There are 149 artworks listed in THE CATALOG for the May 18 Spring art auction at Bergamot Station hosted by Santa Monica Auctions. With the economy on shaky ground there may be bargains to be had from the work up for bid… so while you can peruse the catalog at the link above, here are the artworks that you might see me bidding on, my Top 20 picks from the 2025 edition of the Santa Monica Auctions Annual Spring Auction.
Here is Number One on my list:
My Top Pick has got to be this timeless classic. All the joy of youth and the class of Paris are captured in this iconic image. While the photograph for sale on May 18 was printed later on it is still a legit Cartier-Bresson and quite rare. Bring about 25 grand on your person and you might outbid me for it…
Next is my number two pick, and I actually have the wall space for it so if you aren’t there bidding against me you can come to my next Sunday Brunch to see it…
This is an almost perfect example of peak Ed Moses, then 51 years old at the top of his studio prowess. This one leans away from slick coloration, it’s a little riskier, edgier, which makes it all that much better. This is pure painting.
Next on the list, number three…
Before he was king of the Pop Art cafeteria, a young Wayne Thiebaud drew this poignant meditation on conformity, Pied Piper. It is weirdly reminiscent of the powerful small drawing “War” Jackson Pollock but still playing with Cubist themes (Cubism was newer to 1951 than Pop is to 2025 so understand he was in the mix). He lived into his 100s and drew this when he was just out of his 20s. I will never doubt the undercurrent of serious poetic intent in his work again. You cannot brush off his pie and gumball brushwork after seeing the roots here of his artistic soul.
Number 4:
What can I say, I am a sucker for the greatest twentieth century Los Angeles painter, Carlos Almaraz and this pastel has a timeless L.A. vibe with just the right combo of lucid sunlight and treacherous blurry smog. This is one the great-grandkids can flip at 22nd century Sotheby’s for a million or more.
Number 5…
It ain’t the source of the cover for Duran Duran’s RIO but it’ll do. Patrick Nagel defined the 1980s and then died. There is precious little original art by this man. And hand-painted? This might be your only chance! Get it while you can…
Next is my number six choice…
A little trivia: Before Bennet Roberts had his own gallery and before Richard Heller had his gallery they had the Richard Bennet Gallery and gave Kim Dingle a solo show and I was a nobody art student and thought I was in the center of the art universe going to the opening of the exhibit in which this small amazing artwork was featured. So it has sentimental value and, well hey, that is one tough kid there.
Coming in at number seven:
Do I give a hoot that it is from an estate edition of 75 prints? Hell no. Buying this print is literally purchasing America. You are bidding on owning an entire year of American history. David Bowie was singing about auctioneer Robert Berman when he sang The Man Who Sold The World and Santa Monica Auctions is selling the year 1962 in one bidding war and I am going to be in the thick of it.
And now for number 8…
This is not some patriotic statement, it is from Warhol’s Endangered Species print portfolio series. But then again, hey wait a minute, maybe it is a meditation on patriotism, you know 1983 when the right wing suddenly demanded we all be patriotically correct and salute the flag in their manner. Maybe just maybe this was Andy’s way of reminding us that there is more than one way to mourn the downward turn a nation had taken. The eagles themselves are doing well since this print was screened, the nation the eagle stands for, well, ugh…
Number Nine, Number Nine…
A charged meditation on the L.A. Riots from that tumultuous year. Call me sentimental but those were my good old days. Here, Alexander captures that feel for the city that we saw burn on television… and in person! The contrast between those vast helicopter shots of the gridded streets with the smoke and flame we could look out the window and actually see… or at least smell…
And rounding out the top ten…
Very little from the early 1990s retains any edge. This retains all of it.
Number 11:
In the history of Los Angeles art this is the most underrated artist you will ever find and one day when her market is incandescent you will curse me for outbidding you on this masterpiece.
Let’s make it a dozen with my twelfth pick in the draft…
Sure it might be eight and a half by eleven and okay it IS from an edition of 1,000. But it is signed and was made for the United Nations and while Keith Haring has imagery reproduced everywhere there are precious few true relics, and this is one and the prices on things like this are only going to go up, you’ve heard of inflation, right? Right!
Lucky 13 in our countdown follows:
As interesting as this image may be on a formal and narrative level, you must understand that the concept of women’s bodybuilding in 1980 was edgier than anything this side of punk. The late Lisa Lyon was THE pioneering female bodybuilder and captured here with cowboy boots is a bigger slice of cutting edge history than anything Urban Cowboy ever dreamed up of. As a bonus, this particular print (5″ x 5″when measured with frame) is signed by Lisa herself!
Number 14:
Painting is 10″ x 12″, framed 15′ x 17.5″
Another underrated Modernist master, a classic Hammersley is difficult to come by and the market is only going to heat up. Once a classic is bought, it is bought.
Number 15…
This is a photo of an empire at its precipice that ponders whether cultural subtleties can segue into historical archetypes. Will this be a reminder of what was, a misunderstood nostalgia two hundred years from now, or is there a timelessness crystalized herein that will remind anyone at anytime what it means to be human? Time will tell but the bidding at the auction will only take a few minutes so get your placard ready for this one, Lot 69 by the way.
Number 17:
Fresh from a triumphant solo show at Craig Krull Gallery last month, the Lozano market gets a test at auction with this fantastic Ladies De Lucha theme. An added bonus for art market nerds like myself will be the Bees Cutler Gallery sticker on the back. If you now, you know!
Number 18:
I could have chosen a Robert Motherwell or a Raymond Pettibon but sometimes you get captivated and this glowing slice of compositional perfection is captivating indeed.
Number 18:
Some artworks have something for everyone. This has more than enough for just about anyone and history will be kind to art from the turn of the millennium, that not so innocent era before everyone got so damn serious. Bill Barminsky is a genius for adding just the perfect amount of too much into everything he creates and this is a successful example.
Numer 19:
Nothing screams “I am an L.A. Art Collector” more convincingly than this sucker hanging in the foyer of your house. I walk in and see this, “Oh wow this is a SERIOUS collector,” is what goes through my head. This print (printed later but still signed by the man himself) is the closest thing to a must-have artwork in the auction.
Number 20:
Signed by Andy AND Mick!
Do I have to explain why this is cool? Don’t answer that. See you at the auction.