PARIS.- On Monday 6th June and Tuesday 7th June 2016,
Artcurial will hold a prestigious post-war and contemporary art auction. French artists, or those having worked in France will be celebrated, namely with a series of 3 works by Zao Wou-Ki, a still life by Nicolas de Staël, a large size by Simon Hantaï and two paintings by Martin Barré.
« Rare, high quality works; either via these two large, deep and bright watercolours or this enigmatic oil on canvas by Zao Wou-Ki, but also the strength and the contemporaneousness of this exceptional still life by Nicolas de Stael, or these two subtle, superior works by Martin Barré. » ---Hugues Sebilleau, Post-war and contemporary art department supervisor, Artcurial
« Displayed in the major retrospective devoted to Simon Hantaï at the Centre Pompidou in 2013, Tabula, from 1980, the artist’s tribute to Matisse and to his childhood memories, is the first monumental Hantaï composition presented at auction. A rare opportunity to acquire a museum painting of one of the major artists of the second half of the twentieth century» ---Karim Hoss, Post-war and contemporary art department supervisor, Artcurial
3 works by Zao Wou-Ki
The session will open with 3 works by Zao Wou-Ki, including an oil on oval canvas, 18.8.84 (estimate: € 500 000 – 700 000 / $ 550 000 – 770 000). Extremely evocative, this work displays the abstract traits representative of the painter. The colours and composition hint to a shoreline, of the sea crashing down on the sand, or a sky illuminating an arid zone. The pallet is revealed in the confrontation of the two main colours (blue and yellow), in the forefront. The oval shape of the canvas evokes a porthole.
The two other works, watercolours on paper, are prior by a dozen years and illustrate another aspect of Zao Wou-Ki, his work on paper: the watercolour and the use of water reflect an urge to return to his sources, Chinese tradition. This technique is distinguished by the impossibility to turn back, and therefore the definitive mark on the paper. In 1970 comes an unleashed palette of blues (estimate: € 100 000 - 150 000 / $ 110 000 - 165,000). The composition is dense. Its strength is concentrated in the centre and attracts the eye to an infinity of broken, arrested or suspended lines. These linear clusters are reminiscent of Indian ink techniques the artist abandoned in 1945, to then rediscover in 1970. The two works resume a very personal dimension of Zao Wou-Ki’s work, led to refocus on himself and on the importance of his Chinese heritage…
Abstraction in 1955
French Abstraction will be represented with two works dated from 1955: one by Serge Poliakoff, the second by Nicolas de Staël (from whom Artcurial holds the world auction record for Nu couché, 1954, sold € 7 033 418 / $9 423 122 in 2011).
Composition vert, jaune, rouge by Serge Poliakoff (estimate: € 150 000 – 200 000 / $ 165 000 – 220 000) is created in 1955, when the painter permanently moves in to his workshop on Rue de Seine, in Paris. He has just had an exhibition devoted to his work at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, while the Guggenheim Museum in New York acquires a piece in 1953. This is a phase of maturity and stability for the painter. The work reflects this spirit of measure. Its visual saga possesses the strength of abstraction. The painting is a pictorial extension of his musical talents. The balance of forms, the composition centred in the middle of the canvas, the pigment contrast all contribute to the vivacity of the work.
The work of Nicolas de Staël is painted the year the artist decides to end his life. Simple and powerful, intimate and monumental with its few stylised elements and its ample range of deployed colours, Nature morte au poêlon blanc (estimate: € 700 000 - 900 000/ $ 770 000 - 990,000) is part of the last large paintings by this French painter of the second half of the twentieth century. Between 1952 and March 16th, 1955 (the day he takes his own life), the life of Nicolas de Staël is intense and characterised by a profound renewal of inspiration, with the adoption of new topics and a great boldness in the choice of colours. Particularly, he finds his way, little by little, onto the path of figurative art. He paints landscapes, figures, scenes composed of several characters and of course, still-lives, one of which will be auctioned. The subject is reduced to its simplest expression: a pot, two fruits set on a table, and above, a white coated skillet, no doubt placed on a shelf. No mark, no depth: The essential is elsewhere, in the composition, the colourful expression and the result. Serge Lemoine, cultural and scientific advisor for Artcurial, says «it is a masterpiece from Nicolas de Staël’s ultimate period, acquired at the time by its owner, a friend of the artist, and which has remained within his family until today».
1960’s to 1980’s
The final part of the sale will follow a Jean Dubuffet canvas, 2 works by Martin Baré, a monumental painting by Simon Hantaï and 2 paintings by Victor Vasarely. This last two works, acquired directly from the artist, Euclide P.1092 and Bios P.1093, from 2+78-1982 and 1979-1982, are estimated at €100 000 – 150 000/ $110 000 – 165 000
Lieu de coïncidences, 1975 (estimate: €500 000 – 700 000/ $550 000 – 770 000), synthesises Jean Dubuffet’s avant-garde spirit and his perpetual search of separation. The inventor of raw art depicts a forest of chaotic lines, constituting an enigmatic labyrinth ensnaring the characters, seemingly lost or trapped inside the canvas. The work could be compared to the childish Tenor by Jean-Michel Basquiat, painted ten years later.
Martin Barré rapidly stands out from the lyrical abstraction which dominates France in the 1955. Geometrical austerity, composition minimalism and its bare aspect, the rigor applied to the canvas, are all principles that guide his work, 60-T-51, from 1960, and 67-Z-12, from 1967, respectively estimated at €70 000 – 90 000/ $77 000 – 99 0 00 and €80 000 – 120 000/ $88 000 – 132 000. The 1960 painting is part of the series of paint tubes: he creates his colour and applies it directly to the canvas, using a tube of paint. Then, always in search of more depth, a "reduction-concentration" of means, from 1963, Martin Barré abandons the tube paint for aerosol spray after discovering graffiti in the subway. This new tool promotes a broader and neater scope, as demonstrated in the black lines of 67-Z-12.
Following a surrealist, then gestural period, Simon Hantaï makes a clean slate of acquired means or contemporary influences: folding the canvas before painting, he refuses to acknowledge the surface to be painted beforehand. The fold lines determine the result. Repetition and the idea of infinity deploy in the series Tabula. The first series extends from 1972 to 1976, the second, part of the piece up for auction (estimate: €600 000 - 800 000 / $660 000 - 880,000), 1980 to 1982. The importance of colour and dialog with the reserved areas reveal his admiration for Paul Cezanne and his taste for the "not really finished", in his own words. He is inspired by the Nu bleus by Henri Matisse, that he admires while at Arts Décoratifs in 1961.
