S otheby’s Paris is pleased to announce its Contemporary Art | Paris sale, which brings together an exciting group of works by some of the most sought-after artists of the moment including Mary Bauermeister, Roy Lichtenstein, Francois Morellet, Jean Dubuffet, Carlos Cruz-Diez and many others. This eclectic ensemble of paintings, works on paper and sculpture presents a unique opportunity to acquire high-quality works at an attractive price point.
In 1959, as he worked on the model for the symphonic orchestra of New York, Cruz-Diez observed how the red colour reflected onto the white surface. The phenomenon fascinated him, leading him to undertake an experiment with cardboard strips: and thus, the physichromies were born. The present work is a historical representation of Cruz-Diez’s revolutionary artistic technique and dates back to a turning point in the artist’s career.
This group of works by Mark Tobey is highly representative of his work between 1959 and 1966. Meditative and inspired, his oeuvre unveils the personality of an artist open to the world. He works in a style reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s drip technique, which he associated with the evanescent nature of Asian landscapes, the ink serving to evoke the aspect of motion. This is especially visible in works which recall the Japanese Kakemono formats, all the while using a rich palette of colours, mixing light and bright pinks, green and black strokes.
This technique and format attest to the impact of the artist’s trips to China and Japan in the 1930s, which continued to inspire him 30 years later. Their appearance on the market is a unique opportunity to acquire a work by a leading figure of American abstraction, which have remained in the same collection for over 40 years. Currently, a retrospective of his life and work is being held at the historical Galerie Jeanne-Bucher Jaeger in Paris, highlighting the eternal and contemporary aspect of Tobey’s oeuvre.
Tadashi Kawamata, originally from Hokkaidō, is a Japanese artist whose work explores the relationship between the space and time it occupies. His constructions, largely made from reclaimed wood, interlace and invade the houses, walls and urban decors the artist picks as his playground. The city and its buildings serve as his canvas, and Kawamata articulates his sculptures around the circumstances the space provides him with, shaping a new environment using his own two hands.
The works presented here were all included in Sculpture Japonaise Contemporaine, the first exhibition dedicated to contemporary Japanese sculpture in France, which took place in 1985 at the Galerie Jullien-Cornic.
