1979
See also : De Kooning Later Bacons Head triptych Self portrait Modern India Gaitonde Chairs and seats Lalanne Cars 1970s 1980s
1979 the Monet by de Kooning
2022 SOLD for $ 35M by Sotheby's
In 1977 Willem de Kooning was busy to interpret in abstraction the scintillating colors of landscape, sea and sky around his home at East Hampton.
That creative activity was followed with a reduced output after he fell once again in 1978 in alcoholism and anxiety. The rarity of de Kooning's art in 1979 and 1980 attests of the sustained psychological difficulty of the artist then in his mid 70s. They have been made still scarcer by his practice to scrap his own work when it did not match his expectancies.
From their beginnings in the 1940s, de Kooning and Gorky used to deny the influence of previous art and their belonging to a trend or to school. They indeed expressed their own feelings.
An oil on canvas 178 x 200 cm painted ca 1979 is a turning point in de Kooning's creativity. He managed to transfer to abstraction the colors of water mirroring the sky in Monet's Nymphéas. Its balance of brilliant saturated dominant blue with yellow and their combined green. The technique is a mix of impasto applied and removed with the knife and of thinned paint in combinations of solvents, reflecting the rapid gesture and the energy of the arm.
This Untitled was dubbed 'the Monet' and treasured by his daughter and grandchildren. They said : It was a window, we had the sea in the studio. Directly from that provenance, it was sold for $ 35M by Sotheby's on November 16, 2022, lot 108. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
That creative activity was followed with a reduced output after he fell once again in 1978 in alcoholism and anxiety. The rarity of de Kooning's art in 1979 and 1980 attests of the sustained psychological difficulty of the artist then in his mid 70s. They have been made still scarcer by his practice to scrap his own work when it did not match his expectancies.
From their beginnings in the 1940s, de Kooning and Gorky used to deny the influence of previous art and their belonging to a trend or to school. They indeed expressed their own feelings.
An oil on canvas 178 x 200 cm painted ca 1979 is a turning point in de Kooning's creativity. He managed to transfer to abstraction the colors of water mirroring the sky in Monet's Nymphéas. Its balance of brilliant saturated dominant blue with yellow and their combined green. The technique is a mix of impasto applied and removed with the knife and of thinned paint in combinations of solvents, reflecting the rapid gesture and the energy of the arm.
This Untitled was dubbed 'the Monet' and treasured by his daughter and grandchildren. They said : It was a window, we had the sea in the studio. Directly from that provenance, it was sold for $ 35M by Sotheby's on November 16, 2022, lot 108. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1979 Three Studies for Self Portrait by Bacon
2022 SOLD for $ 29M by Christie's
Mortality is a thread line in the art of Francis Bacon. Early felt as a challenge, it became a personal tragedy after the untimely death of his love partners, Peter in 1962 and George in 1971. He painted no less than 29 self portraits in the 1970s. In 1979 the death of the club owner Muriel Belcher at 71 years old marks a termination of the feeling of good life in Soho.
Turning 70 in the same year, Francis feels of himself like a survivor, more than ever looking for the ravage of time on his own face.
This sad mood is reflected in a triptych again titled Three Studies for a Self Portrait painted in 1979, sold for $ 29M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 52.
These three faces bears marks of aging through patches of pink and blue over the pale flesh. The blazing orange background is a reminder of his first masterpiece in triptych, the 1944 Three studies of figures at the base of a crucifixion.
Turning 70 in the same year, Francis feels of himself like a survivor, more than ever looking for the ravage of time on his own face.
This sad mood is reflected in a triptych again titled Three Studies for a Self Portrait painted in 1979, sold for $ 29M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 52.
These three faces bears marks of aging through patches of pink and blue over the pale flesh. The blazing orange background is a reminder of his first masterpiece in triptych, the 1944 Three studies of figures at the base of a crucifixion.
1979 The Twilight of the Painter
2017 SOLD for $ 12.6M including premium
Philip Guston had been one of the best painters of the abstract expressionism, displaying explosions of colors from the center of his canvases. Painted in 1958, To Fellini was sold for $ 26M including premium by Christie's on May 15, 2013.
Guston is however tormented by the question of the role of art. When he moves to Woodstock NY in 1967 he completely changes his approach to the detriment of his own career.
He no longer understands what is the purpose of juxtaposing bright colors. He will now show ordinary objects of his time in a drawing imitating cartoons with poor or lugubrious colors.
On May 17 in New York, Christie's sells Painter at night, oil on canvas 172 x 203 cm painted in 1979, lot 11 B estimated $ 8M. This artwork bearing symbols from his whole life appears as his artistic testament. Did this chain smoker feel that his health was threatened ? He died in the next year of a heart attack.
The unshaved artist with dirty hair turns his back on the viewer. In his dignity as a creator, he is not embarrassed to look like a tramp. He holds his brush and looks at the smoke of his cigarette. The scene is barely lit by a small lamp that symbolized the suicide of his father in his teenager's drawings. Framed in a television it is only a picture in the picture : once again art did not express a reality.
Misunderstood in his later career during his lifetime, Guston has become the forerunner of a movement which does not yet have a name seeking to express the existentialist difficulty and the brutality of current life.
Guston is however tormented by the question of the role of art. When he moves to Woodstock NY in 1967 he completely changes his approach to the detriment of his own career.
He no longer understands what is the purpose of juxtaposing bright colors. He will now show ordinary objects of his time in a drawing imitating cartoons with poor or lugubrious colors.
On May 17 in New York, Christie's sells Painter at night, oil on canvas 172 x 203 cm painted in 1979, lot 11 B estimated $ 8M. This artwork bearing symbols from his whole life appears as his artistic testament. Did this chain smoker feel that his health was threatened ? He died in the next year of a heart attack.
The unshaved artist with dirty hair turns his back on the viewer. In his dignity as a creator, he is not embarrassed to look like a tramp. He holds his brush and looks at the smoke of his cigarette. The scene is barely lit by a small lamp that symbolized the suicide of his father in his teenager's drawings. Framed in a television it is only a picture in the picture : once again art did not express a reality.
Misunderstood in his later career during his lifetime, Guston has become the forerunner of a movement which does not yet have a name seeking to express the existentialist difficulty and the brutality of current life.
1979 The Writing of the Universe
2018 SOLD for HK$ 70M including premium
Zao Wou-Ki appreciates in the 1970s that the universe is not limited to the fight of his inner passion. To continue to encompass everything from creation to unlimited expansion, he revisits the black inks of the Song and creates many wash paintings on paper.
Towards the end of the decade he enters a new phase by transposing his observations on ancient art to the oil on canvas. The shades of the wash subtly fill the light areas that bring the peace and the void that he had always psychologically missed. He chooses for the rest of his image vibrant colors in brushstrokes of great sharpness that he builds like a speedy writing.
The overall effect of 8.11.79 is a mountain range well centered between sky and lake. This painting 90 x 117 cm is small for this artist at that time. It was sold by Christie's on November 25, 2017 for HK $ 50M including premium over a lower estimate of HK $ 12M.
On May 27 in Hong Kong, Phillips sells as lot 5 a 250 x 260 cm oil on canvas painted in 1979, titled 4.1.79.
Composed in three parts like the other example above, this painting which looks from far away like a wash is an almost monochrome abstract mountain in a swirling surrounding of white mist. The closer inspection reveals the brightly colored lines and stains intermingled in the central part that brings to the whole its natural illusion.
Please watch the video shared by Phillips
Towards the end of the decade he enters a new phase by transposing his observations on ancient art to the oil on canvas. The shades of the wash subtly fill the light areas that bring the peace and the void that he had always psychologically missed. He chooses for the rest of his image vibrant colors in brushstrokes of great sharpness that he builds like a speedy writing.
The overall effect of 8.11.79 is a mountain range well centered between sky and lake. This painting 90 x 117 cm is small for this artist at that time. It was sold by Christie's on November 25, 2017 for HK $ 50M including premium over a lower estimate of HK $ 12M.
On May 27 in Hong Kong, Phillips sells as lot 5 a 250 x 260 cm oil on canvas painted in 1979, titled 4.1.79.
Composed in three parts like the other example above, this painting which looks from far away like a wash is an almost monochrome abstract mountain in a swirling surrounding of white mist. The closer inspection reveals the brightly colored lines and stains intermingled in the central part that brings to the whole its natural illusion.
Please watch the video shared by Phillips
1979 Moutons de Pierre by Lalanne
2011 SOLD for $ 7.5M by Christie's
An unusual idea can provide an overnight fame to an artist. In 1965, François-Xavier Lalanne creates a sensation in Paris at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture.
He designed a small bench in wood and aluminum, covered with wool, with four feet. All furniture manufacturers run their models in multiple copies: Lalanne standardizes the quantity to 24. Thus was born his flock of life size sheep, worthy of the best ideas of surrealism but in an extreme simplicity of interpretation.
The set is funny. The sheep with a proudly raised head is a bench with a hat holder and the headless sheep is an ottoman. This is a clear invitation to leave the pieces together : headless animals are considered occupied to graze within the group, protected by the external figures.
His first flock of 24 sheep is entitled Pour Polyphème. The artist's goal was to exhibit an innovative, utilitarian, monumental and modifiable work.
Throughout his career, Lalanne reissues his sheep. The first series, coated with real wool, are called the Moutons de Laine.
A flock made in 1968-1969 of five sheep and nine ottomans was sold for € 1.75M by Christie's on December 4, 2012, lot 22. A pair dated 1969 was sold for € 1.57M by Sotheby's on November 21, 2017, lot 38.
A complete herd of seven white sheep, one black sheep and sixteen ottomans was sold for $ 5.7M by Christie's on November 14, 2012, lot 43. This set had been purchased in 1976 by an American couple to fill a barn.
The success of the Moutons de Laine gives rise to new variants : the ram, the ewe, the lamb. The Mouton de Pierre appears in 1979 for use in the garden. It is in epoxy concrete and bronze, without wheels and without wool. It is first edited in 250 numbered units, later in small series of replicas.
A homogeneous group of ten Moutons de Pierre from the first edition was sold for $ 7.5M by Christie's on December 17, 2011, lot 303, from a lower estimate of $ 600K.
A group of ten was sold for $ 2.9M by Christie's on December 4, 2020, lot 608.
It is composed of one Bélier, three Moutons Transhumants, two Moutons de Pierre, two Brebis and two Agneaux, made between 1979 and 2004.
He designed a small bench in wood and aluminum, covered with wool, with four feet. All furniture manufacturers run their models in multiple copies: Lalanne standardizes the quantity to 24. Thus was born his flock of life size sheep, worthy of the best ideas of surrealism but in an extreme simplicity of interpretation.
The set is funny. The sheep with a proudly raised head is a bench with a hat holder and the headless sheep is an ottoman. This is a clear invitation to leave the pieces together : headless animals are considered occupied to graze within the group, protected by the external figures.
His first flock of 24 sheep is entitled Pour Polyphème. The artist's goal was to exhibit an innovative, utilitarian, monumental and modifiable work.
Throughout his career, Lalanne reissues his sheep. The first series, coated with real wool, are called the Moutons de Laine.
A flock made in 1968-1969 of five sheep and nine ottomans was sold for € 1.75M by Christie's on December 4, 2012, lot 22. A pair dated 1969 was sold for € 1.57M by Sotheby's on November 21, 2017, lot 38.
A complete herd of seven white sheep, one black sheep and sixteen ottomans was sold for $ 5.7M by Christie's on November 14, 2012, lot 43. This set had been purchased in 1976 by an American couple to fill a barn.
The success of the Moutons de Laine gives rise to new variants : the ram, the ewe, the lamb. The Mouton de Pierre appears in 1979 for use in the garden. It is in epoxy concrete and bronze, without wheels and without wool. It is first edited in 250 numbered units, later in small series of replicas.
A homogeneous group of ten Moutons de Pierre from the first edition was sold for $ 7.5M by Christie's on December 17, 2011, lot 303, from a lower estimate of $ 600K.
A group of ten was sold for $ 2.9M by Christie's on December 4, 2020, lot 608.
It is composed of one Bélier, three Moutons Transhumants, two Moutons de Pierre, two Brebis and two Agneaux, made between 1979 and 2004.
1979-1986 Nine Colored Marilyns Reversal by WARHOL
1
2013 SOLD for $ 7.4M by Christie's
The single image of Marilyn used by Warhol is for him a laboratory of the variation of the expression through the colors. Already in the 1967 portfolio of ten, he displays a full variety of emotions on the identical face of his icon.
In 1979 Warhol highlights again his Marilyn in his newly conceived Reversal series, reverting the tones over a black background like in a negative photo, providing a mortuary appearance. Most of the new Marilyns are painted in multicolored paint and silkscreen ink on canvas. Some of them have been completed by the artist in 1986.
A 1979-1986 138 x 106 cm 9 Coloured Marilyns, in three rows of three figures including a variation of the colors, was sold for $ 7.4M by Christie's on May 7, 2013, lot 51.
Other examples may have slightly different colors.
In 1979 Warhol highlights again his Marilyn in his newly conceived Reversal series, reverting the tones over a black background like in a negative photo, providing a mortuary appearance. Most of the new Marilyns are painted in multicolored paint and silkscreen ink on canvas. Some of them have been completed by the artist in 1986.
A 1979-1986 138 x 106 cm 9 Coloured Marilyns, in three rows of three figures including a variation of the colors, was sold for $ 7.4M by Christie's on May 7, 2013, lot 51.
Other examples may have slightly different colors.
2
2022 SOLD for £ 5.2M by Sotheby's
Sotheby's sold a similar painting as the example above with same dates and size for £ 4.6M on June 30, 2014, lot 43 and for £ 5.2M on October 14, 2022, lot 116.
Another painting of same dates and size was sold for £ 2.5M by Phillips de Pury on June 29, 2008, lot 225.
Another painting of same dates and size was sold for £ 2.5M by Phillips de Pury on June 29, 2008, lot 225.
1979 The Abstract Emotion of Richard Diebenkorn
2009 SOLD 6.5 M$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Much influenced by the work of Matisse, Richard Diebenkorn waved throughout his career between figuration and abstraction. Faithful to the Western United States, he was an active member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, which again showed the landscape beyond abstraction. Starting from 1967, in the series of paintings Ocean Park, the beauty of California remains the main driver of his work, but the figure disappears again.
The creation of a painting by Diebenkorn was a long process during which the artist structured and restructured the image, with increasingly tenuous variations, until he considered that the effect matched the emotion he wanted to express.
Unlike other paintings of this series which are nearly monochromatic, Ocean Park 117, painted in 1979, is enhanced with bright colors, blue and yellow. Areas of flat colors, more and more narrow as we look towards the top of the canvas, can be a landscape or a river or a pool, or just the atmosphere of California.
At Christie's on May 13 in New York, this painting of average size for the artist, 114 x 114 cm, is estimated $ 4 million.
POST SALE COMMENT
Interesting and colorful, this painting has far exceeded the lower price that Christie's expected. It sold $ 6.5 million including premium. It can be considered as one of the most important examples of the Ocean Park series.
Much influenced by the work of Matisse, Richard Diebenkorn waved throughout his career between figuration and abstraction. Faithful to the Western United States, he was an active member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, which again showed the landscape beyond abstraction. Starting from 1967, in the series of paintings Ocean Park, the beauty of California remains the main driver of his work, but the figure disappears again.
The creation of a painting by Diebenkorn was a long process during which the artist structured and restructured the image, with increasingly tenuous variations, until he considered that the effect matched the emotion he wanted to express.
Unlike other paintings of this series which are nearly monochromatic, Ocean Park 117, painted in 1979, is enhanced with bright colors, blue and yellow. Areas of flat colors, more and more narrow as we look towards the top of the canvas, can be a landscape or a river or a pool, or just the atmosphere of California.
At Christie's on May 13 in New York, this painting of average size for the artist, 114 x 114 cm, is estimated $ 4 million.
POST SALE COMMENT
Interesting and colorful, this painting has far exceeded the lower price that Christie's expected. It sold $ 6.5 million including premium. It can be considered as one of the most important examples of the Ocean Park series.
1979 Chongqing by Wu Guanzhong
October 8, 2020 SOLD for HK$ 50M by Sotheby's
1979 Paul Newman in the Rain
2016 SOLD for $ 4.8M including premium
In 1979, the 24 Hours of Le Mans are dominated by cars built by Porsche, driven under the banner of private teams. 19 of the 55 starting cars are Porsche, spreading between the models 934, 935 and 936. The brand occupies the first 4 final positions.
This achievement rewards the effort made by Porsche to meet the complicated rules of the FIA requiring that competition cars of Groups 1 to 5 are based on production models with a minimum quantity. The Porsche 934 matches the Group 4 (special grand touring), the 935 is for Group 5 (sports) and the 936 for Group 6 (prototype). Each year brings further variations to these models.
In heavy rain, Le Mans 1979 is not spectacular in a sporting point of view. Prototypes gradually disappear from race lead after the first hours. The final winner is a Porsche 935 improved by Kremer Racing.
Fortunately, Paul Newman draws the crowd. The actor aged 54 participates for the first time at Le Mans. The Porsche 935 Type 77A driven by Stommelen, Newman and Barbour finishes in the second position.
This is a feat for Newman but also for that new car in its competition debut. Until 1987, it will be extensively raced. It went first overall at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1981 and at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1983.
This Porsche 935 with a prestigious history is estimated $ 4.5M for sale by Gooding in Pebble Beach on August 20, lot 060. Here is the link to the press release (shared with other Porsche vehicles).
Please watch the video shared by Gooding.
This achievement rewards the effort made by Porsche to meet the complicated rules of the FIA requiring that competition cars of Groups 1 to 5 are based on production models with a minimum quantity. The Porsche 934 matches the Group 4 (special grand touring), the 935 is for Group 5 (sports) and the 936 for Group 6 (prototype). Each year brings further variations to these models.
In heavy rain, Le Mans 1979 is not spectacular in a sporting point of view. Prototypes gradually disappear from race lead after the first hours. The final winner is a Porsche 935 improved by Kremer Racing.
Fortunately, Paul Newman draws the crowd. The actor aged 54 participates for the first time at Le Mans. The Porsche 935 Type 77A driven by Stommelen, Newman and Barbour finishes in the second position.
This is a feat for Newman but also for that new car in its competition debut. Until 1987, it will be extensively raced. It went first overall at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1981 and at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1983.
This Porsche 935 with a prestigious history is estimated $ 4.5M for sale by Gooding in Pebble Beach on August 20, lot 060. Here is the link to the press release (shared with other Porsche vehicles).
Please watch the video shared by Gooding.
1979 The Abstract Zen of VS Gaitonde
2013 SOLD for INR 23.7 crores (worth US $ 3.8M) including premium
VS Gaitonde was a quiet man. Art is a process to communicate to the world the images created in his inner self bathed within the principles of Buddhist Zen.
The oil on canvas is his preferred technique, but the use he makes of it is complex. In the following of abstract expressionism, he creates illusions of shapes and textures by varying the application of layers of paint on the surface of the canvas.
Perfectionist, he does not leave his work until he is absolutely satisfied with the result, which requires a long approach to perfection. His art is rare.
In the 1960s, the subconscious of Gaitonde generates imaginary landscapes too close to abstraction for inviting to an identification. A good example made in 1969 was previously discussed in this column. This painting 152 x 101 cm was sold for $ 960K including premium by Christie's on September 12, 2012.
On December 19 in Mumbai, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 153 x 102 cm, estimated INR 65M. Here is the link to the catalog.
Dated 1979, this painting marks an abandonment of the illusion of landscape in favor of a sort of calligraphy that will become sharper, and therefore less mesmerizing, in his later career. The choice of color is somptuous between gold and brown.
Gaitonde liked to live in seclusion. His art is not sufficiently recognized internationally. However, he expresses the relationship of man and ground as Pollock did, he translates the subtlety of his inner self like Zao Wou-ki, he captures the emotion of the viewer like Rothko and his technique anticipates the squeegee of Richter.
POST SALE COMMENT
This sumptuous abstract painting by Gaitonde is also a key work in the development of his art. It was sold for Rs 23.7 crore including premium, equivalent to U.S. $ 3.8 M.
The oil on canvas is his preferred technique, but the use he makes of it is complex. In the following of abstract expressionism, he creates illusions of shapes and textures by varying the application of layers of paint on the surface of the canvas.
Perfectionist, he does not leave his work until he is absolutely satisfied with the result, which requires a long approach to perfection. His art is rare.
In the 1960s, the subconscious of Gaitonde generates imaginary landscapes too close to abstraction for inviting to an identification. A good example made in 1969 was previously discussed in this column. This painting 152 x 101 cm was sold for $ 960K including premium by Christie's on September 12, 2012.
On December 19 in Mumbai, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 153 x 102 cm, estimated INR 65M. Here is the link to the catalog.
Dated 1979, this painting marks an abandonment of the illusion of landscape in favor of a sort of calligraphy that will become sharper, and therefore less mesmerizing, in his later career. The choice of color is somptuous between gold and brown.
Gaitonde liked to live in seclusion. His art is not sufficiently recognized internationally. However, he expresses the relationship of man and ground as Pollock did, he translates the subtlety of his inner self like Zao Wou-ki, he captures the emotion of the viewer like Rothko and his technique anticipates the squeegee of Richter.
POST SALE COMMENT
This sumptuous abstract painting by Gaitonde is also a key work in the development of his art. It was sold for Rs 23.7 crore including premium, equivalent to U.S. $ 3.8 M.
