2000. Séraphine Pick – Are They Searching For The Same Things? Essay by NEIL TALBOT Séraphine Pick has maintained an excellent painting career for decades. Her paintings are things of wonder, from her earlier dreamscape-surrealist work, to the lighter, more painterly work of the 2010s and 2020s. A consistent thread through her work of all eras, is its quality, and the clear dedication Pick has brought to realising great painting. Seeing a significant grouping of Pick’s work from across the decades offers an intriguing glimpse into the mind and working methods of the artist. This group of three works features one from the 1990s and two from the mid 2010s, presenting an insightful precis of her overall practice. The earlier work in this selection is Where Have You Been (Lot 49), an oil painting from 1999. The artists’ works from this era have proved highly desirable to collectors and institutions, particularly in recent years. The work is highly detailed, filled with the symbolic and spectral imagery that has made Pick’s work of this era so distinctive and sought after. The figure of a woman is situated in the lower right of the image, engaged in some contemplative ritual or meditation, her back to the viewer. Her outstretched hand holds a small, potted cactus. A spectre, seemingly emanating from the woman stares out at the viewer. Other smaller figures are in view – some apparition-like, others more corporeal. The image is fully immersed in the dream-like symbolism of the artists’ work from this period. Pick’s more recent work has featured a lyrical treatment of paint, with large areas of translucent washes, paint runs, and hints of raw canvas complimenting figures and landscapes. These paintings are more immediate, less laborious, exploring the beauty of light marks on a canvas. Complex layers, hand painted and generative allow space for a sincere love of painting to enter the visual conversation. In this one can see the ways in which the artist has combined intuitive approaches to paint with more analytical decision making to arrive at resolved paintings that are immensely satisfying to view. These paintings also appear to have drawn on sourced imagery, rather than images from the artists’ own psyche and personal experience. The two works of this later era included for discussion here were produced between 2013 and 2015. These paintings shift away from the symbolic dreamscapes of her earlier works, and into territory that is, at a glance, more convivial. Yet the content is far from superficial, showing aspects of contemporary human experience that are psychologically complex and nuanced. The two paintings each show an individual figure, one inebriated and vulnerable, the other blissful or contemplative. Blue Hand (Lot 48) is from Pick’s 2013/2014 painting series, ‘Wankered’, which made use of internet sourced images of inebriated people in compromised or funny positions. This painting, an oil on linen work from 2013, shows a drunk woman passed out on a public bench. Easy Living Study (Lot 47) is an acrylic on canvas work from 2015. Showing an enraptured hippie in a sun-drenched field of flowers, this work was the precursor to one of Pick’s most memorable paintings in recent years, the titular work from her Easy Living series. These more recent works are drawn from collective imagery – photos people have put on the internet for some purpose, an intriguing contemporary human behavioural phenomenon. Pick has utilised these images as source material for beautifully rendered, evocative paintings. Easy Living Study in particular makes use of a lighter, more radiant palette. It has an almost religious or psychedelic aspect and glorious paint application. Blue Hand is darker in content and palette, yet its gestural application of paint is similarly exceptional. Collectively, these works read as a fascinating cross section of visual culture across a number of decades, adding further depth to Pick’s extraordinary career output. In 2015, a major show of Pick’s work titled White Noise was shown at The Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt. A book was launched in conjunction with the show, and it featured an essay by Sian van Dyk’s titled, Everything Old is New Again¹. Van Dyck explored Pick’s painting against the backdrop of the 21st Century’s proliferation of digital culture, and made some astute observations about the artist and her practice. “What my subject choice means is initially unconscious, but becomes conscious because people are always asking me what it’s about,” van Dyck quotes Pick, revealing how an artist’s understanding of an artwork can continue to develop after its completion. Van Dyk, looking at overarching themes in image content, asked, “What are the connections between festival goers at Woodstock and today’s teenagers who operate in a world of social media? Are they searching for the same things?” It may be that the utopia an earlier generation sought in counterculture and psychedelics, today’s youth looks for in the ever-shifting sands of technological development and internet memes. Whatever the case, Pick has found masterful means to transform this content into brilliant, absorbing painting. 1 White Noise, 2015. The Dowse Art Museum (Book).
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Aug. 09, 2021
SÉRAPHINE PICK Blue Hand
Est: $20,000 - $26,000
Séraphine Pick Blue Hand 2013 oil on linen signed Séraphine Pick and dated 2013 in brushpoint lower right 660 x 915mm PROVENANCE Private collection, Wellington. Séraphine Pick – Are They Searching For The Same Things? Essay by NEIL TALBOT Séraphine Pick has maintained an excellent painting career for decades. Her paintings are things of wonder, from her earlier dreamscape-surrealist work, to the lighter, more painterly work of the 2010s and 2020s. A consistent thread through her work of all eras, is its quality, and the clear dedication Pick has brought to realising great painting. Seeing a significant grouping of Pick’s work from across the decades offers an intriguing glimpse into the mind and working methods of the artist. This group of three works features one from the 1990s and two from the mid 2010s, presenting an insightful precis of her overall practice. The earlier work in this selection is Where Have You Been (Lot 49), an oil painting from 1999. The artists’ works from this era have proved highly desirable to collectors and institutions, particularly in recent years. The work is highly detailed, filled with the symbolic and spectral imagery that has made Pick’s work of this era so distinctive and sought after. The figure of a woman is situated in the lower right of the image, engaged in some contemplative ritual or meditation, her back to the viewer. Her outstretched hand holds a small, potted cactus. A spectre, seemingly emanating from the woman stares out at the viewer. Other smaller figures are in view – some apparition-like, others more corporeal. The image is fully immersed in the dream-like symbolism of the artists’ work from this period. Pick’s more recent work has featured a lyrical treatment of paint, with large areas of translucent washes, paint runs, and hints of raw canvas complimenting figures and landscapes. These paintings are more immediate, less laborious, exploring the beauty of light marks on a canvas. Complex layers, hand painted and generative allow space for a sincere love of painting to enter the visual conversation. In this one can see the ways in which the artist has combined intuitive approaches to paint with more analytical decision making to arrive at resolved paintings that are immensely satisfying to view. These paintings also appear to have drawn on sourced imagery, rather than images from the artists’ own psyche and personal experience. The two works of this later era included for discussion here were produced between 2013 and 2015. These paintings shift away from the symbolic dreamscapes of her earlier works, and into territory that is, at a glance, more convivial. Yet the content is far from superficial, showing aspects of contemporary human experience that are psychologically complex and nuanced. The two paintings each show an individual figure, one inebriated and vulnerable, the other blissful or contemplative. Blue Hand (Lot 48) is from Pick’s 2013/2014 painting series, ‘Wankered’, which made use of internet sourced images of inebriated people in compromised or funny positions. This painting, an oil on linen work from 2013, shows a drunk woman passed out on a public bench. Easy Living Study (Lot 47) is an acrylic on canvas work from 2015. Showing an enraptured hippie in a sun-drenched field of flowers, this work was the precursor to one of Pick’s most memorable paintings in recent years, the titular work from her Easy Living series. These more recent works are drawn from collective imagery – photos people have put on the internet for some purpose, an intriguing contemporary human behavioural phenomenon. Pick has utilised these images as source material for beautifully rendered, evocative paintings. Easy Living Study in particular makes use of a lighter, more radiant palette. It has an almost religious or psychedelic aspect and glorious paint application. Blue Hand is darker in content and palette, yet its gestural application of paint is similarly exceptional. Collectively, these works read as a fascinating cross section of visual culture across a number of decades, adding further depth to Pick’s extraordinary career output. In 2015, a major show of Pick’s work titled White Noise was shown at The Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt. A book was launched in conjunction with the show, and it featured an essay by Sian van Dyk’s titled, Everything Old is New Again¹. Van Dyck explored Pick’s painting against the backdrop of the 21st Century’s proliferation of digital culture, and made some astute observations about the artist and her practice. “What my subject choice means is initially unconscious, but becomes conscious because people are always asking me what it’s about,” van Dyck quotes Pick, revealing how an artist’s understanding of an artwork can continue to develop after its completion. Van Dyk, looking at overarching themes in image content, asked, “What are the connections between festival goers at Woodstock and today’s teenagers who operate in a world of social media? Are they searching for the same things?” It may be that the utopia an earlier generation sought in counterculture and psychedelics, today’s youth looks for in the ever-shifting sands of technological development and internet memes. Whatever the case, Pick has found masterful means to transform this content into brilliant, absorbing painting. 1 White Noise, 2015. The Dowse Art Museum (Book).
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Aug. 09, 2021
SÉRAPHINE PICK Easy Living Study
Est: $12,000 - $15,000
Séraphine Pick Easy Living Study 2015 acrylic on canvas signed S PICK and dated 15 in brushpoint lower right 550 x 700mm PROVENANCE Private collection, Wellington. Séraphine Pick – Are They Searching For The Same Things? Essay by NEIL TALBOT Séraphine Pick has maintained an excellent painting career for decades. Her paintings are things of wonder, from her earlier dreamscape-surrealist work, to the lighter, more painterly work of the 2010s and 2020s. A consistent thread through her work of all eras, is its quality, and the clear dedication Pick has brought to realising great painting. Seeing a significant grouping of Pick’s work from across the decades offers an intriguing glimpse into the mind and working methods of the artist. This group of three works features one from the 1990s and two from the mid 2010s, presenting an insightful precis of her overall practice. The earlier work in this selection is Where Have You Been (Lot 49), an oil painting from 1999. The artists’ works from this era have proved highly desirable to collectors and institutions, particularly in recent years. The work is highly detailed, filled with the symbolic and spectral imagery that has made Pick’s work of this era so distinctive and sought after. The figure of a woman is situated in the lower right of the image, engaged in some contemplative ritual or meditation, her back to the viewer. Her outstretched hand holds a small, potted cactus. A spectre, seemingly emanating from the woman stares out at the viewer. Other smaller figures are in view – some apparition-like, others more corporeal. The image is fully immersed in the dream-like symbolism of the artists’ work from this period. Pick’s more recent work has featured a lyrical treatment of paint, with large areas of translucent washes, paint runs, and hints of raw canvas complimenting figures and landscapes. These paintings are more immediate, less laborious, exploring the beauty of light marks on a canvas. Complex layers, hand painted and generative allow space for a sincere love of painting to enter the visual conversation. In this one can see the ways in which the artist has combined intuitive approaches to paint with more analytical decision making to arrive at resolved paintings that are immensely satisfying to view. These paintings also appear to have drawn on sourced imagery, rather than images from the artists’ own psyche and personal experience. The two works of this later era included for discussion here were produced between 2013 and 2015. These paintings shift away from the symbolic dreamscapes of her earlier works, and into territory that is, at a glance, more convivial. Yet the content is far from superficial, showing aspects of contemporary human experience that are psychologically complex and nuanced. The two paintings each show an individual figure, one inebriated and vulnerable, the other blissful or contemplative. Blue Hand (Lot 48) is from Pick’s 2013/2014 painting series, ‘Wankered’, which made use of internet sourced images of inebriated people in compromised or funny positions. This painting, an oil on linen work from 2013, shows a drunk woman passed out on a public bench. Easy Living Study (Lot 47) is an acrylic on canvas work from 2015. Showing an enraptured hippie in a sun-drenched field of flowers, this work was the precursor to one of Pick’s most memorable paintings in recent years, the titular work from her Easy Living series. These more recent works are drawn from collective imagery – photos people have put on the internet for some purpose, an intriguing contemporary human behavioural phenomenon. Pick has utilised these images as source material for beautifully rendered, evocative paintings. Easy Living Study in particular makes use of a lighter, more radiant palette. It has an almost religious or psychedelic aspect and glorious paint application. Blue Hand is darker in content and palette, yet its gestural application of paint is similarly exceptional. Collectively, these works read as a fascinating cross section of visual culture across a number of decades, adding further depth to Pick’s extraordinary career output. In 2015, a major show of Pick’s work titled White Noise was shown at The Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt. A book was launched in conjunction with the show, and it featured an essay by Sian van Dyk’s titled, Everything Old is New Again¹. Van Dyck explored Pick’s painting against the backdrop of the 21st Century’s proliferation of digital culture, and made some astute observations about the artist and her practice. “What my subject choice means is initially unconscious, but becomes conscious because people are always asking me what it’s about,” van Dyck quotes Pick, revealing how an artist’s understanding of an artwork can continue to develop after its completion. Van Dyk, looking at overarching themes in image content, asked, “What are the connections between festival goers at Woodstock and today’s teenagers who operate in a world of social media? Are they searching for the same things?” It may be that the utopia an earlier generation sought in counterculture and psychedelics, today’s youth looks for in the ever-shifting sands of technological development and internet memes. Whatever the case, Pick has found masterful means to transform this content into brilliant, absorbing painting. 1 White Noise, 2015. The Dowse Art Museum (Book).
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Nov. 23, 2020
SÉRAPHINE PICK And Be With You
Est: $60,000 - $80,000
Séraphine Pick And Be With You 2010 oil on linen signed S Pick and dated 2010 in brushpoint lower right 1650 x 2000mm PROVENANCE Private collection, Wellington. Acquired Hamish McKay Gallery, 2010. EXHIBITIONS Pocket Full of Rainbows, Hamish McKay Gallery, 2010
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Feb. 26, 2020
SERAPHINE PICK, Nude Bather, Watercolour
Est: $3,500 - $4,500
Signed & dated 2016
International Art Centre
Sep. 21, 2016
SÃRAPHINE PICK Untitled
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
SÃRAPHINE PICK Untitled oil on board 180mm x 118mm
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Sep. 21, 2016
SÃRAPHINE PICK Untitled
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
SÃRAPHINE PICK Untitled oil on board title inscribed on printed label affixed verso 120mm x 176mm
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Dec. 06, 2011
Seraphine Pick Untitled signed S. Pick and dated
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
Seraphine Pick Untitled signed S. Pick and dated 2005 in brushpoint lower right 610mm x 500mm
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Oct. 27, 2011
Seraphine Pick Moores Valley Signed and dated 2007
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
Seraphine Pick Moores Valley Signed and dated 2007 lower right 41cm x 52cm
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Mar. 29, 2011
Seraphine Pick
Est: $3,000 - $4,000
Seraphine Pick, Untitled, signed and dated 2002
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Nov. 25, 2010
Seraphine Pick Karin signed and dated 9. 4. 99;
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Seraphine Pick Karin signed and dated 9. 4. 99; title...
ART+OBJECT
Sep. 21, 2010
Seraphine Pick Untitled signed and dated Nov 1996
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
Seraphine Pick Untitled signed and dated Nov 1996 1670mm x 1210mm
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Sep. 21, 2010
Seraphine Pick Untitled signed and dated 1999
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Seraphine Pick Untitled signed and dated 1999 320mm x 240mm
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Jul. 27, 2010
Seraphine Pick 'Untitled' mixed media on paper
Est: $450 - $750
Seraphine Pick 'Untitled' mixed media on paper signed & dated 13.4.94 290 x 180mm
Watsons Auction House
Jul. 27, 2010
Seraphine Pick 'Reclining Figure on Black Bed'
Est: $450 - $750
Seraphine Pick 'Reclining Figure on Black Bed' mixed media on paper signed & dated 12.4.94 290 x 180mm
Watsons Auction House
Jun. 24, 2010
Seraphine Pick My Beautiful is Not Yours oil on
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Seraphine Pick My Beautiful is Not Yours oil on canvasboard, triptych title inscribed, signed and dated '98 verso 150 x 100mm: each panel 150 x 300mm: overall Illustrated: 'Thrill Me Everyday': The Celia Dunlop Collection (Wellington, 2009), p. 120.
ART+OBJECT
Jun. 24, 2010
Seraphine Pick Untitled oil on canvasboard,
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Seraphine Pick Untitled oil on canvasboard, diptych title inscribed, signed and dated 1998 verso 150 x 100mm: each panel 150 x 200mm: overall
ART+OBJECT
Jun. 24, 2010
Seraphine Pick Untitled No. 2 oil on canvasboard,
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Seraphine Pick Untitled No. 2 oil on canvasboard, diptych title inscribed, signed and dated 1998 verso 150 x 100mm: each panel 150 x 200mm: overall Illustrated: 'Thrill Me Everyday': The Celia Dunlop Collection (Wellington, 2009), p. 148.
ART+OBJECT
Jun. 24, 2010
Seraphine Pick Untitled oil on canvas signed and
Est: $5,000 - $8,000
Seraphine Pick Untitled oil on canvas signed and dated 1998 1060 x 756mm
ART+OBJECT
Mar. 30, 2009
Seraphine Pick Untitled signed and dated 1998
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
Seraphine Pick Untitled signed and dated 1998 1520mm x 1050mm
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
May. 13, 2008
Seraphine Pick Untitled (Stag Man) graphite and
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
Seraphine Pick Untitled (Stag Man) graphite and acrylic on board signed and dated '93 verso 200 x 200mm
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers
Oct. 16, 2007
Seraphine Pick Untitled (Wolfman) acrylic and
Est: $800 - $1,200
Seraphine Pick Untitled (Wolfman) acrylic and graphite on board signed and dated '93 original Claybrook Gallery label affixed verso 200mm x 200mm The pillow stabbed with needles tells me this has something to do with a dream... no - a nightmare. Watching one of Picks paintings is like watching objects in the clouds - you have to look carefully and keep looking because those fragments, figments, ghosts slip in and out of the familiar - constantly unsettling what you thought was there. Hers is the kind of painting that you can't recall properly when it's not in front of you, the kind of artwork you'd describe to someone all excited, only for them to tell you later that it's not at all how you described it... you wonder if you're going mad... or if the painting's playing tricks on you... Fading in and out, Pick's compositions, like dreamscapes and nightmares inspire a reading that is more a bodily reaction to the hypothetical situations she creates than a literal sum of its parts. They represent often the half beings, the supernatural, the meta-human and what the normal call abnormal. It is what some people describe as uncanny - what is familiar but somehow bizarre - déjà vu, missing limbs, the of-this-world-but-not-of-this-world that we encounter in fictions derived from the real by literature, art and the mind in imagination and belief. Seraphine Pick is represented by Michael Lett, Auckland and Hamish McKay, Wellington. IK
Webb’s – Specialist Auctioneers