Two of our modern and contemporary highlights this November come from American artists who draw inspiration from their surroundings in very different ways.

First is Jim Dine (American, b. 1935), an Ohio-born multimedia artist who has been associated over the years with Neo-Dada, Pop Art, and Abstract Expressionism. Dine has often utilized found objects in his work, including sculptures influenced by classical Greece and a well-known collection of Pinocchio statues, and continued to take inspiration from the everyday in his two-dimensional pieces. Dine’s 1962 exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum, titled New Painting of Common Objects, celebrated the ordinary with depictions of neckties, tools, and hats, displayed not as they so commonly were as background objects, but front and center, the star of the painting.

During this period, Dine landed on bathrobes while searching for a way to reinvent the self-portrait. Dine sought to depict the self without a face, and thus adopted an object most intimate and familiar with which to experiment, using different styles and methods to manipulate the mundane robe. The piece in this month’s auction is titled Kindergarten Robes and dated to 1983. This large-scale woodcut print shows two coarsely rendered robes, tied at the waist with sleeves positioned toward the hips, in large swaths of yellow, blue, red, and green. The absence of a body within the robes is notable, but their well-worn wrinkles imply that it does have a history, and its positioning (which is the most frequently seen in Dine’s robes) imbues the empty articles with their own personality. Kindergarten Robes is being offered with an estimate of $6,000–$9,000.

Brian Alfred is a contemporary artist and musician originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After earning a fine arts degrees from Penn State and Yale and attending an artist’s residency at the Skohegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Alfred held successful solo shows at galleries in Tokyo, London, and New York City. Alfred’s interest in blending mediums includes a career in music that overlaps with the visual arts, and many of his animation videos feature soundtracks from sonic collaborators.

Alfred’s paintings often depict stagnant cityscapes, skylines, and landscapes devoid of people. The precise, flat method with which Alfred applies color to canvas creates a surreal atmosphere in which the world around us is reduced to form atmosphere. The acrylic on canvas, titled Overpass, in our November sale depicts a large freeway overpass with gray bridges crisscrossing one another over a pale blue sky. Patches of grass are visible below, and tall signs hover on the right side, advertising gas, food, and lodging to the invisible passers-by. The starkness of the canvas is punctuated by the absence of even one car on the road, hovering in a place between peace and unease. Overpass will be offered with an estimate of $8,000–$12,000.