1955
See also : Top 10 Painting Sculpture Groups Bust and mask Nude Landscape Orientalism Cats Rothko Spain Picasso Picasso from 1940 Giacometti China Modern China Cars Cars II Post war cars Post war cars II British cars Ferrari Early Ferrari
1955 The Homage by Picasso to his own Art
2015 SOLD for $ 180M including premium
The Femmes d'Alger by Delacroix, by inspiring Picasso, had a role in the genesis of modern painting. Executed in Paris in 1907, the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon shows a group of women. Unlike in Delacroix, they are naked. They are not in the hot atmosphere of a harem but their offering is venal.
It is difficult to recognize the influence of Delacroix upon the Demoiselles because the tribal art that inspired the deconstruction of forms is the real origin of Cubism. Other influences have also been identified for this painting which is one of the most important breakthroughs of Western art : el Greco, Cézanne, Gauguin.
Matisse died in 1954. His Odalisques were famous. Picasso had not used this theme which exacerbated the colors and he was somehow jealous of his late friend. He disguises Jacqueline but this is not enough to equal the glory of his rival. To resume his place in the history of art, he resuscitates the Femmes d'Alger in a series of fifteen paintings numbered A to O.
The series is an imitation of the styles of Picasso's career starting from his invention of Cubism. The latest version, O, oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm achieved on 14 February 1955, appears as a synthesis of this rather disparate set, like the ultimate completion of Pablo's art on that date.
It takes much imagination to see Delacroix's influence in the Version O, but the comparison with the Demoiselles is obvious. The women are naked or half dressed but in a later cubism style that excites the imagination by blurring the vision. The standing woman on the left displays a much better readability that joins the then recent art of Pablo.
Pablo has always enjoyed to confront himself with the great masters. The large mirror anticipates his series of Las Meninas painted two years later.
Version O of Les Femmes d'Alger was sold for $ 32M including premium by Christie's on 10 November 1997. It is for sale on May 11 at Christie's in New York, lot 8A. The press release of March 25 indicates an estimate in the region of $ 140M.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
It is difficult to recognize the influence of Delacroix upon the Demoiselles because the tribal art that inspired the deconstruction of forms is the real origin of Cubism. Other influences have also been identified for this painting which is one of the most important breakthroughs of Western art : el Greco, Cézanne, Gauguin.
Matisse died in 1954. His Odalisques were famous. Picasso had not used this theme which exacerbated the colors and he was somehow jealous of his late friend. He disguises Jacqueline but this is not enough to equal the glory of his rival. To resume his place in the history of art, he resuscitates the Femmes d'Alger in a series of fifteen paintings numbered A to O.
The series is an imitation of the styles of Picasso's career starting from his invention of Cubism. The latest version, O, oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm achieved on 14 February 1955, appears as a synthesis of this rather disparate set, like the ultimate completion of Pablo's art on that date.
It takes much imagination to see Delacroix's influence in the Version O, but the comparison with the Demoiselles is obvious. The women are naked or half dressed but in a later cubism style that excites the imagination by blurring the vision. The standing woman on the left displays a much better readability that joins the then recent art of Pablo.
Pablo has always enjoyed to confront himself with the great masters. The large mirror anticipates his series of Las Meninas painted two years later.
Version O of Les Femmes d'Alger was sold for $ 32M including premium by Christie's on 10 November 1997. It is for sale on May 11 at Christie's in New York, lot 8A. The press release of March 25 indicates an estimate in the region of $ 140M.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
1955 The Drama of the Blue
2014 SOLD 56 M$ including premium
Cézanne sought to express the relations of forces of the tragedy through the disposition of his fruit. The art of Mark Rothko does the same by the opposition of the fields of color.
Rothko endeavored to reach the primitive force of the myth and was studying Nietzsche. He consciously conceived his art as a drama. At the same time, Barnett Newman wanted to express a mystical vision of the origin of the world. For both artists, the total abstraction is a means to reach the absolute by discarding any narrative illusion.
Do not say that Rothko's abstract art is empty of characters. By captivating the viewer, the artist incorporates him into the work.
In this battle of the color fields, the vivid blue plays a fundamental role in the abstract beginnings of Rothko. The blue area is not predominant in the No. 1 (Royal red and blue) painted in 1954 but it is in the lower part, ready to pounce. This canvas 289 x 172 cm was sold for $ 75M including premium by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012.
Smaller, 169 x 125 cm, the Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange) oil on canvas painted in 1955 can be seen as a continuation of the Royal red and blue. Its navy blue, underlined on all sides by an azure border, has won the top side and is towering over the viewer. More timid, the orange field protects itself by a slightly darker thin line.
Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange) was sold for $ 34M including premium at Christie's on November 13, 2007. It comes back to New York to be sold by Phillips on May 15, lot 18 in the catalog.
I invite you to play the video shared by Phillips.
POST 2014 SALE COMMENT
This fascinating Rothko painting has far exceeded its 2007 result. It has been sold for $ 56M including premium.
Rothko endeavored to reach the primitive force of the myth and was studying Nietzsche. He consciously conceived his art as a drama. At the same time, Barnett Newman wanted to express a mystical vision of the origin of the world. For both artists, the total abstraction is a means to reach the absolute by discarding any narrative illusion.
Do not say that Rothko's abstract art is empty of characters. By captivating the viewer, the artist incorporates him into the work.
In this battle of the color fields, the vivid blue plays a fundamental role in the abstract beginnings of Rothko. The blue area is not predominant in the No. 1 (Royal red and blue) painted in 1954 but it is in the lower part, ready to pounce. This canvas 289 x 172 cm was sold for $ 75M including premium by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012.
Smaller, 169 x 125 cm, the Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange) oil on canvas painted in 1955 can be seen as a continuation of the Royal red and blue. Its navy blue, underlined on all sides by an azure border, has won the top side and is towering over the viewer. More timid, the orange field protects itself by a slightly darker thin line.
Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange) was sold for $ 34M including premium at Christie's on November 13, 2007. It comes back to New York to be sold by Phillips on May 15, lot 18 in the catalog.
I invite you to play the video shared by Phillips.
POST 2014 SALE COMMENT
This fascinating Rothko painting has far exceeded its 2007 result. It has been sold for $ 56M including premium.
1955 Grande tête mince, bronze by Alberto Giacometti
2010 SOLD 53 M$ including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
The low resolution image below in front and size view is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
The low resolution image below in front and size view is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
1955 The Ultimate Ink of Huang Binhong
2017 SOLD for RMB 345M including premium
Chinese graphic art was not a monopoly for the professional artists. The literati had other occupations and did not need to sell their art. Still better : they have contributed by their appreciation of ancient cultures to the remarkable homogeneity of Chinese art throughout the historical period and almost to present day. In this sense the old man who brought to an unprecedented perfection in the early 1950s the very traditional landscape in ink on hanging scroll was not an artist.
Native from Zhejiang province, Huang Binhong had many passions centered on letters and ancient arts including calligraphy. He collected and carved seals, practiced fencing and played guqin. He made drawings since his youth and his favorite theme was the sublime Huangshan mountains which he visited nine times from 1883 to 1935.
Huang worked as an editor and illustrator and also as an art professor. In 1948, aged 85, he settled in Hangzhou where his teaching activity certainly left him more free time. It was from that point that he perfected the art of landscape.
He no longer travels in the mountains and works with memory and imagination, favoring the expression instead of the realism. Like the greatest masters, he does not need a preparatory drawing and does not erase. His full mastery of the width of the line generates superb contrasts enhanced by a skillful use of the voids to show mist and brook. The density of the lines reminds the Dürer hare and the overall composition is well balanced.
Huang had the nice practice of dating some of his works by his age. A view in Huangshan is dated to his 92 years, corresponding to 1955 just before his death. This 171 x 96 cm scroll is estimated RMB 80M for sale by China Guardian in Beijing on June 19, lot 706.
Another scenery realized in the same year, 178 x 74 cm, was sold for RMB 63M including premium by China Guardian on May 18, 2014. It remembers the emotion of the artist comparing in an earlier trip the real view of the mountain with its interpretation by an artist of the Yuan period. The lower estimate that had been announced at RMB 12M attests a posteriori that the extreme quality of the ultimate art of Huang was rediscovered at that sale.
Native from Zhejiang province, Huang Binhong had many passions centered on letters and ancient arts including calligraphy. He collected and carved seals, practiced fencing and played guqin. He made drawings since his youth and his favorite theme was the sublime Huangshan mountains which he visited nine times from 1883 to 1935.
Huang worked as an editor and illustrator and also as an art professor. In 1948, aged 85, he settled in Hangzhou where his teaching activity certainly left him more free time. It was from that point that he perfected the art of landscape.
He no longer travels in the mountains and works with memory and imagination, favoring the expression instead of the realism. Like the greatest masters, he does not need a preparatory drawing and does not erase. His full mastery of the width of the line generates superb contrasts enhanced by a skillful use of the voids to show mist and brook. The density of the lines reminds the Dürer hare and the overall composition is well balanced.
Huang had the nice practice of dating some of his works by his age. A view in Huangshan is dated to his 92 years, corresponding to 1955 just before his death. This 171 x 96 cm scroll is estimated RMB 80M for sale by China Guardian in Beijing on June 19, lot 706.
Another scenery realized in the same year, 178 x 74 cm, was sold for RMB 63M including premium by China Guardian on May 18, 2014. It remembers the emotion of the artist comparing in an earlier trip the real view of the mountain with its interpretation by an artist of the Yuan period. The lower estimate that had been announced at RMB 12M attests a posteriori that the extreme quality of the ultimate art of Huang was rediscovered at that sale.
1955 Alberto and his Double
2013 SOLD 50 M$ including premium
Already famous for his threadlike sculpture of bodies, Alberto Giacometti wants to push further his research of total art. In 1954, in his kneaded statues, he breaks with the tradition of classical sculpture which had been a way to offer to the viewer a realistic three-dimensional vision of the selected theme.
He used to say that he did not make a difference between sculpture and drawing. He then takes as model only his family and close friends, especially his brother Diego younger than himself by only thirteen months. People outside his narrow circle would probably hardly support to be so scrutinized by this artist in search of a new ideal.
The tall thin head 65 cm high is the masterpiece from this series which was cast in bronze in 1955 by Susse. The head is reduced to a blade but the view of each profile is as realistic as a drawing, with the frank gaze and the mouth opened for speaking.
This step forward revolutionized the modern sculpture, but Alberto's view of art history went much farther up to the flat figures in ancient Egyptian art, as it is evidenced by another bust of Diego subtitled Amenophis in the same series.
The two brothers had a strong physical resemblance and there is no doubt that Alberto sought also to reach the truth about himself. He voluntarily maintained this ambiguity in an exhibition in 1962 when he chose to name this sculpture the Grande tête mince rather than Grande tête de Diego.
The bronze 3/6 of the Grande tête mince was sold for $ 53M including premium at Christie's on May 4, 2010. The serial number 6/6 is estimated $ 35M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 6. Here is the link to the catalog.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 50M including premium, is consistent with the price recorded on another copy in 2010.
Grande Tête Mince is a masterpiece of sculpture of the twentieth century. The assumption that one side is a portrait of Diego and the other side a self-portrait is fascinating and shows that this work will never deliver the whole of its mystery, the real mystery of mankind that is behind all Alberto's post-war art.
He used to say that he did not make a difference between sculpture and drawing. He then takes as model only his family and close friends, especially his brother Diego younger than himself by only thirteen months. People outside his narrow circle would probably hardly support to be so scrutinized by this artist in search of a new ideal.
The tall thin head 65 cm high is the masterpiece from this series which was cast in bronze in 1955 by Susse. The head is reduced to a blade but the view of each profile is as realistic as a drawing, with the frank gaze and the mouth opened for speaking.
This step forward revolutionized the modern sculpture, but Alberto's view of art history went much farther up to the flat figures in ancient Egyptian art, as it is evidenced by another bust of Diego subtitled Amenophis in the same series.
The two brothers had a strong physical resemblance and there is no doubt that Alberto sought also to reach the truth about himself. He voluntarily maintained this ambiguity in an exhibition in 1962 when he chose to name this sculpture the Grande tête mince rather than Grande tête de Diego.
The bronze 3/6 of the Grande tête mince was sold for $ 53M including premium at Christie's on May 4, 2010. The serial number 6/6 is estimated $ 35M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 6. Here is the link to the catalog.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 50M including premium, is consistent with the price recorded on another copy in 2010.
Grande Tête Mince is a masterpiece of sculpture of the twentieth century. The assumption that one side is a portrait of Diego and the other side a self-portrait is fascinating and shows that this work will never deliver the whole of its mystery, the real mystery of mankind that is behind all Alberto's post-war art.
1955 The Year of the Femmes d'Alger
2014 SOLD 17 M£ including premium
Matisse's death in November 1954 deprives Picasso of a friend with whom he liked to compare his ideas about the essentials of art. Little interested so far by Orientalism, Pablo begins on December 13 his series of fifteen paintings titled Les Femmes d'Alger.
The theme is ostensibly following Delacroix but Picasso leaves no doubt about his real intention by declaring not without humor that he got the legacy of Matisse's odalisques. Remind that Les Femmes d'Alger is a project probably unique in the history of art where the artist carefully imitated several styles used by himself during his long career.
A new series of paintings beginning on November 19, 1955 combines this orientalist fantasy with the exploration of the face and body of his new muse Jacqueline Roque, shown in clothes and attitudes of a Turkish harem from Pablo's imagination. The style resumes the normal course of evolution of Picasso's art.
On February 4 in London , Christie's sells the half length portrait in an armchair, oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm painted on 20 November 1955, where Jacqueline is adorned with multicolored turban and vest. Her face is almost realistic. This artwork is estimated £ 15M.
Another oil on canvas of the same series, 116 x 89 cm, dated 26 November 1955 was sold for $ 31M including premium at Christie's on November 6, 2007. Drawing the attention to the body rather than to the face, this figure is more erotic.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was ambitious. The result, £ 17M including premium is only 10% below the erotic painting sold in 2007.
The theme is ostensibly following Delacroix but Picasso leaves no doubt about his real intention by declaring not without humor that he got the legacy of Matisse's odalisques. Remind that Les Femmes d'Alger is a project probably unique in the history of art where the artist carefully imitated several styles used by himself during his long career.
A new series of paintings beginning on November 19, 1955 combines this orientalist fantasy with the exploration of the face and body of his new muse Jacqueline Roque, shown in clothes and attitudes of a Turkish harem from Pablo's imagination. The style resumes the normal course of evolution of Picasso's art.
On February 4 in London , Christie's sells the half length portrait in an armchair, oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm painted on 20 November 1955, where Jacqueline is adorned with multicolored turban and vest. Her face is almost realistic. This artwork is estimated £ 15M.
Another oil on canvas of the same series, 116 x 89 cm, dated 26 November 1955 was sold for $ 31M including premium at Christie's on November 6, 2007. Drawing the attention to the body rather than to the face, this figure is more erotic.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was ambitious. The result, £ 17M including premium is only 10% below the erotic painting sold in 2007.
1955 For Winning the Pan-Am
2014 SOLD for $ 23M including premium
In 1950, the Mexican government created the Carrera Panamericana. The difficulty of this endurance race over 3300 Km of roads stirs the lust of the best car brands.
In 1954, the Pan-Am was won by Umberto Maglioli for Scuderia Ferrari with a Ferrari 375 Plus. 375 Plus was the technological sensation of the year, designed for power and endurance with its huge engine of 4.9 liters.
In 1955, Ferrari wants to do even better. The model 410 Sport or 410 S CM is based on a volume of engine similar to the 375 Plus but the mechanical equipment around is highly changed. CM meaning Carrera Messicana clearly indicates that Ferrari relied on the Pan-Am for demonstrating their superiority.
It is required that the car is stable. A new chassis lowers the center of gravity and the wheelbase is slightly reduced to a new standard that will be used two years later for the 250 Testarossa.
The car must be independent over long distances. To avoid refueling, the 410 S is equipped with a vast reservoir of 195 liters and large pipes.
Four cars are built, the first two for private clients and the other two for the Scuderia.
The first is a spyder. It waits in vain for the Mexican race which is canceled after the accident at Le Mans for the great frustration of Enzo Ferrari. It has been little raced and has an incident free history.
It is offered in Monterey by Rick Cole in an auction that ends on August 17 without a floor session. It is illustrated on the article shared by Sports Car Digest.
The second car is the only of the four to have been coachworked as a berlinetta. It was sold for $ 8.25 million including premium by RM Auctions on August 17, 2012. The last two are spyders. One of them was sold for $ 3.8 million including premium by RM Auctions in August 2001, an outstanding price for that time.
POST SALE COMMENT
Reported as unsold with a maximum bid of $ 22.111M.
Sports Car Digest later caught the information that it was sold in post block sale for a final price of $ 23M.
In 1954, the Pan-Am was won by Umberto Maglioli for Scuderia Ferrari with a Ferrari 375 Plus. 375 Plus was the technological sensation of the year, designed for power and endurance with its huge engine of 4.9 liters.
In 1955, Ferrari wants to do even better. The model 410 Sport or 410 S CM is based on a volume of engine similar to the 375 Plus but the mechanical equipment around is highly changed. CM meaning Carrera Messicana clearly indicates that Ferrari relied on the Pan-Am for demonstrating their superiority.
It is required that the car is stable. A new chassis lowers the center of gravity and the wheelbase is slightly reduced to a new standard that will be used two years later for the 250 Testarossa.
The car must be independent over long distances. To avoid refueling, the 410 S is equipped with a vast reservoir of 195 liters and large pipes.
Four cars are built, the first two for private clients and the other two for the Scuderia.
The first is a spyder. It waits in vain for the Mexican race which is canceled after the accident at Le Mans for the great frustration of Enzo Ferrari. It has been little raced and has an incident free history.
It is offered in Monterey by Rick Cole in an auction that ends on August 17 without a floor session. It is illustrated on the article shared by Sports Car Digest.
The second car is the only of the four to have been coachworked as a berlinetta. It was sold for $ 8.25 million including premium by RM Auctions on August 17, 2012. The last two are spyders. One of them was sold for $ 3.8 million including premium by RM Auctions in August 2001, an outstanding price for that time.
POST SALE COMMENT
Reported as unsold with a maximum bid of $ 22.111M.
Sports Car Digest later caught the information that it was sold in post block sale for a final price of $ 23M.
1955 Mark Rothko immersing into Light
2010 SOLD 22.5M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Mark Rothko divides the canvas into rectangular areas with blurry edges, loosely demarcated. He removes the form, the line, the sign. Only remains the emotion created by the dialogue of colors.
His works from the early 1950s have generated a new vision of art. Recognizing the limitations and potential pitfalls of his style and not wanting to be considered as a decorator, he understood that the immersion of the observer in the artwork is only possible if it is of large size.
When such colors are yellow, opalescent white and a wide range of shades of orange, it is not only with color but with light that the visitor is invited to commune.
These forces characterize the oil on canvas dated 1955, 233 x 175 cm, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 9. The white viewed like a halo occupies nearly two-thirds of the surface in the lower part. This lot is perhaps more important than its estimate, $ 20M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 22.5 million including premium, remained in the vicinity of the lower estimate. In the context of the euphoria that is reigning in the autumn sales in New York, it is a bit disappointing.
Mark Rothko divides the canvas into rectangular areas with blurry edges, loosely demarcated. He removes the form, the line, the sign. Only remains the emotion created by the dialogue of colors.
His works from the early 1950s have generated a new vision of art. Recognizing the limitations and potential pitfalls of his style and not wanting to be considered as a decorator, he understood that the immersion of the observer in the artwork is only possible if it is of large size.
When such colors are yellow, opalescent white and a wide range of shades of orange, it is not only with color but with light that the visitor is invited to commune.
These forces characterize the oil on canvas dated 1955, 233 x 175 cm, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 9. The white viewed like a halo occupies nearly two-thirds of the surface in the lower part. This lot is perhaps more important than its estimate, $ 20M.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 22.5 million including premium, remained in the vicinity of the lower estimate. In the context of the euphoria that is reigning in the autumn sales in New York, it is a bit disappointing.
1955 Short Nose for Ecurie Ecosse
2016 SOLD for $ 21.8M including premium
In the early 1950s, Jaguar targets Le Mans. The C-Type perfectly meets this ambition. Design changes are frequent to maintain competitiveness and to follow the rule changes made necessary to ensure the safety.
The C-Type Lightweight from 1953 is a transition model preparing the 1954 D-type. In 1955, the D-Type Long Nose carries the expectations of the brand. In the same year, for meeting the requirement to engage commercially available models in competition, Jaguar begins to produce in series the D-Type model with its 1954 "short nose".
The first two commercial D-Type, chassis XKD 501 and 502, are delivered in 1955 to Ecurie Ecosse, a private team that works closely with Jaguar. Due to an accident, XKD 501 cannot participate at Le Mans in its first year.
The disaster of Le Mans significantly changes the game. Mercedes-Benz will not return. In 1956, a regulatory limitation of the fuel creates a headache for high volume engines. The XKD 501 of the Ecurie Ecosse wins the race one lap ahead of an Aston Martin. The feat of the Ecurie Ecosse is of high merit because the car is equipped with a big 3.4-liter engine.
Still more important changes are being considered in the rules. In 1957 Jaguar terminates its racing team. In 1958 Le Mans limits the size of engines to 3 liters, precipitating the end of career of the glorious chain of the C-Types and D-Types. It is funny to note that "C" meant Competition while "D" is simply the next after C in the alphabet.
XKD 501 was maintained in its configuration and its engine of the 1956 Le Mans victory. Its condition is certainly the most authentic among the five Jaguar that won at Le Mans in the 1950s. It had been fitted before Le Mans with the engine from the third D -Type of Ecurie Ecosse, XKD 561, a car that the team mostly used as a spare.
XKD 501 is estimated $ 20M for sale by RM Sotheby's in Monterey on August 19, lot 114. In its class, glory brings an added value : in very good condition, XKD 561 was sold for £ 2.6M including premium by Bonhams on December 1, 2013. Please watch the video shared by RM.
The C-Type Lightweight from 1953 is a transition model preparing the 1954 D-type. In 1955, the D-Type Long Nose carries the expectations of the brand. In the same year, for meeting the requirement to engage commercially available models in competition, Jaguar begins to produce in series the D-Type model with its 1954 "short nose".
The first two commercial D-Type, chassis XKD 501 and 502, are delivered in 1955 to Ecurie Ecosse, a private team that works closely with Jaguar. Due to an accident, XKD 501 cannot participate at Le Mans in its first year.
The disaster of Le Mans significantly changes the game. Mercedes-Benz will not return. In 1956, a regulatory limitation of the fuel creates a headache for high volume engines. The XKD 501 of the Ecurie Ecosse wins the race one lap ahead of an Aston Martin. The feat of the Ecurie Ecosse is of high merit because the car is equipped with a big 3.4-liter engine.
Still more important changes are being considered in the rules. In 1957 Jaguar terminates its racing team. In 1958 Le Mans limits the size of engines to 3 liters, precipitating the end of career of the glorious chain of the C-Types and D-Types. It is funny to note that "C" meant Competition while "D" is simply the next after C in the alphabet.
XKD 501 was maintained in its configuration and its engine of the 1956 Le Mans victory. Its condition is certainly the most authentic among the five Jaguar that won at Le Mans in the 1950s. It had been fitted before Le Mans with the engine from the third D -Type of Ecurie Ecosse, XKD 561, a car that the team mostly used as a spare.
XKD 501 is estimated $ 20M for sale by RM Sotheby's in Monterey on August 19, lot 114. In its class, glory brings an added value : in very good condition, XKD 561 was sold for £ 2.6M including premium by Bonhams on December 1, 2013. Please watch the video shared by RM.
1955 Picasso revisiting the Women of Algiers
2011 SOLD 21.3 M$ including premium
The series of the Femmes d'Alger painted by Picasso between December 13, 1954 and February 14, 1955 does not belong to one single phase of the art of the master, but to many. Taking as a pretext Delacroix's painting, he produced 15 variations, very different from one another, numbered A to O.
It is likely that Picasso, just after the death of Matisse, wanted to conduct a parallel study of art history and of his personal contributions. Some are in color, others in grisaille (a term also used in its French version in English texts).
Five of them remained in the Ganz collection until the death of the collector. The version O, 114 x 146 cm, which can be considered as the culmination of the group, was sold for $ 32M including premium at Christie's on November 10, 1997.
Ganz had bought all the series to Kahnweiler but the version L which will be sold by Christie's in New York on May 4 is one of the ten versions he soon put back on the market.
It is a grisaille, 130 x 97 cm, dated February 9, 1955. The topic, centered on a figure of dominatrix woman, is executed in the manner of the experimental years of Cubism before the First World War. The cumulated experience of Picasso makes this painting a luminous work that exceeds in this respect many early Cubist paintings of the master.
Picasso's exegetes will try a comparison with the Demoiselles d'Avignon, but it is recommended to keep a cool head and to remember that Ganz did not select the version L. The estimate, $ 20M, is ambitious.
POST SALE COMMENT
I was not really convinced that this work was major. In these circumstances, I consider that the result, $ 21.3 million including premium, is excellent.
It is likely that Picasso, just after the death of Matisse, wanted to conduct a parallel study of art history and of his personal contributions. Some are in color, others in grisaille (a term also used in its French version in English texts).
Five of them remained in the Ganz collection until the death of the collector. The version O, 114 x 146 cm, which can be considered as the culmination of the group, was sold for $ 32M including premium at Christie's on November 10, 1997.
Ganz had bought all the series to Kahnweiler but the version L which will be sold by Christie's in New York on May 4 is one of the ten versions he soon put back on the market.
It is a grisaille, 130 x 97 cm, dated February 9, 1955. The topic, centered on a figure of dominatrix woman, is executed in the manner of the experimental years of Cubism before the First World War. The cumulated experience of Picasso makes this painting a luminous work that exceeds in this respect many early Cubist paintings of the master.
Picasso's exegetes will try a comparison with the Demoiselles d'Avignon, but it is recommended to keep a cool head and to remember that Ganz did not select the version L. The estimate, $ 20M, is ambitious.
POST SALE COMMENT
I was not really convinced that this work was major. In these circumstances, I consider that the result, $ 21.3 million including premium, is excellent.
1955 Le Chat, bronze by Giacometti
2010 SOLD 21 M$ including premium
1955 Portrait of a Contemporary Pope
2015 SOLD for £ 10M including premium
Francis Bacon composed his paintings from photographs. Troubled by the paradox of the human vulnerability of the most powerful leaders, he displays their pictures in his studio.
He focuses his analysis on two popes, the image of the painting of Innocent X by Velazquez and a photograph of the Pope of his time, Pius XII. Reigning since 1939, Pius XII had been confronted with the atrocities of war and racism with an efficiency that would later be disputed. His elongated head and hollow cheeks perfectly illustrate the theme chosen by Bacon.
On February 11 in London, Christie's sells Study for a head painted by Bacon in 1955, oil on canvas 102 x 77 cm, lot 17.
In the expressive style of the artist, the face of the pope is perfectly recognizable, and his glasses were not omitted. The dark colors on a black background increase the tragic feeling that haunts Francis after the Battleship Potemkin.
What was happening into the troubled mind of the artist ? A continuity of style is established between this painting and his first self-portrait, made in the following year, as if Francis suddenly understood that the vulnerability of others that aroused his discomfort should also and especially apply to himself.
The critical imaging of the men of power will experience another climax in 1972 with Mao's portrait by Warhol.
He focuses his analysis on two popes, the image of the painting of Innocent X by Velazquez and a photograph of the Pope of his time, Pius XII. Reigning since 1939, Pius XII had been confronted with the atrocities of war and racism with an efficiency that would later be disputed. His elongated head and hollow cheeks perfectly illustrate the theme chosen by Bacon.
On February 11 in London, Christie's sells Study for a head painted by Bacon in 1955, oil on canvas 102 x 77 cm, lot 17.
In the expressive style of the artist, the face of the pope is perfectly recognizable, and his glasses were not omitted. The dark colors on a black background increase the tragic feeling that haunts Francis after the Battleship Potemkin.
What was happening into the troubled mind of the artist ? A continuity of style is established between this painting and his first self-portrait, made in the following year, as if Francis suddenly understood that the vulnerability of others that aroused his discomfort should also and especially apply to himself.
The critical imaging of the men of power will experience another climax in 1972 with Mao's portrait by Warhol.
