Bouquet
See also : Flowers Tabletop Van Gogh Gauguin Matisse Picasso 1930s Sanyu Koons Hockney
Chronology : 19th century 1889 1890-1899 1890 1907 1911 1919 1931 1932 1971 2000-2009
Chronology : 19th century 1889 1890-1899 1890 1907 1911 1919 1931 1932 1971 2000-2009
1889 The Sunflowers by Van Gogh
1987 SOLD for £ 24.7M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
In 1888 in Arles, Vincent furnishes the Maison Jaune to welcome Gauguin. The decoration of the guest bedroom will consist of four oils on canvas showing sunflowers throughout their life cycle from bud to wilt, in a wide variety of bright yellows. A few months earlier, Gauguin had appreciated an exchange by which Vincent had provided him with two paintings on a similar theme.
Made in August, the four paintings are different one another by the number and arrangement of the flowers in the vase and by the color of the background. Gauguin begins his stay in October. He is dazzled : for him, the sunflower is in a way the signature of van Gogh's know-how.
The altercation followed by the mutilation of the ear takes place in December. The two artists will not see each other again, especially in prudence regarding Vincent's mental health.
In January 1889, when he is back in the Maison Jaune, Vincent works again on his sunflowers. He paints three replicas, copying with new colors the drawings of two paintings from August 1888. He also conceives a decorative triptych in which the wings are the same original paintings from August 1888 and the center La Berceuse, a portrait of Madame Roulin pulling the strings of a cradle.
Such fierceness on this theme is certainly obsessive. Vincent regretted Gauguin's departure and wanted to regain his admiration. No intervention by Gauguin in the design and execution of this series has been demonstrated.
Listed in the estate of van Gogh, one of the three replicas is bought by Schuffenecker in 1894. Its format is enlarged to 100 x 76 cm at an undetermined date by adding stripes of canvas, possibly to match the dimensions of a frame but more probably to obtain a less tight composition. The assumption that this painting is a copy made by Schuffenecker is unlikely.
This replica was listed by Christie's in their sale in London on March 30, 1987, with a pre-sale estimate in excess of US $ 16M which was enough to exceed by 50% the highest price recorded for any work of art at auction. The Sunflowers were sold to a Japanese bidder for £ 24.7M including premium worth US $ 40M at that time.
Please watch the video shared by Thames News including a footage in the auction room and the memorable hammering at £ 22.5M before fees. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Made in August, the four paintings are different one another by the number and arrangement of the flowers in the vase and by the color of the background. Gauguin begins his stay in October. He is dazzled : for him, the sunflower is in a way the signature of van Gogh's know-how.
The altercation followed by the mutilation of the ear takes place in December. The two artists will not see each other again, especially in prudence regarding Vincent's mental health.
In January 1889, when he is back in the Maison Jaune, Vincent works again on his sunflowers. He paints three replicas, copying with new colors the drawings of two paintings from August 1888. He also conceives a decorative triptych in which the wings are the same original paintings from August 1888 and the center La Berceuse, a portrait of Madame Roulin pulling the strings of a cradle.
Such fierceness on this theme is certainly obsessive. Vincent regretted Gauguin's departure and wanted to regain his admiration. No intervention by Gauguin in the design and execution of this series has been demonstrated.
Listed in the estate of van Gogh, one of the three replicas is bought by Schuffenecker in 1894. Its format is enlarged to 100 x 76 cm at an undetermined date by adding stripes of canvas, possibly to match the dimensions of a frame but more probably to obtain a less tight composition. The assumption that this painting is a copy made by Schuffenecker is unlikely.
This replica was listed by Christie's in their sale in London on March 30, 1987, with a pre-sale estimate in excess of US $ 16M which was enough to exceed by 50% the highest price recorded for any work of art at auction. The Sunflowers were sold to a Japanese bidder for £ 24.7M including premium worth US $ 40M at that time.
Please watch the video shared by Thames News including a footage in the auction room and the memorable hammering at £ 22.5M before fees. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1890 Wild Flowers for Dr Gachet
2014 SOLD for $ 62M including premium
After he entered the asylum at Saint-Rémy de Provence in May 1889, the health of Vincent van Gogh did not improve. But they had to look for a solution. Auvers-sur-Oise is a pretty village frequented by artists. His visit is prepared by his brother Theo in consultation with Dr. Gachet.
In May 1890 Vincent moved into a room at the local inn in Auvers. He did not have a studio and regularly attended the home of Gachet, a friend of the Impressionists and Cézanne.
Since he is sick, Vincent is terrorized by the idea of failure and by the risk of a new crisis of dementia. With the energy of despair, he gives a new impetus to his old ambition to become the best painter of all time, the only one capable of a synthesis of all genres. Gachet has a painting by Cézanne showing a bouquet of flowers. Vincent wants to do better.
Spring brings forth the flowers into the fields. On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 66 x 50 cm painted by Vincent on 16 and 17 June 1890, lot 17 estimated $ 30M. Executed in the clear intention to thank Gachet for his help, this artwork shows a vase filled with daisies and poppies.
The composition is powerful and the colors are gorgeous, dominated in the center by the fiery red poppies. The groups of flowers shine like some characters within the ultimate tragedy of Vincent.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
In May 1890 Vincent moved into a room at the local inn in Auvers. He did not have a studio and regularly attended the home of Gachet, a friend of the Impressionists and Cézanne.
Since he is sick, Vincent is terrorized by the idea of failure and by the risk of a new crisis of dementia. With the energy of despair, he gives a new impetus to his old ambition to become the best painter of all time, the only one capable of a synthesis of all genres. Gachet has a painting by Cézanne showing a bouquet of flowers. Vincent wants to do better.
Spring brings forth the flowers into the fields. On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 66 x 50 cm painted by Vincent on 16 and 17 June 1890, lot 17 estimated $ 30M. Executed in the clear intention to thank Gachet for his help, this artwork shows a vase filled with daisies and poppies.
The composition is powerful and the colors are gorgeous, dominated in the center by the fiery red poppies. The groups of flowers shine like some characters within the ultimate tragedy of Vincent.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
(1886) 1893-1895 Vase of Flowers by Gauguin
2018 SOLD for $ 19.4M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
A Vase of Flowers by Gauguin, dated '86, was sold by Christie's on May 2, 2006 for $ 4.5M including premium despite a lower estimate of $ 7M. This oil on canvas 61 x 74 cm has however some interesting features for understanding Gauguin's creativity : the inverted perspective directly inspired by Cézanne's still lifes, the insertion of an image within the image without a consistency of scale, the juxtaposition of elements from several cultures.
The 2006 catalog clearly explained that this work could not have been painted before Gauguin's first departure for Tahiti, in 1891 : the bright red flowers looking like poinsettias which dominate this bouquet are Polynesian.
An inconsistency is a handicap for a work on the art market. This still life returned to the same auction room on May 8, 2018 in the dispersion of the Peggy and David Rockefeller collection. The catalog included a complex but coherent scenario. It was sold for $ 19.4M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 5M, lot 14. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Here is a probable sequence of the transformations of this artwork :
Gauguin started this painting in 1886. He sought to exploit the best in the avant-garde pictorial techniques and wanted to imitate the Still Life with the Fruit Dish by Cézanne, which he owned. In the following year, on his return from Martinique, he added a very small figure of a West Indian woman standing on a column along the right edge of the image.
In 1893 the return from Polynesia goes very badly. Gauguin is forgotten except by a few friends, and the state of his finances is catastrophic. At one point during this tragic stay in France, which lasted until 1895, he wanted to bring together on a painting his most recent conceptions of still life. Times are hard. Rather than using a new canvas, he paints over his original work.
Gauguin was a fervent admirer of Van Gogh's sunflowers. At Arles in 1888. he had painted a portrait of Van Gogh in front of his easel, busy painting these specific flowers.
The inclusion of the poinsettias is perhaps inspired by the very bright colors of Van Gogh's sunflowers. Originally the back wall was dark : traces of blue pigment have been found under the yellow layer. Several shades of yellow had been used by Van Gogh for the background of his Arles sunflowers. The tablecloth also was too dull for his new Polynesian sensibility : he redid it in orange and pink. The incongruous Martinican figure and the obsolete date remained intact.
The 2006 catalog clearly explained that this work could not have been painted before Gauguin's first departure for Tahiti, in 1891 : the bright red flowers looking like poinsettias which dominate this bouquet are Polynesian.
An inconsistency is a handicap for a work on the art market. This still life returned to the same auction room on May 8, 2018 in the dispersion of the Peggy and David Rockefeller collection. The catalog included a complex but coherent scenario. It was sold for $ 19.4M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 5M, lot 14. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Here is a probable sequence of the transformations of this artwork :
Gauguin started this painting in 1886. He sought to exploit the best in the avant-garde pictorial techniques and wanted to imitate the Still Life with the Fruit Dish by Cézanne, which he owned. In the following year, on his return from Martinique, he added a very small figure of a West Indian woman standing on a column along the right edge of the image.
In 1893 the return from Polynesia goes very badly. Gauguin is forgotten except by a few friends, and the state of his finances is catastrophic. At one point during this tragic stay in France, which lasted until 1895, he wanted to bring together on a painting his most recent conceptions of still life. Times are hard. Rather than using a new canvas, he paints over his original work.
Gauguin was a fervent admirer of Van Gogh's sunflowers. At Arles in 1888. he had painted a portrait of Van Gogh in front of his easel, busy painting these specific flowers.
The inclusion of the poinsettias is perhaps inspired by the very bright colors of Van Gogh's sunflowers. Originally the back wall was dark : traces of blue pigment have been found under the yellow layer. Several shades of yellow had been used by Van Gogh for the background of his Arles sunflowers. The tablecloth also was too dull for his new Polynesian sensibility : he redid it in orange and pink. The incongruous Martinican figure and the obsolete date remained intact.
1907 Peonies in Collioure
2012 SOLD 19 M$ including premium
In 1905, two young painters dazzled by the light of Collioure open a new path in art. They are named Henri Matisse and André Derain. Since then, color supersedes drawing as the dominant element in the composition of a painting.
These new colorists immediately seek to vary the subjects, and flowers are ideal for their research. The vases, tablecloths and wallpapers complement unprecedented color balances.
On May 1 in New York, Christie's sells an oil on canvas, 65 x 55 cm, painted by Matisse in Collioure in 1907, estimated $ 8M. This work showing a vase with peonies was admired by Félix Féneon who was the effective promoter of Fauvism.
The bouquets painted by Matisse at that time are highly appreciated on the art market. One of them, 81 x 66 cm, dated 1911, showing coucou flowers in an elegant vase on a table mat with blue and pink patterns close to abstraction, was sold € 36M including premium in February 2009 by Christie's and Pierre Bergé. This bid is memorable: it was the highest price in the famous Saint-Laurent - Bergé auction sales.
I invite you to see these peonies on the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was too conservative for this nice painting, made in the period of one of the deepest changes in the history of art. It was sold $ 19M including premium.
These new colorists immediately seek to vary the subjects, and flowers are ideal for their research. The vases, tablecloths and wallpapers complement unprecedented color balances.
On May 1 in New York, Christie's sells an oil on canvas, 65 x 55 cm, painted by Matisse in Collioure in 1907, estimated $ 8M. This work showing a vase with peonies was admired by Félix Féneon who was the effective promoter of Fauvism.
The bouquets painted by Matisse at that time are highly appreciated on the art market. One of them, 81 x 66 cm, dated 1911, showing coucou flowers in an elegant vase on a table mat with blue and pink patterns close to abstraction, was sold € 36M including premium in February 2009 by Christie's and Pierre Bergé. This bid is memorable: it was the highest price in the famous Saint-Laurent - Bergé auction sales.
I invite you to see these peonies on the video shared by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was too conservative for this nice painting, made in the period of one of the deepest changes in the history of art. It was sold $ 19M including premium.
1911 Les Coucous, tapis bleu et rose by Matisse
2009 SOLD for € 36M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Born in northern France, Henri Matisse very early visited the local weaving workshops. Throughout his life, he will be a creator of forms on the most varied supports, overlapping figuration and abstraction.
Fauvism is a short but decisive phase during which he experiences the power of pure colors. Seeking exotic solutions, he travels to Algeria in 1906 and spends two months in Spain in 1910 studying Moorish art. At that time, collectors ahead of their time like Shchukin no longer support the traditional separation between art and decoration.
In 1910 in Madrid, Matisse bought in an antique shop a two-tone rug in fairly poor condition, whose arabesques were naturalistic without being identifiable. He was seduced by the expressive force of this anonymous textile, close by chance to the new style that he had developed for La Danse in 1909.
By varying the colors, he uses his rug as a decorative element in several paintings. In L'Atelier rose, oil on canvas 180 x 221 cm painted for Shchukin in 1911, it is spread over the large screen.
Les coucous - tapis bleu et rose, oil on canvas 81 x 66 cm painted in spring 1911, appears as a preparatory work for L'Atelier rose. On the table, the vase of primroses (coucous) is the pretext for this image, but the rug used as a tablecloth is indeed the main theme by its invitation to abstraction. The turquoise wall at the back is enhanced with pink reflections.
Yves Saint-Laurent saw in the image of this fabric a precursor to his own work. This painting which offers a link between two great designers went to be the most expensive lot of the sale of his collection by Christie's on February 23, 2009 : it was sold for € 36M including premium over a lower estimate of € 12M, lot 55.
Fauvism is a short but decisive phase during which he experiences the power of pure colors. Seeking exotic solutions, he travels to Algeria in 1906 and spends two months in Spain in 1910 studying Moorish art. At that time, collectors ahead of their time like Shchukin no longer support the traditional separation between art and decoration.
In 1910 in Madrid, Matisse bought in an antique shop a two-tone rug in fairly poor condition, whose arabesques were naturalistic without being identifiable. He was seduced by the expressive force of this anonymous textile, close by chance to the new style that he had developed for La Danse in 1909.
By varying the colors, he uses his rug as a decorative element in several paintings. In L'Atelier rose, oil on canvas 180 x 221 cm painted for Shchukin in 1911, it is spread over the large screen.
Les coucous - tapis bleu et rose, oil on canvas 81 x 66 cm painted in spring 1911, appears as a preparatory work for L'Atelier rose. On the table, the vase of primroses (coucous) is the pretext for this image, but the rug used as a tablecloth is indeed the main theme by its invitation to abstraction. The turquoise wall at the back is enhanced with pink reflections.
Yves Saint-Laurent saw in the image of this fabric a precursor to his own work. This painting which offers a link between two great designers went to be the most expensive lot of the sale of his collection by Christie's on February 23, 2009 : it was sold for € 36M including premium over a lower estimate of € 12M, lot 55.
1919 Floral Firework by Matisse
2010 SOLD 28.6 M$ including premium
In 1919, Europe is just emerging from war. It is a difficult time for Matisse, his private life and his art. Before 1914, he had entered a new path, emphasizing the harmony of colors that will be the passion of his artist's life. He feels however marginalized by his rejection of abstraction and cubism.
On July 14, French national (Bastille) day, he unleashes his hopes on a canvas 116 x 89 cm. A bouquet springs from a vase in an explosion of colors that immediately calls to fireworks and mingles with the more neutral wallpaper background. The image of this painting is shared by BBC News.
The subject and composition are typical of the still lifes of the master. The patriotic inspiration and the joy of colors make it an exceptional painting, estimated $ 18 million by Sotheby's. The sale takes place in New York on May 5.
Matisse fans are lucky: his Nude with blue cushion, which I discussed earlier in this group, is for sale the day before by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The flowers showed in Matisse's colors are masterpieces of the early twentieth century art. The price recorded by Sotheby's, $ 28.6 million including premium, is excellent.
This lot could not compete with the cuckoos from the Yves Saint Laurent collection, sold last year € 35.9 million including premium by Christie's. Indeed, the cuckoos were dated 1911, one of the greatest periods of transformation in the history of art.
On July 14, French national (Bastille) day, he unleashes his hopes on a canvas 116 x 89 cm. A bouquet springs from a vase in an explosion of colors that immediately calls to fireworks and mingles with the more neutral wallpaper background. The image of this painting is shared by BBC News.
The subject and composition are typical of the still lifes of the master. The patriotic inspiration and the joy of colors make it an exceptional painting, estimated $ 18 million by Sotheby's. The sale takes place in New York on May 5.
Matisse fans are lucky: his Nude with blue cushion, which I discussed earlier in this group, is for sale the day before by Christie's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The flowers showed in Matisse's colors are masterpieces of the early twentieth century art. The price recorded by Sotheby's, $ 28.6 million including premium, is excellent.
This lot could not compete with the cuckoos from the Yves Saint Laurent collection, sold last year € 35.9 million including premium by Christie's. Indeed, the cuckoos were dated 1911, one of the greatest periods of transformation in the history of art.
1931 The Pink Period of Sanyu
2020 SOLD for HK$ 138M including premium
Sanyu understood in 1929 that oil painting was the best suited technique to his creativity. With his drawings, he had applied the simplification of forms to various themes, including the female nude he had discovered in Paris. He will paint directly on the canvas without a sketch, like Chinese calligraphers are doing on paper.
His artistic vision is highly original. The precision of the line offsets the succinctness. The colors are limited to the extreme. The application to colors of the Chinese principle of five inks also makes it possible to reduce contrasts : with a single pigment, the variation in colors is obtained by differences in thickness.
At first, the pink color provides the best demonstration of these new theories. It is common to the most beautiful flowers and to the skin of women, and its contrast with the white can achieve great subtlety. A very dark navy blue or a black brings a three-dimensionality. Most of the works from this period have belonged to Roché.
On December 2 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells Chrysanthèmes blanches, oil on canvas 46 x 27 cm painted in 1929, lot 122 estimated HK $ 10M. The large flowers and their pot are painted in pure white on a pale pink background. The geometries are simple.
Also painted in 1929, a study of roses in a white pitcher on a white background, oil on canvas 73 x 50 cm, was sold for HK $ 59M including premium by Poly on October 5, 2015. Here are three results including premium for oils on canvas painted in 1931 in a similar style :
Deux gros hortensias roses dans un vase blanc, 73 x 50 cm, was sold for € 4.1M by Aguttes on June 1, 2015. Chrysanthèmes roses dans un vase blanc, 100 x 70 cm, was sold for HK $ 55M by Poly on April 3, 2017 and Bouquet de roses dans un vase blanc, 81 x 50 cm, for HK $ 47M by Christie's on November 22, 2014.
These studies are encouraging. Sanyu is now introducing new colors in his pictures of flowers, but always in limited numbers on one canvas. Non-essential parts of the image are drawn in very simplified broad lines.
Bouquet de marguerites, 81 x 45 cm painted in January 1931, was sold for HK $ 51M including premium by Christie's on November 25, 2017. Chrysanthèmes roses dans une corbeille, oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm painted in 1931 which had not been owned by Roché, is estimated HK $ 68M by Christie's in the same auction as above, lot 123.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
1929 SOLD for HK$ 23M
1931 SOLD for HK$ 138M
His artistic vision is highly original. The precision of the line offsets the succinctness. The colors are limited to the extreme. The application to colors of the Chinese principle of five inks also makes it possible to reduce contrasts : with a single pigment, the variation in colors is obtained by differences in thickness.
At first, the pink color provides the best demonstration of these new theories. It is common to the most beautiful flowers and to the skin of women, and its contrast with the white can achieve great subtlety. A very dark navy blue or a black brings a three-dimensionality. Most of the works from this period have belonged to Roché.
On December 2 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells Chrysanthèmes blanches, oil on canvas 46 x 27 cm painted in 1929, lot 122 estimated HK $ 10M. The large flowers and their pot are painted in pure white on a pale pink background. The geometries are simple.
Also painted in 1929, a study of roses in a white pitcher on a white background, oil on canvas 73 x 50 cm, was sold for HK $ 59M including premium by Poly on October 5, 2015. Here are three results including premium for oils on canvas painted in 1931 in a similar style :
Deux gros hortensias roses dans un vase blanc, 73 x 50 cm, was sold for € 4.1M by Aguttes on June 1, 2015. Chrysanthèmes roses dans un vase blanc, 100 x 70 cm, was sold for HK $ 55M by Poly on April 3, 2017 and Bouquet de roses dans un vase blanc, 81 x 50 cm, for HK $ 47M by Christie's on November 22, 2014.
These studies are encouraging. Sanyu is now introducing new colors in his pictures of flowers, but always in limited numbers on one canvas. Non-essential parts of the image are drawn in very simplified broad lines.
Bouquet de marguerites, 81 x 45 cm painted in January 1931, was sold for HK $ 51M including premium by Christie's on November 25, 2017. Chrysanthèmes roses dans une corbeille, oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm painted in 1931 which had not been owned by Roché, is estimated HK $ 68M by Christie's in the same auction as above, lot 123.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
1929 SOLD for HK$ 23M
1931 SOLD for HK$ 138M
1932 Marie-Thérèse mingled with her Statue
2012 SOLD 41.5 M$ including premium
Since their first meeting in 1927 when she was 17 years old, Picasso was dazzled by the sculptural body of Marie-Thérèse. In March 1932, the artist unleashes his creativity to express his passion.
On March 2, he paints an oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm, entitled Nature morte aux tulipes (Still life with tulips). Pablo remembers that he is a sculptor. The figure of this painting is an indistinguishable mixture of flesh and statue telling us that Picasso is a great Surrealist.
The expressively distorted face retains the features of the blonde and pops up from the head on a pedestal. The woman wears on her lap a vase of flowers along with three fruits that may be her breasts and buttocks. The contrast of light is one of the brightest in the art of Picasso.
Nature morte aux tulipes was sold $ 28.6 million including premium at Christie's on May 9, 2000. It is estimated $ 35M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 5.
Here is now what followed, further demonstrating the importance of this lot. Less than one week later, on March 8, Picasso undresses the woman and separates her from the statue. This "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" is one of the masterpieces of Picasso, sold $ 106M including premium at Christie's on May 4, 2010.
POST SALE COMMENT
When it comes to Marie-Thérèse, Pablo's creativity has no limits. This amazing surrealist composition has been sold $ 41.5 million including premium.
On March 2, he paints an oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm, entitled Nature morte aux tulipes (Still life with tulips). Pablo remembers that he is a sculptor. The figure of this painting is an indistinguishable mixture of flesh and statue telling us that Picasso is a great Surrealist.
The expressively distorted face retains the features of the blonde and pops up from the head on a pedestal. The woman wears on her lap a vase of flowers along with three fruits that may be her breasts and buttocks. The contrast of light is one of the brightest in the art of Picasso.
Nature morte aux tulipes was sold $ 28.6 million including premium at Christie's on May 9, 2000. It is estimated $ 35M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 5.
Here is now what followed, further demonstrating the importance of this lot. Less than one week later, on March 8, Picasso undresses the woman and separates her from the statue. This "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" is one of the masterpieces of Picasso, sold $ 106M including premium at Christie's on May 4, 2010.
POST SALE COMMENT
When it comes to Marie-Thérèse, Pablo's creativity has no limits. This amazing surrealist composition has been sold $ 41.5 million including premium.
1971 Conversation with the Tulips
2020 SOLD for £ 12.9M including premium
David Hockney is back from California in 1968. In the last months of his stay, he had developed a new specialty, the realistic portraiture or, in his own words, naturalistic. He chooses his models among the promoters of culture. When they are in pairs, man and woman or couple of men, they do not communicate with each other.
Hockney modernizes the art of portraiture. The characters are life-size, and often strictly in profile. The furnishings are contemporary. The line is sharp and precise and the colors are clear and bright.
His reputation is now assured. In 1971 he works on a commission from the Royal Opera House in London to celebrate the retirement of Sir David Webster, the General Administrator who succeeded in bringing to the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera a worldwide reputation.
The artist needs to know his models well for making their portraits. He did not know Webster, whom he meets on several occasions for this project. This is not working and the date of the ceremony is approaching. As for a theatrical setting, Hockney transposes the figure of Webster to his studio and sits him on his Mies van der Rohe chair.
The designer had been photographed in 1964 on a similar chair. He was smoking a cigar in front of a table with an ashtray on it. Hockney does not make Webster smoking and replaces the ashtray with a large bouquet of tulips in a pot, painted with great realism. The character is stiff and unoccupied. He deliberately ignores this flowerpot which personifies the artist by symbolizing his abortive efforts for an empathic communication.
The work meets the needs of the Opera House and is inaugurated in the presence of the old man, who dies a few weeks later. After this psychologically chilling portrait, Hockney refuses that sort of order.
Cultural organizations are hit hard by the 2020 health crisis. The Royal Opera House is in dire need of money to maintain its activities. Hockney's Portrait of Webster, acrylic on canvas 153 x 185 cm, is estimated £ 11M for sale by Christie's in London on October 22, lot 108.
Hockney modernizes the art of portraiture. The characters are life-size, and often strictly in profile. The furnishings are contemporary. The line is sharp and precise and the colors are clear and bright.
His reputation is now assured. In 1971 he works on a commission from the Royal Opera House in London to celebrate the retirement of Sir David Webster, the General Administrator who succeeded in bringing to the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera a worldwide reputation.
The artist needs to know his models well for making their portraits. He did not know Webster, whom he meets on several occasions for this project. This is not working and the date of the ceremony is approaching. As for a theatrical setting, Hockney transposes the figure of Webster to his studio and sits him on his Mies van der Rohe chair.
The designer had been photographed in 1964 on a similar chair. He was smoking a cigar in front of a table with an ashtray on it. Hockney does not make Webster smoking and replaces the ashtray with a large bouquet of tulips in a pot, painted with great realism. The character is stiff and unoccupied. He deliberately ignores this flowerpot which personifies the artist by symbolizing his abortive efforts for an empathic communication.
The work meets the needs of the Opera House and is inaugurated in the presence of the old man, who dies a few weeks later. After this psychologically chilling portrait, Hockney refuses that sort of order.
Cultural organizations are hit hard by the 2020 health crisis. The Royal Opera House is in dire need of money to maintain its activities. Hockney's Portrait of Webster, acrylic on canvas 153 x 185 cm, is estimated £ 11M for sale by Christie's in London on October 22, lot 108.
2004 Three Tons of Tulips by Koons
2012 SOLD 33.7 M$ including premium
The turning point in the work of Jeff Koons is around 1995. After exploiting the stupidity of the contemporary symbols conveyed by the popular imaging, he then began his great series of Celebrations, particularly appreciated now by the market.
The earliest were also the first to be auctioned: balloon flower, hanging heart, diamond. These works of monumental dimensions in stainless steel with a finish of pure color interact with their environment through an intense mirror effect for which the artist seeks perfection. Each model is produced in five variants, each variant in a different color.
Then we saw at auction the Easter eggs with their ribbons. On November 14 in New York, Christie's sells a copy of Tulips, which is an even more complex step in the development of the art of Koons.
The subject, a bouquet of seven flowers placed on a surface, is simple and universally recognizable, like all other themes in the Celebrations. The artwork, completed in 2004, can not go unnoticed: 203 x 457 x 520 cm. It weighs 3 tons. Here is the link to the catalog.
The tulips within the bouquet are of different colors, so that the interaction of their reflections covers the entire spectrum of light. The work was carried out in five copies with different arrangements of colors, extrapolating the logics of the previous Celebrations, and the reflection of the surroundings and of the public remains an essential element of the exhibition of the artwork.
I invite you to play the video featured by Christie's, in which Koons himself introduces this artwork.
POST SALE COMMENT
Koons's art is easy to see, but highly complex to implement. This technological feat was sold $ 33.7 million including premium.
The earliest were also the first to be auctioned: balloon flower, hanging heart, diamond. These works of monumental dimensions in stainless steel with a finish of pure color interact with their environment through an intense mirror effect for which the artist seeks perfection. Each model is produced in five variants, each variant in a different color.
Then we saw at auction the Easter eggs with their ribbons. On November 14 in New York, Christie's sells a copy of Tulips, which is an even more complex step in the development of the art of Koons.
The subject, a bouquet of seven flowers placed on a surface, is simple and universally recognizable, like all other themes in the Celebrations. The artwork, completed in 2004, can not go unnoticed: 203 x 457 x 520 cm. It weighs 3 tons. Here is the link to the catalog.
The tulips within the bouquet are of different colors, so that the interaction of their reflections covers the entire spectrum of light. The work was carried out in five copies with different arrangements of colors, extrapolating the logics of the previous Celebrations, and the reflection of the surroundings and of the public remains an essential element of the exhibition of the artwork.
I invite you to play the video featured by Christie's, in which Koons himself introduces this artwork.
POST SALE COMMENT
Koons's art is easy to see, but highly complex to implement. This technological feat was sold $ 33.7 million including premium.
