02 août 2009
Hank Willis Thomas @ Baltimore Museum of Art
Hank Willis Thomas, Some Fair Questions, Laser engraved touch on polished black granite. photo courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery
Hank Willis Thomas, The Slate is Clean, Laser engraved touch on polished black granite. photo courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery
Hank Willis Thomas, Everything Must Go, Laser engraved touch on polished black granite. photo courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery
Hank Willis Thomas, Absolut No Return, Light-jet print. photo courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery
09 juin 2009
Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) Concetto spaziale, natura
Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) Concetto spaziale, natura; terracotta; 31 x 31 x 28in. (78.7 x 78.7 x 71.1cm.). Executed in 1959-60. Estimate $2,057,900 - $3,007,700. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd. 2009 Concetto spaziale, Natura, 1959-60, by Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) is a unique work from a sculptural series described as the most important ever created by the artist (estimate: £1.3 million to £1.9 million). The largest of the series ever offered at auction, the present example was exhibited at the Palazzo Grassi in 1960, and was shown to the public for the first time in nearly 50 years at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa from October 2008 to February 2009. It will be offered at auction for the first time at Christie’s in June. Created six months after Fontana’s first slash paintings, the Natura sculptures explored concepts of spaciality in a new, brutal and daring manner. In a letter to a friend in October 1960, Fontana said ‘This Summer, at Albisola I have worked hard. I have almost produced thirty very large terracotta spheres, with holes and large cuts. I am very pleased, I have managed to represent nothingness! This is the death of matter; pure life philosophy!’. 
03 mai 2009
Rembrandt Bugatti (1884 - 1916), Deux petits léopards
Rembrandt Bugatti (1884 - 1916), Deux petits léopards
Conceived in 1911. According to Véronique Fromanger, the present bronze is the second cast from an edition of 27, executed circa 1913. Inscribed R. Bugatti, numbered 2, and stamped with the foundry mark A.A. Hébrard cire perdue. Bronze. 93 cm. Est. 350,000—450,000 USD
This work is recorded in the archives of the Rembrandt Bugatti Conservatoire, Paris.
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, France (acquired in the 1930s)
Private Collection (by descent from the above and sold: Sotheby's, London, June 20, 2006, lot 341)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Jean-Luc de Rudder, 'Rembrandt Bugatti admiré par Rodin', L'Estampille, Paris, 1973, no. 39, illustrations of another cast pp. 38-41
Mary Harvey, The Bronzes of Rembrandt Bugatti, Ascot, 1979, no. 28, illustration of another cast p. 36
Philippe Dejean, Carlo-Rembrandt-Ettore-Jean Bugatti, Paris, 1981, illustration of another cast pp. 148 & 149
Véronique Fromanger des Cordes, Rembrandt Bugatti Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1987, illustration of another cast p. 270
Les Bugatti d'Alain Delon, Paris, 1988, no. 12, illustration of another cast
Edward Horswell, Rembrandt Bugatti, Life in Sculpture, London, 2004, p. 85, illustration of another cast pp. 86 & 87
NOTE: Rembrandt Bugatti was born into a family with a strong and long tradition in the arts. His father, Carlo, was known for his exotic and fanciful furniture, metalwork and musical instruments designed in Italy in the last decades of the 19th century. His elder brother, Ettore, who became famous in later life for the mechanically advanced and eternally stylish Bugatti cars, had been the son chosen to follow in his father's artistic footsteps. After he exhibited an early predilection for engines and cycles, he relinquished his place to his younger brother, Rembrandt.
In 1904, Carlo Bugatti moved his family to Paris and it was in that same year at the age of nineteen that Rembrandt was elected to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and began to exhibit at the Paris salons. It was also at this time that he was introduced to Adrien Hébrard, a publisher, collector and art patron. Hébrard's foundry was known to produce the highest quality casts and to represent some of the more avant-garde artists of the period, including Degas, Dalou and Jouve. As Deux petits léopards demonstrates, "the casting is one of the attractions which makes Rembrandt Bugatti's sculptures so precious in the eyes of many collectors. Indeed, it is perfection in the translation of detail, the slightest quiver is espoused by the molten metal, and there is the richness and warmth of the patina and its generally dark quality which was desired by the artist" (Philippe Dejean, op. cit., p. 138).
Bugatti's love of animals led him to Antwerp in 1907. It was here at the Antwerp Zoo, known then as the finest in all Europe, that he was his most productive and content. He would arrive at the zoo early in the day, set up his tools outside an animal's enclosure and attempt to capture in clay the animal's inner serenity and natural grace. In Deux petits léopards, Bugatti encapsulates the streamlined power and slinking, feline gait of the two big cats in a whimsical, yet entirely naturalistic composition. The artist's meticulous attention to the nuances of musculature and movement, as well as his infinitely subtler references to emotion and personality, betrays his respect and awe for the beasts immortalized here. In doing so, Bugatti has fulfilled his promise that, "I will work with all my strength to go as high as I am able. I hope and I believe that I will succeed in creating a work such as no other animal sculptor ancient or modern has achieved before" (quoted in Phillipe Dejean, ibid, p. 141).
Sotheby's. Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. 05 May 09. New York www.sothebys.com Photo courtesy Sotheby's
Diego Giacometti (1902 – 1985). Elément de la console 'La promenade des amis'
Diego Giacometti (1902 – 1985). Elément de la console 'La promenade des amis'
Conceived circa 1976, this example was cast in 1979. Stamped Diego Bronze. Est. 40,000—60,000 USD PROVENANCE: Jean Pierre Lacloche, Paris (acquired from the artist) LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Michel Butor & Jean Vincent, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1985, illustrations of the console n.p. Sotheby's. Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. 05 May 09. New York www.sothebys.com Photo courtesy Sotheby's
M. D'Estainvile
Private Collection, New York (acquired from the above circa 1982)
Daniel Marchesseau, Diego Giacometti, Paris, 1986, illustration of the console p. 93
30 avril 2009
Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828), Voltaire (1694-1778)
Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828), Voltaire (1694-1778)
au revers, signée HOUDON sur la tranche et cachet en cire de l'atelier; tête en plâtre patiné façon bronze sur un piédouche en plâtre patiné; haut. 46 cm. Est. 10,000—15,000 EUR. Lot Sold 52,350 EUR
REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHIQUES : A Poulet et G. Scherf (éd.), Houdon. Sculpteur des Lumières 1741-1828, cat. exp. Musée de Versailles, 2004, p.21 et p.152-156, n°23.
G. Scherf, Houdon (1741-1828), statues, portraits sculptés..., Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2006, n°11.
NOTE: C'est en 1778 que Houdon réalise le premier portrait en marbre "tête nue' du célèbre philosophe. Agé de quatre-vingt-trois ans, Voltaire pose pour la première fois pour Houdon, au courant du mois de mars 1778, l'année de sa mort. Le marbre sera achevé le 16 avril, tandis que" (...) tout Paris se rend à l'atelier de M. Houdon pour voir le buste de Voltaire qui est sans doute le plus ressemblant de tous les portraits réalisés de ce patriarche" (F. Métra, Correspondance secrète, politique et littéraire, 18 vol., Londres, 1787-1790).
S'inspirant des bustes de philosophes antiques, ce portrait se distingue par son réalisme impitoyable, ses yeux pétillants et ses traits illuminés par le sourire éclatant du poète. En effet, ceux-ci suscitèrent l'admiration des contemporains : "les yeux ont tant de vie, un effet de lumière si ingénieusement ménagé, que M. Greuze en voyant le buste (...) présuma que c'étaient les yeux en émail (...)" (Correspondance de F.M. Grimm). Des versions en marbre de Voltaire "tête nue" sont conservées dans les musées du Louvre, d'Angers et au Metropolitan Museum de New York. Trois exemplaires en plâtre sont aujourd'hui répertoriés, l'un avec le cachet d'atelier appartenait jadis au prince Henri de Prusse et mentionné dans son inventaire après décès en 1802 (autrefois à Berlin, au Schlossmuseum détruit en 1944), un autre patiné vert bronze se trouve au Schlossmuseum de Gotha (probablement ancienne collection du prince Auguste de Saxe-Gotha) et enfin, un troisième avec le cachet de d'atelier fut proposé à la vente à Paris, Sotheby's, 23 mars 2006, lot 98. Afin d'éviter des surmoulages et des copies, et afin de les authentifier de son vivant, Houdon décide dès 1796 d'apposer sur ces œuvres un cachet en cire rouge portant son nom et son titre d'académicien de l'Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture.
Sotheby's. Important French Furniture and Sculpture. 28 Apr 09. Paris www.sothebys.com Photo courtesy Sotheby's
24 avril 2009
Pan jouant de la flûte. France, XVIIIe siècle, d'après l'Antique
Pan jouant de la flûte. France, XVIIIe siècle, d'après l'Antique
debout, la tête ceinte d'une couronne de laurier, les jambes croisées, appuyé sur un tronc d'arbre, la main gauche retenant une draperie, l'autre main portant la flûte; bronze à patine noire, base en marbre noir paragone; (ancienne cassure à la cuisse gauche); haut. (bronze) 35 cm, haut. (socle) 11 cm. Est. 7,000—9,000 EUR
Sotheby's. Important French Furniture and Sculpture. 28 Apr 09. Paris www.sothebys.com Photo courtesy Sotheby's
08 mars 2009
Ours noir (Ursus americanus)
Ours noir (Ursus americanus)
Encore appelé Baribal ; debout, sur socle ; gabarit moyen ; origine Canada. Hauteur hors-tout : 107 cm. Estimation : 1 200 / 1 500 €
Vente du Mercredi 11 mars 2009. Armes et Décorations. Beaussant-Lefèvre - Paris
03 mars 2009
A bronze group of Shoulao and a deer. Ming Dynasty
A bronze group of Shoulao and a deer. Ming Dynasty
Modelled as an incense burner; Shoulao holding a scroll with his left hand and a peach in his right hand. 10cm (4in) high. Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000
Bonhams. Chinese & other Asian Works of Art, 4 Mar 2009. Knightsbridge www.bonhams.com (Copyright © 2002-2009 Bonhams 1793 Ltd)
02 mars 2009
Max Ernst (1891-1976), Cheri Bibi , 1973
Max Ernst (1891-1976), Cheri Bibi , 1973
Sculpture en bronze à patine noire signée et numérotée 4/175 sur la terrasse. Cachet de fondeur Valsuani. Haut : 33.5 cm - 13 1/5 in. Estimation : 4 000 / 6 000 €
Bronze sculpture with black patina signed and numbered « 4/175 » on the terrace
Vente du Vendredi 6 mars 2009. Tableaux XIXe et Modernes. Aguttes - Paris
01 mars 2009
Antoine Louis Barye (1795-1875) Taureau chargeant
Antoine Louis Barye (1795-1875) Taureau chargeant
Épreuve en bronze à patine noire. Fonte d'édition de Barbedienne. Porte la marque 'F. Barbedienne Fondeur'. Inscrit 'Barye'. Haut. : 18 cm. Estimation : € 4,000-6,000
Bibliographie : Michel Poletti et Alain Richarme, Barye, Catalogue Raisonné des sculptures, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 2000, modèle décrit sous le numéro 316 et reproduit page 321 (un autre exemplaire reproduit)
Tajan. Sculptures du XIXe siècle à nos jours, 05 mars 2009, Espace Tajan www.tajan.com