Spain - 2nd page
not including Picasso.
See also : Blue diamond Miro Art on paper Tabletop Music and dance Bird
Chronology : 17th century 1660-1679 1913 1914 1915 1920-1929 1925 1927 1933 1940-1949 1945
See also : Blue diamond Miro Art on paper Tabletop Music and dance Bird
Chronology : 17th century 1660-1679 1913 1914 1915 1920-1929 1925 1927 1933 1940-1949 1945
1664 A Diamond for the Infanta
2008 SOLD 16.4 M£ including premium
It will be one of the most remarkable lots of this fall. A diamond in an extremely rare color, an exceptional size and a royal provenance dating back to more than three centuries ago.
This Indian greyish-blue diamond weighing 35.56 carat of VS2 clarity is chosen in 1664 by King Philip IV of Spain to enter the dowry of his daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa. The princess is well known for being in 1656 the main character of the Meninas of Velazquez. So this diamond is a contemporary of the royal glory of the Koh-I-Noor, the Regent and the Orlov. Entered in the Bavarian royal family by a marriage in 1722, it was then known as Blaue Wittelsbacher.
It is found twice at Christie's: in 1931 at the sale of the crown jewellery of Bavaria, and now in preparation for the sale of December 10 in London.
Christie's does not give a price in its release, but the Telegraph of Nov. 2 indicates that experts believe it could fetch £ 10 million.
POST SALE COMMENTS
An outstanding result for the most exciting lot of the year.
The Wittelsbach diamond was sold £ 16.4 million including buyer's premium.
Christie's announced that it is the highest recorded auction price for a jewel.
My opinion is that this changes nothing in my previous remarks on the new challenge, at the end of the year, for selling color diamonds. Those that are both unique and prestigious continue to make excellent performance.
Unlike my usual practice, I put a link to the catalog page of this historic lot.
Question raised by a WORLDAUCTION member :
I wonder how the value was assigned based on weight, size, clarity, color, etc. I am also interested if a breakdown is possible with the art and skill that went into finishing. It would seem this diamond with it's history would be valued even higher. A terrific gift to a special person.
Do you think timing in the offer so near the holidays may have driven up the price for the diamond? Or was this essentially assured without much competition?
Proposed answer :
I have no doubt that the royal history made the price. The fact that only one other diamond of same colour and size is known in the world helped much.
I do not think that the cut and clarity had a role in this result.
It is a historic piece, contemporary to the Koh-I-Noor. I am sure that the price was not affected by the auction date, excepted the fact that top jewelry auctions in London and New York come generally in December (after Geneva and Hong Kong sales).
Christie's had not published their estimate, but the market had told about 10 M£. For sure, reaching 16.4 M£ (including fees) was the result of much competition.
(later)
We have some additional information through the press today.
Christie's spokeswoman said the price nearly doubled its pre-sale estimate (Christie's had not published that estimate).
The previous top price for a diamond at auction was $16.5 million for a 100-carat diamond in 1995 in Switzerland. Converted into US currency, the price of the Wittelsbach diamond is 24.3 M$.
Christie's provided the buyer's name in a press release : Graff Diamonds.
Its image before being recut by Graff is shared by Wikimedia :
This Indian greyish-blue diamond weighing 35.56 carat of VS2 clarity is chosen in 1664 by King Philip IV of Spain to enter the dowry of his daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa. The princess is well known for being in 1656 the main character of the Meninas of Velazquez. So this diamond is a contemporary of the royal glory of the Koh-I-Noor, the Regent and the Orlov. Entered in the Bavarian royal family by a marriage in 1722, it was then known as Blaue Wittelsbacher.
It is found twice at Christie's: in 1931 at the sale of the crown jewellery of Bavaria, and now in preparation for the sale of December 10 in London.
Christie's does not give a price in its release, but the Telegraph of Nov. 2 indicates that experts believe it could fetch £ 10 million.
POST SALE COMMENTS
An outstanding result for the most exciting lot of the year.
The Wittelsbach diamond was sold £ 16.4 million including buyer's premium.
Christie's announced that it is the highest recorded auction price for a jewel.
My opinion is that this changes nothing in my previous remarks on the new challenge, at the end of the year, for selling color diamonds. Those that are both unique and prestigious continue to make excellent performance.
Unlike my usual practice, I put a link to the catalog page of this historic lot.
Question raised by a WORLDAUCTION member :
I wonder how the value was assigned based on weight, size, clarity, color, etc. I am also interested if a breakdown is possible with the art and skill that went into finishing. It would seem this diamond with it's history would be valued even higher. A terrific gift to a special person.
Do you think timing in the offer so near the holidays may have driven up the price for the diamond? Or was this essentially assured without much competition?
Proposed answer :
I have no doubt that the royal history made the price. The fact that only one other diamond of same colour and size is known in the world helped much.
I do not think that the cut and clarity had a role in this result.
It is a historic piece, contemporary to the Koh-I-Noor. I am sure that the price was not affected by the auction date, excepted the fact that top jewelry auctions in London and New York come generally in December (after Geneva and Hong Kong sales).
Christie's had not published their estimate, but the market had told about 10 M£. For sure, reaching 16.4 M£ (including fees) was the result of much competition.
(later)
We have some additional information through the press today.
Christie's spokeswoman said the price nearly doubled its pre-sale estimate (Christie's had not published that estimate).
The previous top price for a diamond at auction was $16.5 million for a 100-carat diamond in 1995 in Switzerland. Converted into US currency, the price of the Wittelsbach diamond is 24.3 M$.
Christie's provided the buyer's name in a press release : Graff Diamonds.
Its image before being recut by Graff is shared by Wikimedia :
1913 Violon et Guitare by Juan Gris
2010 SOLD 28.6 M$ including premium by Christie's
1914 Invention of the Mixed Media
2018 SOLD for $ 32M including premium
The first cubism which is called analytical cubism is a search for the integration of the volume of objects within a flat surface. Led from 1910 by Picasso and Braque soon followed by Juan Gris, this technique leads to an explosion of forms that hinders the readability. Perspective and even color become non-existent or secondary.
This hermetic art does not satisfy its own inventor Picasso. In 1912 he sticks real ordinary materials in a composition : ropes and oilcloth. Curiously he does not exhibit this first experience that nevertheless launches the cubist collages. Braque, Picasso himself and Gris continue this exploration of a new artistic language conducive to show the everyday surroundings of table settings and still lifes.
The collage of newspaper clippings is a basic element of the new compositions. Easy to simulate also with the brush, the piece does not break the coherence of the work. It draws the attention of the viewer who seeks some meaning to the words in the context of the image, long before the Dada and Merz revolutions. It is also a fun method to date an artwork.
From December 1913 Juan Gris is the champion of this new evolution of cubism which finally retrieves perspective and color while respecting the primary objective of assimilating the represented object and its support. In the following months Malevich reaches the most extreme abstract art : the uselessness of the image in its support is another seminal advance of modernism.
On May 8 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 2 La table de musicien, oil, gouache, pencil and collage of paper on canvas 82 x 60 cm made by Gris in May 2014.
The table is the support of the arrangement. It is shown at an angle in an aerial view. In a subtle balance the collages participate in three different ways : the newspaper on the table, the wall paper and the stylized musical staves drawn on a white paper. The perspective effect allows the drawings of bottle and violin to overlap the painted and glued areas. Transparency effects disrupt the surfaces.
Executed in the following month in a similar technique, a 46 x 27 cm artwork titled Tabac, journal et bouteille de vin rosé was sold for $ 8.8M including premium by Sotheby's on November 6, 2013.
The war stops this playful phase when Kahnweiler with whom Gris was in contract in Paris is obliged to leave for Switzerland. In the following year Gris gives up his mixed technique and returns to oil on canvas with brilliantly colored compositions that imitate his collages. Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux, 116 x 90 cm, was sold for £ 35M including premium by Christie's on February 4, 2014.
This hermetic art does not satisfy its own inventor Picasso. In 1912 he sticks real ordinary materials in a composition : ropes and oilcloth. Curiously he does not exhibit this first experience that nevertheless launches the cubist collages. Braque, Picasso himself and Gris continue this exploration of a new artistic language conducive to show the everyday surroundings of table settings and still lifes.
The collage of newspaper clippings is a basic element of the new compositions. Easy to simulate also with the brush, the piece does not break the coherence of the work. It draws the attention of the viewer who seeks some meaning to the words in the context of the image, long before the Dada and Merz revolutions. It is also a fun method to date an artwork.
From December 1913 Juan Gris is the champion of this new evolution of cubism which finally retrieves perspective and color while respecting the primary objective of assimilating the represented object and its support. In the following months Malevich reaches the most extreme abstract art : the uselessness of the image in its support is another seminal advance of modernism.
On May 8 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 2 La table de musicien, oil, gouache, pencil and collage of paper on canvas 82 x 60 cm made by Gris in May 2014.
The table is the support of the arrangement. It is shown at an angle in an aerial view. In a subtle balance the collages participate in three different ways : the newspaper on the table, the wall paper and the stylized musical staves drawn on a white paper. The perspective effect allows the drawings of bottle and violin to overlap the painted and glued areas. Transparency effects disrupt the surfaces.
Executed in the following month in a similar technique, a 46 x 27 cm artwork titled Tabac, journal et bouteille de vin rosé was sold for $ 8.8M including premium by Sotheby's on November 6, 2013.
The war stops this playful phase when Kahnweiler with whom Gris was in contract in Paris is obliged to leave for Switzerland. In the following year Gris gives up his mixed technique and returns to oil on canvas with brilliantly colored compositions that imitate his collages. Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux, 116 x 90 cm, was sold for £ 35M including premium by Christie's on February 4, 2014.
#AuctionUpdate ‘La table de musician’ by #JuanGris auctions for $31,812,500. https://t.co/kjMtJ5yMWN pic.twitter.com/B4bOAYDloe
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) May 8, 2018
1915 Inventory on a Checked Tablecloth
2014 SOLD 35 M£ including premium
The Cubism of Juan Gris experienced a rapid and powerful development. At first, the analysis of forms is deconstructing the figurative subject. The loss of the third dimension leads to collages.
In 1915, the art of Gris suddenly separates from Picasso and Braque. Gris gathers the objects of his everyday life. Arranged on the table, they make up his universe. Outside, in Paris, it is war. His objects are playing to constitute a new theater, like Cézanne's apples or Arcimboldo's vegetables.
In this sense, Gris is a precursor of surrealism. Painted in March 1915, Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux is a complex and colored composition, where the arrangement in a triangle forms a mask over the comforting support of the tabletop. This oil on canvas 116 x 90 cm, is estimated £ 12M, for sale by Christie's in London on February 4.
1915 is the year of the highest creativity for Gris. Staging a lesser variety of objects, two less dreamlike paintings had been discussed earlier in this column.
Livre, pipe et verres, 73 x 91 cm, was sold for $ 21M including premium at Christie's on November 6, 2008. Le Livre, 73 x 60 cm, was sold for £ 10.3 million including premium at Christie's on February 7, 2012 .
POST SALE COMMENT
By its bold composition and vivid colors, this painting is a masterpiece of Cubism. It was sold for £ 35M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's announcing the still life painting of the 2014 sale:
In 1915, the art of Gris suddenly separates from Picasso and Braque. Gris gathers the objects of his everyday life. Arranged on the table, they make up his universe. Outside, in Paris, it is war. His objects are playing to constitute a new theater, like Cézanne's apples or Arcimboldo's vegetables.
In this sense, Gris is a precursor of surrealism. Painted in March 1915, Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux is a complex and colored composition, where the arrangement in a triangle forms a mask over the comforting support of the tabletop. This oil on canvas 116 x 90 cm, is estimated £ 12M, for sale by Christie's in London on February 4.
1915 is the year of the highest creativity for Gris. Staging a lesser variety of objects, two less dreamlike paintings had been discussed earlier in this column.
Livre, pipe et verres, 73 x 91 cm, was sold for $ 21M including premium at Christie's on November 6, 2008. Le Livre, 73 x 60 cm, was sold for £ 10.3 million including premium at Christie's on February 7, 2012 .
POST SALE COMMENT
By its bold composition and vivid colors, this painting is a masterpiece of Cubism. It was sold for £ 35M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Christie's announcing the still life painting of the 2014 sale:
1915 A Strange Book on the Table of Juan Gris
2008 SOLD 21 M$ including premium
The years 1907 to 1915 lead the art from Cubism to Suprematism. Creativity was remarkable, and we may imagine what were the mutual incentives that enabled artists to travel this evolution (or revolution) finally in such a short time.
The painting by Juan Gris that Christie's sells in New York on November 6 at Lot 7 is an interesting example. This oil on canvas from 1915, 73x91 cm, is titled in French "Livre, pipe et verres" (book, pipe and glasses). In a Cubism inspired from Picasso and perhaps from Braque, it is figurative. On an entablature where plans are entangled by the subtlety of color, an open book in the foreground contrasts by its sharpness and clarity. Seen from far away, it seems to be possible to read it, but when we come nearer we see that all lines of the book are scratched.
This painting should be compared with the "pot of geraniums", 81 x 60 cm, similarly inspired and made in the same year, that Christie's sold $ 18.5 million including expenses on 9 May 2007. A folded newspaper was there at the same place as the book on our painting. In the notice of the new catalog, Christie's said that the newspaper symbolized the art of collage, that Picasso and Gris practiced until the previous year. In 1915, Gris seeks to represent a spatial effect that collages that did not enable him to obtain. He uses the effects of stacks and textures, and according to my interpretation (not found in the catalog), the three-dimensional graphic strength of the open book.
The estimate is $ 12.5 million. I would like this painting doing more, despite the difficult economic supposed by some observers.
POST SALE COMMENT
Warning: masterpiece! I wrote: "I would like this painting doing more."
I was right. Result: $ 21 million charge included.
The painting by Juan Gris that Christie's sells in New York on November 6 at Lot 7 is an interesting example. This oil on canvas from 1915, 73x91 cm, is titled in French "Livre, pipe et verres" (book, pipe and glasses). In a Cubism inspired from Picasso and perhaps from Braque, it is figurative. On an entablature where plans are entangled by the subtlety of color, an open book in the foreground contrasts by its sharpness and clarity. Seen from far away, it seems to be possible to read it, but when we come nearer we see that all lines of the book are scratched.
This painting should be compared with the "pot of geraniums", 81 x 60 cm, similarly inspired and made in the same year, that Christie's sold $ 18.5 million including expenses on 9 May 2007. A folded newspaper was there at the same place as the book on our painting. In the notice of the new catalog, Christie's said that the newspaper symbolized the art of collage, that Picasso and Gris practiced until the previous year. In 1915, Gris seeks to represent a spatial effect that collages that did not enable him to obtain. He uses the effects of stacks and textures, and according to my interpretation (not found in the catalog), the three-dimensional graphic strength of the open book.
The estimate is $ 12.5 million. I would like this painting doing more, despite the difficult economic supposed by some observers.
POST SALE COMMENT
Warning: masterpiece! I wrote: "I would like this painting doing more."
I was right. Result: $ 21 million charge included.
1925 Miro's Hallucinations
2012 SOLD 17 M£ including premium
In 1924, Joan Miro is one of the signatories of the Manifeste du Surréalisme. The artist receives the highest possible compliment of André Breton: "Miro is the most surrealist of ourselves."
Indeed, the artist has lost interest in realism and is exploring the dream and the subconscious. Miro's approach is deeply original and will be recognized as such by Picasso. He is the first surrealist to transcend the boundaries between poetry and painting.
The literary and artistic expression must be free from conventions, but not indispensably spontaneous. The words of the poem escape without building a usual phrase. The language of the image, close to abstraction, invites for multiple interpretations.
If the poem deals with the female body, for example, the observer led on by the erotic force of the words will look for some marks, and find and lose. Those two spots of color : are they the breasts or are they the eyes?
Miro is no longer interested in reality. His themes are inspired by other poems or songs. On February 7 in London, Christie's sells "le corps de ma brune", estimated £ 6M. So amazing for its time, this oil on canvas made in 1925, 130 x 96 cm, is superimposing text and colors. The layout of the words is free, like in a poem of Apollinaire. Here is the link to the catalog.
This painting provides the key to all the later work, so often hermetic but always dreamlike, of Miro. When the letters will disappear from the field, the title will provide the link between the image and its multiple interpretations.
POST SALE COMMENT
This is one of the most outstanding and rarest works of early Surrealism. It was sold for £ 17M including premium.
Indeed, the artist has lost interest in realism and is exploring the dream and the subconscious. Miro's approach is deeply original and will be recognized as such by Picasso. He is the first surrealist to transcend the boundaries between poetry and painting.
The literary and artistic expression must be free from conventions, but not indispensably spontaneous. The words of the poem escape without building a usual phrase. The language of the image, close to abstraction, invites for multiple interpretations.
If the poem deals with the female body, for example, the observer led on by the erotic force of the words will look for some marks, and find and lose. Those two spots of color : are they the breasts or are they the eyes?
Miro is no longer interested in reality. His themes are inspired by other poems or songs. On February 7 in London, Christie's sells "le corps de ma brune", estimated £ 6M. So amazing for its time, this oil on canvas made in 1925, 130 x 96 cm, is superimposing text and colors. The layout of the words is free, like in a poem of Apollinaire. Here is the link to the catalog.
This painting provides the key to all the later work, so often hermetic but always dreamlike, of Miro. When the letters will disappear from the field, the title will provide the link between the image and its multiple interpretations.
POST SALE COMMENT
This is one of the most outstanding and rarest works of early Surrealism. It was sold for £ 17M including premium.
1927 The Blue Period of Joan Miro
2012 SOLD 23.5 M£ including premium
Miro was the most abstract of the surrealists and the most surreal of the abstract. His use of geometric shapes is as hermetic as the artistic grammar of Kandinsky. The title of the work invites the viewer to a certain vision that is never the only possible interpretation.
Painted in 1927, Peinture (étoile bleue), is typical and can rightly be considered as an outstanding work of the artist. It is for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 19. Here is the link to the catalog.
Never a visible star was blue, but the universe of Miro is completely dreamlike. The artwork, an oil on canvas 115 x 89 cm, is actually azure dark blue, anticipating over thirty years Klein's IKB.
The vertical format invites to gravity, but the opposite occurs. The forms that sail in this space are completely free and far between, like galaxies in the sky, preceding by 70 years the shelters for aliens by Cai Guo-Qiang.
Forgotten for 40 years in the estate of a great collector, Peinture (étoile bleue) got a nice media success when it reappeared in Paris. It was sold € 11.6 million including premium by Aguttes on December 21, 2007. Certainly this is a masterpiece by Miro, but its new estimate, £ 15M, is ambitious.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
In 2007, the Parisian observers rightly considered Peinture (étoile bleue) as a masterpiece of Miro. The result, quoted above, was then the highest price recorded for the artist at auction.
And in 2012, Sotheby's has largely won their challenge: £ 23.5 million including premium.
This artist always original and often difficult enters the short list of the most outstanding painters of the twentieth century.
Painted in 1927, Peinture (étoile bleue), is typical and can rightly be considered as an outstanding work of the artist. It is for sale by Sotheby's in London on June 19. Here is the link to the catalog.
Never a visible star was blue, but the universe of Miro is completely dreamlike. The artwork, an oil on canvas 115 x 89 cm, is actually azure dark blue, anticipating over thirty years Klein's IKB.
The vertical format invites to gravity, but the opposite occurs. The forms that sail in this space are completely free and far between, like galaxies in the sky, preceding by 70 years the shelters for aliens by Cai Guo-Qiang.
Forgotten for 40 years in the estate of a great collector, Peinture (étoile bleue) got a nice media success when it reappeared in Paris. It was sold € 11.6 million including premium by Aguttes on December 21, 2007. Certainly this is a masterpiece by Miro, but its new estimate, £ 15M, is ambitious.
I invite you to play the video shared on the web by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
In 2007, the Parisian observers rightly considered Peinture (étoile bleue) as a masterpiece of Miro. The result, quoted above, was then the highest price recorded for the artist at auction.
And in 2012, Sotheby's has largely won their challenge: £ 23.5 million including premium.
This artist always original and often difficult enters the short list of the most outstanding painters of the twentieth century.
1933 Painting Assassinated
2017 SOLD for $ 23.4M including premium
Since his surrealist period Joan Miro knows that painting is no more than colors on a support. He begins to name his own paintings with their elementary description : "Peinture", sometimes with a subtitle. His desire is poetic. In 1927 he is very close to abstraction with pictures of a nocturnal atmosphere where hardly perceptible spots and lines coexist.
For the surrealists this trend is an inadmissible drift. Miro does not agree with the communist affiliations of the group. The break is snarling. When Miro announced to Tériade in 1930 that he wanted to assassinate the painting, it meant that he desired to define a new art, alone, without the influence of any past or present school.
For the next two years he tries collages that do not satisfy him. In early 1933 in his mother's apartment in Barcelona, he defines a two-step process for a homogeneous series of 18 artworks. He prepares 18 maquettes by gluing folded or crumpled papers. Each oil on canvas will be inspired by one of these models without being a copy. The title "Peinture" is reused for this series.
This post-Dadaist process may seem complex compared to direct painting. Miro knows that his imagination is unlimited. He probably wanted to bring a guide for avoiding any figuration. He expresses his subconscious by a composition similar to the 1927 Peintures except that the spots inspired by the collages are brightly colored, appearing as abstract objects floating ahead of the night.
A Peinture 146 x 115 cm made in 1933 was sold for $ 11M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2013. An oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm from this series of Peintures is estimated $ 18M for sale by Christie's in New York on November 13, lot 31 A.
The Constellations painted in response to the outbreak of World War II are similar in design to the Peintures of 1927 and 1933. The dream of the starry night is now confessed by the artist and the mythical theme of the constellation brings some figuration.
For the surrealists this trend is an inadmissible drift. Miro does not agree with the communist affiliations of the group. The break is snarling. When Miro announced to Tériade in 1930 that he wanted to assassinate the painting, it meant that he desired to define a new art, alone, without the influence of any past or present school.
For the next two years he tries collages that do not satisfy him. In early 1933 in his mother's apartment in Barcelona, he defines a two-step process for a homogeneous series of 18 artworks. He prepares 18 maquettes by gluing folded or crumpled papers. Each oil on canvas will be inspired by one of these models without being a copy. The title "Peinture" is reused for this series.
This post-Dadaist process may seem complex compared to direct painting. Miro knows that his imagination is unlimited. He probably wanted to bring a guide for avoiding any figuration. He expresses his subconscious by a composition similar to the 1927 Peintures except that the spots inspired by the collages are brightly colored, appearing as abstract objects floating ahead of the night.
A Peinture 146 x 115 cm made in 1933 was sold for $ 11M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2013. An oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm from this series of Peintures is estimated $ 18M for sale by Christie's in New York on November 13, lot 31 A.
The Constellations painted in response to the outbreak of World War II are similar in design to the Peintures of 1927 and 1933. The dream of the starry night is now confessed by the artist and the mythical theme of the constellation brings some figuration.
1940 Poetry of the Constellations
2017 SOLD for £ 24.5M including premium
Joan Miro did not want to engage in politics but the tragic events forced his hand. His participation in the pavilion of the Spanish Republic at the 1937 Paris Exhibition did not go unnoticed. He feared retaliation and moved to Varengeville-sur-Mer in 1939.
Varengeville is one of the prettiest villages on the Normandy coast. Braque has his workshop and spends summers there. Calder is a frequent visitor. In this small land's end Miro calms his anxieties by contemplating the immensity of the night sky.
The personalization of the groupings of stars is one of the oldest poetic themes of our civilizations. Miro is not an astrologer but he is a poet. With the exceptional freedom of his imagination he superimposes on the sky the images of his fantasy.
In January 1940 Miro begins a series of artworks on the theme of the Constellations. They will all be on paper in the same size, 38 x 46 cm. The background is prepared by splashes of gouache and oil paint, more or less dark. The crescent moon and a few stars are the spectacular elements in bright colors accompanied by floating symbolic or abstract forms. The constellation, woman or bird, is a figure in thin lines surrounded by scrolls, scarcely more visible than a watermark.
The artist conceived from the outset this series as a coherent whole. The use of a a small and light format was premonitory. When he fled France to return to Spain in May 1940 he could take in his luggage the entire set : ten finished works and the pieces of paper that he will be use for the thirteen subsequent works.
The series of Constellations was completed in September 1941. Miro kept the secret until an exhibition in New York in 1945. Pollock was convinced by a possible non-figurative artistic transposition of an observable reality. With the Constellations of Miro modern art has just crossed the Atlantic.
On June 21 in London, Sotheby's sells as lot 45 the eighth opus of Miro's Constellations, dated 13 April 1940. Its unusually simple title, Femme et Oiseaux, prefigures the favorite themes of the artist for the rest of his career. In this sky that calls for peace, Joan Miro is not calmed : the woman howls.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Varengeville is one of the prettiest villages on the Normandy coast. Braque has his workshop and spends summers there. Calder is a frequent visitor. In this small land's end Miro calms his anxieties by contemplating the immensity of the night sky.
The personalization of the groupings of stars is one of the oldest poetic themes of our civilizations. Miro is not an astrologer but he is a poet. With the exceptional freedom of his imagination he superimposes on the sky the images of his fantasy.
In January 1940 Miro begins a series of artworks on the theme of the Constellations. They will all be on paper in the same size, 38 x 46 cm. The background is prepared by splashes of gouache and oil paint, more or less dark. The crescent moon and a few stars are the spectacular elements in bright colors accompanied by floating symbolic or abstract forms. The constellation, woman or bird, is a figure in thin lines surrounded by scrolls, scarcely more visible than a watermark.
The artist conceived from the outset this series as a coherent whole. The use of a a small and light format was premonitory. When he fled France to return to Spain in May 1940 he could take in his luggage the entire set : ten finished works and the pieces of paper that he will be use for the thirteen subsequent works.
The series of Constellations was completed in September 1941. Miro kept the secret until an exhibition in New York in 1945. Pollock was convinced by a possible non-figurative artistic transposition of an observable reality. With the Constellations of Miro modern art has just crossed the Atlantic.
On June 21 in London, Sotheby's sells as lot 45 the eighth opus of Miro's Constellations, dated 13 April 1940. Its unusually simple title, Femme et Oiseaux, prefigures the favorite themes of the artist for the rest of his career. In this sky that calls for peace, Joan Miro is not calmed : the woman howls.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
1945 Hope in the Night
2018 SOLD for $ 22.6M including premium
From 1934 to 1945 Miro appears as a hypersensitive witness to the tragedies of his time : the social crisis followed by the Spanish Civil war and by the Franco regime, and the Second World War.
In January 1945 it becomes legitimate to imagine that the end of the horrors is coming. Miro accompanies this hope in a series of oils on canvas, a technique that he had not used during the darkest hours.
The first installment of this series is dated January 26 and titled Femme et Oiseau dans la Nuit. The outlines of the woman are painted in thin black lines, much easier to read over the bright white background than the extraterrestrial characters of the 1940 Constellations. The eyes and the sex form colorful figures inside this body.
This dreamlike image is neither realistic nor cubist. The position of the eyes in the circle of the head responds only to a geometric balance. The composition is completed by musical notes and by stars.
As expected, the situation is improving. On February 1 with a Femme rêvant de l'Evasion, the wicked birds have already disappeared. This oil on canvas 146 x 114 cm was sold for £ 8.4M including premium by Sotheby's on February 5, 2013.
On November 15 in New York, Phillips sells a Femme dans la Nuit dated March 22, oil on canvas 130 x 163 cm, lot 4 estimated $ 12M. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
The 14th and last opus of this war series is dated May 7, 1945, the day of the unconditional surrender of Germany. Normal life has restarted. Miro makes two optimistic paintings on a black background, Femme entendant de la musique on May 11 and Danseuse entendant jouer de l'orgue dans une cathédrale gothique on May 26.
In January 1945 it becomes legitimate to imagine that the end of the horrors is coming. Miro accompanies this hope in a series of oils on canvas, a technique that he had not used during the darkest hours.
The first installment of this series is dated January 26 and titled Femme et Oiseau dans la Nuit. The outlines of the woman are painted in thin black lines, much easier to read over the bright white background than the extraterrestrial characters of the 1940 Constellations. The eyes and the sex form colorful figures inside this body.
This dreamlike image is neither realistic nor cubist. The position of the eyes in the circle of the head responds only to a geometric balance. The composition is completed by musical notes and by stars.
As expected, the situation is improving. On February 1 with a Femme rêvant de l'Evasion, the wicked birds have already disappeared. This oil on canvas 146 x 114 cm was sold for £ 8.4M including premium by Sotheby's on February 5, 2013.
On November 15 in New York, Phillips sells a Femme dans la Nuit dated March 22, oil on canvas 130 x 163 cm, lot 4 estimated $ 12M. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
The 14th and last opus of this war series is dated May 7, 1945, the day of the unconditional surrender of Germany. Normal life has restarted. Miro makes two optimistic paintings on a black background, Femme entendant de la musique on May 11 and Danseuse entendant jouer de l'orgue dans une cathédrale gothique on May 26.
1945 The Sound of Victory
2018 SOLD for $ 21.7M including premium
The war in Europe and the political situation in Spain deeply disturbed Joan Miro. Escaping in the contemplation of the stars, he had made his Constellations series and had hidden them. He then devotes his creativity to the entanglement of three themes : woman, star, bird.
In July 1944 Miro managed to send the Constellations to the United States. Pierre Matisse bought the series which he exhibited in his gallery in New York in January 1945. In his studio in Barcelona, Miro is encouraged by this success and restarts painting on large canvas.
On February 1, 1945 Miro paints an oil on canvas 146 x 114 cm under the revealing title Femme rêvant de l'évasion. The forms that appear at the top of the image and inside the face look like musical notes. This artwork was sold for £ 8.4M including premium by Sotheby's on February 5, 2013.
On May 11, 1945, three days after the surrender of Germany, Miro paints a 130 x 162 cm oil on canvas titled Femme entendant de la musique. Five reserves on a black background are each inhabited by a hybrid calligraphy that is both a musician and a musical note. The dark background, scarce in that year in Miro's art, is a dynamic evocation of the atmosphere of a cabaret.
Femme entendant de la musique is estimated $ 10M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 5 A. It had been sold for $ 3.5M by Christie's on November 14, 1990.
In July 1944 Miro managed to send the Constellations to the United States. Pierre Matisse bought the series which he exhibited in his gallery in New York in January 1945. In his studio in Barcelona, Miro is encouraged by this success and restarts painting on large canvas.
On February 1, 1945 Miro paints an oil on canvas 146 x 114 cm under the revealing title Femme rêvant de l'évasion. The forms that appear at the top of the image and inside the face look like musical notes. This artwork was sold for £ 8.4M including premium by Sotheby's on February 5, 2013.
On May 11, 1945, three days after the surrender of Germany, Miro paints a 130 x 162 cm oil on canvas titled Femme entendant de la musique. Five reserves on a black background are each inhabited by a hybrid calligraphy that is both a musician and a musical note. The dark background, scarce in that year in Miro's art, is a dynamic evocation of the atmosphere of a cabaret.
Femme entendant de la musique is estimated $ 10M for sale by Christie's in New York on May 15, lot 5 A. It had been sold for $ 3.5M by Christie's on November 14, 1990.
