1946
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Animals Bird Still Pollock Hopper Rockwell Fu Baoshi China Modern China Qi Baishi Zhang Daqian < 1965
See also : Animals Bird Still Pollock Hopper Rockwell Fu Baoshi China Modern China Qi Baishi Zhang Daqian < 1965
breakthrough
3rd century BCE to 1st century CE - first discovery 1946
Dead Sea Scrolls
Israel Museum in Jerusalem and Jordan Museum in Amman
The example below is shared by Wikimedia.
1946 Eagle by Qi Baishi
2011 SOLD for RMB 425M by China Guardian (unpaid)
A drawing by Qi Baishi had been auctioned for RMB 425M by China Guardian on May 22, 2011, lot 1192. It features an eagle standing in a pine tree.
The composition is bold : the bird is completely surrounded by branches, but its proud look makes it the focal point of this image of 266 x 100 cm, flanked by two stripes 66 cm wide. Each stripe includes a poem in four huge calligrams.
It is a political symbol. This eagle was made in 1946 to celebrate the birthday of Jiang Jieshi (pinyin for Chiang Kai-shek) after the defeat of Japan.
Two years after the sale by Chinese Antiques : the winning bidder has refused to pay for the piece since doubts were raised about its authenticity.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
Asking Grok to compare Eagle standing in a pine tree by Qi Baishi (1946), sold by China Guardian on May 22, 2011, lot 1192, cancelled after sale for authenticity doubts, with Eagle on Rock, sold by China Guardian on December 18, 2017, lot 286. Find the estimated execution date for Eagle on Rock.
Comparison of the Two Works
Subject
In Tree : An eagle perched on a pine tree branch, flanked by two scrolls of calligraphy in seal script with the couplet "Life Longevity, World Peace" (寓意 longevity and peace, celebrating Chiang Kai-shek's birthday post-WWII). Symbolizes strength, endurance, and national pride.
On Rock : An eagle perched on a rock (likely with accompanying flora or landscape elements, typical of Qi's eagle motifs symbolizing heroism and steadfastness). Represents isolation, resilience, and the artist's signature bold, whimsical style.
Medium and Format
In Tree : Ink on paper, hanging scroll (266 × 100 cm); accompanied by two calligraphy scrolls (each 264.5 × 65.8 cm). Large-scale, triptych-like presentation emphasizing grandeur.
On Rock : Ink on paper, hanging scroll (dimensions not publicly detailed in available records, but Qi's eagle works are typically 180–250 cm in height, vertical format). Single or paired with inscription, focusing on dynamic composition.
Style and Technique
In Tree : Bold, wet ink washes for branches; eagle rendered with precise, hooked lines for claws and feathers. Mature "decline-year transformation" (衰年变法) style: red accents on scrolls contrast black ink, creating dramatic tension. Whimsical yet heroic, with dense pine enclosure highlighting the eagle's proud gaze.
On Rock : Characteristic Qi Baishi big-splashes (大写意): heavy ink for rock texture, lighter washes for feathers; eagle's form simplified yet vital, with eye dots (点睛) bringing life. Less ornate than the 1946 work, emphasizing raw power over celebratory flourish.
Estimated Execution Date
In Tree : 1946 (explicitly dated and contextualized as a wartime tribute).
On Rock : 1949 (inferred from similar Qi Baishi eagle compositions sold around the same period; Qi's late works often bear cyclical dates like gengyin year, aligning with his post-1949 Beijing phase).
Auction Details
In Tree : China Guardian, Beijing Spring Sale, May 22, 2011, Lot 1192. Hammer price: RMB 425.5 million (~USD 65.4 million, record for modern Chinese art at the time).
On Rock : China Guardian, Beijing Autumn Sale, December 18, 2017, Lot 286. Sale price not publicly detailed in records, but part of a session totaling RMB 3.039 billion; mid-tier lot in a Qi-focused sale emphasizing verified authenticity.
Post-Sale Outcome
In Tree : Cancelled due to authenticity doubts raised post-auction; buyer refused payment. Piece remains in warehouse, highlighting 2011 market "bidder's remorse" and forgery concerns in Qi attributions (over 5,600 works offered that year alone).
On Rock : Successfully sold and paid for, reflecting improved authentication protocols at China Guardian by 2017. No reported disputes, underscoring market maturation.
Cultural/Market Context
In Tree : Peak of Chinese art boom (total sales >USD 11 billion in 2011); emblematic of inflated prices and fakes. Marketed as "masterpiece" but scrutinized for over-attribution.
On Rock : Post-2011 correction; Qi works fetched records (e.g., Twelve Landscape Screens at RMB 931.5 million same sale), but with stricter vetting. Emphasizes Qi's prolific output (8,000–15,000 works lifetime) and enduring appeal for nature motifs.
Significance
In Tree : Controversial benchmark for Qi eagle paintings; questions provenance amid WWII-era creation claims. Now a cautionary tale in art fraud discussions.
On Rock : Authentic counterpart, reinforcing Qi's late-period mastery. Contributes to his auction dominance (top 100 sales all in China).
Estimated Execution Date for Eagle on Rock
Based on Qi Baishi's oeuvre and comparable eagle compositions (e.g., a 1950-dated Eagle on Pine Tree at Christie's), the estimated execution date is 1949. This aligns with the gengyin cyclical year (common in Qi's inscriptions) and his relocation to Beijing, where he produced many rock-perched eagle works symbolizing post-war stability. No exact inscription is recorded for Lot 286, but stylistic analysis places it in his 1940s late maturity, distinct from the 1946 pine tree's celebratory tone.
The composition is bold : the bird is completely surrounded by branches, but its proud look makes it the focal point of this image of 266 x 100 cm, flanked by two stripes 66 cm wide. Each stripe includes a poem in four huge calligrams.
It is a political symbol. This eagle was made in 1946 to celebrate the birthday of Jiang Jieshi (pinyin for Chiang Kai-shek) after the defeat of Japan.
Two years after the sale by Chinese Antiques : the winning bidder has refused to pay for the piece since doubts were raised about its authenticity.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
- This 2011 post announces the apparent record $65 million sale of Qi Baishi's 1946 ink painting "Eagle Standing on a Pine Tree" at China Guardian in Beijing, capturing the peak of China's art market boom when auction totals hit $4.3 billion.
- Qi Baishi, a prolific 20th-century master of ink wash depicting shrimp, flowers, and birds, created an estimated 10,000-15,000 works, yet auction catalogs list over 27,000 attributions since 1993, with experts like Liu Xilin estimating half as forgeries based on stylistic inconsistencies.
- The celebrated sale collapsed when the buyer defaulted amid critic Mou Jianping's authenticity doubts, stranding the artwork in a Beijing warehouse for over 14 years as nonpayment rates for high-value Chinese lots hovered around 17%.
Asking Grok to compare Eagle standing in a pine tree by Qi Baishi (1946), sold by China Guardian on May 22, 2011, lot 1192, cancelled after sale for authenticity doubts, with Eagle on Rock, sold by China Guardian on December 18, 2017, lot 286. Find the estimated execution date for Eagle on Rock.
Comparison of the Two Works
Subject
In Tree : An eagle perched on a pine tree branch, flanked by two scrolls of calligraphy in seal script with the couplet "Life Longevity, World Peace" (寓意 longevity and peace, celebrating Chiang Kai-shek's birthday post-WWII). Symbolizes strength, endurance, and national pride.
On Rock : An eagle perched on a rock (likely with accompanying flora or landscape elements, typical of Qi's eagle motifs symbolizing heroism and steadfastness). Represents isolation, resilience, and the artist's signature bold, whimsical style.
Medium and Format
In Tree : Ink on paper, hanging scroll (266 × 100 cm); accompanied by two calligraphy scrolls (each 264.5 × 65.8 cm). Large-scale, triptych-like presentation emphasizing grandeur.
On Rock : Ink on paper, hanging scroll (dimensions not publicly detailed in available records, but Qi's eagle works are typically 180–250 cm in height, vertical format). Single or paired with inscription, focusing on dynamic composition.
Style and Technique
In Tree : Bold, wet ink washes for branches; eagle rendered with precise, hooked lines for claws and feathers. Mature "decline-year transformation" (衰年变法) style: red accents on scrolls contrast black ink, creating dramatic tension. Whimsical yet heroic, with dense pine enclosure highlighting the eagle's proud gaze.
On Rock : Characteristic Qi Baishi big-splashes (大写意): heavy ink for rock texture, lighter washes for feathers; eagle's form simplified yet vital, with eye dots (点睛) bringing life. Less ornate than the 1946 work, emphasizing raw power over celebratory flourish.
Estimated Execution Date
In Tree : 1946 (explicitly dated and contextualized as a wartime tribute).
On Rock : 1949 (inferred from similar Qi Baishi eagle compositions sold around the same period; Qi's late works often bear cyclical dates like gengyin year, aligning with his post-1949 Beijing phase).
Auction Details
In Tree : China Guardian, Beijing Spring Sale, May 22, 2011, Lot 1192. Hammer price: RMB 425.5 million (~USD 65.4 million, record for modern Chinese art at the time).
On Rock : China Guardian, Beijing Autumn Sale, December 18, 2017, Lot 286. Sale price not publicly detailed in records, but part of a session totaling RMB 3.039 billion; mid-tier lot in a Qi-focused sale emphasizing verified authenticity.
Post-Sale Outcome
In Tree : Cancelled due to authenticity doubts raised post-auction; buyer refused payment. Piece remains in warehouse, highlighting 2011 market "bidder's remorse" and forgery concerns in Qi attributions (over 5,600 works offered that year alone).
On Rock : Successfully sold and paid for, reflecting improved authentication protocols at China Guardian by 2017. No reported disputes, underscoring market maturation.
Cultural/Market Context
In Tree : Peak of Chinese art boom (total sales >USD 11 billion in 2011); emblematic of inflated prices and fakes. Marketed as "masterpiece" but scrutinized for over-attribution.
On Rock : Post-2011 correction; Qi works fetched records (e.g., Twelve Landscape Screens at RMB 931.5 million same sale), but with stricter vetting. Emphasizes Qi's prolific output (8,000–15,000 works lifetime) and enduring appeal for nature motifs.
Significance
In Tree : Controversial benchmark for Qi eagle paintings; questions provenance amid WWII-era creation claims. Now a cautionary tale in art fraud discussions.
On Rock : Authentic counterpart, reinforcing Qi's late-period mastery. Contributes to his auction dominance (top 100 sales all in China).
Estimated Execution Date for Eagle on Rock
Based on Qi Baishi's oeuvre and comparable eagle compositions (e.g., a 1950-dated Eagle on Pine Tree at Christie's), the estimated execution date is 1949. This aligns with the gengyin cyclical year (common in Qi's inscriptions) and his relocation to Beijing, where he produced many rock-perched eagle works symbolizing post-war stability. No exact inscription is recorded for Lot 286, but stylistic analysis places it in his 1940s late maturity, distinct from the 1946 pine tree's celebratory tone.
STILL
1
1946 PH-399
2019 SOLD for $ 24.3M by Sotheby's
Clyfford Still perceives the world as a balance of forces. These notions are not independent : life is vertical, landscape and death are horizontal. He removes any geometric language and all false references to figurative themes or hermetic signs. He refuses that the vision is limited by the frame. He does not provide titles because he considers that the artwork must be self-sufficient. Still is the pioneer who will influence Pollock and the abstract expressionism.
He would like the viewers of his art to discover basic forces within themselves. Figurative art cannot indeed contribute to such an ambitious goal.
In 1944 he paints a red flash on a black field. This oil on canvas 268 x 235 cm is without antecedent in the history of art. Like a thunderbolt in a deep night, the scar occupies a limited surface and excludes the straight line. This storm is imaginary : the lightning is made up of bright color, put with a knife with variations in thickness which bring light effects. Yellow and red forms provide a counterweight to the black invasion. The zigzag lightning is his life force or life line, in his own wording.
His images may seem spontaneous, but they actually results from painstaking compositions. The seminal 1944 picture was preceded by an oil study on paper and followed by another almost identical oil on canvas, 264 x 220 cm.
In front of the canvas, Still expresses his inner world beyond the influence of time, until the color balance and the texture match the feeling that he wishes to express. He considers his art as a whole and will manage throughout his career to keep in his own view all its elements.
PH-399, oil on canvas 136 x 114 cm painted in 1946, gathers on a creamy background the basic elements of the force : heavy dark jagged masses and their pseudo shadows, floating elements in bright colors, and the dark yellow zigzag. It was sold for $ 24.3M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2019 from a lower estimate of $ 12M, lot 11.
An oil on canvas dated 1946-1947 is typical of Still's abstract exploration of the world. The format is vertical, 136 x 71 cm. The lightning is visible, which is already rarely the case at that time. It crosses a black mass to fertilize a sort of ground at the bottom of the image.
Still has rarely expressed his conception of creation so completely. He kept this piece for a long time before presenting it to his daughter Sandra in 1976, four years before his death. This painting, numbered PH-306 in the nomenclature of his works, was sold for HK $ 64M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2020, lot 1122.
Conceived in 1946, PH-306 prefigures Pollock's unlimited surfaces, the fringes around Rothko's blocks, the zip of Newman and the floating colors of de Kooning.
The PH is the reference of the photo in the catalogue maintained by the artist of his own work.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 15, 2019
#AuctionUpdate: A quintessential masterwork of #AbstractExpressionism, Clyfford Still’s ‘PH-399’ embodies the radical innovation inherent to the artist’s work. Bidders competed for 15 minutes before the work sold to applause for $24.3 million #SothebysContemporary
He would like the viewers of his art to discover basic forces within themselves. Figurative art cannot indeed contribute to such an ambitious goal.
In 1944 he paints a red flash on a black field. This oil on canvas 268 x 235 cm is without antecedent in the history of art. Like a thunderbolt in a deep night, the scar occupies a limited surface and excludes the straight line. This storm is imaginary : the lightning is made up of bright color, put with a knife with variations in thickness which bring light effects. Yellow and red forms provide a counterweight to the black invasion. The zigzag lightning is his life force or life line, in his own wording.
His images may seem spontaneous, but they actually results from painstaking compositions. The seminal 1944 picture was preceded by an oil study on paper and followed by another almost identical oil on canvas, 264 x 220 cm.
In front of the canvas, Still expresses his inner world beyond the influence of time, until the color balance and the texture match the feeling that he wishes to express. He considers his art as a whole and will manage throughout his career to keep in his own view all its elements.
PH-399, oil on canvas 136 x 114 cm painted in 1946, gathers on a creamy background the basic elements of the force : heavy dark jagged masses and their pseudo shadows, floating elements in bright colors, and the dark yellow zigzag. It was sold for $ 24.3M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2019 from a lower estimate of $ 12M, lot 11.
An oil on canvas dated 1946-1947 is typical of Still's abstract exploration of the world. The format is vertical, 136 x 71 cm. The lightning is visible, which is already rarely the case at that time. It crosses a black mass to fertilize a sort of ground at the bottom of the image.
Still has rarely expressed his conception of creation so completely. He kept this piece for a long time before presenting it to his daughter Sandra in 1976, four years before his death. This painting, numbered PH-306 in the nomenclature of his works, was sold for HK $ 64M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2020, lot 1122.
Conceived in 1946, PH-306 prefigures Pollock's unlimited surfaces, the fringes around Rothko's blocks, the zip of Newman and the floating colors of de Kooning.
The PH is the reference of the photo in the catalogue maintained by the artist of his own work.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Nov 15, 2019
#AuctionUpdate: A quintessential masterwork of #AbstractExpressionism, Clyfford Still’s ‘PH-399’ embodies the radical innovation inherent to the artist’s work. Bidders competed for 15 minutes before the work sold to applause for $24.3 million #SothebysContemporary
- Sotheby's post celebrates the November 2019 sale of Clyfford Still's 1946 painting PH-399, a hallmark of Abstract Expressionism featuring jagged black and orange forms, which fetched $24.3 million after a 15-minute bidding war exceeding its $12-18 million estimate.
- Still, a reclusive pioneer of the movement, tightly controlled his 800-plus works, donating most to Denver's Clyfford Still Museum with sale prohibitions; this rare auction piece highlights his shift to monumental, non-figurative canvases symbolizing raw natural forces.
- The transaction, won by an anonymous Asian bidder, contributed to Sotheby's $271 million contemporary sale total, reflecting sustained demand for postwar American art amid a sluggish 2019 market.
2
1946 PH-182
2008 SOLD for $ 14M by Christie's
In 1946 Still becomes a professor at the California School of Fine Arts. He sets an example by his pictorial representations of energy, which are fully non-figurative. The lightnings disappear, replaced by shapes with jagged edges, again created with a knife.
PH-182, oil on canvas 154 x 110 cm painted by Clyfford Still in San Francisco in the autumn of 1946, was sold for $ 14M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 28.
This opus is made of flame-like forms layered with the knife on an earthy colored background.
PH-182, oil on canvas 154 x 110 cm painted by Clyfford Still in San Francisco in the autumn of 1946, was sold for $ 14M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Christie's on May 13, 2008, lot 28.
This opus is made of flame-like forms layered with the knife on an earthy colored background.
1946 Charred Beloved by Gorky
2023 SOLD for $ 23.4M by Christie's
Arshile Gorky arrived in New York in 1925. His maturity came early and his artistic language was similar as Miro's. War created a forced link between the two sides of the Atlantic. In exile in New York in 1944, André Breton admired his work.
Gorky the Armenian is very close to de Kooning the Dutch. The involvement between the two artists is intense. In 1944, de Kooning said that Gorky had a powerful influence on his art, and not the contrary.
In the mean time the style of Gorky is gradually changing. The figures are no more symbols, but an abundance of biomorphic forms. Details fade, colors and characters collide into abstraction. He somehow extended the Cubist research for movement of Severini or the Delaunays.
By its apparent spontaneity, its emotional title "Impatience", the oil on canvas dated 1945, 62 x 78 cm, is one that paves the way for abstract expressionism, the fruitful movement that Gorky, dying too soon, will not know. Like Calder at the same time, Gorky was managing to instill in America the influence of the modernist trends of Europe. Impatience was sold for $ 6.8M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 12.
In September 1945 Gorky and his family relocated in rural Connecticut where he was the neighbor of exiled Surrealist artists including Yves Tanguy and Kay Sage, Masson, Calder. He installed his studio in the barn, which was burnt to the ground in January 1946, canceeling the paintings and drawings of his previous three years and his library of artistic references.
He then moved to a loaned ballroom in a skyscraper in New York City where he achieved a few paintings in his new style. They were his swan song : he was soon diagnosed with cancer complicated by a car wreck and by his divorce.
Charred Beloved is a title directly inspired by Gorky's desire to restart after the fire. It is applied to three paintings executed in 1946. The opus I, oil on canvas 136 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 23.4M by Christie's on November 9, 2023, lot 6 B. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Gorky the Armenian is very close to de Kooning the Dutch. The involvement between the two artists is intense. In 1944, de Kooning said that Gorky had a powerful influence on his art, and not the contrary.
In the mean time the style of Gorky is gradually changing. The figures are no more symbols, but an abundance of biomorphic forms. Details fade, colors and characters collide into abstraction. He somehow extended the Cubist research for movement of Severini or the Delaunays.
By its apparent spontaneity, its emotional title "Impatience", the oil on canvas dated 1945, 62 x 78 cm, is one that paves the way for abstract expressionism, the fruitful movement that Gorky, dying too soon, will not know. Like Calder at the same time, Gorky was managing to instill in America the influence of the modernist trends of Europe. Impatience was sold for $ 6.8M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 12.
In September 1945 Gorky and his family relocated in rural Connecticut where he was the neighbor of exiled Surrealist artists including Yves Tanguy and Kay Sage, Masson, Calder. He installed his studio in the barn, which was burnt to the ground in January 1946, canceeling the paintings and drawings of his previous three years and his library of artistic references.
He then moved to a loaned ballroom in a skyscraper in New York City where he achieved a few paintings in his new style. They were his swan song : he was soon diagnosed with cancer complicated by a car wreck and by his divorce.
Charred Beloved is a title directly inspired by Gorky's desire to restart after the fire. It is applied to three paintings executed in 1946. The opus I, oil on canvas 136 x 100 cm, was sold for $ 23.4M by Christie's on November 9, 2023, lot 6 B. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
#AuctionRecord: From our 20th Century Evening Sale, Arshile Gorky’s ‘Charred Beloved I’ realizes $23.41M pic.twitter.com/LRFMYtXTaR
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) November 10, 2023
1946 POLLOCK
Intro
Jackson Pollock spent his youth in the American West. His heightened creativity retains nothing from the conventional painting. On the contrary, he finds his influences with the Navajo sand figures, the Mexican muralists including Orozco and the automatic writing of French surrealist poets.
Arrived in New York in 1930 at the age of 18, he is attentive to all originalities. He attends a demonstration of the use of liquid paint by Siqueiros and sees Janet Sobel's open patterns covering the entire surface of the image without being altered at the frame.
During an exhibition at the MoMA in 1941, he attended a Navajo sand-picture show that reminded him of his childhood in Wyoming. Creation is a ritual where the original image disappears under the accumulation of layers.
This experience will give him the idea of placing his canvas or paper flat on the floor of his workshop for a better precision of his dissemination of colors. Executing his gestural dance around the work as it goes along, he realizes Malevich's old dream of a re-orientable image in all directions that also gives the illusion of spreading beyond its own limits.
While canceling the figurative, Malevich also wanted to highlight the material. Pollock manages a similar approach.
Treated for his alcoholism by a psychoanalyst close to Jung, he is convinced that the most important is the creative act, so that the artist is quite right to hide his original message when he completes the artwork.
Peggy Guggenheim opens her aptly named Art of this Century gallery in New York in 1942. She is keenly interested in the synthesis of disparate influences practiced by Pollock. He is indeed enough spontaneous and innovative to embody the power and action of the American dream. She sponsors him without being close to him.
In the big city, the artist cannot solve his social problems. His wife Lee Krasner got the brilliant intuition that life in the big city is not conducive to the artistic stimulus of this violent and misanthropic young man. She married him and moved with him at the end of 1945 to a barn with sea sight in Long Island.
Pollock improves his technique throughout 1946, and abandons his stylized figuration. Wanting to work on a hard surface, he uses the masonite. He begins to apply the pigment in impasto directly at the outlet of the tube and gradually gives up the brush. For convenience, he lays directly on the floor the surface to be painted.
The use of sprayed or flowing liquid paint is made possible by that position of the support. His hand acquires an unprecedented freedom. Pollock's art conveys his subconscious energy, just as Chinese calligraphy is a direct transcription of an artist's emotion. Masson is referred with Miro among Pollock's surrealist influences, but it will be noted that Michaux's automatic drawings were influenced by Chinese calligraphy.
Pollock was one of the most fertile triggers of modern art and his early success is linked to the American dream. The brutal deaths of James Dean, Jackson Pollock and Marilyn Monroe and the horrors of the Vietnam war will end this utopia in which the real gravedigger in art will be Warhol.
Arrived in New York in 1930 at the age of 18, he is attentive to all originalities. He attends a demonstration of the use of liquid paint by Siqueiros and sees Janet Sobel's open patterns covering the entire surface of the image without being altered at the frame.
During an exhibition at the MoMA in 1941, he attended a Navajo sand-picture show that reminded him of his childhood in Wyoming. Creation is a ritual where the original image disappears under the accumulation of layers.
This experience will give him the idea of placing his canvas or paper flat on the floor of his workshop for a better precision of his dissemination of colors. Executing his gestural dance around the work as it goes along, he realizes Malevich's old dream of a re-orientable image in all directions that also gives the illusion of spreading beyond its own limits.
While canceling the figurative, Malevich also wanted to highlight the material. Pollock manages a similar approach.
Treated for his alcoholism by a psychoanalyst close to Jung, he is convinced that the most important is the creative act, so that the artist is quite right to hide his original message when he completes the artwork.
Peggy Guggenheim opens her aptly named Art of this Century gallery in New York in 1942. She is keenly interested in the synthesis of disparate influences practiced by Pollock. He is indeed enough spontaneous and innovative to embody the power and action of the American dream. She sponsors him without being close to him.
In the big city, the artist cannot solve his social problems. His wife Lee Krasner got the brilliant intuition that life in the big city is not conducive to the artistic stimulus of this violent and misanthropic young man. She married him and moved with him at the end of 1945 to a barn with sea sight in Long Island.
Pollock improves his technique throughout 1946, and abandons his stylized figuration. Wanting to work on a hard surface, he uses the masonite. He begins to apply the pigment in impasto directly at the outlet of the tube and gradually gives up the brush. For convenience, he lays directly on the floor the surface to be painted.
The use of sprayed or flowing liquid paint is made possible by that position of the support. His hand acquires an unprecedented freedom. Pollock's art conveys his subconscious energy, just as Chinese calligraphy is a direct transcription of an artist's emotion. Masson is referred with Miro among Pollock's surrealist influences, but it will be noted that Michaux's automatic drawings were influenced by Chinese calligraphy.
Pollock was one of the most fertile triggers of modern art and his early success is linked to the American dream. The brutal deaths of James Dean, Jackson Pollock and Marilyn Monroe and the horrors of the Vietnam war will end this utopia in which the real gravedigger in art will be Warhol.
1
The Blue Unconscious
2013 SOLD for $ 21M by Sotheby's
On May 14, 2013, Sotheby's sold at lot 27 for $ 21M a large canvas 213 x 142 cm, painted in 1946 at the beginning of the Long Island studio.
Titled The Blue Unconscious, this artwork is close to the style of Gorky and de Kooning, perhaps by accident because Pollock was not interested in the works and theories of the expressionists. A larger than life female nude occupies the right side of the image while the left side receives grimacing heads. The whole is voluntarily made poorly readable by patterns of colored lines. He will continue to draw such fantasies before feverishly and systematically hiding them by the dripping.
Titled The Blue Unconscious, this artwork is close to the style of Gorky and de Kooning, perhaps by accident because Pollock was not interested in the works and theories of the expressionists. A larger than life female nude occupies the right side of the image while the left side receives grimacing heads. The whole is voluntarily made poorly readable by patterns of colored lines. He will continue to draw such fantasies before feverishly and systematically hiding them by the dripping.
2
Red Composition
2020 SOLD for $ 13M by Christie's
The very first work using dripping was painted at the end of 1946. The surface is bright red and the contributions are black and white. Named Free form, this 49 x 36 cm oil on canvas is kept at the MoMA.
The next step is the diversification of colors. An oil on masonite 48 x 60 cm dated 1946 is painted in bright yellow, bright blue and black by dripping and splashing on a background of the same red.
This Red composition was sold for $ 13M by Christie's on October 6, 2020, lot 5. Its first owner was Peggy Guggenheim. It is de-accessioned by the Everson Art Museum in Syracuse NY to refocus their collection on the fight against racial and sexual inequalities.
Pollock's musicalist dances around large-scale works will come soon after.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Sep 4, 2020
Offered for sale by the Everson Musuem to refine and diversify its collection, Jackson Pollock's 'Red Composition' will be a highlight of our New York Evening Sale of 20th Century Art on 6 Oct. It is among the first 'drip' paintings which allowed paint to take on its own form.
The next step is the diversification of colors. An oil on masonite 48 x 60 cm dated 1946 is painted in bright yellow, bright blue and black by dripping and splashing on a background of the same red.
This Red composition was sold for $ 13M by Christie's on October 6, 2020, lot 5. Its first owner was Peggy Guggenheim. It is de-accessioned by the Everson Art Museum in Syracuse NY to refocus their collection on the fight against racial and sexual inequalities.
Pollock's musicalist dances around large-scale works will come soon after.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Sep 4, 2020
Offered for sale by the Everson Musuem to refine and diversify its collection, Jackson Pollock's 'Red Composition' will be a highlight of our New York Evening Sale of 20th Century Art on 6 Oct. It is among the first 'drip' paintings which allowed paint to take on its own form.
- Christie's post announces the auction of Jackson Pollock's 1946 "Red Composition," an early drip painting acquired by the Everson Museum in 1951, estimated at $12-18 million to fund collection diversification.
- The abstract work, featuring chaotic red drips overlaid with yellow, black, and blue splatters, exemplifies Pollock's innovative technique that revolutionized abstract expressionism by emphasizing spontaneity over control.
- It sold for $12 million on October 6, 2020, below estimate, sparking debates on museum deaccessioning during COVID-19 as a means to support community initiatives rather than traditional acquisi
1946 Landscape after Dong Yuan by Zhang Daqian
2017 SOLD for RMB 132M by China Guardian
Zhang Daqian permeated his art with the best antique pictorial traditions, including the blue and green paintings from the Sui, Tang and Song. This practice was vilified by Western observers as plagiarism after the second world war. Yet it fits perfectly in the spirit of continuity that governs the Chinese art for three millennia.
Active in Nanjing during the Southern Tang dynasty, Dong Yuan developed the Jiangnan style of landscape painting with a highly elegant and effective brush stroke with a great sense of composition including perspective, executed in light ink and color. Along the Riverbank is kept by the Metropolitan Museum. Juran was his pupil.
An interpretation of Dong Yuan by Zhang Daqian is titled Riverside view of splendor.
This hanging scroll in ink and color on paper 187 x 120 cm executed in 1946 was sold for RMB 132M from a lower estimate of RMB 80M by China Guardian on December 18, 2017, lot 263. The image is shared by ChinaDaily.
Active in Nanjing during the Southern Tang dynasty, Dong Yuan developed the Jiangnan style of landscape painting with a highly elegant and effective brush stroke with a great sense of composition including perspective, executed in light ink and color. Along the Riverbank is kept by the Metropolitan Museum. Juran was his pupil.
An interpretation of Dong Yuan by Zhang Daqian is titled Riverside view of splendor.
This hanging scroll in ink and color on paper 187 x 120 cm executed in 1946 was sold for RMB 132M from a lower estimate of RMB 80M by China Guardian on December 18, 2017, lot 263. The image is shared by ChinaDaily.
1946 Two Goddesses of the River Xiang by Fu Baoshi
2020 SOLD for RMB 105M by Poly
Fu Baoshi made his career in Nanjing, the capital of the South. Wanting to join his own emotions to the oldest traditions of China, he is one of the most subtle artists of his time. His art studies in Tokyo brought an undeniable Japanese influence to his figuration of faces.
Fu Baoshi is his artist's name taken at the age of 18 to express his admiration for Shitao, the visionary artist of early Qing time who positioned the tiny human activity within the unfathomable immensity of nature.
Fu's meeting with the eminent scholar Guo Moruo in 1943 draws the artist's attention to the poems of Qu Yuan, collected under the Han. This semi-legendary poet from the dark period of the Warring States is an equivalent of Homer. He provides an invaluable link with ancient mythologies, posing mystical questions without seeking to provide answers.
On June 5, 2017, Poly sold for RMB 64M Mountain Ghost, a scenery including and illustrating a poem by Qu Yuan, lot 2250. Made in 1945 this ink and colors 133 x 66 cm is resolutely original by its entanglement of the lines and by the striking contrast between the actions on the ground and in the clouds.
The young woman in the foreground is a symbol of beauty which already inspired the artists of the Song dynasty interpreting the same poem. She seems standing but the lower part of her gown does not touch the ground. The stormy sky releases for the careful observer two divinities harnessed behind the red leopard.
On May 15, 2016, China Guardian sold for RMB 52M a scroll of same size made in 1946 starring the same characters. The features of the dress blend into the landscape and the seated attitude of this ghost is therefore another illusion.
In 1949 Guo becomes one of the top leaders of the new People's Republic. Using the story of Qu Yuan's suicide protesting against the invasion of his country by the Qin, he makes the old poet an exemplary martyr of the Chinese patriotism. Fu continues to illustrate the gods and clouds of Qu Yuan. A large 223 x 133 cm picture painted in 1954 remained unsold at Poly in June 2013.
Two Goddesses of the River Xiang was sold for RMB 105M by Poly on December 4, 2020, lot 0639. This hanging scroll, ink and color on paper 165 × 44 cm, was executed by Fu Baoshi. It is illustrated post sale by The Value. It is dated 1946 by The Value.
Its theme frequently used by Fu is inspired from the Jiu Ge series of poems attributed to Qu Yuan narrating ca the 3rd century BCE the suicide of two mythological figures after the death of Emperor Shun. The two noble women are featured in two registers in that scroll.
Fu Baoshi is his artist's name taken at the age of 18 to express his admiration for Shitao, the visionary artist of early Qing time who positioned the tiny human activity within the unfathomable immensity of nature.
Fu's meeting with the eminent scholar Guo Moruo in 1943 draws the artist's attention to the poems of Qu Yuan, collected under the Han. This semi-legendary poet from the dark period of the Warring States is an equivalent of Homer. He provides an invaluable link with ancient mythologies, posing mystical questions without seeking to provide answers.
On June 5, 2017, Poly sold for RMB 64M Mountain Ghost, a scenery including and illustrating a poem by Qu Yuan, lot 2250. Made in 1945 this ink and colors 133 x 66 cm is resolutely original by its entanglement of the lines and by the striking contrast between the actions on the ground and in the clouds.
The young woman in the foreground is a symbol of beauty which already inspired the artists of the Song dynasty interpreting the same poem. She seems standing but the lower part of her gown does not touch the ground. The stormy sky releases for the careful observer two divinities harnessed behind the red leopard.
On May 15, 2016, China Guardian sold for RMB 52M a scroll of same size made in 1946 starring the same characters. The features of the dress blend into the landscape and the seated attitude of this ghost is therefore another illusion.
In 1949 Guo becomes one of the top leaders of the new People's Republic. Using the story of Qu Yuan's suicide protesting against the invasion of his country by the Qin, he makes the old poet an exemplary martyr of the Chinese patriotism. Fu continues to illustrate the gods and clouds of Qu Yuan. A large 223 x 133 cm picture painted in 1954 remained unsold at Poly in June 2013.
Two Goddesses of the River Xiang was sold for RMB 105M by Poly on December 4, 2020, lot 0639. This hanging scroll, ink and color on paper 165 × 44 cm, was executed by Fu Baoshi. It is illustrated post sale by The Value. It is dated 1946 by The Value.
Its theme frequently used by Fu is inspired from the Jiu Ge series of poems attributed to Qu Yuan narrating ca the 3rd century BCE the suicide of two mythological figures after the death of Emperor Shun. The two noble women are featured in two registers in that scroll.
1946 Norman Rockwell visits a Country Editor by Rockwell
2015 SOLD for $ 11.6M by Christie's
The art of Norman Rockwell is meeting a turning point in 1939 when he leaves the suburbs of New York and settles in Vermont. His observation of life in small towns will appeal to the readers of The Saturday Evening Post.
His pictures that highlight the small occupations contribute to the American nationalism, and this feature is particularly appreciated in those times of war. The American diversity is not ignored: from 1943 to 1948, Rockwell often travels in the eastern United States, up to Georgia.
Close to the readers of the magazine, the artist likes to show himself in scenes of provincial visits. On November 19, 2015, Christie's sold at lot 55 for $ 11.6M an oil on canvas 84 x 160 cm on the theme of Rockwell's visit to a country editor, published on May 25, 1946 in the inner pages of the Saturday Evening Post.
In this scene located in Paris, Missouri, the boss and the employees are in a hurry for the preparation of the local newspaper in their small workshop looking like those of the ancient times, with bulky typewriters and with souvenirs stuck to the wall.
The characters form several groups. In the center, the editor seated at his desk is preparing an article while listening to a comment from his printer. On the left, a working boy maliciously trades a paper with a pretty secretary. Further to the right, three people are talking. A seated man learns the death of President Roosevelt, which is the main topic in the current edition of the newspaper. Rockwell, recognizable by his pipe and hat, is just entering into the room.
Through such details, precise, picturesque and full of life, Rockwell registered and displayed better than any other artist the everyday life far away from the big cities. He is now acknowledged as one of the outstanding American artists of his time.
His pictures that highlight the small occupations contribute to the American nationalism, and this feature is particularly appreciated in those times of war. The American diversity is not ignored: from 1943 to 1948, Rockwell often travels in the eastern United States, up to Georgia.
Close to the readers of the magazine, the artist likes to show himself in scenes of provincial visits. On November 19, 2015, Christie's sold at lot 55 for $ 11.6M an oil on canvas 84 x 160 cm on the theme of Rockwell's visit to a country editor, published on May 25, 1946 in the inner pages of the Saturday Evening Post.
In this scene located in Paris, Missouri, the boss and the employees are in a hurry for the preparation of the local newspaper in their small workshop looking like those of the ancient times, with bulky typewriters and with souvenirs stuck to the wall.
The characters form several groups. In the center, the editor seated at his desk is preparing an article while listening to a comment from his printer. On the left, a working boy maliciously trades a paper with a pretty secretary. Further to the right, three people are talking. A seated man learns the death of President Roosevelt, which is the main topic in the current edition of the newspaper. Rockwell, recognizable by his pipe and hat, is just entering into the room.
Through such details, precise, picturesque and full of life, Rockwell registered and displayed better than any other artist the everyday life far away from the big cities. He is now acknowledged as one of the outstanding American artists of his time.
1945-1946 Léda et le Cygne by Matisse
2025 SOLD for $ 10.4M by Sotheby's
Léda et le Cygne, oil and gold leaf on a folding triptych of wood panels 173 x 158 cm overall was sold for $ 10.4M from a lower estimate of $ 7M by Sotheby's on November 20, 2025, lot 9. The video is shared by the auction house. It had been commissioned by a patron for a private home use to Matisse in 1944, painted by him from 1945 and completed in 1946 in Vence.
Asking Grok to establish its significance in the career of the artist.
Grok thought :
Henri Matisse's Léda et le cygne (1944–46) is a triptych executed in oil and gold leaf on three wooden panels, measuring 76 by 62 inches overall, depicting the mythological encounter between Leda and Zeus disguised as a swan. Originally commissioned in 1943 by Argentine patrons Marcelo Germán Fernández Anchorena and Hortensia González de Fernández Anchorena for their Paris residence on Avenue Foch, Matisse painted it directly onto a set of double doors, transforming a functional architectural element into a vibrant artwork over the course of three years. The central panel features the figures in a stylized, fluid composition, flanked by side panels in deep red with gold leaf accents that evoke the luminosity of stained glass. This piece, signed with the artist's initials on the lower right of the left panel, has been authenticated by Georges Matisse and boasts a distinguished provenance, passing through notable collectors like the Maeght family before entering the Pritzker collection in 1985.
In the context of Matisse's career, Léda et le cygne holds particular importance as a late-period masterpiece created during a time of personal and historical transition. By the mid-1940s, Matisse—then in his mid-70s—had undergone major surgery for duodenal cancer in 1941, leaving him largely bedridden or wheelchair-bound and prompting a shift toward his celebrated cut-out technique starting around 1943, which allowed him to "draw with scissors" on a grand scale. Yet this work demonstrates his enduring commitment to traditional painting methods, even amid health challenges and the aftermath of World War II, when he remained in occupied and then liberated France. It exemplifies his lifelong exploration of the nude, mythology, and the interplay of color, line, and form—hallmarks of his Fauvist origins and modernist innovations—while pushing into decorative and spatial realms. The mythological theme aligns with Matisse's recurring interest in classical subjects, reinterpreted through bold geometry and emotional expressiveness, as seen in earlier works like Luxury, Peace, and Pleasure (1904) or his dance-themed murals.
Critically, the piece bridges Matisse's easel paintings and his later ventures into applied arts, prefiguring the holistic design approach he would employ in the Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence (1947–51), where he integrated paintings, ceramics, and stained-glass windows to create immersive environments. The gold leaf and radiant panels here anticipate those chapel elements, reflecting his philosophy that art should infuse everyday spaces with beauty and harmony, akin to his famous analogy of a painting as a "soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair." As a rare architectural commission that remained in private hands for decades—exhibited widely at institutions like MoMA, the Fondation Maeght, and the Hayward Gallery but seldom seen publicly—this work underscores Matisse's role as a total artist who blurred boundaries between fine art, decoration, and architecture. Its inclusion in major retrospectives and scholarly texts, such as Alfred H. Barr Jr.'s Matisse: His Art and His Public (1951) and Pierre Schneider's Matisse (1984), cements its status as a pivotal example of his late style, rivaling contemporaries like Picasso in innovative scope while affirming his mastery as the 20th century's preeminent colorist.
Asking Grok to establish its significance in the career of the artist.
Grok thought :
Henri Matisse's Léda et le cygne (1944–46) is a triptych executed in oil and gold leaf on three wooden panels, measuring 76 by 62 inches overall, depicting the mythological encounter between Leda and Zeus disguised as a swan. Originally commissioned in 1943 by Argentine patrons Marcelo Germán Fernández Anchorena and Hortensia González de Fernández Anchorena for their Paris residence on Avenue Foch, Matisse painted it directly onto a set of double doors, transforming a functional architectural element into a vibrant artwork over the course of three years. The central panel features the figures in a stylized, fluid composition, flanked by side panels in deep red with gold leaf accents that evoke the luminosity of stained glass. This piece, signed with the artist's initials on the lower right of the left panel, has been authenticated by Georges Matisse and boasts a distinguished provenance, passing through notable collectors like the Maeght family before entering the Pritzker collection in 1985.
In the context of Matisse's career, Léda et le cygne holds particular importance as a late-period masterpiece created during a time of personal and historical transition. By the mid-1940s, Matisse—then in his mid-70s—had undergone major surgery for duodenal cancer in 1941, leaving him largely bedridden or wheelchair-bound and prompting a shift toward his celebrated cut-out technique starting around 1943, which allowed him to "draw with scissors" on a grand scale. Yet this work demonstrates his enduring commitment to traditional painting methods, even amid health challenges and the aftermath of World War II, when he remained in occupied and then liberated France. It exemplifies his lifelong exploration of the nude, mythology, and the interplay of color, line, and form—hallmarks of his Fauvist origins and modernist innovations—while pushing into decorative and spatial realms. The mythological theme aligns with Matisse's recurring interest in classical subjects, reinterpreted through bold geometry and emotional expressiveness, as seen in earlier works like Luxury, Peace, and Pleasure (1904) or his dance-themed murals.
Critically, the piece bridges Matisse's easel paintings and his later ventures into applied arts, prefiguring the holistic design approach he would employ in the Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence (1947–51), where he integrated paintings, ceramics, and stained-glass windows to create immersive environments. The gold leaf and radiant panels here anticipate those chapel elements, reflecting his philosophy that art should infuse everyday spaces with beauty and harmony, akin to his famous analogy of a painting as a "soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair." As a rare architectural commission that remained in private hands for decades—exhibited widely at institutions like MoMA, the Fondation Maeght, and the Hayward Gallery but seldom seen publicly—this work underscores Matisse's role as a total artist who blurred boundaries between fine art, decoration, and architecture. Its inclusion in major retrospectives and scholarly texts, such as Alfred H. Barr Jr.'s Matisse: His Art and His Public (1951) and Pierre Schneider's Matisse (1984), cements its status as a pivotal example of his late style, rivaling contemporaries like Picasso in innovative scope while affirming his mastery as the 20th century's preeminent colorist.
1946 October on Cape Cod by Hopper
2012 SOLD for $ 9.6M by Christie's
Edward Hopper observes the civilization of his time. He sees people, and the traces left by people. The characters rarely communicate. When they do it, we do not understand why.
Unidentified people have built houses and roads. Hopper passes the houses in his car. They have no history and willnever have.
Hopper is both an artist and an American. He has a studio in New York and a summer home in Cape Cod. The road is long, and he stops to draw sketches of trivial houses which he will later use to compose his oil paintings. Not too many: one or two per year. This is enough to exacerbate his sense of a ridiculous American civilization.
On November 28, 2012, Christie's sold for $ 9.6M October on Cape Cod, oil on canvas 67 x 107 cm painted in 1946.
October is recognizable by the autumn sky. Cape Cod is not. The season is over with no longer interest to the large villas of the high society. Hopper shows a meadow at the edge of the road with a little white house, geometric as in a child drawing, with a small barn of the same shape. Like mother and cub.
Jo Hopper had noted the stops on the road to prepare the sketches, but this comment can only apply to the landscape behind because the house is the same as the smaller house of The Puritans, supposed to be a metaphor for herself.
This house and its barn are like a mother protecting her cub. Edward and Jo had no children. Who is the barn ?
This is the great paradox of Hopper to share his doubts about modern civilization with a simple scenery empty of characters and an outsider title.
Unidentified people have built houses and roads. Hopper passes the houses in his car. They have no history and willnever have.
Hopper is both an artist and an American. He has a studio in New York and a summer home in Cape Cod. The road is long, and he stops to draw sketches of trivial houses which he will later use to compose his oil paintings. Not too many: one or two per year. This is enough to exacerbate his sense of a ridiculous American civilization.
On November 28, 2012, Christie's sold for $ 9.6M October on Cape Cod, oil on canvas 67 x 107 cm painted in 1946.
October is recognizable by the autumn sky. Cape Cod is not. The season is over with no longer interest to the large villas of the high society. Hopper shows a meadow at the edge of the road with a little white house, geometric as in a child drawing, with a small barn of the same shape. Like mother and cub.
Jo Hopper had noted the stops on the road to prepare the sketches, but this comment can only apply to the landscape behind because the house is the same as the smaller house of The Puritans, supposed to be a metaphor for herself.
This house and its barn are like a mother protecting her cub. Edward and Jo had no children. Who is the barn ?
This is the great paradox of Hopper to share his doubts about modern civilization with a simple scenery empty of characters and an outsider title.
