1950
See also : Abstract art Abstract art II Rothko Early Rothko Pollock Picasso 1940-1960 Giacometti 1947-53 Post war French art
1950 White Center by Rothko
2007 SOLD for $ 73M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
For Rothko, painting lies about the truth of an object but it can express a sensuality. Gradually from 1947 he stages his horizontal rectangular blocks. He is inspired by the relations of powers in Clyfford Still's abstractions, by the delicacy of Bonnard's colors and by the vibrations of Matisse's complementary colors.
In 1949 the block ceases to be a support for a pseudo-calligraphic message. Each element reaches its own purity without becoming monochrome : the meticulous application of colors brings an infinite variation, in particular at the borders of each block. Most of his compositions are in vertical format. Rothko does not yet have a studio : he works in his apartment and the dimensions of the canvases remain small.
Painted in 1950, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) offers the whole subtlety of this new phase. For example, the background is reduced to a very narrow area around the blocks, but its orange-rose color is not uniform, as if it had been partially scratched at the lower side of the image.
The insertion of a very clear block brings an additional luminosity. Rothko will sometimes re-use this characteristic so that the viewer wraps himself more completely in the picture. Perceived as a floating skylight, this dazzling block makes the real position of the canvas disappear, reinforcing the feeling of an "unknown space" in the wording used by the artist.
White Center, oil on canvas 206 x 141 cm, was sold for $ 73M including premium by Sotheby's on May 15, 2007, lot 31, the highest price recorded at that time for a post-war painting. It was purchased at that auction by the Royal Family of Qatar.
In 1949 the block ceases to be a support for a pseudo-calligraphic message. Each element reaches its own purity without becoming monochrome : the meticulous application of colors brings an infinite variation, in particular at the borders of each block. Most of his compositions are in vertical format. Rothko does not yet have a studio : he works in his apartment and the dimensions of the canvases remain small.
Painted in 1950, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) offers the whole subtlety of this new phase. For example, the background is reduced to a very narrow area around the blocks, but its orange-rose color is not uniform, as if it had been partially scratched at the lower side of the image.
The insertion of a very clear block brings an additional luminosity. Rothko will sometimes re-use this characteristic so that the viewer wraps himself more completely in the picture. Perceived as a floating skylight, this dazzling block makes the real position of the canvas disappear, reinforcing the feeling of an "unknown space" in the wording used by the artist.
White Center, oil on canvas 206 x 141 cm, was sold for $ 73M including premium by Sotheby's on May 15, 2007, lot 31, the highest price recorded at that time for a post-war painting. It was purchased at that auction by the Royal Family of Qatar.
1950 Dancing with Red Strokes
2018 SOLD for $ 55M including premium
The non-figurative paintings by Jackson Pollock are neither mystical nor pantheistic. They express his deep personality as no artist had done before him.
The artistic training of this Wyoming boy had not been conventional. He admires the influence of the tribal arts on Picasso and the revolutionary message of the Mexican muralists, and especially he gets rid of the usual practices of the painters.
By neglecting the limits of his canvas or paper support, he offers infinity whatever the size of the artwork, as Mondrian had done. By putting his canvas or paper directly on the floor, he can dance around it like an Indian. In this gesture where the paint flows from the pot shaken by the hand, he creates networks of colors that he modifies at will, which would be impossible on a wall or an easel.
The surrealists wanted to express their dreams. Pollock does the opposite : he controls his subconscious. His colors are so entangled that no detail is preponderant. They do not constitute a cerebral image but the product of his three-dimensional dance. A little later Kazuo Shiraga will also involve his own body in his artistic creation.
Pollock is a perfectionist but he works quickly and his output is abundant. His best years begin in 1948 when he can devote himself entirely to his art with the effective support of his wife Lee Krasner in their Long Island barn studio isolated from the harmful temptations of the big city.
On November 13 in New York, Christie's sells a painting in oil, enamel and aluminum 93 x 65 cm, lot 17 B estimated $ 50M. Dated 1950 by the artist but not numbered, it has no exhibition history in his lifetime and is identified by the descriptive title Composition with Red Strokes.
The artistic training of this Wyoming boy had not been conventional. He admires the influence of the tribal arts on Picasso and the revolutionary message of the Mexican muralists, and especially he gets rid of the usual practices of the painters.
By neglecting the limits of his canvas or paper support, he offers infinity whatever the size of the artwork, as Mondrian had done. By putting his canvas or paper directly on the floor, he can dance around it like an Indian. In this gesture where the paint flows from the pot shaken by the hand, he creates networks of colors that he modifies at will, which would be impossible on a wall or an easel.
The surrealists wanted to express their dreams. Pollock does the opposite : he controls his subconscious. His colors are so entangled that no detail is preponderant. They do not constitute a cerebral image but the product of his three-dimensional dance. A little later Kazuo Shiraga will also involve his own body in his artistic creation.
Pollock is a perfectionist but he works quickly and his output is abundant. His best years begin in 1948 when he can devote himself entirely to his art with the effective support of his wife Lee Krasner in their Long Island barn studio isolated from the harmful temptations of the big city.
On November 13 in New York, Christie's sells a painting in oil, enamel and aluminum 93 x 65 cm, lot 17 B estimated $ 50M. Dated 1950 by the artist but not numbered, it has no exhibition history in his lifetime and is identified by the descriptive title Composition with Red Strokes.
1950 Claude et Paloma by Picasso
2013 SOLD for $ 28M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
After the war, Picasso needs a change of life. He promotes peace, alongside Aragon and the Communistes, and draws the Colombe in 1949. Beyond painting, he begins to bring a personal artistic style to pottery. After several extended stays on the Côte d'Azur, he settles permanently in 1948 with Françoise in Vallauris, near the Atelier Madoura.
He takes a new interest in children, who had symbolized the future in 1905 during the Période Rose. They are no longer future adults but human beings in their own right, with their sensitivity, curiosity and creativity. He creates a new family circle with Françoise : Claude was born in May 1947 and Paloma in April 1949.
On November 4, 2013, Christie's sold at lot 17 for $ 28M including premium from a lower estimate of $ 9M a portrait of Claude and Paloma, oil and ripolin on panel 116 x 89 cm painted in Vallauris on January 20, 1950.
The baby is in a high chair, and her brother is sitting next to her. The perspective is taken from a child's height to enter their own world. Well lit, Paloma is the main focus of the image. Her young face is realistic and confident, in an oval head. The left hand is active, with fingers spread. Claude is half in the shade, in the signature double perspective style of Picasso.
This family happiness is transient. In 1953 an exasperated Françoise leaves, taking with her the two children. Picasso will succeed in building his peace of mind in 1961 in Mougins, with Jacqueline.
He takes a new interest in children, who had symbolized the future in 1905 during the Période Rose. They are no longer future adults but human beings in their own right, with their sensitivity, curiosity and creativity. He creates a new family circle with Françoise : Claude was born in May 1947 and Paloma in April 1949.
On November 4, 2013, Christie's sold at lot 17 for $ 28M including premium from a lower estimate of $ 9M a portrait of Claude and Paloma, oil and ripolin on panel 116 x 89 cm painted in Vallauris on January 20, 1950.
The baby is in a high chair, and her brother is sitting next to her. The perspective is taken from a child's height to enter their own world. Well lit, Paloma is the main focus of the image. Her young face is realistic and confident, in an oval head. The left hand is active, with fingers spread. Claude is half in the shade, in the signature double perspective style of Picasso.
This family happiness is transient. In 1953 an exasperated Françoise leaves, taking with her the two children. Picasso will succeed in building his peace of mind in 1961 in Mougins, with Jacqueline.
1950 L'Homme qui chavire by Giacometti
2007 SOLD for $ 18.5M by Christie's
Sketched by Giacometti as early as 1947, L'Homme qui chavire appears as the vulnerable counterpart against the glorious existentialist triad of L'homme au doigt, L'homme qui marche and La femme debout. The sculpture is prepared in 1950 in small size, 59 cm high including the base.
Everything in the attitude indicates that the character is in a full loss of control : he is perched on tiptoe, head back, arms beating the air. The statue will not fall, because the composition is perfectly balanced by the position of the arms in an arc. This is indeed one of the most dynamic works by Giacometti.
The bronze 2/6 from the 1950 casting by Alexis Rudier fondeur was sold for $ 18.5M from a lower estimate of $ 6.5M by Christie's on May 9, 2007, lot 51. It has a dark brown patina. Its exhibition history begins in November 1950 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, before the 1951 attributed to the 5/6 and 6/6.
L'Homme qui chavire has a quieter twin of similar size, Homme traversant une place par un matin de soleil. This man walking with stretched hanging arms is not aware of how soon will be his fall. Both figures have a very tiny head which is another characteristic in opposition to the Trinity.
Everything in the attitude indicates that the character is in a full loss of control : he is perched on tiptoe, head back, arms beating the air. The statue will not fall, because the composition is perfectly balanced by the position of the arms in an arc. This is indeed one of the most dynamic works by Giacometti.
The bronze 2/6 from the 1950 casting by Alexis Rudier fondeur was sold for $ 18.5M from a lower estimate of $ 6.5M by Christie's on May 9, 2007, lot 51. It has a dark brown patina. Its exhibition history begins in November 1950 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, before the 1951 attributed to the 5/6 and 6/6.
L'Homme qui chavire has a quieter twin of similar size, Homme traversant une place par un matin de soleil. This man walking with stretched hanging arms is not aware of how soon will be his fall. Both figures have a very tiny head which is another characteristic in opposition to the Trinity.
1950 The Subconscious and the Organic
2015 SOLD for $ 18.3M including premium
The expressionist art of Jackson Pollock starts from the subconscious to achieve the organic. It is a representation of the soil created by countless constituents and changing with the seasons.
The surface to be painted is placed on the floor of the studio, allowing the artist to drip the paint. The flexibility of the wrist permits a progressive coverage of the entire area. Contrary to the drawing where rubbing stains the surface, this technique can be indefinitely repeated with additional layers.
In 1950, his third year of intensive practice of dripping, Pollock reached the thoroughness of a miniaturist. The fine lines of pure and brilliant colors are almost invisible, and from one painting to the other the overall effect is always different.
The elementary gesture is close to the convulsive subconscious of the surrealist drawing but the artwork is not completed until the overall result meets the desire of the artist.
He received from his brother fifteen masonite panels of the same size 56 x 56 cm. The dense fibers of the condensed wood interest him, perhaps because they offer a basic texture that exempts the artist to start with a trivial drawing from his fantasy that he will then have to hide.
Mondrian did not need a large size to express the infinite, same for Pollock for the sublime organic. These fifteen paintings are among the best of his art.
On May 12 in New York, Sotheby's sells Number 12, 1950, lot 31 estimated $ 15M. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house.
The surface to be painted is placed on the floor of the studio, allowing the artist to drip the paint. The flexibility of the wrist permits a progressive coverage of the entire area. Contrary to the drawing where rubbing stains the surface, this technique can be indefinitely repeated with additional layers.
In 1950, his third year of intensive practice of dripping, Pollock reached the thoroughness of a miniaturist. The fine lines of pure and brilliant colors are almost invisible, and from one painting to the other the overall effect is always different.
The elementary gesture is close to the convulsive subconscious of the surrealist drawing but the artwork is not completed until the overall result meets the desire of the artist.
He received from his brother fifteen masonite panels of the same size 56 x 56 cm. The dense fibers of the condensed wood interest him, perhaps because they offer a basic texture that exempts the artist to start with a trivial drawing from his fantasy that he will then have to hide.
Mondrian did not need a large size to express the infinite, same for Pollock for the sublime organic. These fifteen paintings are among the best of his art.
On May 12 in New York, Sotheby's sells Number 12, 1950, lot 31 estimated $ 15M. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house.
1950 Standing Women on Bases
2018 SOLD for $ 15.8M including premium
The human population is not limited to one walking man and one standing woman. In 1948 Alberto Giacometti multiplies them and assembles groups. The communication of the characters between one another takes the dimension of an existentialist mystery. He thus creates Place I and II and Trois hommes qui marchent I and II.
In 1950 Pierre Matisse asks for a new exhibition which will confirm the great success of the previous one in 1947. It is necessary to include new works but Alberto had not found a satisfactory answer concerning human communication. He will never find any. What to do ?
In his studio Alberto has multiplied the individual figures with mostly standing women in a gradually increasing elongation. Suddenly he looks at the mess of his studio as a whole. The sculptures had been divided into small groups without any voluntary intervention. He will accordingly create three artworks without modifying this assembly of chance.
Compared to the groups calculated by him two years earlier, two differences appear : the figures remain on their bases and the uniqueness of scale is canceled. When the bronzes come back from the foundry Alberto has a new vision : his women are so stretched that they look like trees. He had created La Forêt (the forest) and La Clairière (the glade). The third group is named La Place in a pun between the public square of his 1948 artwork and the immutable place of each figure standing on its base.
La Clairière, 59 cm high on a surface of 65 x 52 cm, is the most complex with nine standing women and the least illogical because it does not include a bust. A copy cast by Alexis Rudier company between 1950 and 1952 is estimated $ 10M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 17 A.
In 1950 Pierre Matisse asks for a new exhibition which will confirm the great success of the previous one in 1947. It is necessary to include new works but Alberto had not found a satisfactory answer concerning human communication. He will never find any. What to do ?
In his studio Alberto has multiplied the individual figures with mostly standing women in a gradually increasing elongation. Suddenly he looks at the mess of his studio as a whole. The sculptures had been divided into small groups without any voluntary intervention. He will accordingly create three artworks without modifying this assembly of chance.
Compared to the groups calculated by him two years earlier, two differences appear : the figures remain on their bases and the uniqueness of scale is canceled. When the bronzes come back from the foundry Alberto has a new vision : his women are so stretched that they look like trees. He had created La Forêt (the forest) and La Clairière (the glade). The third group is named La Place in a pun between the public square of his 1948 artwork and the immutable place of each figure standing on its base.
La Clairière, 59 cm high on a surface of 65 x 52 cm, is the most complex with nine standing women and the least illogical because it does not include a bust. A copy cast by Alexis Rudier company between 1950 and 1952 is estimated $ 10M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 17 A.
1950 Many Walking Men
2020 SOLD for £ 11.3M including premium
The story told by Giacometti takes place immediately after the war, tentatively in 1945. He goes to the cinema in Montparnasse. On the boulevard, he sees men walking and women standing. Everyone knows the reason for his or her immediate action, which is not accessible to others. A crowd is a gathering of lonely characters. Alberto is no longer inspired by cinema, which is nothing more than a projection of light on a screen. He decides that his art will be closer to real life.
He creates his world in 1947 with characters as threadlike as the barrels of the lamps which he produced before the war for Frank. His seminal trinity includes the man with the finger who will never reappear, like the Godot of his friend Beckett.
From 1948 he tries some variations of attitude such as L'Homme qui marche sous la pluie or L'Homme qui chavire. They are as ephemeral as L'Homme au doigt, because they do not deal with the mystery of the solitude of the individual in the group.
In 1948 he positions together on a tray several copies of his walking man, like a child playing with toy soldiers. The Trois Hommes qui marchent are produced in two versions, identified I and II, in which they approach or move away from each other. La Place, featuring four walking men and a standing woman, is also prepared in two versions. The movements in La Place cease to be incoherent : a group is being formed.
These four variants provide the most genuine response to the artist's existentialist quest. In 1950 his creativity will be more fanciful, with the grouping of characters of various scales.
The bronzes are produced by the company Alexis Rudier.
Trois Hommes qui marchent I, 72 cm high, was edited in six copies in 1950. The number 2/6, finished with a dark brown patina, was sold for £ 9.4M including premium by Sotheby's on June 25, 2008. It is estimated £ 8M for sale by Christie's in London on February 5, lot 14.
A bronze from the 1948 edition of Trois Hommes qui marchent II, 76 cm high, was sold for £ 10.7M including premium by Sotheby's on June 22, 2011.
He creates his world in 1947 with characters as threadlike as the barrels of the lamps which he produced before the war for Frank. His seminal trinity includes the man with the finger who will never reappear, like the Godot of his friend Beckett.
From 1948 he tries some variations of attitude such as L'Homme qui marche sous la pluie or L'Homme qui chavire. They are as ephemeral as L'Homme au doigt, because they do not deal with the mystery of the solitude of the individual in the group.
In 1948 he positions together on a tray several copies of his walking man, like a child playing with toy soldiers. The Trois Hommes qui marchent are produced in two versions, identified I and II, in which they approach or move away from each other. La Place, featuring four walking men and a standing woman, is also prepared in two versions. The movements in La Place cease to be incoherent : a group is being formed.
These four variants provide the most genuine response to the artist's existentialist quest. In 1950 his creativity will be more fanciful, with the grouping of characters of various scales.
The bronzes are produced by the company Alexis Rudier.
Trois Hommes qui marchent I, 72 cm high, was edited in six copies in 1950. The number 2/6, finished with a dark brown patina, was sold for £ 9.4M including premium by Sotheby's on June 25, 2008. It is estimated £ 8M for sale by Christie's in London on February 5, lot 14.
A bronze from the 1948 edition of Trois Hommes qui marchent II, 76 cm high, was sold for £ 10.7M including premium by Sotheby's on June 22, 2011.
1950 La Forêt by Giacometti
2002 SOLD for $ 13.2M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1950 Etude pour Les Constructeurs by Léger
2007 SOLD for $ 11.8M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2015 before the auction of another Etude (see below)
The end of the Second World War called for a period of rebuilding and of hope for a better life. Fernand Léger is interested in the social aspects of this new theme.
Thirty years before, he was already excited about engines and wheels. He now interprets the anonymous workers busy to build the basic structures of modern life. He works on a monumental painting titled Les constructeurs for which he produced several drafts.
A study in oil on canvas 108 x 138 cm is dated 1949 and 1950. Two men working on scaffolding are overlooking the scenery as sailors of the old time did from the top of the masts. A waving hand shared with another worker symbolizes the solidarity within the team. It passed at Christie's on November 5, 2014 and November 9, 2015.
In the final version 2 x 3 m painted in 1951, solidarity is now demonstrated by four men who join their physical strength to lift a huge steel girder. An oil on canvas 130 x 89 cm very close to the final version has been sold for $ 11.8M including premium at Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 44.
Léger was a member of the Parti Communiste Français since 1945, but he suspected that his art was too far away from Soviet realism to appeal his political friends. For establishing a direct link with the working class, he exhibited several paintings from this series in the canteen of the Renault factory in Boulogne-Billancourt. The reception was mixed but not indifferent.
Thirty years before, he was already excited about engines and wheels. He now interprets the anonymous workers busy to build the basic structures of modern life. He works on a monumental painting titled Les constructeurs for which he produced several drafts.
A study in oil on canvas 108 x 138 cm is dated 1949 and 1950. Two men working on scaffolding are overlooking the scenery as sailors of the old time did from the top of the masts. A waving hand shared with another worker symbolizes the solidarity within the team. It passed at Christie's on November 5, 2014 and November 9, 2015.
In the final version 2 x 3 m painted in 1951, solidarity is now demonstrated by four men who join their physical strength to lift a huge steel girder. An oil on canvas 130 x 89 cm very close to the final version has been sold for $ 11.8M including premium at Christie's on November 6, 2007, lot 44.
Léger was a member of the Parti Communiste Français since 1945, but he suspected that his art was too far away from Soviet realism to appeal his political friends. For establishing a direct link with the working class, he exhibited several paintings from this series in the canteen of the Renault factory in Boulogne-Billancourt. The reception was mixed but not indifferent.
1950 Fifteen Small Masonite Boards
2018 SOLD for £ 9.3M including premium
In 1949 after an article in Life magazine Jackson Pollock becomes a subject of curiosity for Americans eager to promote new artistic trends. His method of dripping on huge canvases laid flat on the ground is unique. Physically and psychologically the artist becomes part of the art in progress.
From his remote studio in Long Island, Pollock does not care about his new reputation. Seconded by Lee Krasner who controls his sobriety, he has full confidence in his own creativity. His art is not limited to a gesticulation around large formats.
His brother Sanford "Sande" McCoy is a printer. He kept from a previous operation an attrition of fifteen masonite panels 56 x 56 cm printed on one side with a game of baseball. He gives them to "Jack" in early 1950.
The texture of the panel is more conducive than a canvas to the entanglement of bright colors of his enamel and aluminum paints. Pollock no longer needs a preparatory work. When he creates on the reverse of the baseball game the jewel like textures of his organic world, he is in direct contact with his work.
The result suits him so much that he renounces in this series to the idea of infinity supported by large formats : on the edges the raw masonite is preserved with great sharpness, probably obtained with a blanking mask.
Number 12, 1950 was sold for $ 18.3M including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015. Number 21, 1950 is estimated £ 10M for sale by Christie's in London on March 6, lot 28.
From his remote studio in Long Island, Pollock does not care about his new reputation. Seconded by Lee Krasner who controls his sobriety, he has full confidence in his own creativity. His art is not limited to a gesticulation around large formats.
His brother Sanford "Sande" McCoy is a printer. He kept from a previous operation an attrition of fifteen masonite panels 56 x 56 cm printed on one side with a game of baseball. He gives them to "Jack" in early 1950.
The texture of the panel is more conducive than a canvas to the entanglement of bright colors of his enamel and aluminum paints. Pollock no longer needs a preparatory work. When he creates on the reverse of the baseball game the jewel like textures of his organic world, he is in direct contact with his work.
The result suits him so much that he renounces in this series to the idea of infinity supported by large formats : on the edges the raw masonite is preserved with great sharpness, probably obtained with a blanking mask.
Number 12, 1950 was sold for $ 18.3M including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015. Number 21, 1950 is estimated £ 10M for sale by Christie's in London on March 6, lot 28.
1950 Snow Flurry by Calder
2012 SOLD for $ 10.4M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1950 The Abstract Poem of Zao Wou-Ki
2016 SOLD for HK$ 70M including premium
The family of Zao Wou-Ki owned an artwork by Mi Fu, the outstanding artist of Song time who was so skillfully blending landscape and calligraphy. The boy considered early that painting and poetry must meet in a unique art.
In making his art studies in Hangzhou, Zao learns oil painting with Lin Fengmian. Arriving in Paris in 1948, he discovers abstract art. He is also inspired by the research of Henri Michaux on the abstraction of the calligraphic message.
For Zao, the color is a kind of theater stage on which he will write his poems on the hidden meaning of the universe. Figuration (boats, birds or the Moon) is drifting into a pseudo-calligraphy that makes it increasingly indecipherable.
In 1950 some oils on canvas by Zao are dominated by pure green that is mingled with more complex hues such as blue-green or yellow-brown. These colors express his vision of the world at that time. Green will soon cease to be an essential element of his palette.
On May 28 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells an oil on canvas "Vert émeraude" 127 x 127 cm, lot 24. The delicate balance of the masses may evoke day and night.
The trend of the artist toward an expressionist abstraction is already taken with fully filled surfaces as in Pollock, the absence of structural lines as in Still, an unreadable message announcing Gaitonde and a subtlety in color mixing which prefigures Richter.
In making his art studies in Hangzhou, Zao learns oil painting with Lin Fengmian. Arriving in Paris in 1948, he discovers abstract art. He is also inspired by the research of Henri Michaux on the abstraction of the calligraphic message.
For Zao, the color is a kind of theater stage on which he will write his poems on the hidden meaning of the universe. Figuration (boats, birds or the Moon) is drifting into a pseudo-calligraphy that makes it increasingly indecipherable.
In 1950 some oils on canvas by Zao are dominated by pure green that is mingled with more complex hues such as blue-green or yellow-brown. These colors express his vision of the world at that time. Green will soon cease to be an essential element of his palette.
On May 28 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells an oil on canvas "Vert émeraude" 127 x 127 cm, lot 24. The delicate balance of the masses may evoke day and night.
The trend of the artist toward an expressionist abstraction is already taken with fully filled surfaces as in Pollock, the absence of structural lines as in Still, an unreadable message announcing Gaitonde and a subtlety in color mixing which prefigures Richter.
