Lot 124

William Nelson Copley, American (1919-1996), abstract composition with rabbit and crucifix, 1972, felt tip marker and gouache on paper, 9 3/4"H x 8 3/4"W

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William Nelson Copley, American (1919-1996), abstract composition with rabbit and crucifix, 1972, felt tip marker and gouache on paper, 9 3/4"H x 8 3/4"W

Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000

Starting Bid: $1,000

(0 Bids)

June 24, 2026 3:00 PM EDT
Live Auction
Indianapolis, IN, US

Description:

William Nelson Copley
American, (1919-1996)
abstract composition with rabbit and crucifix, 1972
felt tip marker and gouache on paper
signed and dated lower right.

Biography from RoGallery:
Only after he opened his own gallery in California in 1947 did William Copley begin to paint for himself. Since then, his work has appeared in such museums as the Museum of Modern Art, N.Y.; Art Institute of Chicago, and the Tate Gallery in London. The magic in his work comes from his ability to capture his inventive imagination on canvas and the print medium. Copley's love for intricate and complicated design is evident in any one of his works. It is not unusual for him to blend stripes, polk-a-dots, plaids and checkers into a single, striking image. Born in New York in 1919 and educated at Yale University, Copley has emerged as primarily a surrealist.

Mr. Copley led a charmed life that included not only painting but also art dealing and collecting and philanthropy. Born in New York City in 1919, he was orphaned as an infant and adopted by Ira C. Copley, a newspaper tycoon who owned 16 newspapers in Chicago and San Diego. He attended Yale University and worked briefly as a reporter for The San Diego Tribune.

But a friend introduced Mr. Copley to Surrealist painting, and he became friendly with the colony of expatriate Surrealists then in Los Angeles, including Man Ray and Max Ernst. In 1947 he opened a gallery there to show their work, but closed it when nothing sold, his failure as a salesman of Surrealist art marking the start of his careers as a collector and artist. Over the years he amassed one of the world's most respected collections of Surrealist art, which included Man Ray's unforgettable image of large red lips floating above the landscape. The collection was sold at auction in 1979 for $6.7 million, at the time the highest total for the auction of a single owner's collection in the United States.

Mr. Copley spent most of the 50's and early 60's living and working in Paris, where his friendship with the Surrealists made him a welcome member of their movement. But the style he perfected was Surrealist only in its emphasis on uninhibited expressions of the libido. His cartoonish figures had affinities to Pop Art, which they presaged, and drew from American folk art.

In 1953, Mr. Copley and his second wife, Noma Ratner, founded the William and Noma Copley Foundation, later known as the Cassandra Foundation, which gave small grants to artists. The foundation also gave Marcel Duchamp's last work, Etant Donnes, to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Mr. Copley had been one of the few people to see it before then; Duchamp had worked on it in secret for 20 years.

  • Dimensions: 9 3/4"H x 8 3/4"W
  • Medium: felt tip marker and gouache on paper

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $49 $5
$50 $99 $10
$100 $199 $20
$200 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $4,999 $200
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 + $2,500