Structured Abstraction: A 1950s Pierre Soulages Masterpiece
Structured Abstraction:
A 1950s Pierre Soulages Masterpiece from Kassel Documenta II
French modernist master Pierre Soulages (b. 1919) is the only living post-war abstract painter from the new School of Paris. Because of his challenging, subversive, and creative style, he has remained an important artist with his finger on the pulse of the international art scene since the 1940s. Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 3 décembre 1956 (Lot 1042) was painted in the 1950s, a decade of intense change for Soulages. In 1955, he held a solo exhibition at the influential Gimpel Fils Gallery in London. That same year, following shows for Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Robert Motherwell, Soulages exhibited at Kootz Gallery in New York, a gallery that played an important role in American post-war art. In 1956, Soulages also held an influential show with Galerie de France, a Parisian gallery devoted to abstract art. Pierre Soulages experienced immense success in Europe and the United States, and he painted Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 3 décembre 1956 at the height of his prestige.
Painting Relief 13.9.1962 (Lot 1048), an excellent example of Minimalism by Richard Lin offered in this season’s Sale, was also shown at Gimpel Fils Gallery. Zao Wou-Ki and Soulages were both represented by Galerie de France in the 1950s. In addition, Zao’s Hurricane Period tour de force 04.01.62 (Lot 1044) was originally shown at the Redfern Gallery in London, which also exhibited Soulages’ Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 3 décembre 1956 in 1962. Later, at Soulages’ recommendation, Zao signed with Kootz Gallery, and 15.02.65 (Lot 1041), which was painted during this collaboration, is a masterpiece that responds to American Abstract Expressionism. Evidently, Soulages shared a career trajectory with several Chinese artists living in Europe, and their interactions informed an important historical moment of mutual influence between Asian and European artists.
“Black is never the same because light changes it.”
In a turbulent post-war world, artists gained a new understanding of expression and creation. Artists including Soulages abandoned representational methods and established an abstract artistic language within the post-war avant-garde. In Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 3 décembre 1956, glimmering gold and bronze tones seem to emerge from the pitch blackness—the epitome of simple elegance. The thick, heavy brushstrokes are accented by refracted white light. He once said, ‘Black is never the same because light changes it.’ Soulages has been fascinated with archaeology since childhood, and prehistoric wall paintings and Medieval monasteries and convents particularly interest him. The strong, architectural quality to the oil paint invokes unique elements from past aesthetic movements. Post-war artists such as Franz Kline and Georges Mathieu also drew inspiration from the Eastern aesthetic. Soulages encountered Zao Wou-Ki and other Asian painters in Paris, and in this cultural milieu, he started to create abstract compositions with calligraphic rhythms. Soulages once said,
"I made line combinations which struck the eye of the beholder as a large form. One fine day I realized that the drawings I was doing were reminiscent of Chinese characters.“
COMPARABLE WORKS IN NOTABLE MUSEUM COLLECTIONS:
Left II: Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 14 mars 1955, oil on canvas,1955, 195 x 130 cm. Museum Folkwang, Essen.
Right II: Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 1955, oil on canvas, 1955,195 x 130 cm. The National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Right I: Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 1955, oil on canvas, 1955, 195 x 130 cm. The Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 3 décembre 1956 was painted on a no. 120 canvas, and according to his catalogue raisonné, Soulages created more than 330 works in the 1950s, but only 50 were painted on no. 120 or larger canvases. Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 3 décembre 1956 is a rarity, as only five paintings of a similar size have appeared on the auction market over the last decade. Important international collections also hold Soulages works of comparable dimensions, including Peinture 195 x 130 cm, mai 1953 (collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York), Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 14 mars 1955 (collection of the Museum Folkwang, Essen), Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 1955 (collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC), and Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 1955 (collection of the Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University). Like these other paintings gracing important cultural cities, Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 3 décembre 1956 is a museum-quality piece.
In 1959, Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 3 décembre 1956 was shown as part of Documenta II, one of the most important contemporary art events in Germany and Europe. Soulages was the only artist to participate in all of the first three editions of Documenta. This work was also shown at the Redfern Gallery in London in 1959 and 1962, at Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer Gallery in New York in 1977, and at Berlinische Galerie in 1988. Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 3 décembre 1956, with its notable exhibition history and complete documentation, bears witness to Soulages’ six-decade international career and his important place among the post-war masters.
COMPARABLE WORKS SOLD AT AUCTION:
夢筆抽象：
皮耶・蘇拉吉五〇年代卡塞爾文獻展參展鉅作
走過百年風光，見盡時代變遷，生於1919年的法籍現代大師皮耶・蘇拉吉，是現今唯一依然在世的戰後抽象畫家；蘇拉吉自四〇年代起已勇於挑戰、顛覆並創造風格，在國際藝壇迅疾跳躍的脈搏之中，蘇拉吉是過去半世紀以來不可或缺的重要一員。《畫作 195 X 130厘米，1956年12月3日》（拍品編號1042）誕生於藝術家發展輝煌的五〇年代：1955年，蘇拉吉在歐洲深具影響力的倫敦金貝爾・斐斯畫廊舉行個展，更於同年繼羅斯科、德庫寧、馬瑟韋爾等名家後，展出於奠定戰後藝術潮流的紐約庫茲畫廊，又於1956年展出於巴黎致力推廣抽象藝術之法蘭西畫廊，引來極大迴響，引證藝術家成功在歐美闖出名堂，而本作即是誕生於其事業如日中天的閃爍一刻。
在本場拍賣中，旅英的林壽宇所創之極簡精品《繪畫浮雕 13.9.1962》（拍品編號1048）與本作同樣曾展出於倫敦金貝爾・斐斯畫廊；旅法的趙無極不僅與蘇吉拉於五〇年代同獲法蘭西畫廊代理，同場之狂草力作《04.01.62》（拍品編號1044）原初源自倫敦雷德芬畫廊，而本作亦曾同年展出於該畫廊；後來更在蘇拉吉的推薦下，趙無極成為了庫茲畫廊代理藝術家，由此催生《15.02.65》（拍品編號1041）等回應美國抽象表現主義的巨幅鉅作；由此可見，蘇拉吉與一眾旅歐華人藝術家的發展軌跡與版圖互相交錯，而於此匯聚，重構一幕亞、歐藝術家互相輝映的重要歷史時刻。
「黑色永遠層出不窮，因為光線會改變它。」
在百廢待興的戰後世界，藝術家對於表達與創作有了嶄新的感悟，包括蘇拉吉在内的藝術家捨棄具象描繪手法，並以抽象的藝術語言奠定了戰後前衛思潮。在《畫作 195 X 130厘米，1956年12月3日》中，大片的漆黑滲透出隱隱閃亮的黃銅色，極具高古氣韻，而大筆厚塗的部分，則時而映耀著白色的光線折射，正如其所言：「黑色永遠層出不窮，因為光線會改變它。」蘇拉吉自幼鍾情考古，尤其對史前文明的原始壁畫以及中世紀修道院的建築著迷；本作中結實雄渾而充滿建築性的油彩肌理，即是援引自歷代美學的獨特元素。另一方面，戰後年代一些藝術家如弗朗茲・克萊恩、喬治・馬修等，開始從東方美學中擷取靈感，而早在巴黎與趙無極等亞裔畫家結緣的蘇拉吉，亦是在此文化氛圍下開始在畫中展現富有書法韻味的抽象構圖，正如其所自言：
「我把不同線條組成巨大形狀，引起觀者注目。有一天我更從自己的畫作聯想到漢字結構。」
相類博物館藏：
左二：《畫作195 x 130 厘米，1955年3月14日》 油畫畫布， 1955年作， 195 x 130 cm。德國埃森弗柯望博物館藏。
右二：《畫作195 x 130 厘米，1955年》 油畫畫布， 1955年作， 195 x 130 cm。 華盛頓國家美術館 藏。
右一：《畫作195 x 130 厘米，1955年》 油畫畫布 ，1955年作 ，195 x 130 cm。 印第安納大學埃斯肯納齊藝術館藏。
《畫作 195 X 130厘米，1956年12月3日》以120號巨幅畫布創作，而按藝術家全集所載錄，蘇拉吉於五〇年代共創逾330幅畫作，當中以120號或以上尺幅畫布的只有約50幅；而在過往十年之拍賣市場中，僅出現五幅同類巨作，甚爲罕見。同達120號尺幅之相近作品，亦見於世界重要館藏，包括紐約古根漢美術館藏之《畫作195 x 130 厘米，1953年5月》、德國埃森弗柯望博物館藏之《畫作195 x 130 厘米，1955年3月14日》、華盛頓國家美術館藏之《畫作195 x 130 厘米，1955年》、印第安納大學埃斯肯納齊藝術館藏之《畫作195 x 130 厘米，1955年》等，足跡遍及重要文化城市，力證本作之博物館級別質量。
本作曾於1959年卡塞爾文獻展，該展為德國以至歐洲至今最為重要的當代藝術盛事之一，而蘇拉吉更是唯一曾參與自1955年起的首三屆文獻展之藝術家；另外，本作亦曾展出於1959年及1962年倫敦雷德芬畫廊、1977年紐約金貝爾及魏茨霍夫畫廊，以及1988年柏林市立畫廊，展歷精彩而文獻齊全，並見證蘇拉吉自五〇年代起廣闊的國際軌跡，彰顯其戰後大師之重要地位。