1947
See also : Top 10 Sculpture Giacometti Giacometti 1947-53 Still Zhang Daqian Calder The Man Bird Cars 1940-50
1947 The Primordial Trinity of Alberto Giacometti
2015 SOLD for $ 140M including premium
War is over. Alberto Giacometti appreciates that some new art is required and that his diminutive sculptures will not appeal anybody. His characters will be life-size. They will be threadlike as the floor lamps that the artist formerly conceived for Jean-Michel Frank.
Pierre Matisse is interested and promises to organize an exhibition in New York in January 1948 of this art which, in October 1947, does not yet exist. The works must be designed and the bronzes have to be melt. The artist is in a hurry. The meeting with the agents of the foundry is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Alberto is not ready.
He is not happy with his prototype and demolishes it. In a night of frenzied creation, he realizes L'Homme au doigt. When it is carried out for the factory, the plaster is achieved but it is still wet. Seven bronzes including an artist's proof are edited by the Alexis Rudier company.
The man points the finger to show the way to the other two sculptures in the trilogy, the walking man and the standing woman. This horizontal finger is a sign of authority, hope and renewal. L'Homme au doigt emits the founding message before disappearing from Alberto's creations, unlike the other two figures that will accompany his whole career.
The plaster was kneaded in a hurry, giving a tormented and scarred texture from which some observers said that L'Homme au doigt is Alberto's self portrait. One bronze, the number 6/6, was hand-painted by the artist. It strengthens the resemblance. The pointing man is not God between Adam and Eve, he is Alberto, the creative artist.
This number 6/6 178 cm high is the most outstanding piece of bronze by Alberto. It will be sold by Christie's on May 11 in New York, lot 29A. The press release of April 15 announced an estimate in the region of $ 130M.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
Pierre Matisse is interested and promises to organize an exhibition in New York in January 1948 of this art which, in October 1947, does not yet exist. The works must be designed and the bronzes have to be melt. The artist is in a hurry. The meeting with the agents of the foundry is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Alberto is not ready.
He is not happy with his prototype and demolishes it. In a night of frenzied creation, he realizes L'Homme au doigt. When it is carried out for the factory, the plaster is achieved but it is still wet. Seven bronzes including an artist's proof are edited by the Alexis Rudier company.
The man points the finger to show the way to the other two sculptures in the trilogy, the walking man and the standing woman. This horizontal finger is a sign of authority, hope and renewal. L'Homme au doigt emits the founding message before disappearing from Alberto's creations, unlike the other two figures that will accompany his whole career.
The plaster was kneaded in a hurry, giving a tormented and scarred texture from which some observers said that L'Homme au doigt is Alberto's self portrait. One bronze, the number 6/6, was hand-painted by the artist. It strengthens the resemblance. The pointing man is not God between Adam and Eve, he is Alberto, the creative artist.
This number 6/6 178 cm high is the most outstanding piece of bronze by Alberto. It will be sold by Christie's on May 11 in New York, lot 29A. The press release of April 15 announced an estimate in the region of $ 130M.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
1947-Y by STILL
1
No.1
2020 SOLD for $ 29M by Sotheby'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.
The oil on canvas 174 x 150 cm identified under the references PH-144 and 1947-Y-No.1 in the double nomenclature of the artist's works shows the invasion of a white area by black and crimson red two-tone figures. The artist prepared his own pigments, and the lighter part is made up of several shades of white balanced by a yellow splash.
Still renews here his feat of creating an almost identical work, despite the non-figurative complexity of the forms. It is referenced PH-584 and 1947-Y-No.2.
Still, Rothko and Pollock tried with completely different techniques to express their inner implosion, which also explains their irascible temperaments. At that time their relationship was fair. During the summer of 1949 Mark Rothko came to teach alongside Still, who lent him 1947-Y-No.1 to decorate his home in San Francisco and then in New York.
1947-Y-No.1 was sold for $ 29M by Sotheby's in New York on June 29, lot 109. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
The oil on canvas 174 x 150 cm identified under the references PH-144 and 1947-Y-No.1 in the double nomenclature of the artist's works shows the invasion of a white area by black and crimson red two-tone figures. The artist prepared his own pigments, and the lighter part is made up of several shades of white balanced by a yellow splash.
Still renews here his feat of creating an almost identical work, despite the non-figurative complexity of the forms. It is referenced PH-584 and 1947-Y-No.2.
Still, Rothko and Pollock tried with completely different techniques to express their inner implosion, which also explains their irascible temperaments. At that time their relationship was fair. During the summer of 1949 Mark Rothko came to teach alongside Still, who lent him 1947-Y-No.1 to decorate his home in San Francisco and then in New York.
1947-Y-No.1 was sold for $ 29M by Sotheby's in New York on June 29, lot 109. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
2
No.2
2011 SOLD for $ 31.4M by Sotheby's
Clyfford Still, who was one of the main inventors of abstract expressionism, depicted forms with very jagged edges. His practice, however, excluded spontaneity. His purpose was to convey an idea on a single theme which was the transcendental energy.
Throughout his career, Still protected his work. Any sold painting was a miss in the recording of his own creativity. Twenty years before developing the abstract expressionism, he was already taking care of creating replicas. The artworks he kept for himself have been perfectly preserved.
He made no secret of this practice, but he did not disclose the technique he employed to obtain a perfect copy, without losing anything in the apparent violence of form or in the subtlety of colors.
To finance its creation, the Clyfford Still Museum took the clever initiative to auction off four paintings by the master, which were included in Sotheby's sale on November 9, 2011. The two top lots fetched respectively $ 62M for 1949-A-No.1 and $ 31.4M for 1947-Y-No.2, oil on canvas 177 x 150 cm, lot 12.
That reference 1947-Y-No.2 suggests that it is a replica. Indeed it is identical to 1947-Y-No.1, 174 x 150 cm, sold for $ 29M including premium by Sotheby's on June 29, 2020, and to 1947-Y-No.3, 197 x 177 cm, preserved by the museum. The 2011 Sotheby's catalog included a 1951 photo featuring the artist in front of the number 2 of the 1949-A.
Throughout his career, Still protected his work. Any sold painting was a miss in the recording of his own creativity. Twenty years before developing the abstract expressionism, he was already taking care of creating replicas. The artworks he kept for himself have been perfectly preserved.
He made no secret of this practice, but he did not disclose the technique he employed to obtain a perfect copy, without losing anything in the apparent violence of form or in the subtlety of colors.
To finance its creation, the Clyfford Still Museum took the clever initiative to auction off four paintings by the master, which were included in Sotheby's sale on November 9, 2011. The two top lots fetched respectively $ 62M for 1949-A-No.1 and $ 31.4M for 1947-Y-No.2, oil on canvas 177 x 150 cm, lot 12.
That reference 1947-Y-No.2 suggests that it is a replica. Indeed it is identical to 1947-Y-No.1, 174 x 150 cm, sold for $ 29M including premium by Sotheby's on June 29, 2020, and to 1947-Y-No.3, 197 x 177 cm, preserved by the museum. The 2011 Sotheby's catalog included a 1951 photo featuring the artist in front of the number 2 of the 1949-A.
1947 Lotus and Mandarin Ducks by Zhang Daqian
2011 SOLD for HK$ 190M including premium by Sotheby's
After spending two and a half years from 1941 to 1943 copying ancient figurative art in the Dunhuang Caves, Zhang Daqian is able to create artworks in the widest variety of themes.
On November 27, 2018, Christie's sold for HK $ 59M from a lower estimate of HK$ 30M a scroll in ink and color on paper 165 x 82 cm painted in 1943 on the theme of the lotus, lot 1376.
With its bright red flowers outlined in gold, this artwork is mostly a study of colors. In a bold but balanced composition, another theme appears without seeking a coherence of scales : a small pair of mandarin ducks lying in the background gives the plants a tree-like height. These birds are a symbol of conjugal fidelity.
This double theme of lotus and ducks is very rare in Zhang's art. A 185 x 95 cm scroll painted in 1947 coming from the Mei Yun Tang collection was sold for HK $ 190M by Sotheby's on May 31, 2011 from a lower estimate of HK $ 15M, lot 4. Its composition is less legible : the birds partially hidden behind the stems no longer constitute a focusing point of the image.
On November 27, 2018, Christie's sold for HK $ 59M from a lower estimate of HK$ 30M a scroll in ink and color on paper 165 x 82 cm painted in 1943 on the theme of the lotus, lot 1376.
With its bright red flowers outlined in gold, this artwork is mostly a study of colors. In a bold but balanced composition, another theme appears without seeking a coherence of scales : a small pair of mandarin ducks lying in the background gives the plants a tree-like height. These birds are a symbol of conjugal fidelity.
This double theme of lotus and ducks is very rare in Zhang's art. A 185 x 95 cm scroll painted in 1947 coming from the Mei Yun Tang collection was sold for HK $ 190M by Sotheby's on May 31, 2011 from a lower estimate of HK $ 15M, lot 4. Its composition is less legible : the birds partially hidden behind the stems no longer constitute a focusing point of the image.
1947-R-No.1 by Clyfford Still
2006 SOLD for $ 21.3M by Christie's
New elements in the quest of the global features of the force were added by Clyfford Still in 1947, when he was a teacher in San Francisco.
1947-R-No.1, oil on canvas 175 x 165 cm, displays the floating elements and their shadows over a saturated background of red layers over brown. It was sold for $ 21M by Christie's on November 15, 2006, lot 44.
Clyfford Still did not consider this opus as finished when he loaned it with six other works for the 1952 MoMA exhibition entitled 15 Americans. He made clear in the catalogue his reluctance to have his artworks commented by third parties. An artwork must speak on its own with no need to explain it.
Still completed 1947-R-No.1 soon afterward, with a terminus ante quem in 1957 when he broke with its owner, the artist Alfonso Ossorio.
1947-R-No.1, oil on canvas 175 x 165 cm, displays the floating elements and their shadows over a saturated background of red layers over brown. It was sold for $ 21M by Christie's on November 15, 2006, lot 44.
Clyfford Still did not consider this opus as finished when he loaned it with six other works for the 1952 MoMA exhibition entitled 15 Americans. He made clear in the catalogue his reluctance to have his artworks commented by third parties. An artwork must speak on its own with no need to explain it.
Still completed 1947-R-No.1 soon afterward, with a terminus ante quem in 1957 when he broke with its owner, the artist Alfonso Ossorio.
1947 PH-218 by Clyfford Still
2015 SOLD for $ 14.8M by Sotheby's
PH-218, oil on canvas 160 x 102 cm also painted by Still in 1947, displays a dark magma intimately mingled on its left side with a bright jagged element. It is one of the early works which were included in the 1969 selling exhibition at the Marlborough gallery in New York. Coming from the Taubman collection, it was sold by Sotheby's on November 4, 2015 for $ 14.8M from a lower estimate of $ 10M, lot 41.
1947 Variations on the Lotus
2013 SOLD 80 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Zhang Daqian was a talented and prolific artist. His success is also due to his vocation for teaching, which makes him simultaneously varying styles and themes. In 1934, only aged 35, he is a professor at Nanjing University.
His innovative processing of colors follows his scholar work on the frescoes in the ancient caves of Dunhuang. The lotus is the best subject to express this new research.
On May 28 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells as a single lot a set of four hanging scrolls made in 1947, 154 x 78 cm each, showing lotus in ink and colors. Here is the link to the catalog.
The various compositions reflect the imagination of the artist, but the color treatment is the most remarkable. The four works are indeed very different, ranging from classical discrete tones to a sumptuous juxtaposition of color washes.
The most colorful of the four images is very close by its color harmony to a scroll from the same year, 185 x 95 cm, which was sold for HK $ 190M including premium at Sotheby's on May 31, 2011 over an estimate of HK $ 15M.
The expected price at Christie's for its lot, HK $ 10 million, does not take into account such a similarity.
POST SALE COMMENT
Forget the estimate and only keep in mind the excellent result: HK $ 80M including premium.
Zhang Daqian was a talented and prolific artist. His success is also due to his vocation for teaching, which makes him simultaneously varying styles and themes. In 1934, only aged 35, he is a professor at Nanjing University.
His innovative processing of colors follows his scholar work on the frescoes in the ancient caves of Dunhuang. The lotus is the best subject to express this new research.
On May 28 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells as a single lot a set of four hanging scrolls made in 1947, 154 x 78 cm each, showing lotus in ink and colors. Here is the link to the catalog.
The various compositions reflect the imagination of the artist, but the color treatment is the most remarkable. The four works are indeed very different, ranging from classical discrete tones to a sumptuous juxtaposition of color washes.
The most colorful of the four images is very close by its color harmony to a scroll from the same year, 185 x 95 cm, which was sold for HK $ 190M including premium at Sotheby's on May 31, 2011 over an estimate of HK $ 15M.
The expected price at Christie's for its lot, HK $ 10 million, does not take into account such a similarity.
POST SALE COMMENT
Forget the estimate and only keep in mind the excellent result: HK $ 80M including premium.
1947 Submarine Christmas Tree by Calder
2021 SOLD for £ 6.6M by Christie's
Art meets gravitation and fun in the unprecedented three dimensional language of Calder's mobiles.
Submarine Christmas Tree is not a tree because it does not have a trunk or a central stem. This hanging mobile executed in 1947 displays a variety of childish elements that could decorate a Christmas tree, including stars, crescents and a smiling dish.
Eleven hovering forms in silver polished and red painted metal are hanging in a perfect balance to a network of seven horizontal beams for an overall size of 225 x 218 cm plus a depth of 42 cm brought by a quad of elements.
Submarine Christmas Tree had been acquired from the artist by the archaeologist Henri Seyrig and enjoyed for 30 years by his daughter the actress Delphine Seyrig. It was sold for £ 6.6M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Christie's on March 23, 2021, lot 13.
Submarine Christmas Tree is not a tree because it does not have a trunk or a central stem. This hanging mobile executed in 1947 displays a variety of childish elements that could decorate a Christmas tree, including stars, crescents and a smiling dish.
Eleven hovering forms in silver polished and red painted metal are hanging in a perfect balance to a network of seven horizontal beams for an overall size of 225 x 218 cm plus a depth of 42 cm brought by a quad of elements.
Submarine Christmas Tree had been acquired from the artist by the archaeologist Henri Seyrig and enjoyed for 30 years by his daughter the actress Delphine Seyrig. It was sold for £ 6.6M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Christie's on March 23, 2021, lot 13.
1947 Black Lace by Calder
2017 SOLD for £ 5.2M by Sotheby's
Calder pushes his mobiles to the limit of the impossible. He is an engineer, but his method certainly involves a great deal of empiricism. Nothing should unbalance his structures. When a heavy plaque is dragged down, he simply makes holes to adjust its weight.
Black Lace, 160 x 280 cm, made circa 1947, is an example of this process. This mobile was sold for £ 5.2M by Sotheby's on March 8, 2017, lot 28
Black Lace, 160 x 280 cm, made circa 1947, is an example of this process. This mobile was sold for £ 5.2M by Sotheby's on March 8, 2017, lot 28
1947 Red Earth Georgia by Jacob Lawrence
2021 SOLD for $ 4.5M by Christie's
Link to lot 31C.
1947 A Post-War Bentley
2012 SOLD 2.75 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Luxury cars of the 1930s give the impression of an infinite variety. The chassis was entrusted to skilled bodybuilders who competed with each other to attract wealthy clients.
World War II slowed their art without stopping completely, as evidenced by a 1947 Bentley available in the sale organized by Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale AZ from January 15 to 22.
This Mark VI model has a rare feature: the chassis has been sent to France to be coachworked as a convertible cabriolet by Franay. The result is interesting. The elegance of the lines is English, but the powerful look is in the fashion of the massive French cars of that time. This Bentley looks like a Delahaye.
I have found it again on the web (with the same plate!). It was sold for $ 1.7M including premium in the sale heldf rom March 30 to April 1, 2006 in Palm Beach, also by Barrett-Jackson.
Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The gain in six years is remarkable. This car was sold $ 2.75 million including premium.
Luxury cars of the 1930s give the impression of an infinite variety. The chassis was entrusted to skilled bodybuilders who competed with each other to attract wealthy clients.
World War II slowed their art without stopping completely, as evidenced by a 1947 Bentley available in the sale organized by Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale AZ from January 15 to 22.
This Mark VI model has a rare feature: the chassis has been sent to France to be coachworked as a convertible cabriolet by Franay. The result is interesting. The elegance of the lines is English, but the powerful look is in the fashion of the massive French cars of that time. This Bentley looks like a Delahaye.
I have found it again on the web (with the same plate!). It was sold for $ 1.7M including premium in the sale heldf rom March 30 to April 1, 2006 in Palm Beach, also by Barrett-Jackson.
Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The gain in six years is remarkable. This car was sold $ 2.75 million including premium.
