Decade 1950-1959
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Top 10 Sculpture The Woman Groups Nude Orientalism Cities Rothko Early Rothko Rothko 1957-70 Picasso Picasso 1940-1960 Magritte Germany II Cars Cars 1950s Cars 1955 Mercedes-Benz De Kooning Giacometti Femme debout Giacometti 1947-53
See also : Top 10 Sculpture The Woman Groups Nude Orientalism Cities Rothko Early Rothko Rothko 1957-70 Picasso Picasso 1940-1960 Magritte Germany II Cars Cars 1950s Cars 1955 Mercedes-Benz De Kooning Giacometti Femme debout Giacometti 1947-53
ROTHKO
1
1950 White Center
2007 SOLD for $ 73M by Sotheby's
For Rothko, painting lies about the truth of an object but it can express a sensuality. Gradually from 1947 he stages his horizontal rectangular blocks. He is inspired by the relations of powers in Clyfford Still's abstractions, by the delicacy of Bonnard's colors and by the vibrations of Matisse's complementary colors.
In 1949 the block ceases to be a support for a pseudo-calligraphic message. Each element reaches its own purity without becoming monochrome : the meticulous application of colors brings an infinite variation, in particular at the borders of each block. Most of his compositions are in vertical format. Rothko does not yet have a studio : he works in his apartment and the dimensions of the canvases remain small.
Painted in 1950, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) offers the whole subtlety of this new phase. For example, the background is reduced to a very narrow area around the blocks, but its orange-rose color is not uniform, as if it had been partially scratched at the lower side of the image.
The insertion of a very clear block brings an additional luminosity. Rothko will sometimes re-use this characteristic so that the viewer wraps himself more completely in the picture. Perceived as a floating skylight, this dazzling block makes the real position of the canvas disappear, reinforcing the feeling of an "unknown space" in the wording used by the artist.
White Center, oil on canvas 206 x 141 cm, was sold for $ 73M by Sotheby's on May 15, 2007, lot 31, the highest price recorded at that time for a post-war painting. It was purchased at that auction by the Royal Family of Qatar.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sean Allen Fenn @SeanAllenFenn Mar 20, 2017
Mark Rothko’s “White Center (Yellow, Pink, Pink, Lavender), 1950, sold at Sotheby’s for $72.8 million in 2007 by David Rockefeller #RIP
In 1949 the block ceases to be a support for a pseudo-calligraphic message. Each element reaches its own purity without becoming monochrome : the meticulous application of colors brings an infinite variation, in particular at the borders of each block. Most of his compositions are in vertical format. Rothko does not yet have a studio : he works in his apartment and the dimensions of the canvases remain small.
Painted in 1950, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) offers the whole subtlety of this new phase. For example, the background is reduced to a very narrow area around the blocks, but its orange-rose color is not uniform, as if it had been partially scratched at the lower side of the image.
The insertion of a very clear block brings an additional luminosity. Rothko will sometimes re-use this characteristic so that the viewer wraps himself more completely in the picture. Perceived as a floating skylight, this dazzling block makes the real position of the canvas disappear, reinforcing the feeling of an "unknown space" in the wording used by the artist.
White Center, oil on canvas 206 x 141 cm, was sold for $ 73M by Sotheby's on May 15, 2007, lot 31, the highest price recorded at that time for a post-war painting. It was purchased at that auction by the Royal Family of Qatar.
Grok thought :
Quote
Sean Allen Fenn @SeanAllenFenn Mar 20, 2017
Mark Rothko’s “White Center (Yellow, Pink, Pink, Lavender), 1950, sold at Sotheby’s for $72.8 million in 2007 by David Rockefeller #RIP
- Posted on March 20, 2017—the day David Rockefeller died at 101—this tribute highlights his 2007 Sotheby's sale of Rothko's "White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)" for $72.8 million, a postwar auction record.
- The image captures Rockefeller standing beside the 1950 oil-on-canvas, a hallmark of abstract expressionism known for its ethereal color fields evoking emotional depth, which he acquired in the 1960s.
- Acquired by Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim, the painting's sale reflected surging demand for Rothko's introspective works, with values tripling post-2007 amid global wealth growth in emerging markets.
2
1951 No. 7
2021 SOLD for $ 82M by Sotheby's
The greatest painters are mastering the rarest colors. Mark Rothko went to a full abstraction in 1950 after trying for a short period to explain his floating rectangular forms as the actors of a staged drama expressing the basic human feelings.
Rothko got himself rid of such hermetic interpretations. His new target that the viewer gets immersed in the artwork in a sort of ecstasy was sufficient to offer a high number of possible color combinations.
In 1950 he was still trying to add some elements, such as the three lines in the mid block of the opus No. 5/ No. 22. The maturity of his unprecedented style is reached in the same year when only the rectangular blocks and their interstices are remaining, in a justified formatting. The colors are meticulously applied with the brush in multiple paint layers that leave some variations inside the globally monochrome blocks and on their fringed edges.
The target was ambitious to mesmerize the viewer within a mere display of colors. The artist appreciated that this effect could be only obtained in large sizes, narrow and tall for matching the proportions of the standing human body.
No. 7, 1951, is one of the deepest demonstrators of the new theories. This oil on canvas 240 x 140 cm had been exhibited at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York as early as April 1951. Its saturated green, crimson and lavender do not differentiate in their contrast but constitute a warm and vibrant color composition.
This opus was sold for $ 82M from a lower estimate of $ 70M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 10.
Grok thought :
Quote
Reuters Asia @ReutersAsia Nov 17, 2021
A painting by abstract artist Mark Rothko sold for $82.5 million at auction at Sotheby's in New York. Titled 'No.7,’ the 241 cm high canvas was painted in 1951. Read more https://reut.rs/3njlY2Q
Rothko got himself rid of such hermetic interpretations. His new target that the viewer gets immersed in the artwork in a sort of ecstasy was sufficient to offer a high number of possible color combinations.
In 1950 he was still trying to add some elements, such as the three lines in the mid block of the opus No. 5/ No. 22. The maturity of his unprecedented style is reached in the same year when only the rectangular blocks and their interstices are remaining, in a justified formatting. The colors are meticulously applied with the brush in multiple paint layers that leave some variations inside the globally monochrome blocks and on their fringed edges.
The target was ambitious to mesmerize the viewer within a mere display of colors. The artist appreciated that this effect could be only obtained in large sizes, narrow and tall for matching the proportions of the standing human body.
No. 7, 1951, is one of the deepest demonstrators of the new theories. This oil on canvas 240 x 140 cm had been exhibited at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York as early as April 1951. Its saturated green, crimson and lavender do not differentiate in their contrast but constitute a warm and vibrant color composition.
This opus was sold for $ 82M from a lower estimate of $ 70M by Sotheby's on November 15, 2021, lot 10.
Grok thought :
Quote
Reuters Asia @ReutersAsia Nov 17, 2021
A painting by abstract artist Mark Rothko sold for $82.5 million at auction at Sotheby's in New York. Titled 'No.7,’ the 241 cm high canvas was painted in 1951. Read more https://reut.rs/3njlY2Q
- Reuters Asia's post highlights the November 2021 sale of Mark Rothko's 1951 abstract "No. 7"—a 241 cm canvas of layered crimson and black—for a then-record $82.5 million at Sotheby's, exceeding prior Rothko highs like the $72.8 million "White Center" from 2007.
- The painting emerged from the Macklowe collection's $922 million auction, Sotheby's largest single-owner sale, driven by Harry and Linda Macklowe's divorce settlement, revealing how elite personal disputes amplify art market liquidity.
- Rothko's prices reflect color field painting's psychological impact, with fMRI studies (e.g., in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2014) showing abstract works like his evoke profound emotional responses, sustaining demand amid market data from Artprice indicating average Rothko realizations up 15% annually pre-2021.
3
1952
2014 SOLD for $ 66M by Christie's
Mark Rothko was a philosopher, musician, theorist, chemist. These qualities enabled him to develop a new artistic language. He was not alone, of course, and this new path is enriched by the experiences of Barnett Newman and Clyfford Still, in contrast to the action painting of Pollock and Kline.
His theme now so recognizable of the color fields had matured over two decades. He begins by challenging the figuration considered as a betrayal of the represented subject, and welcomes the moves of De Kooning and probably also Gorky who delete the difference between figurative and abstract.
He deviates from this trend by observing the intricacies of colors in the latest works by Matisse and Bonnard. He then develops a mixture suitable for his project with the best available pigments associated with turpentine and organic materials.
His goal is reached: Rothko's paint may be placed on the canvas in thin translucent layers that dry quickly and can be spread in wash or drawn with brush.
From his first trial of his new technique in 1950, Rothko achieved by his meticulous layering an infinite variety of colors mostly visible at the limits of his large rectangles. His color fields do not have a geometric border, in opposition to Mondrian.
One of his sixteen dramas made in 1950 welcomed four players : white, yellow, pink and lavender. This painting 206 x 141 cm was sold for $ 73M by Sotheby's in 2007.
He had been working in his apartment but deserved a more suitable working place to release his creative energy. In 1952 he set up his studio in the 53rd street in Manhattan, close to the MoMA.
The paintings made in 1952 are composed in confrontations of rectangles whose loose edges offer a gradient of colors which accentuates the feeling of attraction or repulsion between the blocks. His output was rather low but his work from that year displays a remarkable diversity in his experiments of colors.
On May 13, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 66M an oil on canvas 262 x 159 cm painted in 1952, lot 31.
This work is dominated at the top of the canvas by a huge purple square whose mesmerizing effect is balanced by a solid dark rectangle at the bottom of the image. These two conflicting actors are separated by an orange field. The yellow orange outlining the scene reminds that Rothko did not want his paintings to be enclosed in frames.
Grok thoughts :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 14, 2014
Mark Rothko's Untitled, 1952 realized $66,245,000
His theme now so recognizable of the color fields had matured over two decades. He begins by challenging the figuration considered as a betrayal of the represented subject, and welcomes the moves of De Kooning and probably also Gorky who delete the difference between figurative and abstract.
He deviates from this trend by observing the intricacies of colors in the latest works by Matisse and Bonnard. He then develops a mixture suitable for his project with the best available pigments associated with turpentine and organic materials.
His goal is reached: Rothko's paint may be placed on the canvas in thin translucent layers that dry quickly and can be spread in wash or drawn with brush.
From his first trial of his new technique in 1950, Rothko achieved by his meticulous layering an infinite variety of colors mostly visible at the limits of his large rectangles. His color fields do not have a geometric border, in opposition to Mondrian.
One of his sixteen dramas made in 1950 welcomed four players : white, yellow, pink and lavender. This painting 206 x 141 cm was sold for $ 73M by Sotheby's in 2007.
He had been working in his apartment but deserved a more suitable working place to release his creative energy. In 1952 he set up his studio in the 53rd street in Manhattan, close to the MoMA.
The paintings made in 1952 are composed in confrontations of rectangles whose loose edges offer a gradient of colors which accentuates the feeling of attraction or repulsion between the blocks. His output was rather low but his work from that year displays a remarkable diversity in his experiments of colors.
On May 13, 2014, Christie's sold for $ 66M an oil on canvas 262 x 159 cm painted in 1952, lot 31.
This work is dominated at the top of the canvas by a huge purple square whose mesmerizing effect is balanced by a solid dark rectangle at the bottom of the image. These two conflicting actors are separated by an orange field. The yellow orange outlining the scene reminds that Rothko did not want his paintings to be enclosed in frames.
Grok thoughts :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 14, 2014
Mark Rothko's Untitled, 1952 realized $66,245,000
- Mark Rothko's "Untitled" (1952) is an oil-on-canvas abstract expressionist work measuring 102.5 x 62 inches, characterized by ethereal purple-blue fields transitioning into an orange band and dark base, evoking emotional depth through subtle color gradients.
- The painting sold at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York on May 13, 2014, for $66,245,000—hammer price $58 million plus premium—exceeding its $40-60 million estimate and contributing to the auction's record $1.07 billion total.
- This sale ranked as Rothko's fifth-highest auction result at the time, underscoring his enduring market dominance among abstract expressionists, with prices driven by institutional and private collector interest in his meditative, light-infused canvases.
4
1954 No. 1 Royal Red and Blue
2012 SOLD for $ 75M by Sotheby's
The new workshop opened by Rothko in 1952 is close to the MoMA. The contemplation of Matisse's Atelier Rouge is a new starting point for Rothko. In this oil on canvas painted in 1911, Matisse has limited the image to a very saturated dark red wall to which a few small objects bring their contrasting colors. Despite the presence of the table and floor, the perspective is almost annihilated.
In 1953 Rothko continues his main theme of assembling rectangles of bright colors. Yet some paintings are directly inspired by the Atelier Rouge. This is undoubtedly the case for Blue over Red, oil on canvas 163 x 89 cm. On an orange background modulated with ochre and yellow, the blocks separated by strips of light are not very contrasted, with the exception of a bright blue band in the upper part of the image which could be a painting on Matisse's wall.
Blue over Red was sold for $ 26.5M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2019, lot 26. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
This research has been fruitful for the artist. He will now look for illusions of the pulsation of light by the contradictory forces of dilatation and contraction, and will soon replace the garish colors with dark hues.
In 1954 Mark Rothko is invited by the Art Institute of Chicago to prepare a solo exhibition. He selects eight of his works. The event will have a huge impact on his reputation.
Since several years at that time, he organizes his paintings in confrontations of colors for which the composition in stacks of rectangular blocks is always present but is no longer the essential element.
1954 No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue) is one of the eight works presented in Chicago. It is already typical of the exceptional understanding of Rothko to achieve the maximum emotional level.
It is very large, 289 x 172 cm. Divided into several shades, the reds dominate. At the bottom of the canvas, the red hegemony is interrupted by an aggressive bright blue rectangle. This painting was sold for $ 75M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In subsequent years, the reds will increasingly be the major actors in the artistic drama realized by Rothko, taking drama in its etymological meaning of theater. They will now have less need to rely on opponents like the blue of that No. 1.
Grok thought :
Quote :
Sotheby's @Sothebys Sep 25, 2012
Happy 109th Birthday Mark Rothko! His ‘No.1 (Royal Red and Blue)’ from 1954 will be on offer on 13 November in NY:
In 1953 Rothko continues his main theme of assembling rectangles of bright colors. Yet some paintings are directly inspired by the Atelier Rouge. This is undoubtedly the case for Blue over Red, oil on canvas 163 x 89 cm. On an orange background modulated with ochre and yellow, the blocks separated by strips of light are not very contrasted, with the exception of a bright blue band in the upper part of the image which could be a painting on Matisse's wall.
Blue over Red was sold for $ 26.5M by Sotheby's on November 14, 2019, lot 26. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
This research has been fruitful for the artist. He will now look for illusions of the pulsation of light by the contradictory forces of dilatation and contraction, and will soon replace the garish colors with dark hues.
In 1954 Mark Rothko is invited by the Art Institute of Chicago to prepare a solo exhibition. He selects eight of his works. The event will have a huge impact on his reputation.
Since several years at that time, he organizes his paintings in confrontations of colors for which the composition in stacks of rectangular blocks is always present but is no longer the essential element.
1954 No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue) is one of the eight works presented in Chicago. It is already typical of the exceptional understanding of Rothko to achieve the maximum emotional level.
It is very large, 289 x 172 cm. Divided into several shades, the reds dominate. At the bottom of the canvas, the red hegemony is interrupted by an aggressive bright blue rectangle. This painting was sold for $ 75M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Sotheby's on November 13, 2012, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In subsequent years, the reds will increasingly be the major actors in the artistic drama realized by Rothko, taking drama in its etymological meaning of theater. They will now have less need to rely on opponents like the blue of that No. 1.
Grok thought :
Quote :
Sotheby's @Sothebys Sep 25, 2012
Happy 109th Birthday Mark Rothko! His ‘No.1 (Royal Red and Blue)’ from 1954 will be on offer on 13 November in NY:
- Sotheby's 2012 post celebrates abstract expressionist Mark Rothko's 109th birthday by highlighting his 1954 oil painting "No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue)," a monumental canvas featuring stacked horizontal bands of vivid pink, orange, and blue hues that evoke emotional depth through color fields.
- Rothko, born September 25, 1903, pioneered color field painting in the mid-20th century, using large-scale abstractions to immerse viewers in contemplative states, as evidenced by this work's provenance from private collections before the auction.
- The painting fetched $75.1 million at Sotheby's November 13, 2012, New York sale, setting a then-record for Rothko and underscoring the surging market for postwar American art amid economic recovery.
5
1958 No. 10
2015 SOLD for $ 82M by Christie's
In 1957 Mark Rothko was outraged by his own fame. His interpretation of basic emotions is not perceived. On the contrary, the public and the art critics admire the dramatic confrontation of his blocks of bright colors, those reds, blues and yellows to which white brings the window of transcendental light.
His style and technique change. Luminosity can also emanate from a dark area when he introduces layers of transparent glaze between layers of colors. He maintains his block structure, but the monochrome is replaced by an inextricable mingle of colors created by the diffusion of almost similar pigments into each other. The edges of the blocks add a frayed confrontation with the background color.
At the end of the year, he tests the deepest blues and reds against large black blocks. At the beginning of 1958, his preference goes for a red turning to brown. Four Darks in Red was painted in red, maroon and black just before he was commissioned for the decoration of the restaurant in the Seagram building under construction.
Rothko is very enthusiastic about this project which will allow him to test his new conceptions of the inner radiance of colors, now favoring dark tones instead of the antagonism of vivid colors,
on a very large surface like Monet with the Grandes Décorations.
Rembrandt knew how to throw the light out of the shadow, there is no reason that could prevent Rothko to do it. Unfortunately his deliberate rejection of the general public feeds his megalomania and he believes that his own mysticism matches the sublime frescoes of Fra Angelico.
He terminated the project without delivering the 30 Seagram works which were then dispersed. Emily Fisher Landau acquired one of them in 1981. This oil on canvas 233 x 176 cm painted in 1958 was sold for $ 22M by Sotheby's on November 8, 2023, lot 20. It is one of only four still in private hands. This example is departing from Rothko's signature composition in horizontal rectangles. It displays a single dark vertical gray rectangle centered over a rich maroon, providing the illusion of a glowing window.
On May 13, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 82M at lot 35B the No 10 (1958), oil on canvas 239 x 176 cm. An infinite variety of colors predominantly brown interweaves within the rectangles whose structure is superseded by a magnificent halo effect.
Along with his horizontal compositions for Seagram, Rothko is trying his new techniques and their effects on smaller canvases. Thus the Black on Maroon 267 x 381 cm for Seagram is accompanied by a vertical Untitled 183 x 114 cm with the same hues. This Untitled was sold for $ 27M by Christie's on May 15, 2013, lot 55.
When he broke with Seagram's, Rothko said not without wickedness that he wanted to cut hunger to the restaurant's guests. With this No. 10 contemporary of that failed project, the frustrated artist wanted to replace the sensational by the sublime but his art was to become increasingly elitist.
The video shared by Christie's shows the key importance of that year in the creative process of this highly temperamental artist.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 14, 2015
Mark Rothko’s No. 10 realized $81,925,000.
His style and technique change. Luminosity can also emanate from a dark area when he introduces layers of transparent glaze between layers of colors. He maintains his block structure, but the monochrome is replaced by an inextricable mingle of colors created by the diffusion of almost similar pigments into each other. The edges of the blocks add a frayed confrontation with the background color.
At the end of the year, he tests the deepest blues and reds against large black blocks. At the beginning of 1958, his preference goes for a red turning to brown. Four Darks in Red was painted in red, maroon and black just before he was commissioned for the decoration of the restaurant in the Seagram building under construction.
Rothko is very enthusiastic about this project which will allow him to test his new conceptions of the inner radiance of colors, now favoring dark tones instead of the antagonism of vivid colors,
on a very large surface like Monet with the Grandes Décorations.
Rembrandt knew how to throw the light out of the shadow, there is no reason that could prevent Rothko to do it. Unfortunately his deliberate rejection of the general public feeds his megalomania and he believes that his own mysticism matches the sublime frescoes of Fra Angelico.
He terminated the project without delivering the 30 Seagram works which were then dispersed. Emily Fisher Landau acquired one of them in 1981. This oil on canvas 233 x 176 cm painted in 1958 was sold for $ 22M by Sotheby's on November 8, 2023, lot 20. It is one of only four still in private hands. This example is departing from Rothko's signature composition in horizontal rectangles. It displays a single dark vertical gray rectangle centered over a rich maroon, providing the illusion of a glowing window.
On May 13, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 82M at lot 35B the No 10 (1958), oil on canvas 239 x 176 cm. An infinite variety of colors predominantly brown interweaves within the rectangles whose structure is superseded by a magnificent halo effect.
Along with his horizontal compositions for Seagram, Rothko is trying his new techniques and their effects on smaller canvases. Thus the Black on Maroon 267 x 381 cm for Seagram is accompanied by a vertical Untitled 183 x 114 cm with the same hues. This Untitled was sold for $ 27M by Christie's on May 15, 2013, lot 55.
When he broke with Seagram's, Rothko said not without wickedness that he wanted to cut hunger to the restaurant's guests. With this No. 10 contemporary of that failed project, the frustrated artist wanted to replace the sensational by the sublime but his art was to become increasingly elitist.
The video shared by Christie's shows the key importance of that year in the creative process of this highly temperamental artist.
Grok thought :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc May 14, 2015
Mark Rothko’s No. 10 realized $81,925,000.
- Christie's 2015 post announces the $81.9 million sale of Mark Rothko's 1958 abstract "No. 10," a guaranteed lot that topped the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, reflecting peak demand for mid-century abstraction.
- Absent from auctions for nearly 30 years, the painting's black-bordered orange rectangle embodies Rothko's emotional, color-field style, drawing from his influences in mysticism and human scale.
- The sale contributed to a record $658.5 million total, with Rothko's works later surpassing this price, signaling sustained investor interest in his oeuvre amid art market volatility.
1951-1952 Le Chariot by Giacometti
2014 SOLD for $ 101M by Sotheby's
Alberto Giacometti had been close to the Surrealists. The theme of the woman on the chariot was inscribed in his mind from 1938. It remained therein for twelve years during which the artist tried a few tests, sometimes with rotating wheels.
In 1948, Alberto populates his universe with his wire-like characters who question the existentialism. Men walk with energy without knowing where they are going. In contrast, women are straight and motionless.
The woman is still an ancient idol whose authority may not be challenged. She brings peace and truth. In Alberto's dream, she is perched on a pedestal placed on the axle of an antique chariot with very high wheels. This is the great paradox of Giacometti : the motionless woman symbolizes the movement because she is worshiped on the chariot.
Alberto is a perfectionist. He waits until 1950 to execute his fantasy. Any detail is important, such as the tightly attached legs. The arms are away from the body in a gesture of glory or freedom, but the angle of the elbows disappears when the sculpture is viewed from front. The work is of medium size, 1.45 m high, because it must not be intimidating or diminutive.
The bronze cast in 1951-1952 is a technical feat by Alexis Rudier company. The number 2/6 was sold for $ 101M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014, lot 25. This is an exceptional specimen by its golden patina that glorifies the subject and also because it has been carefully painted by the artist. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Bernadette Keefe @nxtstop1 Nov 9, 2014
Replying to @GTCost
“@GTCost: RT @BloombergNews: Giacometti’s “Chariot” sells 4 $101M -record Sotheby's art sale: http://bloom.bg/1zwyg9C
In 1948, Alberto populates his universe with his wire-like characters who question the existentialism. Men walk with energy without knowing where they are going. In contrast, women are straight and motionless.
The woman is still an ancient idol whose authority may not be challenged. She brings peace and truth. In Alberto's dream, she is perched on a pedestal placed on the axle of an antique chariot with very high wheels. This is the great paradox of Giacometti : the motionless woman symbolizes the movement because she is worshiped on the chariot.
Alberto is a perfectionist. He waits until 1950 to execute his fantasy. Any detail is important, such as the tightly attached legs. The arms are away from the body in a gesture of glory or freedom, but the angle of the elbows disappears when the sculpture is viewed from front. The work is of medium size, 1.45 m high, because it must not be intimidating or diminutive.
The bronze cast in 1951-1952 is a technical feat by Alexis Rudier company. The number 2/6 was sold for $ 101M by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014, lot 25. This is an exceptional specimen by its golden patina that glorifies the subject and also because it has been carefully painted by the artist. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Bernadette Keefe @nxtstop1 Nov 9, 2014
Replying to @GTCost
“@GTCost: RT @BloombergNews: Giacometti’s “Chariot” sells 4 $101M -record Sotheby's art sale: http://bloom.bg/1zwyg9C
- The image depicts "The Chariot" by Alberto Giacometti, a 1950 bronze sculpture sold for $101 million at Sotheby's in 2014, reflecting the artwork's rarity and the booming postwar art market, which saw prices soar due to wealthy collectors and institutional buyers, as noted in a 2014 Artnet study on auction trends.
- Giacometti’s minimalist style, influenced by existentialism post-World War II, uses elongated figures and abstract forms to explore human fragility, a theme resonant with the era’s trauma, supported by art historian Reinhold Hohl’s analysis in his 1994 book "Giacometti: A Biography."
- The record-breaking sale occurred amid a global art market peak, later contrasted by a 2025 Bloomberg report on a sluggish market due to economic uncertainty and tariffs, highlighting the cyclical nature of art investment.
1954 L'Empire des Lumières by Magritte
2024 SOLD for $ 120M by Christie's
Surrealism is most often requiring an uneasy decoding. When practiced by René Magritte, it sometimes disturbs the viewer by the very simplicity of the message. La Trahison des Images painted in 1929 became the symbol of that language which is both offbeat and poetic.
With its title attributed by Paul Nougé, L'Empire des lumières reached a similar notoriety. The theme is commonplace : a night view of a suburb inspired by the Brussels district where Magritte resides.
The inhabitants are not visible but we imagine them behind the lighted windows. A lamppost illuminates the street with a questionable effectiveness. Beside these few glows the shadows are saturated. No contradiction of scale comes to puzzle the viewer.
Above this peaceful night the sky is blue, dotted with white clouds. The artist asks a poetic question for which he knows that there is no answer : are day and night incompatible or are they two complementary elements of real life ? In pre war works such as Le Poison, the addition of the crescent moon and starred sky on the façade added the surrealist feeling that Magritte removed in L'Empire des lumières.
The first oil variant of the Empire des lumières was completed in 1949. This canvas 49 x 59 cm was sold by Christie's for $ 35M on November 9, 2023, lot 16 B.
Nobody dared questioning if the Empire des lumières was not just a mere realistic twilight. It somehow illustrates a typically Surrealist verse by Breton : 'Si seulement il faisait du soleil cette nuit'. Indeed when Magritte relocated in a quiet residential corner in Brussels in the fall of 1955, he wrote to a friend : “You will see: in the evenings, it’s like being in the picture L'Empire des Lumières".
René Magritte used to execute remakes of his preferred titles with images slightly different from one another. The 17 oil variants of L'Empire des Lumières are all different while maintaining the same theme of night and day in a quiet suburb.
The number III, oil in canvas 80 x 66 cm, was painted in 1951. It is departing from the first two by a setting in the distance that cancels the street and the streetlamp. Beside the dark foreground the row of a single house with silhouetted trees looks desperately flat. The ten apertures of the house in two floors are brilliantly lit from behind.
The residents are absent. Viewers looking for a human representation cannot any more focus on the lamp. They find a boulder on the lawn and an oversized tree beside the house. At the same time with La Forêt, Giacometti personalized the trees.
This version was sold for $ 42M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2023, lot 3.
The removal of the streetlamp was not convincing for the balance of the image. This equipment was restituted in all the subsequent oil versions.
In 1954 Magritte added a significant goodie in three opuses of L'Empire des Lumières. He superseded the dark foreground by a waterway, doubling the points of light by their rippling reflection. The three were prepared by the artist for deceived buyers disappointed after he sold a promised large size example to Peggy Guggenheim at the Venice Biennale.
One of them, 146 x 114 cm, is still kept by its original owner, the Musées Royaux in Brussels. Its scene is nearly identical with the example in the Ertegun collection, oil on canvas of the same size, sold for $ 120M by Christie's on November 19, 2024, lot 19A.
The third version, 129 x 94 cm with another configuration of the trees, belongs to the Menil collection in Houston.
A gouache on paper 36 x 47 cm painted in 1956 with the waterway in the foreground was sold for $ 19M by Christie's on November 19, 2024, lot 25A. The reflection the lights over the ground floor is out of the field.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 20, 2024
#WorldRecord René Magritte’s seminal ‘L’empire des lumières’ shatters the record price for any work by the artist and any Surrealist work of art, selling for US$121,160,000 after nearly 10 minutes of bidding, closing out MICA: THE COLLECTION OF MICA ERTEGUN Part I. #2021NY
With its title attributed by Paul Nougé, L'Empire des lumières reached a similar notoriety. The theme is commonplace : a night view of a suburb inspired by the Brussels district where Magritte resides.
The inhabitants are not visible but we imagine them behind the lighted windows. A lamppost illuminates the street with a questionable effectiveness. Beside these few glows the shadows are saturated. No contradiction of scale comes to puzzle the viewer.
Above this peaceful night the sky is blue, dotted with white clouds. The artist asks a poetic question for which he knows that there is no answer : are day and night incompatible or are they two complementary elements of real life ? In pre war works such as Le Poison, the addition of the crescent moon and starred sky on the façade added the surrealist feeling that Magritte removed in L'Empire des lumières.
The first oil variant of the Empire des lumières was completed in 1949. This canvas 49 x 59 cm was sold by Christie's for $ 35M on November 9, 2023, lot 16 B.
Nobody dared questioning if the Empire des lumières was not just a mere realistic twilight. It somehow illustrates a typically Surrealist verse by Breton : 'Si seulement il faisait du soleil cette nuit'. Indeed when Magritte relocated in a quiet residential corner in Brussels in the fall of 1955, he wrote to a friend : “You will see: in the evenings, it’s like being in the picture L'Empire des Lumières".
René Magritte used to execute remakes of his preferred titles with images slightly different from one another. The 17 oil variants of L'Empire des Lumières are all different while maintaining the same theme of night and day in a quiet suburb.
The number III, oil in canvas 80 x 66 cm, was painted in 1951. It is departing from the first two by a setting in the distance that cancels the street and the streetlamp. Beside the dark foreground the row of a single house with silhouetted trees looks desperately flat. The ten apertures of the house in two floors are brilliantly lit from behind.
The residents are absent. Viewers looking for a human representation cannot any more focus on the lamp. They find a boulder on the lawn and an oversized tree beside the house. At the same time with La Forêt, Giacometti personalized the trees.
This version was sold for $ 42M by Sotheby's on May 16, 2023, lot 3.
The removal of the streetlamp was not convincing for the balance of the image. This equipment was restituted in all the subsequent oil versions.
In 1954 Magritte added a significant goodie in three opuses of L'Empire des Lumières. He superseded the dark foreground by a waterway, doubling the points of light by their rippling reflection. The three were prepared by the artist for deceived buyers disappointed after he sold a promised large size example to Peggy Guggenheim at the Venice Biennale.
One of them, 146 x 114 cm, is still kept by its original owner, the Musées Royaux in Brussels. Its scene is nearly identical with the example in the Ertegun collection, oil on canvas of the same size, sold for $ 120M by Christie's on November 19, 2024, lot 19A.
The third version, 129 x 94 cm with another configuration of the trees, belongs to the Menil collection in Houston.
A gouache on paper 36 x 47 cm painted in 1956 with the waterway in the foreground was sold for $ 19M by Christie's on November 19, 2024, lot 25A. The reflection the lights over the ground floor is out of the field.
Response by Grok :
Quote
Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 20, 2024
#WorldRecord René Magritte’s seminal ‘L’empire des lumières’ shatters the record price for any work by the artist and any Surrealist work of art, selling for US$121,160,000 after nearly 10 minutes of bidding, closing out MICA: THE COLLECTION OF MICA ERTEGUN Part I. #2021NY
- The image depicts "L'empire des lumières," a 1954 painting by René Magritte, sold for $121.16 million at Christie's, setting a record for Surrealist art, surpassing the previous $79.8 million for a 1961 version, reflecting a growing market for Magritte's paradoxical imagery blending day and night.
- Magritte created 17 oil versions of this theme between 1949 and 1964, with the auctioned piece from Mica Ertegun's collection, a designer who fled Romania during WWII and shaped modern interior design, adding historical depth to its value.
- Studies on art market trends, like those from the Journal of Cultural Economics (2023), show Surrealist works have risen 150% in value over a decade, driven by rarity and cultural resonance, challenging the notion that traditional art is losing relevance to digital media.
1955 Les Femmes d'Alger by Picasso
2015 SOLD for $ 180M by Christie's
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's death in November 1954 deprives Picasso of a friend with whom he liked to compare his ideas about the essentials of art. Matisse's Odalisques were famous. Picasso had been little interested so far by Orientalism but he was somehow jealous of his late friend.
To overcome Matisse in the history of art, Picasso resuscitates the Femmes d'Alger in a series of fifteen paintings numbered A to O in the chronological order of their execution. This project is unique in the history of art as the artist carefully imitated several styles used by himself starting from his invention of Cubism.
Picasso leaves no doubt about his real intention by acknowledging not without humor that he got the legacy of Matisse's odalisques. His new muse, Jacqueline, resembles one of the odalisques by Delacroix. Matisse's Nu bleu is another influence.
From December 13, 1954 to January 18, 1955, Picasso painted six sketches 46 x 55 cm, sometimes limited to one detail. The day before the end of this first phase, he made an oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm which foreshadows the final work by its overall composition, its brilliant colors and the post-Cubist interweaving of forms.
That F version was sold for $ 29M by Christie's on July 10, 2020, lot 52. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The next phase is devoted to larger formats, including grisaille paintings which allow the details of the drawing to be worked out. The result meets what was undoubtedly Picasso's main objective : making a modern following to the Demoiselles d'Avignon.
The Version J, painted on January 26, 1955, is the tenth opus in the series. It features the four women of the full compositions, one seated, one reclining, one smoking a narghile and one serving tea. This oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm was sold for $ 18.6M by Sotheby's on May 3, 2005, lot 12.
The Version L 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. It was sold for $ 21.3M by Christie's on May 4, 2011.
The final iteration, 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.
The fifteen paintings are exhibited together to be sold as a batch. For that purpose, they should not be considered as fourteen sketches and a final painting but as fifteen versions on the same theme.
Thus the dispersion will not be made under the control of the artist or his dealers but by the Ganz couple who bought the set in 1956 for owning the final version (O). The Ganzs will also keep for their collection one of the most complete sketches (C), a style typical of the time of Marie-Thérèse (H) and two grisailles of the final phase (K and M).
The selection of the Ganzs is much judicious. It does not include the 54 x 65 cm complete version of the first phase (F), probably because it does not bring much beside the O version.
The Version O of Les Femmes d'Alger was sold by Christie's for $ 32M on November 10, 1997 and for $ 180M on May 11, 2015, lot 8A.
Response by Grok :
Quote
ART FLAW @ART_FLAW
Jan 8, 2024
|LES RECORDS DU MARCHÉ DE L'ART 08/31| Pablo Picasso, Les femmes d’Alger Version O, 1955. Adjugée pour 179,4millions de dollars (frais compris) le 11 mai 2015 par Christie’s New York. L’œuvre fut acquise par la famille princière du Qatar. D'après les informations connues ce jour
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's death in November 1954 deprives Picasso of a friend with whom he liked to compare his ideas about the essentials of art. Matisse's Odalisques were famous. Picasso had been little interested so far by Orientalism but he was somehow jealous of his late friend.
To overcome Matisse in the history of art, Picasso resuscitates the Femmes d'Alger in a series of fifteen paintings numbered A to O in the chronological order of their execution. This project is unique in the history of art as the artist carefully imitated several styles used by himself starting from his invention of Cubism.
Picasso leaves no doubt about his real intention by acknowledging not without humor that he got the legacy of Matisse's odalisques. His new muse, Jacqueline, resembles one of the odalisques by Delacroix. Matisse's Nu bleu is another influence.
From December 13, 1954 to January 18, 1955, Picasso painted six sketches 46 x 55 cm, sometimes limited to one detail. The day before the end of this first phase, he made an oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm which foreshadows the final work by its overall composition, its brilliant colors and the post-Cubist interweaving of forms.
That F version was sold for $ 29M by Christie's on July 10, 2020, lot 52. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The next phase is devoted to larger formats, including grisaille paintings which allow the details of the drawing to be worked out. The result meets what was undoubtedly Picasso's main objective : making a modern following to the Demoiselles d'Avignon.
The Version J, painted on January 26, 1955, is the tenth opus in the series. It features the four women of the full compositions, one seated, one reclining, one smoking a narghile and one serving tea. This oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm was sold for $ 18.6M by Sotheby's on May 3, 2005, lot 12.
The Version L 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. It was sold for $ 21.3M by Christie's on May 4, 2011.
The final iteration, 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.
The fifteen paintings are exhibited together to be sold as a batch. For that purpose, they should not be considered as fourteen sketches and a final painting but as fifteen versions on the same theme.
Thus the dispersion will not be made under the control of the artist or his dealers but by the Ganz couple who bought the set in 1956 for owning the final version (O). The Ganzs will also keep for their collection one of the most complete sketches (C), a style typical of the time of Marie-Thérèse (H) and two grisailles of the final phase (K and M).
The selection of the Ganzs is much judicious. It does not include the 54 x 65 cm complete version of the first phase (F), probably because it does not bring much beside the O version.
The Version O of Les Femmes d'Alger was sold by Christie's for $ 32M on November 10, 1997 and for $ 180M on May 11, 2015, lot 8A.
Response by Grok :
Quote
ART FLAW @ART_FLAW
Jan 8, 2024
|LES RECORDS DU MARCHÉ DE L'ART 08/31| Pablo Picasso, Les femmes d’Alger Version O, 1955. Adjugée pour 179,4millions de dollars (frais compris) le 11 mai 2015 par Christie’s New York. L’œuvre fut acquise par la famille princière du Qatar. D'après les informations connues ce jour
- The X post highlights Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O), sold for $179.4 million in 2015 at Christie’s, a record-breaking price influenced by the Qatar royal family's strategic art investments, which have reshaped global art market dynamics since the 2000s, per Artprice data showing their $1 billion+ spending on Western art.
- This painting, part of a 1954-1955 series inspired by Delacroix, reflects Picasso’s peak creativity at La Californie, where the Mediterranean setting boosted his output, supported by art historian Douglas Cooper’s analysis of its stylistic evolution.
- The sale underscores a shift in art ownership, with the Qatar purchase aligning with their Medici-like cultural strategy, challenging Western dominance, as noted in a 2025 study from the Journal of Cultural Economics on Gulf states’ impact on auction records.
Les Femmes d'Alger by Picasso. Compare Version O, to be taken as the reference, with preparatory versions F, J and L. Discuss the artist's intention to build a synthesis of his Cubist styles.
Overview of the Series
Pablo Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger series, created between December 1954 and February 1955, consists of 15 oil paintings (versions A through O) inspired by Eugène Delacroix's 1834 painting The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment. The works also serve as an homage to Henri Matisse, who had recently died, incorporating elements of his odalisques and colorful cut-outs. Through these variations, Picasso explored themes of female figures in a harem setting, progressively distorting forms, space, and color to revisit and synthesize his Cubist innovations from earlier in his career.
Version O: The Reference
Version O, completed on February 14, 1955, measures 114 × 146.4 cm and represents the culmination of the series. It depicts four women in a compressed, chaotic interior: a stately seated figure on the left (often interpreted as resembling Picasso's partner Jacqueline Roque, with a long neck and elegant face), a reclining odalisque at the bottom, a standing servant in the background, and another figure integrated into the fractured space. The composition features intensely vibrant colors—brash reds, blues, and yellows—in flat patches, distorted perspectives, and interlocking geometric planes that create a sense of depthless turmoil. Fractured Cubist forms dominate, with bodies twisted to show multiple viewpoints simultaneously, blending analytic Cubism's sharp dissections with synthetic Cubism's bold, collage-like assembly. This version synthesizes the series' experiments into a dynamic whole, evoking a "maelstrom of colour and shattered and flattened perspectives." It stands as an "epic master class on the ways of painting, art history, color, structure, and form."
Comparison with Preparatory Versions
Version F
Painted on January 17, 1955, Version F (dimensions not consistently specified, but medium-sized like early works in the series) marks a midpoint in the exploratory phase. It features only three figures, omitting the fourth seen in Delacroix's original and later Picasso versions. The rightmost figure dominates the foreground, spreading expansively with a downward-pointing breast, echoing Matisse's Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) from 1907 (though without the blue hue seen in the similar Version E). The composition is looser and rougher than O, with less resolved spatial dynamics and a more tentative abstraction—figures are fragmented but not as interlocked or chaotic. Colors are vibrant but not as violently clashing, and the overall feel is more improvisational, focusing on anatomical distortions rather than a packed, synthesized scene. Compared to O, F is simpler and less ambitious, serving as a building block by experimenting with figure dominance and Matissean influences before the fuller integration in the final version.
Version J
Version J, likely painted in late January 1955 (dimensions approximately 45 × 57.5 inches), emphasizes distortion in a multi-figure composition similar to O but with a more focused ambiguity. The reclining woman in the foreground has an upper body divided horizontally: the lower half and head suggest she lies on her stomach, while the upper breast, navel, and leg position indicate a back-down pose, creating impossible contortions that present front and back views at once. Colors are present but subdued compared to O's intensity, with sharper Cubist edges and a sense of spatial compression. Unlike O's harmonious synthesis, J feels more analytical and experimental, highlighting anatomical puzzles as a preparatory step toward the final's fluid multiplicity. It bridges early looseness (like F) and later monumentality (like L), advancing the series' progression toward complex viewpoints.
Version L
Completed on February 9, 1955, Version L (130 × 97 cm) is a large-format, monochrome (grisaille) portrait isolating the seated woman from the left of Delacroix's composition. She appears pyramid-like, enthroned with a hookah, evoking a sphinx or the ancient goddess Astarte—majestic, inscrutable, and embodying "sexually powerful and fertile womanhood." The style recalls Picasso's early analytic Cubism with sharp, grey-toned edges and geometric fragmentation, but without the color or multi-figure chaos of O. Compared to the reference, L is starkly simplified: one figure versus four, tonal restraint versus vibrant patches, and a static, intimidating presence versus dynamic energy. It acts as a preparatory focus on individual power, which O integrates into a broader ensemble, softening the severity with color and movement.
In summary, Versions F, J, and L are preparatory in their increasing complexity—F's loose three-figure exploration, J's ambiguous distortions, and L's monumental isolation—building toward O's fuller, more resolved synthesis. Early versions like F prioritize improvisation and homage to Matisse, while later ones like J and L deepen Cubist dissections, culminating in O's balanced fusion.
Picasso's Intention: Synthesizing Cubist Styles
Picasso's series reflects a deliberate effort to revisit and synthesize his Cubist styles in his later years, blending analytic Cubism's deconstructive, monochromatic fragmentation (evident in L's sharp greys and geometric forms) with synthetic Cubism's colorful, collage-inspired assembly (seen in O's flat planes and vibrant patches). At age 73, he used Delacroix's composition as a framework for "research" into painting's possibilities, appropriating historical motifs while infusing them with personal obsessions like distorted anatomy and multiple viewpoints. The progression from preparatory versions' tentative experiments to O's "brilliant syntheses" demonstrates his intent to merge early Cubist rigor with Matissean color and later abstraction, creating a "vital discussion on the very possibilities of painting." This was not just homage but a reclamation, as Picasso stated Matisse "left his odalisques to me as a legacy," transforming Orientalist themes into a modern Cubist dialogue. The result in O is a milestone that encapsulates Cubism's evolution, proving its enduring vitality.
Delacroix's Original: The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment
Eugène Delacroix's The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834, oil on canvas, 180 × 229 cm, Louvre, Paris) is a quintessential Romantic and Orientalist work, inspired by the artist's 1832 trip to Morocco and Algeria. It depicts three richly dressed women lounging in a luxurious harem interior, attended by a Black servant woman entering from the right with a tray or vessel. The scene is bathed in warm, diffused light filtering through a window, creating a sense of exotic intimacy and mystery. Colors are opulent—deep reds, golds, and blues—with meticulous details in textiles, jewelry, and architectural elements like the tiled floor and arched niches. The figures are rendered realistically, with serene expressions and naturalistic poses, evoking a voyeuristic glimpse into a forbidden, sensual world. Delacroix painted a second version in 1849 (now in Montpellier), which shifts the composition slightly by moving the figures forward and altering details, but maintains the overall Romantic allure.
Comparison of Picasso's Version O to Delacroix's Original
Picasso's Version O (1955) radically reinterprets Delacroix's composition through a Cubist lens, transforming the serene, narrative scene into a fragmented, dynamic explosion of form and color. While Delacroix presents a cohesive, illusionistic space with depth and atmosphere, Picasso flattens the interior into interlocking geometric planes, eliminating realistic perspective for multiple simultaneous viewpoints—echoing his Analytic and Synthetic Cubist phases. The four figures (three women and a servant) are distorted: the seated woman on the left becomes elongated and regal (resembling Jacqueline Roque), the reclining odalisque at the bottom twists impossibly, the standing servant merges into the background, and another figure blends into the chaos. Unlike Delacroix's clothed, modest women, Picasso's are nude or semi-nude, emphasizing eroticism and anatomical abstraction over cultural specificity—breasts, limbs, and faces are dissected and reassembled. Colors shift from Delacroix's warm, harmonious palette to brash, clashing primaries (reds, blues, yellows) in flat patches, evoking Matisse's influence rather than Orientalist exoticism. Details like the hookah, curtains, and furnishings are simplified or stylized, losing narrative detail for formal experimentation. Overall, Version O strips away Delacroix's Romantic voyeurism, replacing it with a modern, abstract dialogue on perception and form, while paying homage to the original as a structural framework.
Comparison of Preparatory Versions F, J, and L to Delacroix's OriginalThe preparatory versions F, J, and L represent Picasso's incremental departures from Delacroix's original, building toward the synthesis in O. Each experiments with elements of the harem scene but progressively abstracts them through Cubism.
Picasso's Intentions in Relation to the Original
Picasso's series uses Delacroix's painting as a "template" to synthesize his Cubist styles, blending Analytic deconstruction (sharp fragments in L and J) with Synthetic assembly (bold colors and planes in F and O). Triggered by Matisse's death in 1954, it serves as a dual homage—reclaiming Matisse's odalisques while engaging Delacroix's Orientalism in a post-colonial context (coinciding with the Algerian War's outbreak). By distorting the original's exoticism into modern abstraction, Picasso explores painting's possibilities, moving from preparatory experiments to O's "brilliant synthesis," bracketing colonialism's era from Delacroix's imperial gaze to his own fragmented modernity.
Explore Matisse's odalisque influence
Henri Matisse's Odalisques: An Overview
Henri Matisse (1869–1954), a leading figure in Fauvism and modern art, produced a significant body of work featuring odalisques—reclining or seated female figures often depicted in exotic, Orientalist harem settings. These paintings, created primarily in the 1920s during his time in Nice, France, drew from North African influences encountered during trips to Morocco in 1912–1913. Matisse's odalisques embody sensuality, vibrant color, and decorative patterns, with models like Henriette Darricarrère or Antoinette Arnoud posed in elaborate costumes, surrounded by textiles, screens, and mirrors that flatten space and emphasize surface beauty. Key themes include eroticism, luxury, and escapism, blending Western modernism with imagined Eastern motifs. Unlike the more narrative Orientalism of 19th-century artists like Delacroix, Matisse focused on formal elements: bold, harmonious colors; fluid lines; and a harmonious integration of figure and background, prefiguring his later paper cut-outs.
Notable examples include Odalisque with Raised Arms (1923), where a seated woman with arms aloft creates a rhythmic pose against patterned fabrics; Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) (1907), a controversial early work with a reclining figure in blue tones, blending sculpture-like form with ambiguous racial features; and Odalisque in Red Trousers (c. 1924–1925), showcasing vibrant reds and relaxed sensuality. These works reflect Matisse's pursuit of "an art of balance, of purity and serenity," using color as an emotional force rather than realistic depiction.
Picasso's Relationship with Matisse
Picasso and Matisse shared a complex rivalry-turned-friendship, marked by mutual respect and artistic dialogue. Meeting in 1906 through Gertrude Stein, they challenged each other: Matisse's Fauvist color influenced Picasso's early experiments, while Picasso's Cubism pushed Matisse toward abstraction. By the 1950s, their bond deepened, with Picasso viewing Matisse as his primary contemporary equal. Matisse's death on November 3, 1954, profoundly affected Picasso, who began Les Femmes d'Alger just weeks later as a mourning ritual and inheritance claim. Picasso famously quipped, "When Matisse died, he left his odalisques to me as a legacy," positioning himself as the heir to Matisse's sensual, colorful harem themes while reinterpreting them through Cubism.
Influence on Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger Series
Matisse's odalisques provided Picasso with a visual vocabulary of languid poses, vibrant palettes, and flattened interiors, which he fused with Delacroix's composition and his own Cubist distortions. The series (1954–1955) transforms Matisse's serene, decorative sensuality into fragmented, dynamic energy, creating a "dialogue" across art history. Picasso appropriated Matisse's motifs—reclining nudes, raised arms, and exotic accoutrements—while intensifying color clashes and spatial ambiguity. This homage coincided with the Algerian War's outbreak, adding layers of postcolonial tension, though Picasso's focus remained artistic rather than political. Overall, Matisse's influence softened Picasso's late Cubism with Fauvist vibrancy, aiding his synthesis of analytic (sharp fragments) and synthetic (bold assemblages) styles into a colorful, multifaceted whole.
Specific Influences in Version O (Reference)
Version O epitomizes Matisse's impact, with its "maelstrom of colour" echoing Matisse's harmonious yet bold palettes. The reclining odalisque at the bottom—faceless, twisted to show multiple views—directly references Matisse's Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) in pose and ambiguity, blending front and back in erotic abandon. The cross-legged figure with raised arms nods to Odalisque with Raised Arms, integrated into a chaotic ensemble. Matisse's decorative patterns appear in stylized textiles and screens, but Picasso shatters them Cubistically, synthesizing Matissean sensuality with his own geometric turmoil for a "visual summation" of art history.
Influences in Preparatory Versions
Picasso's intention in the series was to revisit his Cubist roots—analytic dissection and synthetic collage—while incorporating Matisse's legacy for a late-career renewal. Matisse's odalisques injected color and sensuality, allowing Picasso to merge Fauvist expressiveness with Cubist multiplicity. Preparatory versions like F, J, and L experiment with these elements incrementally: F's loose Matissean poses, J's ambiguous distortions, and L's stark forms culminate in O's "brilliant synthesis," where fragmented planes vibrate with Matissean hues. This fusion not only mourns Matisse but reaffirms Cubism's vitality, creating a "Herculean effort" to transcend grief through artistic dialogue.
Overview of the Series
Pablo Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger series, created between December 1954 and February 1955, consists of 15 oil paintings (versions A through O) inspired by Eugène Delacroix's 1834 painting The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment. The works also serve as an homage to Henri Matisse, who had recently died, incorporating elements of his odalisques and colorful cut-outs. Through these variations, Picasso explored themes of female figures in a harem setting, progressively distorting forms, space, and color to revisit and synthesize his Cubist innovations from earlier in his career.
Version O: The Reference
Version O, completed on February 14, 1955, measures 114 × 146.4 cm and represents the culmination of the series. It depicts four women in a compressed, chaotic interior: a stately seated figure on the left (often interpreted as resembling Picasso's partner Jacqueline Roque, with a long neck and elegant face), a reclining odalisque at the bottom, a standing servant in the background, and another figure integrated into the fractured space. The composition features intensely vibrant colors—brash reds, blues, and yellows—in flat patches, distorted perspectives, and interlocking geometric planes that create a sense of depthless turmoil. Fractured Cubist forms dominate, with bodies twisted to show multiple viewpoints simultaneously, blending analytic Cubism's sharp dissections with synthetic Cubism's bold, collage-like assembly. This version synthesizes the series' experiments into a dynamic whole, evoking a "maelstrom of colour and shattered and flattened perspectives." It stands as an "epic master class on the ways of painting, art history, color, structure, and form."
Comparison with Preparatory Versions
Version F
Painted on January 17, 1955, Version F (dimensions not consistently specified, but medium-sized like early works in the series) marks a midpoint in the exploratory phase. It features only three figures, omitting the fourth seen in Delacroix's original and later Picasso versions. The rightmost figure dominates the foreground, spreading expansively with a downward-pointing breast, echoing Matisse's Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) from 1907 (though without the blue hue seen in the similar Version E). The composition is looser and rougher than O, with less resolved spatial dynamics and a more tentative abstraction—figures are fragmented but not as interlocked or chaotic. Colors are vibrant but not as violently clashing, and the overall feel is more improvisational, focusing on anatomical distortions rather than a packed, synthesized scene. Compared to O, F is simpler and less ambitious, serving as a building block by experimenting with figure dominance and Matissean influences before the fuller integration in the final version.
Version J
Version J, likely painted in late January 1955 (dimensions approximately 45 × 57.5 inches), emphasizes distortion in a multi-figure composition similar to O but with a more focused ambiguity. The reclining woman in the foreground has an upper body divided horizontally: the lower half and head suggest she lies on her stomach, while the upper breast, navel, and leg position indicate a back-down pose, creating impossible contortions that present front and back views at once. Colors are present but subdued compared to O's intensity, with sharper Cubist edges and a sense of spatial compression. Unlike O's harmonious synthesis, J feels more analytical and experimental, highlighting anatomical puzzles as a preparatory step toward the final's fluid multiplicity. It bridges early looseness (like F) and later monumentality (like L), advancing the series' progression toward complex viewpoints.
Version L
Completed on February 9, 1955, Version L (130 × 97 cm) is a large-format, monochrome (grisaille) portrait isolating the seated woman from the left of Delacroix's composition. She appears pyramid-like, enthroned with a hookah, evoking a sphinx or the ancient goddess Astarte—majestic, inscrutable, and embodying "sexually powerful and fertile womanhood." The style recalls Picasso's early analytic Cubism with sharp, grey-toned edges and geometric fragmentation, but without the color or multi-figure chaos of O. Compared to the reference, L is starkly simplified: one figure versus four, tonal restraint versus vibrant patches, and a static, intimidating presence versus dynamic energy. It acts as a preparatory focus on individual power, which O integrates into a broader ensemble, softening the severity with color and movement.
In summary, Versions F, J, and L are preparatory in their increasing complexity—F's loose three-figure exploration, J's ambiguous distortions, and L's monumental isolation—building toward O's fuller, more resolved synthesis. Early versions like F prioritize improvisation and homage to Matisse, while later ones like J and L deepen Cubist dissections, culminating in O's balanced fusion.
Picasso's Intention: Synthesizing Cubist Styles
Picasso's series reflects a deliberate effort to revisit and synthesize his Cubist styles in his later years, blending analytic Cubism's deconstructive, monochromatic fragmentation (evident in L's sharp greys and geometric forms) with synthetic Cubism's colorful, collage-inspired assembly (seen in O's flat planes and vibrant patches). At age 73, he used Delacroix's composition as a framework for "research" into painting's possibilities, appropriating historical motifs while infusing them with personal obsessions like distorted anatomy and multiple viewpoints. The progression from preparatory versions' tentative experiments to O's "brilliant syntheses" demonstrates his intent to merge early Cubist rigor with Matissean color and later abstraction, creating a "vital discussion on the very possibilities of painting." This was not just homage but a reclamation, as Picasso stated Matisse "left his odalisques to me as a legacy," transforming Orientalist themes into a modern Cubist dialogue. The result in O is a milestone that encapsulates Cubism's evolution, proving its enduring vitality.
Delacroix's Original: The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment
Eugène Delacroix's The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834, oil on canvas, 180 × 229 cm, Louvre, Paris) is a quintessential Romantic and Orientalist work, inspired by the artist's 1832 trip to Morocco and Algeria. It depicts three richly dressed women lounging in a luxurious harem interior, attended by a Black servant woman entering from the right with a tray or vessel. The scene is bathed in warm, diffused light filtering through a window, creating a sense of exotic intimacy and mystery. Colors are opulent—deep reds, golds, and blues—with meticulous details in textiles, jewelry, and architectural elements like the tiled floor and arched niches. The figures are rendered realistically, with serene expressions and naturalistic poses, evoking a voyeuristic glimpse into a forbidden, sensual world. Delacroix painted a second version in 1849 (now in Montpellier), which shifts the composition slightly by moving the figures forward and altering details, but maintains the overall Romantic allure.
Comparison of Picasso's Version O to Delacroix's Original
Picasso's Version O (1955) radically reinterprets Delacroix's composition through a Cubist lens, transforming the serene, narrative scene into a fragmented, dynamic explosion of form and color. While Delacroix presents a cohesive, illusionistic space with depth and atmosphere, Picasso flattens the interior into interlocking geometric planes, eliminating realistic perspective for multiple simultaneous viewpoints—echoing his Analytic and Synthetic Cubist phases. The four figures (three women and a servant) are distorted: the seated woman on the left becomes elongated and regal (resembling Jacqueline Roque), the reclining odalisque at the bottom twists impossibly, the standing servant merges into the background, and another figure blends into the chaos. Unlike Delacroix's clothed, modest women, Picasso's are nude or semi-nude, emphasizing eroticism and anatomical abstraction over cultural specificity—breasts, limbs, and faces are dissected and reassembled. Colors shift from Delacroix's warm, harmonious palette to brash, clashing primaries (reds, blues, yellows) in flat patches, evoking Matisse's influence rather than Orientalist exoticism. Details like the hookah, curtains, and furnishings are simplified or stylized, losing narrative detail for formal experimentation. Overall, Version O strips away Delacroix's Romantic voyeurism, replacing it with a modern, abstract dialogue on perception and form, while paying homage to the original as a structural framework.
Comparison of Preparatory Versions F, J, and L to Delacroix's OriginalThe preparatory versions F, J, and L represent Picasso's incremental departures from Delacroix's original, building toward the synthesis in O. Each experiments with elements of the harem scene but progressively abstracts them through Cubism.
- Version F (January 17, 1955): This version simplifies Delacroix's composition to three figures, omitting the fourth woman, much like Picasso's early sketches and initial paintings (A and B) in the series. The dominant rightmost figure sprawls expansively with distorted anatomy (e.g., a downward-pointing breast), echoing Matisse more than Delacroix's poised women. Space is looser and less detailed than Delacroix's intricate interior, with vibrant but unresolved colors and tentative fragmentation—focusing on pose experimentation rather than the original's atmospheric depth or cultural attire.
- Version J (late January 1955): Closer to Delacroix in including multiple figures, but with heightened ambiguity. The reclining foreground woman combines front and back views in an impossible contortion, a Cubist twist absent in Delacroix's naturalistic poses. Colors are subdued compared to O, and edges sharper, emphasizing analytical dissection over Romantic harmony. It diverges by compressing space and prioritizing anatomical puzzles, moving away from Delacroix's serene grouping toward O's chaotic integration.
- Version L (February 9, 1955): This monochrome grisaille isolates the seated woman from Delacroix's left, rendering her as a monumental, pyramid-like figure with a hookah, evoking ancient statuary rather than a harem inhabitant. Lacking color and companions, it strips Delacroix's opulent scene to stark geometric fragmentation, recalling Picasso's early Analytic Cubism. The focus on individual power and inscrutability contrasts Delacroix's ensemble narrative, serving as a preparatory study for O's ensemble while highlighting severity over sensuality.
Picasso's Intentions in Relation to the Original
Picasso's series uses Delacroix's painting as a "template" to synthesize his Cubist styles, blending Analytic deconstruction (sharp fragments in L and J) with Synthetic assembly (bold colors and planes in F and O). Triggered by Matisse's death in 1954, it serves as a dual homage—reclaiming Matisse's odalisques while engaging Delacroix's Orientalism in a post-colonial context (coinciding with the Algerian War's outbreak). By distorting the original's exoticism into modern abstraction, Picasso explores painting's possibilities, moving from preparatory experiments to O's "brilliant synthesis," bracketing colonialism's era from Delacroix's imperial gaze to his own fragmented modernity.
Explore Matisse's odalisque influence
Henri Matisse's Odalisques: An Overview
Henri Matisse (1869–1954), a leading figure in Fauvism and modern art, produced a significant body of work featuring odalisques—reclining or seated female figures often depicted in exotic, Orientalist harem settings. These paintings, created primarily in the 1920s during his time in Nice, France, drew from North African influences encountered during trips to Morocco in 1912–1913. Matisse's odalisques embody sensuality, vibrant color, and decorative patterns, with models like Henriette Darricarrère or Antoinette Arnoud posed in elaborate costumes, surrounded by textiles, screens, and mirrors that flatten space and emphasize surface beauty. Key themes include eroticism, luxury, and escapism, blending Western modernism with imagined Eastern motifs. Unlike the more narrative Orientalism of 19th-century artists like Delacroix, Matisse focused on formal elements: bold, harmonious colors; fluid lines; and a harmonious integration of figure and background, prefiguring his later paper cut-outs.
Notable examples include Odalisque with Raised Arms (1923), where a seated woman with arms aloft creates a rhythmic pose against patterned fabrics; Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) (1907), a controversial early work with a reclining figure in blue tones, blending sculpture-like form with ambiguous racial features; and Odalisque in Red Trousers (c. 1924–1925), showcasing vibrant reds and relaxed sensuality. These works reflect Matisse's pursuit of "an art of balance, of purity and serenity," using color as an emotional force rather than realistic depiction.
Picasso's Relationship with Matisse
Picasso and Matisse shared a complex rivalry-turned-friendship, marked by mutual respect and artistic dialogue. Meeting in 1906 through Gertrude Stein, they challenged each other: Matisse's Fauvist color influenced Picasso's early experiments, while Picasso's Cubism pushed Matisse toward abstraction. By the 1950s, their bond deepened, with Picasso viewing Matisse as his primary contemporary equal. Matisse's death on November 3, 1954, profoundly affected Picasso, who began Les Femmes d'Alger just weeks later as a mourning ritual and inheritance claim. Picasso famously quipped, "When Matisse died, he left his odalisques to me as a legacy," positioning himself as the heir to Matisse's sensual, colorful harem themes while reinterpreting them through Cubism.
Influence on Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger Series
Matisse's odalisques provided Picasso with a visual vocabulary of languid poses, vibrant palettes, and flattened interiors, which he fused with Delacroix's composition and his own Cubist distortions. The series (1954–1955) transforms Matisse's serene, decorative sensuality into fragmented, dynamic energy, creating a "dialogue" across art history. Picasso appropriated Matisse's motifs—reclining nudes, raised arms, and exotic accoutrements—while intensifying color clashes and spatial ambiguity. This homage coincided with the Algerian War's outbreak, adding layers of postcolonial tension, though Picasso's focus remained artistic rather than political. Overall, Matisse's influence softened Picasso's late Cubism with Fauvist vibrancy, aiding his synthesis of analytic (sharp fragments) and synthetic (bold assemblages) styles into a colorful, multifaceted whole.
Specific Influences in Version O (Reference)
Version O epitomizes Matisse's impact, with its "maelstrom of colour" echoing Matisse's harmonious yet bold palettes. The reclining odalisque at the bottom—faceless, twisted to show multiple views—directly references Matisse's Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) in pose and ambiguity, blending front and back in erotic abandon. The cross-legged figure with raised arms nods to Odalisque with Raised Arms, integrated into a chaotic ensemble. Matisse's decorative patterns appear in stylized textiles and screens, but Picasso shatters them Cubistically, synthesizing Matissean sensuality with his own geometric turmoil for a "visual summation" of art history.
Influences in Preparatory Versions
- Version F: This early variant strongly channels Matisse, with the dominant rightmost figure sprawling in a pose reminiscent of Blue Nude, including a downward-pointing breast and expansive form. Colors are vibrant but improvisational, prioritizing Matissean anatomical fluidity over full Cubist fragmentation, as a stepping stone to O's intensity.
- Version J: Matisse's influence appears in the ambiguous reclining foreground woman, whose impossible contortion (prone yet supine) echoes the spatial play and erotic poses in Matisse's odalisques, like Blue Nude. Subdued colors and sharper edges blend Matisse's sensuality with analytic Cubism, advancing toward O's synthesis.
- Version L: Less directly Matissean due to its grisaille monochrome, this isolated seated figure evokes Matisse's monumental odalisques (e.g., Odalisque in Red Trousers) in its pyramid-like poise and inscrutable power. Lacking color, it focuses on form, preparing O's integration of Matisse's vibrancy with Cubist structure.
Picasso's intention in the series was to revisit his Cubist roots—analytic dissection and synthetic collage—while incorporating Matisse's legacy for a late-career renewal. Matisse's odalisques injected color and sensuality, allowing Picasso to merge Fauvist expressiveness with Cubist multiplicity. Preparatory versions like F, J, and L experiment with these elements incrementally: F's loose Matissean poses, J's ambiguous distortions, and L's stark forms culminate in O's "brilliant synthesis," where fragmented planes vibrate with Matissean hues. This fusion not only mourns Matisse but reaffirms Cubism's vitality, creating a "Herculean effort" to transcend grief through artistic dialogue.
1955 Mercedes-Benz Uhlenhaut Coupé
2022 SOLD for € 135M by RM Sotheby's
Two special adaptations of the 3 litre 300 SLR coupé were made by Mercedes-Benz in 1955. Designed by Rudolf Uhlenhaut, they are known as the Uhlenhaut coupés. Capable of reaching 290 km/h, this model was the fastest road going car of its time.
Employed by Mercedes-Benz since 1931, Uhlenhaut had been a lead designer of the Silver Arrows, of the Formula One highly successful W196 of JM Fangio fame and of the open top Rennsport 300 SLR of Stirling Moss fame. He was also behind the scene of the Le Mans winner W194 and of the road going 300 SL gullwing.
The Uhlenhaut coupés were assembled as two seaters with gullwing doors on two W196 chassis left unused after the 1955 Le Mans crash and the subsequent withdrawal of the brand from motor sport.
Both prototypes were retained by Mercedes-Benz from new. Uhlenhaut had one as a company car. He once drove the 230 km on the autobahn between Stuttgart and Munich in less than an hour.
The first one is on display in the museum of the brand. The second car was used as a demonstration car and was restored in 1986. It was sold for € 135M on May 5, 2022 by RM Sotheby's in a private auction, lot 1. The proceeds help to create a Mercedes-Benz fund for young researchers in environmental science and carbon dioxide reduction.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, featuring with the hammer Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe.
Response by Grok :
Quote
RM Sotheby's @rmsothebys Jun 28
Before it sold for €135M, it was just Uhlenhaut’s “company car.” He once drove it 230 km from Stuttgart to Munich in under an hour. The 300 SLR wasn’t built for traffic. It was built for legends. https://bit.ly/4hRRiAb #UhlenhautCoupe #Mercedes #CarTwitter
Employed by Mercedes-Benz since 1931, Uhlenhaut had been a lead designer of the Silver Arrows, of the Formula One highly successful W196 of JM Fangio fame and of the open top Rennsport 300 SLR of Stirling Moss fame. He was also behind the scene of the Le Mans winner W194 and of the road going 300 SL gullwing.
The Uhlenhaut coupés were assembled as two seaters with gullwing doors on two W196 chassis left unused after the 1955 Le Mans crash and the subsequent withdrawal of the brand from motor sport.
Both prototypes were retained by Mercedes-Benz from new. Uhlenhaut had one as a company car. He once drove the 230 km on the autobahn between Stuttgart and Munich in less than an hour.
The first one is on display in the museum of the brand. The second car was used as a demonstration car and was restored in 1986. It was sold for € 135M on May 5, 2022 by RM Sotheby's in a private auction, lot 1. The proceeds help to create a Mercedes-Benz fund for young researchers in environmental science and carbon dioxide reduction.
Please watch the video shared by the auction house, featuring with the hammer Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe.
Response by Grok :
Quote
RM Sotheby's @rmsothebys Jun 28
Before it sold for €135M, it was just Uhlenhaut’s “company car.” He once drove it 230 km from Stuttgart to Munich in under an hour. The 300 SLR wasn’t built for traffic. It was built for legends. https://bit.ly/4hRRiAb #UhlenhautCoupe #Mercedes #CarTwitter
- The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, featured in the post, achieved a record-breaking sale of €135 million in 2022, funded a Mercedes-Benz scholarship for environmental science, and remains one of only two ever built, with its designer Rudolf Uhlenhaut using it as a personal car.
- Historical records, including Motorsport Magazine investigations, cast doubt on the claim of Uhlenhaut driving 230 km from Stuttgart to Munich in under an hour, as post-war German roads lacked the infrastructure for such speeds, suggesting the story may be exaggerated.
- The car's gull-wing design and 290 km/h top speed, documented in engineering analyses from the era, reflect advanced aerodynamics and engineering by Uhlenhaut, marking it as a pinnacle of 1950s automotive innovation despite Mercedes’ subsequent racing withdrawal after the 1955 Le Mans disaster.
1955 Woman as Landscape by de Kooning
2018 SOLD for $ 69M by Christie's
Close to the avant-gardes in New York, Willem de Kooning nevertheless does not want his art to be assimilated with any school. He understood, as Miro before him, that it is to the viewer to identify the subject of the work, and the ambiguity in the interpretation generates emotion.
For him, woman is an obsessive and ambiguous theme. In 1950 he begins painting a larger-than-life woman on a canvas 197 x 147 cm. He reworks it for months with his brushes and his knives and considers it as finished in June 1952 thanks to the intervention of a friend.
His characters are figurative but excessively misshapen and grotesque. Color prevails over form. He said : "Flesh is the reason oil paint was invented".
In late 1952 and in 1953 he makes new versions of his woman. This ideal woman is a synthesis between the opulent Paleolithic statuettes of fertility and a grotesque vixen of modern time. The spectators see in that 'Woman' series the expression at best of an annoyance, at worst of an aggressive sexual impulse, in a feverish brush work. Woman III was sold for $ 137.5M in 2006 in a private sale.
This task resulted in the side-by-side exhibition of six paintings titled Woman I to Woman VI. They are standing in similar frontal positions. The bright and varied colors of the clothes could simulate according to the artist the evolution of the fashions. De Kooning demonstrates here that Action painting was not incompatible with a figurative theme.
I to VI are not the only artworks on this theme. This series did not include a Woman with Bicycle painted in 1952 in the same style but in a slightly different attitude. Oils on paper are made in smaller sizes.
De Kooning carries out new experiments in 1955. The drift of abstraction also generates the landscape, which can be entangled with the body of the woman.
Woman as Landscape, started in 1954, begins a new phase in de Kooning's desire to break down the boundaries between figurative themes. This 166 x 125 cm oil and charcoal on canvas completed in 1955 was sold for $ 69M by Christie's on November 13, 2018, lot 7 B.
The colors of a landscape with its blue sky and green ground surround the woman. The title is significant with 'as landscape' and not 'in landscape' to indicate that the artist is ready to mix the genres.
In the same year with Interchange, a bird's eye landscape remains perceptible, centered on a river. When the viewer realizes that the river has the shape of a female body, this painting considered as one of the very first examples of abstract landscape becomes a masterpiece of hidden erotic art, alongside Picasso's Le Rêve. Police Gazette is an abstract landscape in a vertical perspective.
Interchange, oil on canvas 200 x 175 cm, was sold for $ 20.7M by Sotheby's on November 8, 1989, the highest auction result at that time for a work by a living artist. A private transaction for $ 500M between two billionaires was announced in February 2016. It involved only two paintings. The piece of choice, whose contribution was announced at $ 300M in the press releases, was Interchange. The other item, thus worth $ 200M, was a 1948 dripping by Pollock numbered 17A.
At the end of the year he returns to abstract compositions in which his figurative intentions, when they exist, are intertwined and can only be deciphered by him.
Woman as Landscape, aka Woman as a Landscape, by de Kooning, sold by Christie's on November 13, 2018, lot 7 B. Compare with the whole range of the Woman I-VI series.
The Woman I-VI Series (1950-1953)
De Kooning's Woman I-VI series consists of six oil-on-canvas paintings created between 1950 and 1953, marking a pivotal return to figuration amid the dominance of abstraction in Abstract Expressionism. These works center on fragmented, often aggressive depictions of female figures, characterized by violent imagery, impulsive brushwork, and a sense of grotesque vitality that de Kooning described as "joyous." The series evolved through numerous revisions, with de Kooning repeatedly scraping down and repainting canvases to build dense, layered surfaces. Exhibited at Sidney Janis Gallery in 1953, they sparked controversy for their raw, confrontational portrayal of women, blending eroticism with distortion.
Willem de Kooning's "Woman as Landscape"
"Woman as Landscape" (1954-1955) is an oil and charcoal on canvas painting measuring 65 3/8 x 49 1/4 inches (166 x 125 cm), depicting a female figure that blends seamlessly with abstract landscape elements, such as blue skies and green earth tones, reflecting de Kooning's evolving interest in merging human forms with environmental motifs. The work features bold, gestural brushstrokes and a vibrant palette, with the woman's form emerging through layers of paint that suggest both eroticism and abstraction. Signed "de Kooning" in the lower left, it was completed in 1955 and represents a transitional phase in his career, moving beyond pure figuration toward more fluid, integrated compositions.
This piece has a notable provenance, including ownership by actor Steve Martin in the 1990s, and was part of the collection of luxury travel entrepreneur Barney A. Ebsworth before its sale. It achieved $68,937,500 at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York on November 13, 2018 (Lot 7B), surpassing its $60-80 million estimate and setting an auction record for de Kooning at the time.
Comparison Between "Woman as Landscape" and the Woman I-VI Series
Both "Woman as Landscape" and the Woman I-VI series share de Kooning's signature Abstract Expressionist style, including vigorous, gestural brushstrokes, layered paint application, and a focus on the female form as a vehicle for exploring abstraction and representation. They reflect his fascination with the "grotesque" and erotic undertones, drawing from art historical precedents like the seated female figure or Madonna archetype while subverting them through distortion.
However, "Woman as Landscape" represents an evolution from the earlier series: created just after Woman I-VI, it integrates the figure more holistically with landscape elements, using colors like blues and greens to suggest environmental fusion rather than the confrontational isolation of the women in I-VI. The 1950-1953 works are more aggressive and "petulant," with stark, fragmented bodies, clashing hues, and a sense of violence—Woman I, for instance, features incised eyes and a toothy grimace that evoke menace.
In contrast, "Woman as Landscape" is softer and more fluid, with the figure "as" the landscape (not "in" it), indicating de Kooning's shift toward blending genres and a less hostile portrayal. The earlier series often feels confined and intense, while the later painting expands into a broader, more perceptual space, foreshadowing de Kooning's full embrace of landscape abstraction in the 1960s.
This progression highlights de Kooning's refusal to separate abstraction from figuration, using the woman motif to push boundaries across his oeuvre.
For him, woman is an obsessive and ambiguous theme. In 1950 he begins painting a larger-than-life woman on a canvas 197 x 147 cm. He reworks it for months with his brushes and his knives and considers it as finished in June 1952 thanks to the intervention of a friend.
His characters are figurative but excessively misshapen and grotesque. Color prevails over form. He said : "Flesh is the reason oil paint was invented".
In late 1952 and in 1953 he makes new versions of his woman. This ideal woman is a synthesis between the opulent Paleolithic statuettes of fertility and a grotesque vixen of modern time. The spectators see in that 'Woman' series the expression at best of an annoyance, at worst of an aggressive sexual impulse, in a feverish brush work. Woman III was sold for $ 137.5M in 2006 in a private sale.
This task resulted in the side-by-side exhibition of six paintings titled Woman I to Woman VI. They are standing in similar frontal positions. The bright and varied colors of the clothes could simulate according to the artist the evolution of the fashions. De Kooning demonstrates here that Action painting was not incompatible with a figurative theme.
I to VI are not the only artworks on this theme. This series did not include a Woman with Bicycle painted in 1952 in the same style but in a slightly different attitude. Oils on paper are made in smaller sizes.
De Kooning carries out new experiments in 1955. The drift of abstraction also generates the landscape, which can be entangled with the body of the woman.
Woman as Landscape, started in 1954, begins a new phase in de Kooning's desire to break down the boundaries between figurative themes. This 166 x 125 cm oil and charcoal on canvas completed in 1955 was sold for $ 69M by Christie's on November 13, 2018, lot 7 B.
The colors of a landscape with its blue sky and green ground surround the woman. The title is significant with 'as landscape' and not 'in landscape' to indicate that the artist is ready to mix the genres.
In the same year with Interchange, a bird's eye landscape remains perceptible, centered on a river. When the viewer realizes that the river has the shape of a female body, this painting considered as one of the very first examples of abstract landscape becomes a masterpiece of hidden erotic art, alongside Picasso's Le Rêve. Police Gazette is an abstract landscape in a vertical perspective.
Interchange, oil on canvas 200 x 175 cm, was sold for $ 20.7M by Sotheby's on November 8, 1989, the highest auction result at that time for a work by a living artist. A private transaction for $ 500M between two billionaires was announced in February 2016. It involved only two paintings. The piece of choice, whose contribution was announced at $ 300M in the press releases, was Interchange. The other item, thus worth $ 200M, was a 1948 dripping by Pollock numbered 17A.
At the end of the year he returns to abstract compositions in which his figurative intentions, when they exist, are intertwined and can only be deciphered by him.
Woman as Landscape, aka Woman as a Landscape, by de Kooning, sold by Christie's on November 13, 2018, lot 7 B. Compare with the whole range of the Woman I-VI series.
The Woman I-VI Series (1950-1953)
De Kooning's Woman I-VI series consists of six oil-on-canvas paintings created between 1950 and 1953, marking a pivotal return to figuration amid the dominance of abstraction in Abstract Expressionism. These works center on fragmented, often aggressive depictions of female figures, characterized by violent imagery, impulsive brushwork, and a sense of grotesque vitality that de Kooning described as "joyous." The series evolved through numerous revisions, with de Kooning repeatedly scraping down and repainting canvases to build dense, layered surfaces. Exhibited at Sidney Janis Gallery in 1953, they sparked controversy for their raw, confrontational portrayal of women, blending eroticism with distortion.
Willem de Kooning's "Woman as Landscape"
"Woman as Landscape" (1954-1955) is an oil and charcoal on canvas painting measuring 65 3/8 x 49 1/4 inches (166 x 125 cm), depicting a female figure that blends seamlessly with abstract landscape elements, such as blue skies and green earth tones, reflecting de Kooning's evolving interest in merging human forms with environmental motifs. The work features bold, gestural brushstrokes and a vibrant palette, with the woman's form emerging through layers of paint that suggest both eroticism and abstraction. Signed "de Kooning" in the lower left, it was completed in 1955 and represents a transitional phase in his career, moving beyond pure figuration toward more fluid, integrated compositions.
This piece has a notable provenance, including ownership by actor Steve Martin in the 1990s, and was part of the collection of luxury travel entrepreneur Barney A. Ebsworth before its sale. It achieved $68,937,500 at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York on November 13, 2018 (Lot 7B), surpassing its $60-80 million estimate and setting an auction record for de Kooning at the time.
Comparison Between "Woman as Landscape" and the Woman I-VI Series
Both "Woman as Landscape" and the Woman I-VI series share de Kooning's signature Abstract Expressionist style, including vigorous, gestural brushstrokes, layered paint application, and a focus on the female form as a vehicle for exploring abstraction and representation. They reflect his fascination with the "grotesque" and erotic undertones, drawing from art historical precedents like the seated female figure or Madonna archetype while subverting them through distortion.
However, "Woman as Landscape" represents an evolution from the earlier series: created just after Woman I-VI, it integrates the figure more holistically with landscape elements, using colors like blues and greens to suggest environmental fusion rather than the confrontational isolation of the women in I-VI. The 1950-1953 works are more aggressive and "petulant," with stark, fragmented bodies, clashing hues, and a sense of violence—Woman I, for instance, features incised eyes and a toothy grimace that evoke menace.
In contrast, "Woman as Landscape" is softer and more fluid, with the figure "as" the landscape (not "in" it), indicating de Kooning's shift toward blending genres and a less hostile portrayal. The earlier series often feels confined and intense, while the later painting expands into a broader, more perceptual space, foreshadowing de Kooning's full embrace of landscape abstraction in the 1960s.
This progression highlights de Kooning's refusal to separate abstraction from figuration, using the woman motif to push boundaries across his oeuvre.
