Lot 7
  • 7

José Clemente Orozco (1883 - 1949)

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • José Clemente Orozco
  • Los desempleados
  • signed lower right
  • oil on canvas
  • 25 1/2 by 20 1/2 in.
  • 65 by 52 cm
  • Painted circa 1929.

Provenance

The Collection of Gertrude Finnerud
Sale: Christie's, New York, Latin American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, May 17, 1989, lot 22, illustrated in color
Acquired from the above

Exhibited

Guadalajara, Instituto Cultural Cabañas, March 24-July 31, 2010; Mexico City, Antiguo Colegio de San Idelfonso, October 1, 2010- February 27, 2011; José Clemente Orozco, Pintura y Verdad, no. 113, p. 148, illustrated in color 

Condition

This work is in good condition overall. Light frame abrasion is present along the left edge of the canvas. An isolated area of paint loss measuring approximately five centimeters in length is present in the lower left quadrant of the work, just above the frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

“Here I am finally in Gringoland, trying to make a name for myself and promote my work. This incredible city, part amusement park and part grown monstrosity, has changed a great deal since I was last here.”
José Clemente Orozco (1) 

Los desempleados (The Unemployed) is a rare and powerful early work by José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949); one of only nineteen street scenes painted in New York during the period of 1928-1932. While some of these easel paintings have been generally regarded by historians as creative exercises for future larger scale works, the present picture presents a fully autonomous and self-contained composition—a definitive canvas by one of Mexico’s most celebrated muralists. 

In his autobiography, Orozco called New York an “imperial city.” It was among New York skyscrapers, that Orozco first “encountered the modern, urban, thoroughly anonymous, even alienated crowd,” arguably the most poignant quality of the modern era. (2)  In Los desempleados, three massive manly figures confront each other. Lacking any individuality, their concealed gaze prevents them from connecting to each other or the viewer.  Wearing hats and monolithic gray coats, they succeed in imposing their robust physicality while disguising their humanity. Conceived as automatons, these novel creatures seem to exist solely for the glory of the modern city. This modern-day sense of detachment is equally apparent in Winter (1932), another outstanding painting from this series currently in the collection of the Museo Carrillo Gil in Mexico City. (Fig. 1)

Painted circa 1929, Los desempleados embodies the New York collective psyche after the stock market crash of October 29. Profoundly somber, the picture alludes to the intense disillusionment brought forth by the sudden collapse of economic certainty. Metropolitan life, once lionized as the American way of life and an icon of modernization, gave way to massive angst.  Executed in zinc white and ivory black, Los desempleados is one of the last surviving examples in private hands from this compelling period in Orozco’s production; a time of great professional success when he rose to prominence and solidified his position along fellow Mexican muralists Diego Rivera (1886-1957) and David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974).

1. Clemente Orozco, quoted in A. Anreus, Orozco in Gringoland: The Years in New York, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 2001, p. 21.

2. Ibid., p. 51