Name: Elena and Cressie Get Ready for the Party 3
Brand: Julian Opie
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Julian Opie's Elena and Cressie Get Ready for the Party 3 (signed) is estimated to be worth between £2,000 and £3,000. There have been two sales at auction, both of which occurred in 2020 on the 14th of May and the 18th of August. The hammer price over the last five years has ranged from £2,050 in May 2020 to £3,200 in August 2020, with an average annual appreciation of 1%. This screenprint is a rare artwork with an auction history of two sales since its entry to the market in May 2020. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 30.

Auction Date

Auction House

Location

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

September 2024

Phillips London

United Kingdom

August 2020

Bonhams Online

United Kingdom

May 2020

Bonhams Los Angeles

United States

Meaning & Analysis

Elena And Cressie Get Ready For The Party 3 is a print from Julian Opie’s 2011 Elena And Cressie Get Ready For The Party series. This print is a close-up portrait of a young woman, drastically cropped so as to show only her facial features as she looks up to the left-hand corner. The sitter’s gaze reaches beyond the image frame but has an emptiness to it that distances the viewer from the subject.

Stemming from his interest in the human form and studying the figure in full length, from the 1990s Opie began to focus more closely on the heads of his models. Elena And Cressie Get Ready For The Party 3 is dynamic in its dramatically cropped composition that works to focus the viewer’s gaze on the sitter’s eyes. Depicted in his late graphic style, Opie has incorporated a great level of detail in his rendering of the subject’s eyes, thus setting this portrait apart from much of the artist’s earlier works.

Although Opie works from photographs of real people, the viewer is aware of the abstract, computer-generated element of the image that spurs a sense of the unfamiliar. The sitter is startling in her uncanny appearance and is presented like an image one might find in a comic book or animation programme.

Julian Opie, born in 1958, dances through the contemporary art scene with a distinctive digital allure. A trailblazer of the 1980s New British Sculpture movement, Opie's work is a highly stylised blend of Pop Art and minimalism which navigates the intersection of technology and visual expression. From his early experiments with computer-generated art to his iconic portraits and animated installations, Opie's work exudes a captivating simplicity. His signature style, marked by bold lines and reduced forms, is internationally recognisable and has made him a key player in British contemporary art.