1977
1977 Untitled by de KOONING
1
XXV
2016 SOLD for $ 66M by Christie's
Willem de Kooning was a lover of women and a heavy drinker. His artistic career is uneven, marked by breaks and restarts. The beauty of Long Island offers him a late redemption in his seventies.
De Kooning buys a piece of land near Springs in 1958, two years after Pollock's death. Pollock had his studio in the same village where he was imbued with the richly colorful nature facing the fluctuating surface of the ocean. It took 17 years to de Kooning to start a creativity of similar inspiration.
In 1975 the old artist is happy. His art is acclaimed. He is pleased with his young girlfriend Mimi Kilgore. His wife Elaine of whom he had never divorced comes back to him in the following year. He finally takes time to contemplate the nature through observations of very long duration ending in a sudden rush on his canvas, colors and brushes.
The bright colors that cover the entire surface of the canvas were not spontaneous at all. They are made of mixed layers varying from impasto to flowing paint. The visionary artist knows in advance which result he desires and has no doubt that he will succeed. Once finished he considers that what he achieved is impossible to repeat. And he starts again with another canvas.
All these Untitled paintings are different because they are based on other contemplations. Sometimes a naked flesh, a tree or the sea arises beyond abstraction by a careful observation. Pollock also was upset when his art was considered abstract.
Untitled XXV, oil on canvas also 196 x 224 cm painted in 1977, was sold by Christie's for $ 27M on 15 November 15, 2006, and for $ 66M exactly ten years later, on November 15, 2016, lot 8 A. The abstract scenery was made in a rich dominance of scarlet, crimson and vermilion that cancels the radiant white background layer.
De Kooning buys a piece of land near Springs in 1958, two years after Pollock's death. Pollock had his studio in the same village where he was imbued with the richly colorful nature facing the fluctuating surface of the ocean. It took 17 years to de Kooning to start a creativity of similar inspiration.
In 1975 the old artist is happy. His art is acclaimed. He is pleased with his young girlfriend Mimi Kilgore. His wife Elaine of whom he had never divorced comes back to him in the following year. He finally takes time to contemplate the nature through observations of very long duration ending in a sudden rush on his canvas, colors and brushes.
The bright colors that cover the entire surface of the canvas were not spontaneous at all. They are made of mixed layers varying from impasto to flowing paint. The visionary artist knows in advance which result he desires and has no doubt that he will succeed. Once finished he considers that what he achieved is impossible to repeat. And he starts again with another canvas.
All these Untitled paintings are different because they are based on other contemplations. Sometimes a naked flesh, a tree or the sea arises beyond abstraction by a careful observation. Pollock also was upset when his art was considered abstract.
Untitled XXV, oil on canvas also 196 x 224 cm painted in 1977, was sold by Christie's for $ 27M on 15 November 15, 2006, and for $ 66M exactly ten years later, on November 15, 2016, lot 8 A. The abstract scenery was made in a rich dominance of scarlet, crimson and vermilion that cancels the radiant white background layer.
2
VIII
2013 SOLD for $ 32M by Christie's
De Kooning reuses in his 1977 Untitled series his previous style of partitioned composition covering all the available surface, as boundless as a Pollock painting. The observer continuously discovers new details by varying the reading trip.
The Untitled II of 1977, 196 x 224 cm, expresses the colors and balances of nature while bringing an additional theme : the body of a woman who is peacefully reclining in the foreground offers a rare reminder from the Woman series which had brought to the artist his unfairly sulphurous notoriety a quarter of a century earlier.
The Untitled VIII from 1977, oil on canvas 178 x 203 cm, was sold for $ 32M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on November 12, 2013, lot 37. In this scenery the bright blues of sky and sea are confronting the vibrant flashes of red, yellow and orange of the ground.
This painting is a rare synthesis of all the research by De Kooning at the border between biomorphic and abstraction. In the foreground on the right, the structure in the form of inverted S is a woman sitting in nature. This discovery makes in turn perceive another woman and then the perspective of a landscape.
Through the doubts and changes in his career, De Kooning, away from any school, had never given up his goal to express altogether the body, the soul and the landscape. At over 70 years old, he had also become the most skilled colorist of his time.
The Untitled II of 1977, 196 x 224 cm, expresses the colors and balances of nature while bringing an additional theme : the body of a woman who is peacefully reclining in the foreground offers a rare reminder from the Woman series which had brought to the artist his unfairly sulphurous notoriety a quarter of a century earlier.
The Untitled VIII from 1977, oil on canvas 178 x 203 cm, was sold for $ 32M from a lower estimate of $ 20M by Christie's on November 12, 2013, lot 37. In this scenery the bright blues of sky and sea are confronting the vibrant flashes of red, yellow and orange of the ground.
This painting is a rare synthesis of all the research by De Kooning at the border between biomorphic and abstraction. In the foreground on the right, the structure in the form of inverted S is a woman sitting in nature. This discovery makes in turn perceive another woman and then the perspective of a landscape.
Through the doubts and changes in his career, De Kooning, away from any school, had never given up his goal to express altogether the body, the soul and the landscape. At over 70 years old, he had also become the most skilled colorist of his time.
3
XXI
2022 SOLD for $ 25M by Christie's
The large size Untitled paintings of 1977 are different from one another. While de Kooning did not reveal his inspiration, they are a collection of his color impressions in and near his East Hampton home.
The Untitled XXI is joyously structured by lines and zigzags in various bright colors. The fields are dominated by the flesh like salmon pink, the fetish color of the artist, that invites the viewer to certainly wrong interpretations.
Three roughly squared light vermilion figures in the upper half may be a door and two windows separating outdoors and indoors, but the viewer cannot conclude on which side he is in this abstract scenery. The figure at the lower left may be a foreground reconstituting a dressed woman with a bun of dark hair. An impression of bright daybreak light has also been proposed.
XXI, oil on canvas 178 x 203 cm, is was sold for $ 25M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 19C.
The Untitled XXI is joyously structured by lines and zigzags in various bright colors. The fields are dominated by the flesh like salmon pink, the fetish color of the artist, that invites the viewer to certainly wrong interpretations.
Three roughly squared light vermilion figures in the upper half may be a door and two windows separating outdoors and indoors, but the viewer cannot conclude on which side he is in this abstract scenery. The figure at the lower left may be a foreground reconstituting a dressed woman with a bun of dark hair. An impression of bright daybreak light has also been proposed.
XXI, oil on canvas 178 x 203 cm, is was sold for $ 25M by Christie's on May 12, 2022, lot 19C.
4
XXII
2019 SOLD for $ 30M by Sotheby's
As 1977 goes forward, de Kooning's paintings gradually lose their last references to human beings and even to landscape. Before deciding whether a painting suits him, he looks at it from every angle, including by overturning it.
On November 14, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 30M the Untitled XXII of 1977, lot 13. This oil on canvas 178 x 203 cm expresses with high energy the forces of nature by the violence of the brush strokes. The usual floating forms unite here in a sort of irregular grid over the luminous background which may here evoke the grey light on a tumultuous ocean.
On November 14, 2019, Sotheby's sold for $ 30M the Untitled XXII of 1977, lot 13. This oil on canvas 178 x 203 cm expresses with high energy the forces of nature by the violence of the brush strokes. The usual floating forms unite here in a sort of irregular grid over the luminous background which may here evoke the grey light on a tumultuous ocean.
5
1977 XXIII
2007 SOLD for $ 20M by Christie's
The Untitled XXX of 1977, oil on canvas 178 x 203 cm, was sold for $ 20M by Christie's on November 13, 2007, lot 43.
6
1977 XXXI
2014 SOLD for $ 21M by Christie's
The Untitled XXXI of 1977, oil on canvas 137 x 152 cm, was sold for $ 21M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Christie's on May 13, 2014, lot 39.
7
1977 XXXIII
2021 SOLD for $ 24.4M by Sotheby's
The Untitled XXXIII of 1977, oil on canvas 152 x 137 cm, was sold for $ 24.4M from a lower estimate of $ 12M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 3.
This fully abstract opus displays on its whole surface a rhythmic collision of peach, pink and crimson with no outline, in a surrounding of white, red, green, blue and yellow that altogether express the atmosphere and light that the artist so much loved in East Hampton.
This fully abstract opus displays on its whole surface a rhythmic collision of peach, pink and crimson with no outline, in a surrounding of white, red, green, blue and yellow that altogether express the atmosphere and light that the artist so much loved in East Hampton.
1977 The Cult of Everlasting Youth
2018 SOLD for $ 50M including premium
The life of Francis Bacon is dominated and ruined by his existential questioning, but that is why he is one of the most disturbing artists of his time.
In an early phase Francis paints horrible old popes, idols in decay. When George becomes his symbol of handsome youth, he confronts him with himself and the pope. George's death reveals a posteriori to Francis that this young man of whom he had fun had indeed an existence. There is no doubt that Francis's mourning was terrible, deep and lasting.
Despite his ego Francis cannot stop the time. From 1976 he enters a process of re-interesting in old friends including Henrietta but he does not know how to accept and endure the aging of his own body.
On May 17 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 7 B Study for Portrait, oil on canvas 198 x 148 cm painted in 1977.
Francis had then ended his mourning : George is no longer a ghost but the idol of everlasting youth, sitting in underwear from the model of a photo taken in the first phase of their affair by John Deakin. His face is recognizable.
On a lilac surface in front of the idol, a dark form appears, ended by an accumulation of blood. It cannot be George's shadow because it is not consistent with any light. It is a flat selfie figure of Francis in his body that becomes disgusting. This identification is confirmed by the waste that surrounds it, marked by letters in dry transfer, which symbolizes the fabulous rubble in the artist's studio.
In an early phase Francis paints horrible old popes, idols in decay. When George becomes his symbol of handsome youth, he confronts him with himself and the pope. George's death reveals a posteriori to Francis that this young man of whom he had fun had indeed an existence. There is no doubt that Francis's mourning was terrible, deep and lasting.
Despite his ego Francis cannot stop the time. From 1976 he enters a process of re-interesting in old friends including Henrietta but he does not know how to accept and endure the aging of his own body.
On May 17 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 7 B Study for Portrait, oil on canvas 198 x 148 cm painted in 1977.
Francis had then ended his mourning : George is no longer a ghost but the idol of everlasting youth, sitting in underwear from the model of a photo taken in the first phase of their affair by John Deakin. His face is recognizable.
On a lilac surface in front of the idol, a dark form appears, ended by an accumulation of blood. It cannot be George's shadow because it is not consistent with any light. It is a flat selfie figure of Francis in his body that becomes disgusting. This identification is confirmed by the waste that surrounds it, marked by letters in dry transfer, which symbolizes the fabulous rubble in the artist's studio.
1977 The Blond Profile
2017 SOLD for $ 24.5M including premium
Roy Lichtenstein creates a new conception of the image with his narrative themes inspired by comics, his text bubbles, his flat areas with sharp outlines and his printing dots. He explores the root nature of imagery by elevating to the rank of major art the disproportionately enlarged picture of a brushstroke or later by observing the abstract metamorphosis of a cow.
Early in his career Roy observes the freedom of composition brought by Picasso with his juxtapositions of perspectives and his effects of mirrors. Imitating a portrait of Dora Maar, Woman with Flowered Hat painted in 1963 was sold for $ 56M including premium by Christie's on May 15, 2013.
On November 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells Female Head, oil and acrylic on canvas 152 x 127 cm painted in 1977, lot 29 estimated $ 10M.
Roy interprets Picasso's signature double perspective with his naturalist style without reversing the binocular vision : the right nostril appears on the left. The face is truncated in an outline close to an oval as in an impossible mirror that does not appear. Roy does not forget the profile but processes it in a surrealist manner by the line of the blond hair on the left. This artwork thus becomes the triple head of a unique woman amalgamated in a single figure.
Early in his career Roy observes the freedom of composition brought by Picasso with his juxtapositions of perspectives and his effects of mirrors. Imitating a portrait of Dora Maar, Woman with Flowered Hat painted in 1963 was sold for $ 56M including premium by Christie's on May 15, 2013.
On November 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells Female Head, oil and acrylic on canvas 152 x 127 cm painted in 1977, lot 29 estimated $ 10M.
Roy interprets Picasso's signature double perspective with his naturalist style without reversing the binocular vision : the right nostril appears on the left. The face is truncated in an outline close to an oval as in an impossible mirror that does not appear. Roy does not forget the profile but processes it in a surrealist manner by the line of the blond hair on the left. This artwork thus becomes the triple head of a unique woman amalgamated in a single figure.
1977 Two Studies for Self Portrait by Bacon
2015 SOLD for £ 14.7M by Sotheby's
The suicide of George Dyer in 1971 is the great trauma of Francis Bacon. Francis, who had fun watching the downfall of his friend, loses the model that was used to his psychological fixation. The artist finds himself facing an implacable witness of his age: his own mirror.
His growing fame has no direct effect on his art. Francis condemns himself to continue painting, but he has no subject outside of the post mortem vision of George and the disgust of his own look.
On February 10, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 14.7M a double self-portrait painted in 1977 by Francis Bacon, lot 18. Each element has the same size as the images of his triptychs, 35 x 30 cm, chosen to provide a life-size face. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
In this painting, Francis reaches a peak of pessimism. The deformation of the lines and the violence of the colors do not remove the likeness of these self-portraits, but the nose is from an old alcoholic. The eyes are closed, but the mouths express sadness and disgust, in the same way as the mouth of his old popes had expressed helplessness and horror.
Soon after, his self-portraits became more serene when Francis finally realized that his own aging was inevitable.
His growing fame has no direct effect on his art. Francis condemns himself to continue painting, but he has no subject outside of the post mortem vision of George and the disgust of his own look.
On February 10, 2015, Sotheby's sold for £ 14.7M a double self-portrait painted in 1977 by Francis Bacon, lot 18. Each element has the same size as the images of his triptychs, 35 x 30 cm, chosen to provide a life-size face. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
In this painting, Francis reaches a peak of pessimism. The deformation of the lines and the violence of the colors do not remove the likeness of these self-portraits, but the nose is from an old alcoholic. The eyes are closed, but the mouths express sadness and disgust, in the same way as the mouth of his old popes had expressed helplessness and horror.
Soon after, his self-portraits became more serene when Francis finally realized that his own aging was inevitable.
