Decade 1970-1979
See also : Sculpture Groups Abstract art Abstract art II Landscape Midi Rothko Rothko 1957-70 Warhol Celebrities by Warhol Later Warhols Twombly The Man Self Portrait USA II England Bacon UK II Holland De Kooning France French sculpture Matisse
1970 Cy Twombly in Quest of Writing
2014 SOLD for $ 70M including premium
Cy Twombly was projecting in his art his initial training in cryptology and his aesthetic feelings. In his first Roman period, he imagines that the colored patches that he positions on the canvas are reminiscent of messages too erased for being understood but opening an access to mythical meanings.
From 1966 Twombly continues his semiotic research towards psychoanalysis. On the black canvas that resembles the board of infant schools, he draws in white his messages which are indecipherable in direct reading but speak to the mind of the viewer.
The comparison between two canvases painted in 1970 show that the artist is seeking to express the diversity of humanity as well as his own creativity. Now inspired by graphology, Twombly's art describes and interprets the range of human characters in the fundamental and formative phase of early childhood.
One of these Blackboards, located in New York City, 144 x 178 cm, was sold for $ 17.5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012. The writing is nervous, with angles and backtracking.
Another example, 156 x 190 cm, is not located in the title but has been painted after the return to Rome of the artist. It is estimated $ 35M for sale by Christie's in New York on November 12, lot 20.
Here, the fake writing is made of very regular loops as if they came from an intelligent and quiet schoolchild, but their four lines form a tangled hair which widens from top to bottom in a false perspective.
From 1966 Twombly continues his semiotic research towards psychoanalysis. On the black canvas that resembles the board of infant schools, he draws in white his messages which are indecipherable in direct reading but speak to the mind of the viewer.
The comparison between two canvases painted in 1970 show that the artist is seeking to express the diversity of humanity as well as his own creativity. Now inspired by graphology, Twombly's art describes and interprets the range of human characters in the fundamental and formative phase of early childhood.
One of these Blackboards, located in New York City, 144 x 178 cm, was sold for $ 17.5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012. The writing is nervous, with angles and backtracking.
Another example, 156 x 190 cm, is not located in the title but has been painted after the return to Rome of the artist. It is estimated $ 35M for sale by Christie's in New York on November 12, lot 20.
Here, the fake writing is made of very regular loops as if they came from an intelligent and quiet schoolchild, but their four lines form a tangled hair which widens from top to bottom in a false perspective.
1970 Mark Rothko in his Nightfall
2014 SOLD for $ 40M including premium
Throughout his career, Rothko expressed by the relations between colors his vision of all the emotions and all cultures of the world, while voluntarily abandoning any use of figuration. By this bold and very effective approach, he became one of the most outstanding modern artists.
From the spring of 1968, nothing goes right for Mark Rothko, sick, drinker, smoker, irritable, almost impotent. His wife leaves him on 1969 new year's day. He paints small canvases dominated by gray and black expressing his new pessimistic feeling of the meaning of life.
Yet at the beginning of 1970, this highly important colorist lives a sort of restart. One of the three oils on canvas painted in this very short period, 173 x 137 cm, is estimated at $ 15M for sale bySotheby's in New York on November 10, lot 6.
This strange work is typical of his compositions but expresses the thrill of nightfall by three large dark green regions on an indigo background. It is his artistic testament, the invasion of his despair and his ultimate effort to stage a large-scale scenery.
Rothko sliced his arms with a razor on February 25, 1970.
From the spring of 1968, nothing goes right for Mark Rothko, sick, drinker, smoker, irritable, almost impotent. His wife leaves him on 1969 new year's day. He paints small canvases dominated by gray and black expressing his new pessimistic feeling of the meaning of life.
Yet at the beginning of 1970, this highly important colorist lives a sort of restart. One of the three oils on canvas painted in this very short period, 173 x 137 cm, is estimated at $ 15M for sale bySotheby's in New York on November 10, lot 6.
This strange work is typical of his compositions but expresses the thrill of nightfall by three large dark green regions on an indigo background. It is his artistic testament, the invasion of his despair and his ultimate effort to stage a large-scale scenery.
Rothko sliced his arms with a razor on February 25, 1970.
1970 The Equation of Time of Francis Bacon
2016 SOLD for $ 35M including premium
Francis Bacon often undertook to explain his art, with passion. He is a painter, viscerally, and would not consider any other occupation.
Like his fellow Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon desires to express life. Their methods are nevertheless in total opposition. Francis does not wish to compose an image : he seeks the spontaneity. He does not inspect the model on live but is working from photographs. Each personality is complex and a single image is not enough : this is the root cause of the choice of the artist to make triptychs and, less frequently, diptychs.
In 1969, Francis Bacon paints from three instantaneous photos the portrait in triptych of Lucian Freud, which was sold for $ 142M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2013. Francis is 60 years old. His quest for immediacy is already accompanied by the anxiety on his inability to stop his own aging.
In real life, he takes fun at the expense of George Dyer but his Soho friends have also aged. Henrietta is increasingly ugly. A surprising portrait on which the woman is slipping away backwards from the picture frame remained unsold at Christie's on October 19, 2008. Francis looks again at his own face. A self-portrait with a sad gaze, 35 x 40 cm, was sold for $ 33M including premium by Sotheby's on 14 November 2007.
In 1970, Francis is desperately seeking a solution to his equation of time. He paints less and less because his old themes are no longer acceptable to him. He executes a self-portrait in diptych 35 x 30 cm per element. His attire is relaxed but the position of the head is haughty : Francis is alone in front of himself. The exuberant expressionist colors accentuate the total control of his art.
Titled Two studies for a self portrait, this work is estimated $ 22M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 11, lot 8. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house. The optimistic interpretation made by Sotheby's may be questioned but their conclusion that it is the finest self-portrait by Francis Bacon is highly acceptable.
Like his fellow Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon desires to express life. Their methods are nevertheless in total opposition. Francis does not wish to compose an image : he seeks the spontaneity. He does not inspect the model on live but is working from photographs. Each personality is complex and a single image is not enough : this is the root cause of the choice of the artist to make triptychs and, less frequently, diptychs.
In 1969, Francis Bacon paints from three instantaneous photos the portrait in triptych of Lucian Freud, which was sold for $ 142M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2013. Francis is 60 years old. His quest for immediacy is already accompanied by the anxiety on his inability to stop his own aging.
In real life, he takes fun at the expense of George Dyer but his Soho friends have also aged. Henrietta is increasingly ugly. A surprising portrait on which the woman is slipping away backwards from the picture frame remained unsold at Christie's on October 19, 2008. Francis looks again at his own face. A self-portrait with a sad gaze, 35 x 40 cm, was sold for $ 33M including premium by Sotheby's on 14 November 2007.
In 1970, Francis is desperately seeking a solution to his equation of time. He paints less and less because his old themes are no longer acceptable to him. He executes a self-portrait in diptych 35 x 30 cm per element. His attire is relaxed but the position of the head is haughty : Francis is alone in front of himself. The exuberant expressionist colors accentuate the total control of his art.
Titled Two studies for a self portrait, this work is estimated $ 22M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 11, lot 8. I invite you to watch the video shared by the auction house. The optimistic interpretation made by Sotheby's may be questioned but their conclusion that it is the finest self-portrait by Francis Bacon is highly acceptable.
1972 A Nest for Two Boys
2018 SOLD for $ 90M including premium
David Hockney reaches his paradise on Earth in 1964. In Los Angeles the sky and the water of the pools are blue in different shades to which the midday sun brings a perfect purity. This atmosphere exacerbates his homosexual sensibility. Peter Schlesinger becomes his lover and muse in 1966.
David sees by chance on the floor of his studio the conjunction of two photographs that can constitute a scene : a swimmer under water and a standing boy watching something in the distance. The relationship between two men has always been one of his favorite themes. He has just found a way to express his affair with Peter.
It is not so easy for this hypersensitive artist. He destroys a first version. The sudden break between the lovers occurs around that time. In the spring of 1972 David leaves with two assistants to take photographs in a house of director Tony Richardson named Le Nid du Duc in the countryside above Saint-Tropez. During the summer of 1969 David and Peter had spent a few happy days at that place.
A photograph of the swimmer suits him. It will not be a self-portrait in the picture. For the properly dressed observer who will be standing up by the pool, he finds in his archives some photographs of the real Peter, as if David now agreed to entrust Peter to an unidentifiable swimmer.
The acrylic on canvas 213 x 305 cm painted in 1972 is titled Portrait of an Artist and subtitled Pool with Two Figures. The swimmer is under water and Peter is at the edge of the pool. Although Peter's gaze is directed towards the swimmer, communication between them is impossible.
In 1974 a biopic titled A Bigger Splash tells the story of the breaking up of David and Peter. David plays his own role. The film incorporates sequences that had been shot during the preparation of the Portrait of an Artist. The mix of emotion and real intimacy makes A Bigger Splash a cult film of the gay communities, to the point of shocking David himself. He will change his mind later.
This painting will be sold by Christie's in New York on November 15 as lot 9 C. The press release of September 13 announces an estimate in the region of $ 80M. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house including sequences from the movie.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use.
David sees by chance on the floor of his studio the conjunction of two photographs that can constitute a scene : a swimmer under water and a standing boy watching something in the distance. The relationship between two men has always been one of his favorite themes. He has just found a way to express his affair with Peter.
It is not so easy for this hypersensitive artist. He destroys a first version. The sudden break between the lovers occurs around that time. In the spring of 1972 David leaves with two assistants to take photographs in a house of director Tony Richardson named Le Nid du Duc in the countryside above Saint-Tropez. During the summer of 1969 David and Peter had spent a few happy days at that place.
A photograph of the swimmer suits him. It will not be a self-portrait in the picture. For the properly dressed observer who will be standing up by the pool, he finds in his archives some photographs of the real Peter, as if David now agreed to entrust Peter to an unidentifiable swimmer.
The acrylic on canvas 213 x 305 cm painted in 1972 is titled Portrait of an Artist and subtitled Pool with Two Figures. The swimmer is under water and Peter is at the edge of the pool. Although Peter's gaze is directed towards the swimmer, communication between them is impossible.
In 1974 a biopic titled A Bigger Splash tells the story of the breaking up of David and Peter. David plays his own role. The film incorporates sequences that had been shot during the preparation of the Portrait of an Artist. The mix of emotion and real intimacy makes A Bigger Splash a cult film of the gay communities, to the point of shocking David himself. He will change his mind later.
This painting will be sold by Christie's in New York on November 15 as lot 9 C. The press release of September 13 announces an estimate in the region of $ 80M. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house including sequences from the movie.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use.
1972 From Marilyn to Mao
2015 SOLD for $ 48M including premium
Andy Warhol was not active in politics but his Democratic and popular sympathies are known. The first idol of his artistic career, Marilyn, was close to Kennedy. He multiplies her image to offer it posthumously to a modern mystic idolatry.
After 1964 Warhol significantly reduces his activity as a painter to try to become an idol for others through the show business. It was not his best idea. His trend toward the underground went against such a purpose and his temperament certainly did not favor his acceptance in the jet set.
Pushed by Bischofberger, Warhol is back to painting in 1972. He needs a new star able to match Marilyn. He hesitates on Einstein and chooses Mao.
Mao by Warhol is an American political message. Nixon announced his candidacy for a presidential re-election just before his trip to China. When shaking hands with Mao, Nixon appears as a statesman of the same importance as the Great Helmsman. This does not please Warhol.
As for Marilyn, Warhol chooses an ancient image. Unlike Marilyn, Mao's image was universally known before Warhol reused it : held up since 1949 by millions of Chinese, it illustrates the Little Red Book. It is a thorn to Nixon : watch this undemocratic idol that Americans are now invited to admire. In five sizes and all colors, the Maos of Warhol, in their official dignity, do not express any feeling.
Warhol is still working in screen print and acrylic, but his technique has changed. The brushstroke is visible, contributing to the energy of the artwork. Again, Warhol was wrong. This new process is taking too long and his art is gradually less cared when he extends the series.
The first Mao by Warhol, achieved without the help of an assistant, is indeed the best painting in that theme. This picture 208 x 145 cm is for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 11, lot 11(11-11-11). The press release of October 2 announced an estimate in the region of $ 40M.
After 1964 Warhol significantly reduces his activity as a painter to try to become an idol for others through the show business. It was not his best idea. His trend toward the underground went against such a purpose and his temperament certainly did not favor his acceptance in the jet set.
Pushed by Bischofberger, Warhol is back to painting in 1972. He needs a new star able to match Marilyn. He hesitates on Einstein and chooses Mao.
Mao by Warhol is an American political message. Nixon announced his candidacy for a presidential re-election just before his trip to China. When shaking hands with Mao, Nixon appears as a statesman of the same importance as the Great Helmsman. This does not please Warhol.
As for Marilyn, Warhol chooses an ancient image. Unlike Marilyn, Mao's image was universally known before Warhol reused it : held up since 1949 by millions of Chinese, it illustrates the Little Red Book. It is a thorn to Nixon : watch this undemocratic idol that Americans are now invited to admire. In five sizes and all colors, the Maos of Warhol, in their official dignity, do not express any feeling.
Warhol is still working in screen print and acrylic, but his technique has changed. The brushstroke is visible, contributing to the energy of the artwork. Again, Warhol was wrong. This new process is taking too long and his art is gradually less cared when he extends the series.
The first Mao by Warhol, achieved without the help of an assistant, is indeed the best painting in that theme. This picture 208 x 145 cm is for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 11, lot 11(11-11-11). The press release of October 2 announced an estimate in the region of $ 40M.
1972 A Tri-Colored Mao
2017 SOLD for $ 32.4M including premium
Anxious since the almost successful murder attempt against him in 1968, Andy Warhol changed his life : he is now a recluse and hardly works anymore. Art dealers are impatient. In 1972 Bischofberger suggests to him to find a new iconic theme.
Andy chooses the only picture in the world that has been distributed in hundreds of millions of copies : the official three-color portrait of Mao Zedong which among other uses illustrates the Little Red Book. Mao succeeded for the popular imagery the unlimited multiplication that Andy had dreamed with his Marilyn's. The historic handshake between Mao and Nixon early in the same year may be just a coincidence.
Andy painted eleven similar Mao's in 1972, 208 cm high with a slightly variable width. The lines and the proportions in relation to the frame are comparable to the official image with the exception of the shadow that invades the left cheek and the chin. The artist changed the color of the tunic and of the background.
A brilliant and carefully executed picture considered as the prototype of that series, 208 x 145 cm, was sold for $ 48M including premium by Sotheby's on November 11, 2015. A Mao 208 x 155 cm was sold for $ 17.4M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2006. On November 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells a Mao 208 x 152 cm, lot 45 estimated $ 30M.
In the following year Warhol multiplies his Mao's with smaller formats and new color variants. Mao's head, proportionally smaller, has lost the dignity of the official portrait. One of them with a dark red tunic and a black background was sold for $ 13.5M including premium by Phillips de Pury on November 15, 2012 and for $ 14.5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015.
Andy chooses the only picture in the world that has been distributed in hundreds of millions of copies : the official three-color portrait of Mao Zedong which among other uses illustrates the Little Red Book. Mao succeeded for the popular imagery the unlimited multiplication that Andy had dreamed with his Marilyn's. The historic handshake between Mao and Nixon early in the same year may be just a coincidence.
Andy painted eleven similar Mao's in 1972, 208 cm high with a slightly variable width. The lines and the proportions in relation to the frame are comparable to the official image with the exception of the shadow that invades the left cheek and the chin. The artist changed the color of the tunic and of the background.
A brilliant and carefully executed picture considered as the prototype of that series, 208 x 145 cm, was sold for $ 48M including premium by Sotheby's on November 11, 2015. A Mao 208 x 155 cm was sold for $ 17.4M including premium by Christie's on November 15, 2006. On November 16 in New York, Sotheby's sells a Mao 208 x 152 cm, lot 45 estimated $ 30M.
In the following year Warhol multiplies his Mao's with smaller formats and new color variants. Mao's head, proportionally smaller, has lost the dignity of the official portrait. One of them with a dark red tunic and a black background was sold for $ 13.5M including premium by Phillips de Pury on November 15, 2012 and for $ 14.5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015.
1976 Triptych by Francis Bacon
2008 SOLD 86 M$ including premium by Sotheby's
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
1976 The Ghost of George Dyer
2012 SOLD 45 M$ including premium
Francis Bacon was traumatized by the suicide of George Dyer, in 1971. For seven years, his relationship with this brute looking man were equivocal, beyond homosexuality. Bacon was amused to see the former crook falling into alcoholism.
A time comes for every sensitive man when death of younger people creates anxieties about his own destiny. In 1976, Bacon was still haunted by the memory of Dyer. It was one of the most original and most creative periods of his artistic career.
On May 14, 2008, Sotheby's sold a triptych, 198 x 148 cm for each element, $ 86M including premium. The triptych is a way to recreate the tridimensional figure by offering different views of the same subject, and it was always a favorite mode of expression for Bacon.
The other way to achieve the same result is the juxtaposition in the artwork of the character and of his image through the mirror. The writing figure, oil on canvas 198 x 147 cm, is a single work that is in many ways comparable to the famous triptych.
This naked man sitting on a simple bar stool is George, featured by his muscular back. He is lending on a shelf and he writes. Incredible: George is writing. But let's say instead that Francis would have been keen if George had endeavoured to write. George died before Francis could fully understand him, and the mirror is also a symbol of death.
This work is estimated $ 30M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 9.
I invite you to play the video shared by the auction house.
POST SALE COMMENT
Today's collectors love the works charged with an intense emotion. The success was thus assured in advance for this posthumous figure sold $ 45M including premium.
A time comes for every sensitive man when death of younger people creates anxieties about his own destiny. In 1976, Bacon was still haunted by the memory of Dyer. It was one of the most original and most creative periods of his artistic career.
On May 14, 2008, Sotheby's sold a triptych, 198 x 148 cm for each element, $ 86M including premium. The triptych is a way to recreate the tridimensional figure by offering different views of the same subject, and it was always a favorite mode of expression for Bacon.
The other way to achieve the same result is the juxtaposition in the artwork of the character and of his image through the mirror. The writing figure, oil on canvas 198 x 147 cm, is a single work that is in many ways comparable to the famous triptych.
This naked man sitting on a simple bar stool is George, featured by his muscular back. He is lending on a shelf and he writes. Incredible: George is writing. But let's say instead that Francis would have been keen if George had endeavoured to write. George died before Francis could fully understand him, and the mirror is also a symbol of death.
This work is estimated $ 30M, for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 9.
I invite you to play the video shared by the auction house.
POST SALE COMMENT
Today's collectors love the works charged with an intense emotion. The success was thus assured in advance for this posthumous figure sold $ 45M including premium.
1977 Contemplation in Long Island
2016 SOLD for $ 66M including premium
Willem de Kooning was a lover of women and a heavy drinker. His artistic career is uneven, marked by breaks and restarts. The beauty of Long Island offers him a late redemption in his seventies.
De Kooning buys a piece of land near Springs in 1958, two years after Pollock's death. Pollock had his studio in the same village where he was imbued with the richly colorful nature facing the sea. It took 17 years to de Kooning to start a creativity of similar inspiration.
In 1975 the old artist is happy. His art is acclaimed. He is pleased with his young girlfriend Mimi Kilgore. His wife Elaine of whom he had never divorced comes back to him in the following year. He finally takes time to contemplate the nature through observations of very long duration ending in a sudden rush on his canvas, colors and brushes.
The bright colors that cover the entire surface of the canvas were not spontaneous at all. They are made of mixed layers varying from impasto to flowing paint. The visionary artist knows in advance which result he desires and has no doubt that he will succeed. Once finished he considers that what he achieved is impossible to repeat. And he starts again with another canvas.
All these Untitled paintings are different because they are based on other contemplations. Sometimes a figure or a tree arises beyond abstraction by a careful observation. Pollock also was upset when his art was considered abstract.
This new creativity of de Kooning reaches its highest maturity in 1977 and will be immediately followed by his inevitable relapse. Untitled XXV, oil on canvas 196 x 224 cm painted in 1977, was sold for $ 27M by Christie's in New York on 15 November 2006. It returns in the same auction room on November 15, 2016, exactly ten years later, lot 8 A. The press release of September 29 announces an estimate in the region of $ 40M.
De Kooning buys a piece of land near Springs in 1958, two years after Pollock's death. Pollock had his studio in the same village where he was imbued with the richly colorful nature facing the sea. It took 17 years to de Kooning to start a creativity of similar inspiration.
In 1975 the old artist is happy. His art is acclaimed. He is pleased with his young girlfriend Mimi Kilgore. His wife Elaine of whom he had never divorced comes back to him in the following year. He finally takes time to contemplate the nature through observations of very long duration ending in a sudden rush on his canvas, colors and brushes.
The bright colors that cover the entire surface of the canvas were not spontaneous at all. They are made of mixed layers varying from impasto to flowing paint. The visionary artist knows in advance which result he desires and has no doubt that he will succeed. Once finished he considers that what he achieved is impossible to repeat. And he starts again with another canvas.
All these Untitled paintings are different because they are based on other contemplations. Sometimes a figure or a tree arises beyond abstraction by a careful observation. Pollock also was upset when his art was considered abstract.
This new creativity of de Kooning reaches its highest maturity in 1977 and will be immediately followed by his inevitable relapse. Untitled XXV, oil on canvas 196 x 224 cm painted in 1977, was sold for $ 27M by Christie's in New York on 15 November 2006. It returns in the same auction room on November 15, 2016, exactly ten years later, lot 8 A. The press release of September 29 announces an estimate in the region of $ 40M.
1977 The Cult of Everlasting Youth
2018 SOLD for $ 50M including premium
The life of Francis Bacon is dominated and ruined by his existential questioning, but that is why he is one of the most disturbing artists of his time.
In an early phase Francis paints horrible old popes, idols in decay. When George becomes his symbol of handsome youth, he confronts him with himself and the pope. George's death reveals a posteriori to Francis that this young man of whom he had fun had indeed an existence. There is no doubt that Francis's mourning was terrible, deep and lasting.
Despite his ego Francis cannot stop the time. From 1976 he enters a process of re-interesting in old friends including Henrietta but he does not know how to accept and endure the aging of his own body.
On May 17 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 7 B Study for Portrait, oil on canvas 198 x 148 cm painted in 1977.
Francis had then ended his mourning : George is no longer a ghost but the idol of everlasting youth, sitting in underwear from the model of a photo taken in the first phase of their affair by John Deakin. His face is recognizable.
On a lilac surface in front of the idol, a dark form appears, ended by an accumulation of blood. It cannot be George's shadow because it is not consistent with any light. It is a flat selfie figure of Francis in his body that becomes disgusting. This identification is confirmed by the waste that surrounds it, marked by letters in dry transfer, which symbolizes the fabulous rubble in the artist's studio.
In an early phase Francis paints horrible old popes, idols in decay. When George becomes his symbol of handsome youth, he confronts him with himself and the pope. George's death reveals a posteriori to Francis that this young man of whom he had fun had indeed an existence. There is no doubt that Francis's mourning was terrible, deep and lasting.
Despite his ego Francis cannot stop the time. From 1976 he enters a process of re-interesting in old friends including Henrietta but he does not know how to accept and endure the aging of his own body.
On May 17 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 7 B Study for Portrait, oil on canvas 198 x 148 cm painted in 1977.
Francis had then ended his mourning : George is no longer a ghost but the idol of everlasting youth, sitting in underwear from the model of a photo taken in the first phase of their affair by John Deakin. His face is recognizable.
On a lilac surface in front of the idol, a dark form appears, ended by an accumulation of blood. It cannot be George's shadow because it is not consistent with any light. It is a flat selfie figure of Francis in his body that becomes disgusting. This identification is confirmed by the waste that surrounds it, marked by letters in dry transfer, which symbolizes the fabulous rubble in the artist's studio.
(1930) - 1978 The Lengthy Creation of Matisse's Back
2010 SOLD 49 M$ including premium
The art market has a passion for the sculpture of the twentieth century: Brancusi, Modigliani, Giacometti, Moore, and now Marini. The sale on November 3 by Christie's in New York of a strange masterpiece of Matisse is an event. The lot is estimated $ 25M.
In 1906, the artist designs an original theme of sculpture: a nude woman standing, life size, seen from behind, leaning against a wall. The subject fascinated him to such a degree that he created three further versions, in 1913, 1916 and 1930. Psychoanalysts could probably tell us why the sculpted woman is liked by Matisse when she turns her back.
These four naked Backs are changing from realism to stylization, from flexibility to a balance of the masses. The last state is broad and symmetrical, the body barred from head to buttocks by a vertical braid that resembles the tail of a heavy horse.
Twelve bronzes were published from each of the four plasters between 1948 and 1981. The piece for sale by Christie's is a bronze of the last state, 189 cm high, with brown patina, cast in 1978, the penultimate of this model to be still in private hands. It is shown on the Reuters news shared by Artdaily.
POST SALE COMMENT
The meeting of Henri Matisse with the Art Déco style has generated a very high price: $ 49M including premium. The fact that this original edition is largely posthumous has not hampered the buyers.
In 1906, the artist designs an original theme of sculpture: a nude woman standing, life size, seen from behind, leaning against a wall. The subject fascinated him to such a degree that he created three further versions, in 1913, 1916 and 1930. Psychoanalysts could probably tell us why the sculpted woman is liked by Matisse when she turns her back.
These four naked Backs are changing from realism to stylization, from flexibility to a balance of the masses. The last state is broad and symmetrical, the body barred from head to buttocks by a vertical braid that resembles the tail of a heavy horse.
Twelve bronzes were published from each of the four plasters between 1948 and 1981. The piece for sale by Christie's is a bronze of the last state, 189 cm high, with brown patina, cast in 1978, the penultimate of this model to be still in private hands. It is shown on the Reuters news shared by Artdaily.
POST SALE COMMENT
The meeting of Henri Matisse with the Art Déco style has generated a very high price: $ 49M including premium. The fact that this original edition is largely posthumous has not hampered the buyers.
