1947
See also : Top 10 Sculpture Giacometti Giacometti 1947-53 Still De Kooning Zhang Daqian Zhang Daqian < 1965 The Man
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 STILL
1
Y 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
Y 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.
3
R-No.1
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.
4
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 Orestes by De Kooning
2023 SOLD for $ 31M by Christie's
In New York City, beside his fellow artist Gorky, Willem de Kooning managed to remove the border between figuration and abstraction by new studies of the balance of forms. In 1947 he desired to go to full abstraction.
During a very short experimental period he painted in black and white, leaving the forms away from the influences of colors. He was thus coming closer to Pollock's under-paintings than to Gorky. He was certainly influencing Kline's semi-automatic paintings.
Orestes is an oil, housepainter's enamel and collage on paper mounted on board 61 x 92 cm. De Kooning did not explain his titles but this one looks existentialist or psychoanalytical, by reference to the antique matricide. These amorphous forms abandoning perspective, volume and shading were indeed an emanation from the mind of an artist. These sign-like figures anticipate both Twombly's pseudo-writing and Johns's erased letterings.
Orestes was sold for $ 31M by Christie's on May 12, 2023, lot 16A.
De Kooning did not forget his humble artistic beginnings. He was to change his style and home but never parted from his two obsoleted enamel cans.
During a very short experimental period he painted in black and white, leaving the forms away from the influences of colors. He was thus coming closer to Pollock's under-paintings than to Gorky. He was certainly influencing Kline's semi-automatic paintings.
Orestes is an oil, housepainter's enamel and collage on paper mounted on board 61 x 92 cm. De Kooning did not explain his titles but this one looks existentialist or psychoanalytical, by reference to the antique matricide. These amorphous forms abandoning perspective, volume and shading were indeed an emanation from the mind of an artist. These sign-like figures anticipate both Twombly's pseudo-writing and Johns's erased letterings.
Orestes was sold for $ 31M by Christie's on May 12, 2023, lot 16A.
De Kooning did not forget his humble artistic beginnings. He was to change his style and home but never parted from his two obsoleted enamel cans.
1947 ZHANG DAQIAN
1
Lotus and Mandarin Ducks
2011 SOLD for HK$ 190M by Sotheby's
The 31-month scholar and artistic work of Zhang Daqian in the grottoes of Dunhuang, from 1941 to 1943, have not only helped the Chinese to appreciate their ancient pictorial heritage. Now enjoying a new vision across ages in addition to his flawless technique, he is able to create masterpieces in the widest variety of themes.
On November 27, 2018, Christie's sold for HK $ 59M 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.
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.
Compared with the other example above, its composition is less readable : 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 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.
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.
Compared with the other example above, its composition is less readable : the birds partially hidden behind the stems no longer constitute a focusing point of the image.
2
1947 Summer Mountain Hermitage
2021 SOLD for RMB 72M by China Guardian
After coming back from Dunhuang, Zhang Daqian manages to copy, imitate or be inspired by old Chinese masters.
Summer Mountain Hermitage is displaying a towering mountain and its waterfall feeding a fertile valley in an imitation of Wang Meng's 14th century CE masterpiece Ge Zhichuan relocating.
This hanging scroll in ink and color on paper 160 x 63 cm painted in 1947 was sold for HK $ 72M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M by China Guardian on December 12, 2021, lot 288.
Summer Mountain Hermitage is displaying a towering mountain and its waterfall feeding a fertile valley in an imitation of Wang Meng's 14th century CE masterpiece Ge Zhichuan relocating.
This hanging scroll in ink and color on paper 160 x 63 cm painted in 1947 was sold for HK $ 72M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M by China Guardian on December 12, 2021, lot 288.
3
Lotus
2013 SOLD for HK$ 80M by Christie's
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 a great theme to express this new research.
On May 28, 2013, Christie's sold as a single lot for HK$ 80M from a lower estimate of HK$ 10M a set of four hanging scrolls made in 1947, 154 x 78 cm each, showing lotus in ink and colors, lot 1387.
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.
His innovative processing of colors follows his scholar work on the frescoes in the ancient caves of Dunhuang. The lotus is a great theme to express this new research.
On May 28, 2013, Christie's sold as a single lot for HK$ 80M from a lower estimate of HK$ 10M a set of four hanging scrolls made in 1947, 154 x 78 cm each, showing lotus in ink and colors, lot 1387.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
