Flowers
Monet's nymphéas are in Pond by Monet.
See also : Tabletop Bouquet Women artists O'Keeffe Picasso Picasso < 1907 1932 Picasso Klimt Van Gogh France Monet Matisse US painting before 1940 Twombly Koons Children
Chronology : 19th century 1889 1890-1899 1890 1900-1909 1905 1907 1911 1932 21st century 2000-2009 2004 2007
See also : Tabletop Bouquet Women artists O'Keeffe Picasso Picasso < 1907 1932 Picasso Klimt Van Gogh France Monet Matisse US painting before 1940 Twombly Koons Children
Chronology : 19th century 1889 1890-1899 1890 1900-1909 1905 1907 1911 1932 21st century 2000-2009 2004 2007
1889 Irises by Van Gogh
1987 SOLD for $ 54M including premium by Sotheby's, sale canceled in 1990
narrated in 2020
Hallucinatory crises were becoming repetitive. Vincent understood that he had lost his autonomy. On the suggestion of a friend and with Theo's agreement, he voluntarily entered on May 8, 1889 at the asylum of Saint-Rémy.
The first feeling is very good. His pictorial creation is a lightning rod which will protect him against his illness. He sets to work with a new enthusiasm. The garden of the former monastery is beautiful in the middle of spring, and perhaps later he will be able to walk in the Alpilles which he sees on the horizon.
The iris flowerbed attracts his attention. He paints at the very beginning of his stay with an obvious pleasure an oil on canvas 74 x 93 cm, apparently without preparatory drawing. The irises occupy the foreground, in a varied and stylized arrangement which is certainly inspired by the processing of close-ups and angles in Japanese prints. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Vincent appreciated since Gauguin's stay at the Maison Jaune a few months earlier that the vividness of colors has become his best strength, and that flowers perfectly match it. The flowers of his irises are bright blue with the exception of one single white flower. This painting is a study of contrasts with the green leaves of the same plants, painted a little lighter than real, the orange flowers of the marigolds in the background and the ocher ground.
Theo is all the more amazed that happy impulses are very rare for Vincent in this tragic period. In September he exhibits this masterpiece alongside the Starry Night at the annual Salon of the Société des Artistes Indépendants.
Les Iris was sold for $ 54M including premium by Sotheby's on November 11, 1987, seven months after the record setting sale by Christie's of the Sunflowers by the same artist for the equivalent of $ 40M. It returned to the auction house for default of the winning bidder, an Australian businessman, and was acquired in 1990 by the J. Paul Getty Museum.
The first feeling is very good. His pictorial creation is a lightning rod which will protect him against his illness. He sets to work with a new enthusiasm. The garden of the former monastery is beautiful in the middle of spring, and perhaps later he will be able to walk in the Alpilles which he sees on the horizon.
The iris flowerbed attracts his attention. He paints at the very beginning of his stay with an obvious pleasure an oil on canvas 74 x 93 cm, apparently without preparatory drawing. The irises occupy the foreground, in a varied and stylized arrangement which is certainly inspired by the processing of close-ups and angles in Japanese prints. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Vincent appreciated since Gauguin's stay at the Maison Jaune a few months earlier that the vividness of colors has become his best strength, and that flowers perfectly match it. The flowers of his irises are bright blue with the exception of one single white flower. This painting is a study of contrasts with the green leaves of the same plants, painted a little lighter than real, the orange flowers of the marigolds in the background and the ocher ground.
Theo is all the more amazed that happy impulses are very rare for Vincent in this tragic period. In September he exhibits this masterpiece alongside the Starry Night at the annual Salon of the Société des Artistes Indépendants.
Les Iris was sold for $ 54M including premium by Sotheby's on November 11, 1987, seven months after the record setting sale by Christie's of the Sunflowers by the same artist for the equivalent of $ 40M. It returned to the auction house for default of the winning bidder, an Australian businessman, and was acquired in 1990 by the J. Paul Getty Museum.
1890 Portrait du Dr Gachet by Van Gogh
1990 SOLD for 82.5 M$ including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Vincent Van Gogh had lost his autonomy but his internment in Saint-Rémy was not a lasting solution. On May 20, 1890 his brother Theo installed him at the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise, near the house of Doctor Gachet who could help him. Vincent spent the last 70 days of his life there. In his frenzy of creativity, he painted about 80 works during this short period.
Gachet, 62, is a doctor, a psychiatrist and a friend of the artists. The subject of his doctoral thesis had been a study on melancholy. He advised several members of the Impressionist group on their health problems and had attempted to assist the engraver Charles Méryon in the final phase of his internment.
Vincent is surprised by their first meeting, during which he considers that Gachet is crazier than him. However, the doctor is skillful : in two days he gains the confidence of this hypersensitive artist.
For his art, Vincent seeks to express the deepest psychological aspects. He is still and always passionate about the examples of his predecessors, to better overcome them. He admires the expression of madness in the imaginary portrait by Delacroix of the poet Torquato Tasso in the madhouse of Ferrara.
The Portrait of Dr Gachet is an oil on canvas 67 x 56 cm painted in June 1890. Vincent commented on this work in a letter to his sister. He wanted to display the melancholy of his new friend while recognizing that his expression can be considered a grimace. He sums up his qualities in four words : Sad but gentle and yet clear and intelligent.
Gachet has his head resting on his right hand, allowing a diagonal composition of great expressive force. The face is drawn with the hard lines of the best works of Vincent. On the table, two bright yellow books balance the composition. A branch of digitalis, a medicinal herb, symbolizes Gachet's main activity.
The Portrait of Dr Gachet was sold for $ 82.5M including premium by Christie's on May 15, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Gachet, 62, is a doctor, a psychiatrist and a friend of the artists. The subject of his doctoral thesis had been a study on melancholy. He advised several members of the Impressionist group on their health problems and had attempted to assist the engraver Charles Méryon in the final phase of his internment.
Vincent is surprised by their first meeting, during which he considers that Gachet is crazier than him. However, the doctor is skillful : in two days he gains the confidence of this hypersensitive artist.
For his art, Vincent seeks to express the deepest psychological aspects. He is still and always passionate about the examples of his predecessors, to better overcome them. He admires the expression of madness in the imaginary portrait by Delacroix of the poet Torquato Tasso in the madhouse of Ferrara.
The Portrait of Dr Gachet is an oil on canvas 67 x 56 cm painted in June 1890. Vincent commented on this work in a letter to his sister. He wanted to display the melancholy of his new friend while recognizing that his expression can be considered a grimace. He sums up his qualities in four words : Sad but gentle and yet clear and intelligent.
Gachet has his head resting on his right hand, allowing a diagonal composition of great expressive force. The face is drawn with the hard lines of the best works of Vincent. On the table, two bright yellow books balance the composition. A branch of digitalis, a medicinal herb, symbolizes Gachet's main activity.
The Portrait of Dr Gachet was sold for $ 82.5M including premium by Christie's on May 15, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1890 Wild Flowers for Dr Gachet
2014 SOLD for $ 62M including premium
After he entered the asylum at Saint-Rémy de Provence in May 1889, the health of Vincent van Gogh did not improve. But they had to look for a solution. Auvers-sur-Oise is a pretty village frequented by artists. His visit is prepared by his brother Theo in consultation with Dr. Gachet.
In May 1890 Vincent moved into a room at the local inn in Auvers. He did not have a studio and regularly attended the home of Gachet, a friend of the Impressionists and Cézanne.
Since he is sick, Vincent is terrorized by the idea of failure and by the risk of a new crisis of dementia. With the energy of despair, he gives a new impetus to his old ambition to become the best painter of all time, the only one capable of a synthesis of all genres. Gachet has a painting by Cézanne showing a bouquet of flowers. Vincent wants to do better.
Spring brings forth the flowers into the fields. On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 66 x 50 cm painted by Vincent on 16 and 17 June 1890, lot 17 estimated $ 30M. Executed in the clear intention to thank Gachet for his help, this artwork shows a vase filled with daisies and poppies.
The composition is powerful and the colors are gorgeous, dominated in the center by the fiery red poppies. The groups of flowers shine like some characters within the ultimate tragedy of Vincent.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
In May 1890 Vincent moved into a room at the local inn in Auvers. He did not have a studio and regularly attended the home of Gachet, a friend of the Impressionists and Cézanne.
Since he is sick, Vincent is terrorized by the idea of failure and by the risk of a new crisis of dementia. With the energy of despair, he gives a new impetus to his old ambition to become the best painter of all time, the only one capable of a synthesis of all genres. Gachet has a painting by Cézanne showing a bouquet of flowers. Vincent wants to do better.
Spring brings forth the flowers into the fields. On November 4 in New York, Sotheby's sells an oil on canvas 66 x 50 cm painted by Vincent on 16 and 17 June 1890, lot 17 estimated $ 30M. Executed in the clear intention to thank Gachet for his help, this artwork shows a vase filled with daisies and poppies.
The composition is powerful and the colors are gorgeous, dominated in the center by the fiery red poppies. The groups of flowers shine like some characters within the ultimate tragedy of Vincent.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
June 1890 Jeune Homme au Bleuet by van Gogh
2021 SOLD for $ 47M by Christie's
From his early expectations, Vincent van Gogh could have been a preacher in the countryside. Beside his highly experimental landscapes and his investigative self portraits, his preferred themes for expressing the authentic life were the peasants, the babies, the children and the flowers. He often took models from his neighbors, including the Roulin family in Arles and the Ravoux daughter in Auvers.
Le Jeune homme au bleuet is an unidentified young peasant boy of whom Vincent painted the portrait in June 1890 in Auvers.
The portrait is uncompromising. The lower class boy has a sun bathed dark skin, a shaggy blond hair, a sad gaze and a forced smile. He holds a cornflower between his lips. The line is much expressive in the style of Vincent's later works.
This oil on canvas 40 x 32 cm was sold for $ 47M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 21C.
Le Jeune homme au bleuet is an unidentified young peasant boy of whom Vincent painted the portrait in June 1890 in Auvers.
The portrait is uncompromising. The lower class boy has a sun bathed dark skin, a shaggy blond hair, a sad gaze and a forced smile. He holds a cornflower between his lips. The line is much expressive in the style of Vincent's later works.
This oil on canvas 40 x 32 cm was sold for $ 47M from a lower estimate of $ 5M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 21C.
1905 Garçon à la Pipe by Picasso
2004 SOLD for $ 104M including premium by Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
The miserability of the Période Bleue of Picasso, based on the difficult life of circus acrobats, was socially a dead end. In 1905 he reacts with new themes where the characters imagine their future without losing a stuck or surly attitude. These works include the Femme à l'éventail and two children, the Fillette à la corbeille de fleurs and the Garçon à la pipe.
La Fillette, oil on canvas 155 x 66 cm, was sold for $ 115M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2018. Le Garçon, oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm, was sold for $ 104M including premium by Sotheby's on May 5, 2004, lot 7.
The Garçon à la Pipe is a subtle blend of realism and dreamlike and, as such, will remain the archetype of the Période Rose. Dressed in blue overalls, the gloomy teenager is drawn in a fine line. The pipe marks his expectation of maturity. Picasso did not reveal his identity, because it is an allegory. He is however P'tit Louis, a boy from Montmartre who spent long hours watching the artists working at the Bateau-Lavoir.
The inspiration suddenly came to Picasso after a month of interruption of the work. In the blur of a dream, the character is positioned in front of a wallpaper with patterns of roses and wears a garland of flowers in his hair. A simultaneous use of a sharp image in a floral blur had also been attempted by Odilon Redon.
The little worker thus becomes a supernatural being. A relevant comparison was made with Verlaine's poem titled Crimen Amoris. In the dream of a delicious Orient where the seven sins supersede the five senses amidst the roses, the most handsome of the evil angels, indifferent to temptations and caresses, is a boy of sixteen who wears a crown of flowers. His ambition, annihilated at the end of the poem, was to be "the one who will create God".
La Fillette, oil on canvas 155 x 66 cm, was sold for $ 115M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2018. Le Garçon, oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm, was sold for $ 104M including premium by Sotheby's on May 5, 2004, lot 7.
The Garçon à la Pipe is a subtle blend of realism and dreamlike and, as such, will remain the archetype of the Période Rose. Dressed in blue overalls, the gloomy teenager is drawn in a fine line. The pipe marks his expectation of maturity. Picasso did not reveal his identity, because it is an allegory. He is however P'tit Louis, a boy from Montmartre who spent long hours watching the artists working at the Bateau-Lavoir.
The inspiration suddenly came to Picasso after a month of interruption of the work. In the blur of a dream, the character is positioned in front of a wallpaper with patterns of roses and wears a garland of flowers in his hair. A simultaneous use of a sharp image in a floral blur had also been attempted by Odilon Redon.
The little worker thus becomes a supernatural being. A relevant comparison was made with Verlaine's poem titled Crimen Amoris. In the dream of a delicious Orient where the seven sins supersede the five senses amidst the roses, the most handsome of the evil angels, indifferent to temptations and caresses, is a boy of sixteen who wears a crown of flowers. His ambition, annihilated at the end of the poem, was to be "the one who will create God".
1907 Flowers for the Woman
2017 SOLD for £ 48M including premium
The greatest artists express their vision of the world. Klimt goes further : he wants to change the life.
The Klimt and Flöge families are closely linked. Gustav Klimt becomes the brother-in-law of Helene Flöge in 1891 and her tutor in the following year. Helene and her sister Emilie open a business of couture and fashion in Vienna in 1904. Emilie was Gustav's companion from 1891 until the artist's death in 1918.
The Schwestern Flöge workshop is experimenting with new garments for the Viennese avant-garde, including loose dresses hung from the shoulders without using a corset. The very famous blouses of Gustav Klimt, which give him such a neglected attitude according to the conceptions of today's fashion, proceed from the same trend.
The shape of the garment is not enough : women also deserve a shimmering decoration. Gustav observes trees and flowers as patterns of texture. Their bright colors were created by nature. Gustav does not cancel the shapes of the flowers. If he had, he would have been the first abstract artist.
Gustav reveals the woman's head as the only realistic element in his portraits. The body is hidden by an ample garment whose limits loosely overlap the background of the image and whose details are luxurious and colorful. Adele Bloch-Bauer I, oil on canvas 138 x 138 cm painted in 1907, was sold for $ 135M on June 18, 2006 in a private sale by Christie's to Ronald Lauder.
On March 1 in London, Sotheby's sells as lot 11 Bauerngarten, oil on canvas 110 x 110 cm painted in 1907 during the holidays of Gustav at the Attersee. Poppies, daisies and zinnias spread their colors in an endless meadow with no horizon. These flowers are dominated by a triangle of roses that confirms the artist's intention for the design of a dress.
Please watch the very short video shared by Sotheby's.
The Klimt and Flöge families are closely linked. Gustav Klimt becomes the brother-in-law of Helene Flöge in 1891 and her tutor in the following year. Helene and her sister Emilie open a business of couture and fashion in Vienna in 1904. Emilie was Gustav's companion from 1891 until the artist's death in 1918.
The Schwestern Flöge workshop is experimenting with new garments for the Viennese avant-garde, including loose dresses hung from the shoulders without using a corset. The very famous blouses of Gustav Klimt, which give him such a neglected attitude according to the conceptions of today's fashion, proceed from the same trend.
The shape of the garment is not enough : women also deserve a shimmering decoration. Gustav observes trees and flowers as patterns of texture. Their bright colors were created by nature. Gustav does not cancel the shapes of the flowers. If he had, he would have been the first abstract artist.
Gustav reveals the woman's head as the only realistic element in his portraits. The body is hidden by an ample garment whose limits loosely overlap the background of the image and whose details are luxurious and colorful. Adele Bloch-Bauer I, oil on canvas 138 x 138 cm painted in 1907, was sold for $ 135M on June 18, 2006 in a private sale by Christie's to Ronald Lauder.
On March 1 in London, Sotheby's sells as lot 11 Bauerngarten, oil on canvas 110 x 110 cm painted in 1907 during the holidays of Gustav at the Attersee. Poppies, daisies and zinnias spread their colors in an endless meadow with no horizon. These flowers are dominated by a triangle of roses that confirms the artist's intention for the design of a dress.
Please watch the very short video shared by Sotheby's.
The New York Times Thinks Sotheby’s Is Getting Frisky with Its Klimt https://t.co/3mgODvO8HY pic.twitter.com/etX2peYay3
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) February 24, 2017
1911 Les Coucous, tapis bleu et rose by Matisse
2009 SOLD for € 36M by Christie's
Born in northern France, Henri Matisse very early visited the local weaving workshops. Throughout his life, he will be a creator of forms on the most varied supports, overlapping figuration and abstraction.
Fauvism is a short but decisive phase during which he experiences the power of pure colors. Seeking exotic solutions, he travels to Algeria in 1906 and spends two months in Spain in 1910 studying Moorish art. At that time, collectors ahead of their time like Shchukin no longer support the traditional separation between art and decoration.
In 1910 in Madrid, Matisse bought in an antique shop a two-tone rug in fairly poor condition, whose arabesques were naturalistic without being identifiable. He was seduced by the expressive force of this anonymous textile, close by chance to the new style that he had developed for La Danse in 1909.
By varying the colors, he uses his rug as a decorative element in several paintings. In L'Atelier rose, oil on canvas 180 x 221 cm painted for Shchukin in 1911, it is spread over the large screen.
Les coucous - tapis bleu et rose, oil on canvas 81 x 66 cm painted in spring 1911, appears as a preparatory work for L'Atelier rose. On the table, the vase of primroses (coucous) is the pretext for this image, but the rug used as a tablecloth is indeed the main theme by its invitation to abstraction. The turquoise wall at the back is enhanced with pink reflections.
Yves Saint-Laurent saw in the image of this fabric a precursor to his own work. This painting which offers a link between two great designers went to be the most expensive lot of the sale of his collection by Christie's on February 23, 2009 : it was sold for € 36M over a lower estimate of € 12M, lot 55.
Fauvism is a short but decisive phase during which he experiences the power of pure colors. Seeking exotic solutions, he travels to Algeria in 1906 and spends two months in Spain in 1910 studying Moorish art. At that time, collectors ahead of their time like Shchukin no longer support the traditional separation between art and decoration.
In 1910 in Madrid, Matisse bought in an antique shop a two-tone rug in fairly poor condition, whose arabesques were naturalistic without being identifiable. He was seduced by the expressive force of this anonymous textile, close by chance to the new style that he had developed for La Danse in 1909.
By varying the colors, he uses his rug as a decorative element in several paintings. In L'Atelier rose, oil on canvas 180 x 221 cm painted for Shchukin in 1911, it is spread over the large screen.
Les coucous - tapis bleu et rose, oil on canvas 81 x 66 cm painted in spring 1911, appears as a preparatory work for L'Atelier rose. On the table, the vase of primroses (coucous) is the pretext for this image, but the rug used as a tablecloth is indeed the main theme by its invitation to abstraction. The turquoise wall at the back is enhanced with pink reflections.
Yves Saint-Laurent saw in the image of this fabric a precursor to his own work. This painting which offers a link between two great designers went to be the most expensive lot of the sale of his collection by Christie's on February 23, 2009 : it was sold for € 36M over a lower estimate of € 12M, lot 55.
1932 Jimson Weed by O'Keeffe
2014 SOLD for $ 44.4M by Sotheby's
The beauty of nature was the main inspiration for Georgia O'Keeffe. Painter amidst the circle of photographers led by her husband Alfred Stieglitz, she wanted to see everything from larger landscapes to tiniest details. From 1929 she regularly visited the wonderful site of Taos.
She is not a botanist but there is no need to be a scientist for being fascinated by the datura, a wild herb that is particularly abundant in New Mexico. Its trumpet flowers appear at the cool of the evening with subtle shades of colors on a white background. A powerful hallucinogen, this plant is locally called Jimson weed and most commonly Devil's snare.
Painted in 1932, Jimson weed - white flower No.1 is a beautiful portrait of a flower. Inspired by macrophotography, it is an invitation to enter full front into the intimate secrets of a disproportionately enlarged datura. This oil on canvas is measuring 122 x 107 cm, a large format for the artist at that time.
This painting was sold for $ 44.4M from an estimate of $ 10M by Sotheby's on November 20, 2014, lot 11. It was deaccessioned by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe NM with the consent of the donor. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
She is not a botanist but there is no need to be a scientist for being fascinated by the datura, a wild herb that is particularly abundant in New Mexico. Its trumpet flowers appear at the cool of the evening with subtle shades of colors on a white background. A powerful hallucinogen, this plant is locally called Jimson weed and most commonly Devil's snare.
Painted in 1932, Jimson weed - white flower No.1 is a beautiful portrait of a flower. Inspired by macrophotography, it is an invitation to enter full front into the intimate secrets of a disproportionately enlarged datura. This oil on canvas is measuring 122 x 107 cm, a large format for the artist at that time.
This painting was sold for $ 44.4M from an estimate of $ 10M by Sotheby's on November 20, 2014, lot 11. It was deaccessioned by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe NM with the consent of the donor. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1932 Nature Morte aux Tulipes by Picasso
2012 SOLD for $ 41.5M by Sotheby's
On March 2, 1932, Picasso paints an oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm, entitled Nature morte aux tulipes (Still life with tulips). He remembers that he is a sculptor. The figure of this painting is an indistinguishable mixture of flesh and statue telling us that Picasso is a great Surrealist.
The expressively distorted face retains the features of the blonde and pops up from the head on a pedestal. The woman wears on her lap a vase of flowers along with three fruits that may be her breasts and buttocks. The contrast of light is one of the brightest in the art of Picasso.
Nature morte aux tulipes was sold for $ 28.6M by Christie's on May 9, 2000 and for $ 41.5M by Sotheby's on November 5, 2012.
Here is now what followed, further demonstrating the importance of this lot. Less than one week later, on March 8, Picasso undresses the woman and separates her from the statue. This "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" is one of the masterpieces by Picasso.
The expressively distorted face retains the features of the blonde and pops up from the head on a pedestal. The woman wears on her lap a vase of flowers along with three fruits that may be her breasts and buttocks. The contrast of light is one of the brightest in the art of Picasso.
Nature morte aux tulipes was sold for $ 28.6M by Christie's on May 9, 2000 and for $ 41.5M by Sotheby's on November 5, 2012.
Here is now what followed, further demonstrating the importance of this lot. Less than one week later, on March 8, Picasso undresses the woman and separates her from the statue. This "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" is one of the masterpieces by Picasso.
2004 Tulips by Koons
2012 SOLD for $ 33.7M by Christie's
After exploiting the stupidity of the contemporary symbols conveyed by the popular imaging, Jeff Koons began in 1994 his great series of Celebrations.
On November 14, 2012, Christie's sold at lot 38 for $ 33.7M an example of Tulips, which is an even more complex step in the development of the art of Koons. Please watch the video featured by Christie's, in which the artist himself introduces this artwork.
The subject, a bouquet of seven flowers placed on a surface, is simple and universally recognizable, like all other themes in the Celebrations. The artwork, completed in 2004, can not go unnoticed: 203 x 457 x 520 cm. It weighs 3 tons.
The tulips within the bouquet are of different colors, so that the interaction of their reflections covers the entire spectrum of light. The work was carried out in five units with different arrangements of colors, extrapolating the logics of the previous Celebrations, and the reflection of the surroundings and of the public remains an essential element of the exhibition of the artwork.
On November 14, 2012, Christie's sold at lot 38 for $ 33.7M an example of Tulips, which is an even more complex step in the development of the art of Koons. Please watch the video featured by Christie's, in which the artist himself introduces this artwork.
The subject, a bouquet of seven flowers placed on a surface, is simple and universally recognizable, like all other themes in the Celebrations. The artwork, completed in 2004, can not go unnoticed: 203 x 457 x 520 cm. It weighs 3 tons.
The tulips within the bouquet are of different colors, so that the interaction of their reflections covers the entire spectrum of light. The work was carried out in five units with different arrangements of colors, extrapolating the logics of the previous Celebrations, and the reflection of the surroundings and of the public remains an essential element of the exhibition of the artwork.
2007 Blooming by Twombly
2021 SOLD for $ 59M by Sotheby's
A warrior may feel quiet after the rage. An abstract artist may execute a representation of flowers.
Blooming is a series of six paintings executed by Cy Twombly between the second and third Bacchus series. These monumental works were specially prepared to fit the walls of the Hôtel de Caumont in Avignon for a temporary exhibition in 2007.
The artist indeed did not try a botanical realism. His blossoms are instead a nearly complete filling of the centripetal lasso loops of the Bacchus, from which a similar dripping is hanging.
One of the six opuses bears a small text explaining where the inspiration came from : "Ah! the peonies for which Kusunoki took off his armour”, from a haiku poem by Takarai Kikaku. Kusunoki Masashige had been a famous samurai impersonating an ideal of loyalty. Twombly's "armour" is a bilingual pun associating armor and amour.
On November 15, 2021, Sotheby's sold another opus for $ 59M from a lower estimate of $ 40M, lot 5. This acrylic and crayon on wood panel in six parts 250 x 550 cm overall has been executed in 2007 but is dated 2006, probably in reference to the conception of the project.
In this specific opus, the color of the flowers and drippings is completely blood red over a pale green background. The blossoms form a pattern of lines in crescendo in the signature practice of the artist to express an energy, looking here like a balloon release into the sky. Such a movement is better viewed from bottom up, as invited by the shadows that smoke over the peonies.
In the follow of these peonies, Twombly painted a series of Roses in 2008.
Blooming is a series of six paintings executed by Cy Twombly between the second and third Bacchus series. These monumental works were specially prepared to fit the walls of the Hôtel de Caumont in Avignon for a temporary exhibition in 2007.
The artist indeed did not try a botanical realism. His blossoms are instead a nearly complete filling of the centripetal lasso loops of the Bacchus, from which a similar dripping is hanging.
One of the six opuses bears a small text explaining where the inspiration came from : "Ah! the peonies for which Kusunoki took off his armour”, from a haiku poem by Takarai Kikaku. Kusunoki Masashige had been a famous samurai impersonating an ideal of loyalty. Twombly's "armour" is a bilingual pun associating armor and amour.
On November 15, 2021, Sotheby's sold another opus for $ 59M from a lower estimate of $ 40M, lot 5. This acrylic and crayon on wood panel in six parts 250 x 550 cm overall has been executed in 2007 but is dated 2006, probably in reference to the conception of the project.
In this specific opus, the color of the flowers and drippings is completely blood red over a pale green background. The blossoms form a pattern of lines in crescendo in the signature practice of the artist to express an energy, looking here like a balloon release into the sky. Such a movement is better viewed from bottom up, as invited by the shadows that smoke over the peonies.
In the follow of these peonies, Twombly painted a series of Roses in 2008.
