Lot 184
  • 184

Alejandro Otero

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 USD
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Description

  • Alejandro Otero
  • Untitled (from Cafeteras)
  • dated 13.2.50 and inscribed B on the reverse 
  • oil on canvas
  • 25 3/8 by 21 in. 64.4 by 53.3 cm.

Provenance

Collection of Pedro Vallenilla Echeverría, Caracas (acquired directly from the artist)
Private Collection, Caracas (acquired from the above) 
Sotheby's, New York, 19 November 2002, Lot 108
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

Exhibited

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas, Alejandro Otero, February 1985, no. 90, p. 171
Caracas, Sala Mendoza, Un Hombre, Una Colección: Homenaje a Pedro Vallenilla Echeverría, May - June 1993, p. 6 
Biarritz, Espace Bellevue, Passion et Raison d’un Esprit Constructif: Une Conquête de l’Art d’Amérique Latine, Oeuvres de la Fundación Daniela Chappard, June - September 2006, cat. no. 89, illustrated in color 

Condition

This work is restored and in beautiful condition. The canvas has been reinforced around the edges and stretched onto a new stretcher. This method of support is appropriate and effective. The paint layer is stable. It seems to be clean. A few very fluorescent marks can be seen under ultraviolet light, but these do not seem to be retouches. The small fluorescent specks visible under ultraviolet light are possibly remnants of facing paper. There are a couple of tiny unrestored losses in the upper left, but otherwise the work is in excellent state. (This condition report has been provided courtesy of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.) 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.

Catalogue Note

"The first thing to disappear was the sense of stability. My forms began to 'fluctuate' in a space without up or down, leaning slightly on one side of the canvas, in an inclined position… Despite the fact that the lines, the colors and in some sense the space, continued to obey a norm deriving from the naturalistic perception of things, their action within the canvas could be perceived in itself, without reference to the objects which had given rise to it. Lines, colors and spaces organized themselves according to a rhythm that had been created, and it was this rhythm which imposed itself as a theme and reality of the work. This transposition seems to me now a “flight” as high as Kandinsky achieved with his first 'improvisations.'"  Alejandro Otero



This work is included in the archives of the Fundación Otero Pardo under Archive Number AOR-000200.