Bridget Riley

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Robert Kudielka, 'The Paintings of the Years 1982-1992 in the Context of the Previous Work', in Bridget Riley: Paintings 1982-1992, South Bank Centre / Kunsthalle Nurnberg, 1992, p.44;
Paul Moorhouse, 'A Dialogue with Sensation: The Art of Bridget Riley', in Paul Moorhouse (ed.), Bridget Riley, Tate Publishing, London 2003, p.23-24, illustrated fig.14.

 

The following condition report was prepared by the painting restorer Phil Young. CONDITION The painting surface has dirt and what appears to be a yellowed and darkened heavy varnish (no tests were made). There are local distortions in the canvas particularly around the corners. There is an abrasion across the tops of the canvas texture in the upper left centre and some distortions in the lower areas as a result of debris between canvas and stretcher. A pale spill or other residue is seen in the centre of the painting. A number of losses to the brown paint in the lower sections are seen, notably up from the lower edge where two losses run for 9cm horizontally; there is also some loss in from the centre right edge and in the dark brushstroke below the right side of the plate. The drying crackle in the red area at left centre is a natural result of the paint ageing and not related to a condition problem. CONCLUSIONS The appearance may be improved by removal of the varnish, consolidation and restoration of the paint losses.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Although Riley's reputation is always connected with her pioneering black and white 'op art' paintings of the 1960s, the range of colour, and thus the scope of her work, had been steadily growing. In 1978-1980, a large retrospective of her career was toured extensively around the world and this gave the artist the opportunity to travel. Her experience of Australia, and particularly a visit to Egypt, brought her into contact with a huge bank of colour sensations on which to draw, and this began to make itself felt in the paintings produced in the early years of the new decade.

Whilst the previous paintings had become ever more complex in their composition, the demands of the wider palette marked a return to the pure simplicity of the equally modulated striped form. Within this, Riley was able to experiment with the effects produced by the various colour combinations and the visual sensations thus experienced. Certain colours form key elements in works of this period, although she still used both white and black extensively, black to give a strong 'beat' to the image and white to echo and balance that note, and yet give a kind of framework within which the possibilities of the remaining colours can be utilized. When the black bands began to disappear in the paintings from 1983 onwards, the softer manipulation of the areas between them by the white stripes allowed still further development for the creation of spatial depth.

Broken Gaze is one of a very small number of landmark paintings such as Gentle Edge (Artist's Collection) that define the direction of the next step in Riley's painting, a step which heralded a new emphasis in her painting. Whilst there had been use of the diagonal in earlier works, such as that implied in the Arrest series of 1967, or more obviously in paintings such as Veld (Canberra, National Gallery of Australia) of 1971, the introduction of the diagonal as a device to disrupt the effect of the vertical elements of the composition was a new and radical departure. This was to be taken further in the paintings that were to follow, such as the previous lot and Midsummer (sold in these rooms 14 March,2006, lot 112) with the diagonal forms becoming larger and more prominent. Riley's interest in the possibilities of the diagonal in a composition at this time was perhaps highlighted by her selection of works for the 1989 Artist's Eye exhibition at the National Gallery, London. Selected from the permanent collection, Riley's choices included large compositions by Titian, Veronese, Cezanne, Rubens and El Greco, all of which were very much built around underlying diagonal emphases.