Lot 64
  • 64

Jean-Paul Riopelle

Estimate
600,000 - 800,000 EUR
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Description

  • Jean-Paul Riopelle
  • ...Et plus...,
  • oil on canvas
  • 130 x 195 cm; 51 3/16 x 76 3/4 in.
  • Executed in 1959.

Provenance

Galleria dell'Ariete, Milan
Carlo Monzino Collection, Milan
Sale: Christie's, London, Contemporary Art, 30 November 1989, lot 723
Galerie Artcurial, Paris
Private Collection, France
Acquired from the above by the current owner in 1999

Literature

Yseult Riopelle, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Catalogue Raisonné Tome 2, 1954-1959, Montréal, 2004, p. 334, no. 1959.071H.1959, illustrated in colour

Condition

The colours are fairly accurate in the catalogue illustration although the image does not accurately convey the transparencies and interplay of tonalities of the work.  The work is executed on its original canvas and is not relined. There are few stabilized hairline cracks throughout the surface, visible mainly on the upper half of the work.  The surface is slightly dirty, especially on the reliefs.  Under Ultra Violet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration.  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."

Catalogue Note

"There is no abstraction or figuration: there is only expression and expressing oneself, it is about placing oneself in front of things. To abstract means to take away, to isolate, to separate whilst I try to do the contrary, to add, to approach, to link." Jean-Paul Riopelle

1959 was a year of assessment for Riopelle. The previous year, the painter thought much about what his friend Georges Duthuit had written about his work in which the art critic saw an "uncontrollable search for the image (...) up to the very titles [of his paintings]". Riopelle however sought to distance himself from rhetoric in favour of a new inspiration, in an attempt to draw away from grandiloquence.

...Et plus..., illustrates the desire for renewal that inhabited the painter at the time he was thinking of living with Joan Mitchell- a plan which became a reality a few months later when they moved together to the famous apartment-studio on rue Frémicourt in the 15th arrondissement in Paris. Mitchell/Riopelle, un couple dans la démesure, the beautiful exhibition that is currently being held at the musée national des Beaux-Arts in Quebec, evokes with brio this crucial period in the work of two giants of modern and contemporary art. From May 5th to June 15th,1959, they presented a show together in Turin, a standard bearer for Arte Nuova whose importance is becoming apparent. ...Et plus..., marks the beginning of an astounding period for Riopelle, carried by his dialogue with Mitchell on abstraction and the creative passion which animated both of them.