10 In-Demand Works on Artsy This Week

In this new weekly series, Artsy’s Curatorial team offers a look at the artworks that are currently gaining traction among collectors on Artsy. Looking at our internal data, we offer a selection of works that Artsy members are engaging with through inquiries, bids, page views, and saves. Ranging from large paintings by rising young talents to works on paper by established artists, the following pieces are culled from recent online auctions and art fairs hosted on Artsy, as well as exhibitions and works added by our gallery partners.

Secundino Hernández, Untitled (2020)

This new painting by the Madrid-based painter Secundino Hernández is currently being shown by Galerie Krinzinger at the first online-only edition of ARCOLisboa. The artist is also currently featured in a solo show at the gallery in Vienna.

Hernández, who also shows with Victoria Miro in London, has been attracting collectors’ interest for his bold, gestural canvases over the past decade. While his style recalls action painting of the 20th century, he often finds inspiration in the work of his Spanish forebears, such as El Greco, Diego Velázquez, and Joan Miró.

Jordan Nassar, Joy (2020)

The rising New York–based artist Jordan Nassar has recently gained esteem for his elegant, embroidered landscapes that incorporate patterns from traditional Palestinian embroidery. This Nassar piece, currently featured in Planned Parenthood’s online benefit auction, is gaining bids and saves on Artsy ahead of the auction’s June 19th closing date. Nassar, who shows with James Cohan and had a solo museum exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv last year, was featured in the 2019 edition of The Artsy Vanguard.

Stephen Ormandy, The Conversation (2020)

Artsy collectors have recently been saving this work by Stephen Ormandy, an Australian artist who creates bold, graphic canvases in vivid hues. The piece recently made its debut with Galerie Bessières at Art Paris’s online-only edition, which closes on June 20th. It’s also included in Artsy’s recent Fresh from the Studio collection, launched last Wednesday. In addition to his own art practice, the Sydney-based Ormandy is also well known for being one half of Dinosaur Designs, which he runs with his partner Louise Olsen.

Robert Nava, Serpent from the Garden (2018)

Yale MFA grad Robert Nava has been recognized as a promising young painter in recent months by several publications including Hypebeast and GQ. Nava is best known for depicting mythological creatures and monsters in bold, gestural scrawls. This crayon-and-pencil drawing will be featured in an upcoming online-exclusive show at House of Fine Art Gallery titled “Myth-Making.”

Dennis Osadebe, Saviour of the World (2020)

This canvas by Dennis Osadebe was featured in the artist’s solo show at Christopher Moller gallery in Cape Town earlier this year. The piece has gained attention recently, while Osadebe is also featured in a duo show at GR Gallery in New York, which has sold out. The Nigerian mixed-media artist works in a recognizable style he refers to as a “vibrant post-pop.” In response to the reductive use of the phrase “African art,” Osadebe coined the term “Neo-Africa.”

Diedrick Brackens, nuclear lovers (2020)

The Los Angeles–based artist Diedrick Brackens has developed a following for his striking tapestries, woven with figures that reflect on Black and queer identity. Brackens was due to have a solo show at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York this spring, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This piece was uploaded to Artsy by his other gallery, Various Small Fires, which included the piece in a group show that closes in July. A major career milestone came for Brackens in 2019, when he unveiled his first institutional solo show at the New Museum.

Chase Hall, Running from yesterday’s acquittal (2020)

In the wake of the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the young, Black man who was murdered while going for a run in late February, Chase Hall shared this moving piece on his Instagram with a message dedicated to the 25-year-old. Across his paintings and sculpture practice, Hall examines the history of racism in the United States. In 2019, he was featured in the two-person exhibition “Then & Now: Chase Hall and Cameron Welch” at Jenkins Johnson Gallery, curated by Antwaun Sargeant.

Katherine Bernhardt, Untitled (2019)

Katherine Bernhardt has garnered a fresh wave of interest in 2020. This watercolor, featuring one of her recurring subjects, the Pink Panther, was featured in the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s online benefit auction and sold for its presale estimate of $10,000. The Brooklyn-based artist is famed for her large-scale depictions of everyday items, as well as nostalgic cartoon characters; her most recent body of work, which was featured at Canada gallery in New York, features E.T. Bernhardt is also represented by Xavier Hufkens and Carl Freedman Gallery. During the COVID-19 crisis, Bernhardt has been in quarantine in Guatemala, where she’s been working and even painted an outdoor mural.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, SAMO

This piece by Jean-Michel Basquiat was a star lot at the sale Capsule Gallery Auction: Modern, Post War & Contemporary Art. A tarp with “SAMO” written across it, this was the first time the artist’s graffiti tag entered the market. The SAMO tag, a contraction of “same old shit,” was created by Basquiat and fellow artist Al Diaz when the pair were still in their teens, as an expression of angst. The tarp previously hung in artist Edvins Strautmanis’s SoHo home in New York, separating his living space and studio. Basquiat added the tag one day when he went to the home to crash on the family sofa, at the invitation of Edvins’s son Vincent. While Edvins angrily removed the tarp and replaced it with fresh one, Vincent kept a portion of the tagged tarp. The piece was included in the Capsule auction together with a number of works by Strautmanis. The piece sold for $71,875, nearly three times the high estimate of $25,000.

Cy Twombly, Flowers (1960/70)