ARTCESTRYRuth Asawa's wire sculpture heads to auction
A 1968 wire sculpture by Ruth Asawa is estimated at $800,000 to $1,200,000 in New York. Her first retrospective in Europe is on at Fondation Beyeler.
- Dates
- 18 October 2026 to 10 January 2027
- Opening hours
- Daily 10.00 to 18.00, Wednesday to 20.00
- Where
- Fondation Beyeler
Why it matters
The work began as a private commission in 1968 and now reaches the open market. Anyone can see her wider work at the retrospective until 10 January 2027.
A wire sculpture made for a Chicago collection in 1968 is now up for auction. Its first owner commissioned it directly from the artist, Ruth Asawa. Sotheby's lists the sculpture as lot 104, with an estimate (the price range the house expects the work to reach) of $800,000 to $1,200,000.
Its full title calls it a wall-mounted, tied-wire form with four branches, based on nature. Copper weld wire is the material, and it measures 71 by 71 by 11 inches. That is about 180 by 180 by 28 centimetres. An identifying tag from the artist comes with the work.
Live bidding starts at 12:00 AM GMT on 17 November. By our sums, that is the evening of 16 November in New York. Sale pages list the wider auction in New York from 7 to 16 November 2026.
The context
Asawa lived from 1926 to 2013, and her estate is named on the lot page. Her work sits near lots by David Hockney, Susan Rothenberg and Brice Marden. Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly and Willem de Kooning appear earlier in the sale.
Meanwhile, a show in Europe
Fondation Beyeler is showing the first retrospective of Asawa in Europe. It runs from 18 October 2026 to 10 January 2027. Wire and bronze sculptures, drawings, prints, paintings and works in public spaces are all included.
Two partners, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, stand behind the show. The foundation developed this presentation. In its text, Asawa blurred the lines between abstraction and figuration, and between art and craft. She turned "the simplest materials into fascinating objects," it adds.
Doors are open from 10.00 to 18.00 each day, and to 20.00 on Wednesdays. A free entry scheme for children and young adults up to 25 has backing from the Thomas & Doris Ammann Foundation. Tickets are booked by time slot on the foundation's site.
Our view
Few of us will bid $800,000, yet the sale and the show tell one story. One work was made for a private collection in 1968, and the other show tracks a whole career.
I will admire the wire from a safe distance, wallet firmly closed.
Would you visit?
Provenance
- Ruth Asawa - Untitled (S.871, Wall-Mounted Tied-Wire, Closed-Center, | Sotheby's
- Ruth Asawa - Beyeler | Fondation Beyeler
- The Now and Contemporary Evening Auction - 2026 - Sotheby's | Sotheby's
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