Julian Opie

£3,150-£4,600 VALUE (EST.)

$6,000-$8,500 VALUE (EST.)

$5,500-$8,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥26,000-¥40,000 VALUE (EST.)

€3,600-€5,000 VALUE (EST.)

$30,000-$45,000 VALUE (EST.)

¥500,000-¥740,000 VALUE (EST.)

$3,850-$5,500 VALUE (EST.)

-8% AAGR

This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.

Auction Date

Auction House

Artwork

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

December 2021

Sotheby's New York - United States

Cars - Signed Print

June 2004

Bonhams New Bond Street - United Kingdom

Cars - Signed Print

Meaning & Analysis

Cars is a signed screen print made by the renowned British artist Julian Opie in 1999. Coming in an edition size of 40 the print shows three cars in motion that appear to be zooming across the composition. The cars are depicted in a simple style and they lack any identifying detail as to what make they are. The cars are rendered in bright, flat colours with red, white and yellow dominating the print. The three vehicles are captured driving down a large road, however Opie does not add any road signs, meaning it is impossible to locate where the cars are driving.

Cars is one of a series of six screen prints produced by Opie from 1998-1999. The prints belong to his Cars? Collection which was printed by Advanced Graphics and published by the Alan Cristea Gallery in London which published many other collections by the artist, including Nature 2.

The prints in Opie’s Cars? collection were all made from hand-cut stencils and based on photographs taken by the artist which he then altered using a computer. The subjects of the Cars? prints resonate with many of the other artworks produced by Opie in the mid 1990s which capture the artist’s fascination with modern life and desire to represent the mundane and quotidian.