Adolph Gottlieb

Marlborough-Gerson, Inc., New York
Private Collection, Washington, D.C. (acquired from the above in 1965)
Private Collection, New York
Sotheby's, New York, November 13, 2002, lot 219
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

This work is very good condition overall. There is evidence of light wear and handling along the edges and corners. There are a few scattered smudges to the surface, most notably in the lower right corner, which fluoresce darkly under ultraviolet light inspection. Additionally, there are various fine and unobtrusive abrasions which fluoresce brightly under ultra violet light inspection. Additionally, there is a small 3/4 inch repaired area in the lower right corner located approximately 5 inches from the bottom and 4 inches from the right which in raking light is slightly more glossy and saturated than the remainder of the composition and fluoresces darkly under UV light. Framed.
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.

The oeuvre of Adolph Gottlieb, one of the most influential figures of Abstract Expressionism, is the product of the artist's life-long commitment to the refinement of ideas. A master colorist and close contemporary of Rothko, Gottlieb worked in a succession of distinctive styles which systematically evolved throughout his career, defined by the ideas he wished to explore on the canvas and fueled by his ambition to produce the ultimate visual statement.  The monumental Burst paintings of the late 1950s and 1960s build upon his earlier examination of figure-ground and dyadic relationships in the Imaginary Landscapes as well as the primitivism and universal symbols of his Pictographs. They remain his most celebrated works and represent the artist at the height of his powers.  

The Burst paintings have often been interpreted as a potent expression of the anxieties of the atomic age, a fireball hovering above scorched earth representing the universal tension between creation and destruction. In each of the Burst paintings, a celestial sphere floats above an amorphous gestural mass set in a field of saturated color or pure white, inviting the viewer to explore the relationship between opposites, the sublime versus the infernal, as well as the emotional resonance of color.  

In New Year, 1965, the binary opposition of the forms is particularly stark. The smooth sphere and the tangle of chaos beneath, rendered in thickly applied black paint, hover in a saturated crimson spatial plane. And yet, where there is tension and aggression there is also commonality. The forms are inextricably bound to one another; they hang in balance and one could not exist without the other. As though to offset the elemental violence of the confrontation, three bands of color float in the bottom right corner of the canvas in pale purple, red, and orange, subtle color variations on the crimson field that transform its very nature completely and draw the eye of the viewer away from the central conflict.  

Gottlieb's work is at once an intensely personal exploration of feeling, expression and individual experience and at the same time an attempt to define a universal visual language based on a shared emotional landscape that transcends time and place. As the artist once said, "The subconscious has been my guiding factor in all my work. I deal with inner feeling," (Adolph Gottlieb, A Retrospective, New York, 1981, p. 49). The continued relevance of his work today is evidence that he achieved those goals.