Yves Tanguy

Kay Sage Tanguy, Woodbury
Galerie Rive Gauche, Paris
Monkovitch, Paris
Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago
Jacob Polak, Sarasota
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
Kazumasa Katsuta, Tokyo (acquired from the above and sold : Christie's, New York, 10th May 2001, lot 228)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Barcelona, Fundació Joan Miró ; Vienna, Museum Moderner Kunst, Stiftung Ludwig & Budapest, Szépmüvészeti Múzeum (travelling exhibition), Klee, Tanguy, Miró: Tres Visions del Paisatge, 1999-2000, no. 63 

Pierre Matisse, Yves Tanguy, Un recueil de ses oeuvres, New York, 1963, no. 287, illustrated p. 129
Patrick Waldberg, Yves Tanguy, Brussels, 1977, illustrated p. 103
René Le Bihan, Renée Mabin & Martica Sawin, Yves Tanguy, Quimper, 2001, no. 82, illustrated p. 146 

The canvas is not lined. Under UV light thin areas fluoresce around the edges indicating restored frame abrasion. Tiny lines and dots also fluoresce in the background in the upper half of the composition, otherwise this work is in very good condition.
"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."

Painted in 1942 in the United States, where Tanguy had taken refuge at the beginning of the war, L’athée ou la religieuse is emblematic of the artist's developed, mature style. Populated with evocative biomorphic forms, the work is one of the finest examples of Tanguy's enigmatic compositions where the overlapping of shapes and meanings offers a blueprint for an alternative world.

A year after his arrival in the United States and his marriage to the artist Kay Sage, the newlyweds moved to Woodbury, Connecticut. Located on the outskirts of New York, Woodbury played host to a veritable colony of artists, including Alexander Calder, André Masson, Julien Levy and Gorky. Within this context of intense artistic competition, interaction and influence flourished.  The Pierre Matisse Gallery, which opened in New York in 1935, channelled these productive forces. The same year, in a letter to a former classmate, Tanguy wrote: "Maybe you still remember me, and the years we spent at the Lycée St Louis, and how we used to visit exhibitions together ... I've been meaning to write to you for a long time. It was the occasion of an exhibition that brought it all back to me, and it gives me such a great joy to recall those old memories." (cited in Pierre Matisse, passeur passionné: un marchand d'art et ses artistes, Paris, Hazan, 2005, p. 73).  Shortly afterwards, in November 1939, Tanguy would become the first Surrealist to settle permanently in the United States. In December 1939, Pierre Matisse seized the opportunity to organise a solo exhibition in his honour and the following year he became his official art dealer in the United States, as well as the owner of L’athée ou la religieuse. A few months after the first Tanguy exhibition in his adopted homeland, Pierre Matisse was moved to write: "He is a newcomer to the gallery and I will receive his entire output. You have doubtless have seen a number of his paintings in Paris, but his recent work is truly remarkable and I'm convinced he will hold an important position among the painters of the post-war generation. His name is Tanguy [...]." (in Pierre Matisse and His Artists, New York, 2002, p. 86).