ArtWorthy 09:
John Wesley

ArtWorthy03.22.2025

Guess The Value

JOHN WESLEY (1928-2022)
"Man Regarding Couch"
signed and dated 1987 (on the reverse)
acrylic on canvas
66 ¼ by 66 ¼ in. (168.3 by 168.3 cm.)

John Wesley began showing his work at the Robert Elkon Gallery in 1963. Donald Judd became an early supporter of Wesley’s work at that time. In a review of that first New York show he wrote “...the forms selected and shapes to which they are unobtrusively altered, the order used, and the small details are humorous and goofy.” Initially considered in alignment with pop artists of the early 60s, Wesley consistently produced works of such a subtle and subversive nature as to put him in a category of his own.

Executed during a period when Wesley’s style had matured into its characteristic flatness and pastel uniformity, Man Regarding Couch exemplifies his signature merging of popular imagery and interior fantasy. Previously exhibited in the artists 2001 retrospective at P.S.1, it remains an iconic example of Wesley’s persistent refusal to align his work too neatly with Pop or Surrealism, leaving it, instead, to hover in a suggestive space between dream and waking life.

The painting is coming from the collection of AG Rosen who sponsored the exhibition catalogue of Wesley’s MoMA PS1 retrospective. It will be offered in a single-owner sale at Sotheby’s New York on December 12, 2024, carrying an estimate of $50,000–70,000 USD.

What will it sell for?

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