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a poster of a batman on the front page of the new york timesa poster of a batman standing in front of a newspapera close up of a comic book page with a picture of a man in a batman costumea drawing of a man in a batman costumean image of a picture of a picture of a window with writing on ita picture of a picture of a picture of a batman
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Paris Oise Enchères

152 - PAINTING “BATMAN IS NOW LOST” by Benjamin SPARK (1969)
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Estimate €800 - €1,200
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Description
PAINTING “BATMAN IS NOW LOST” by Benjamin SPARK (1969) Mixed media on canvas, signed and titled on the reverse. Canvas depicting the 1966 Batman in “The Caped Crusader”. Dimensions: 130 x 95 cm Good condition So, in the beginning, there is Benjamin Spark, the hidden son who suddenly appears before you, already an adult, his mind and brush in a state of effervescence, a complete stranger yet strangely familiar. “The great artist is the one who wasn’t on the programme,” as the critic and novelist Guy Scarpetta likes to point out. A son of Pop Art and Street Art, he embodies an unprecedented reconciliation between them – that of two cultures born of the street, one from the ‘high’, the other from the ‘low’; an unlikely yet inevitable meeting of two movements driven by opposing forces. He is undeniably a genre painter, focusing on the picturesque aspects of everyday life, but viewed through the eyes of a very specific category of individuals: superheroes, of whom he adopts a thoroughly Warholian conception, viewing their supreme power as the ability to make a lasting impression and penetrate every layer of consciousness; Consequently, Superman is every bit as significant as Mao, the Chanel logo or John Lennon, and Spark adds to this list the idols of his own generation: Basquiat, Daft Punk and SpongeBob. Spark admits: “Batman really moves me. He’s the only one without a superpower. To make up for that, he’s worked on his body and mind in a spirit of unity and harmony. And what’s more, he’s humble.” One can see the influence of Gudmundur ERRÓ, and the two met in 2011 at his Paris studio. Erro emphasises: “Benjamin Spark is someone who really knows how to draw and who has also developed considerably. I’ve only known him for three years, but in my entire career — and I’m eighty-three! — he’s the only artist who’s come to my studio to explain to me how he works. Normally, painters keep their little secrets to themselves. He, however, explained everything to me, absolutely everything. The way he makes enlargements, how he projects them like slides onto a screen, without hiding anything from me. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve, in a way, gained such an insight into an artist’s mind. He came with his computer and I had a feeling he’d be showing me a bit more the next day! We artists are always preoccupied with the future, with what comes next, but also with the idea that everything has already been done, that nothing more is possible, and so that future is a bit of a question mark."
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About the sale Treasures of the Past, Perspectives of Today
Auction location
Auction time 10/03/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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