R. B. Kitaj

Waddington & Tooth Galleries Ltd., London

Exhibition Catalogue, Hannover, Kestner-Gesellschaft, R B Kitaj, 1970, no. 105, illustrated (detail)
Marco Livingstone, Kitaj, London 1992, pp. 14 & 180, pl. 26, no. 12, illustrated (detail) 
Exhibition Catalogue, London, Tate Gallery, R. B. Kitaj: A Retrospective, 1994, p. 40, fig. 24, illustrated (detail)

Colours: The colours are fairly accurate in the catalogue illustration, although the overall tonality is deeper and the colours richer and warmer in the original. The standing figure's hat tends more towards ochre-brown and the blue trousers of the scattered figures on the right side tend more towards slate blue in the original. Condition: The work is in very good condition. There is canvas wear in places around the extreme edges and scattered rub marks to the four corners and at intervals elsewhere to the extreme edges. There are a few light handling marks to the extreme edges, particularly visible to the left side of the upper extreme edge, where four light fingerprint marks can be seen. There are further light rub marks and scattered very small isolated media accretions to the upper left quadrant. Three small media accretions are visible to the standing figure's left leg (also visible in the catalogue illustration). There are a number of very light scattered media smudges visible upon close inspection against the pale canvas ground, predominantly to the left side of the work. There is a short diagonal linear indentation towards the lower part of the right extreme edge. Four short lines of fine surface cracking, also to the lower part of the right extreme edge, fluoresce slightly when examined under ultraviolet light.
"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."

The lone figure of America's General Custer stands with his feet apart, gun pulled from its holster, ready to face the oncoming enemy. On the right side, a multiplicity of fragmented forms fills the space: disembodied heads, torsos cut off from arms and legs and severed body parts float in an imaginary space unanchored by gravity or logic. The splintered bodies and General Custer's defiant stance remind us of the disastrous outcome of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.  Kitaj renders the forms in a bold cartoon-like manner: an armature of black lines delineates the forms, their mass defined in striking hues of red, blue and brown.

The Bells of Hell is a rare example of Kitaj's early style, where the Surrealist idea of 'free association' and the composition filed of Abstract Expressionism unite amidst imagery drawn from literary, historical and political sources.  Taking General Custer's defeat at Little Big Horn as his subject, Kitaj borrows symbolic motifs from American-Indian pictographs, creating a discordant arrangement where forms become ciphers and meaning is gleaned from the association of opposing parts. Kitaj used an 1893 Smithsonian Institute study as his inspiration for the recreation of the battle scene. Marco Livingstone writes of the work, 'Kitaj quotes literally from the illustrations in the Smithsonian in order to produce a modern version of a historical narrative picture, one that deals with an actual event... both through the eyes of contemporary witnesses and from the perspective of an artist living a century later.' (Marco Livingstone, Kitaj, London 1999, p.14)

Often associated with the Pop movement which swept the London art scene in the early 1960s, Kitaj's art is unique in its sheer originality. In 1959, two years before painting the present work, he enrolled at the Royal College of Art, studying alongside David Hockney.  A remarkable example from this period of intense artistic activity, The Bells of Hell encapsulates Kitaj's artistic preoccupations at the time. The historical subject, figurative theme and bold depiction of imaginary forms unite to create a work which breaks with the conventional pictorial language of perspective and stylistic unity.  Sparking with energy and animated from edge to edge, The Bells of Hell stands apart from Kitaj's early 1960s works as a stunning tour de force of compositional daring.