LORSER FEITELSON | Untitled

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in 1978

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of light wear and handling along the edges including a 0.25-inch loss along the lower right edge that is obscured by the frame and a 7.5-inch horizontal minor surface abrasion visible along the bottom. The colors are bright, fresh and clean. Under very close inspection, there are two pinpoint losses in the maroon band approximately 5.5-inches from the bottom and a vertical surface irregularity to the canvasboard 3-inches from the right edge. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. 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.

Born in Savannah, Georgia in 1898, Lorser Feitelson settled in Los Angeles in 1927 and was a pioneering champion of California Hard Edge Abstraction. In 1959, curator and critic Jules Langsner mounted the exhibition Four Abstract Classicists the Los Angeles County Museum in Exposition Park, which featured Feitelson, Karl Stanley Benjamin, John McLaughlin and Frederick Hammersley. The Classicists, with their precise use of line and color to define abstract, geometric forms, painted in direct opposition to the romanticism of Abstract Expressionism and, in Langsner's words, were "finite, flat, rimmed by a hard clean edge...not intended to evoke in the spectator any recollections of specific shapes he may have encountered in some other connection. They are autonomous shapes, sufficient unto themselves—that is to say, pure abstractions."