No Collections Here

Sort your projects into collections. Click on "Manage Collections" to get started

July: A timeline of modern invention

These three artworks, when placed side by side, create a timeline of modern creative invention: Joan Miro, a Spaniard, loathed conventional methods and wanted to destroy what was then known as painting. Vasarely, a Hungarian, was perpetually unhappy with the art he made until he invented a genre of his own. And Jenkins, an American, introduced ideas of intuition and chance into abstract expressionism, with the idea that art in itself could be a phenomenon. With each artist born over a decade before the next, together their distinctively different pieces present a period of expression in full commitment to moving art forward.

Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893 - 1983) Figure au Soleil, from XXE Siecle No. 4 - 1938, linocut

From one of the most experiment-driven artists of the 20th Century.

Estimated value: $1800-$2200

DESCRIPTION:
Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893 - 1983)Figure au Soleil, from XXe Siecle No. 4 - 1938, linocut in colors on wove paper, signed on the block

Dimensions - approx. 12.5 inches x 9.75 inches, unframed

PROVENANCE:
Rex Rivolo Collection, Long Island, NY
Heritage Auctions
Acquired from the above by the present owner

ABOUT:
Joan Miró was one of the most influential surrealists of the 20th century, and is among the most sought-after artists by collectors today. He studied both business and art, but working in business reportedly led him to have a nervous breakdown, forcing him to focus on only art thereafter. His art career included collaborations with Max Ernst, purchases from Ernest Hemingway, and shows alongside Salvador Dali. André Breton described him as "the most Surrealist of us all." There are two separate museums in Spain dedicated just to him.

This is Miro’s first and only linocut, published in an edition of 1,000 for the Christmas 1938 edition of the prestigious art magazine XXe Siecle, with pinholes in the margin as indication of it being from the original first edition.

*The periodical XXe Siècle was founded in 1938 by art historian, writer, and publisher Gualtieri di San Lazzaro (1904–1974), while living and working in Paris. XXe Siècle combined articles with original artworks by well-known and influential artists of the time. About 60 issues were published between 1938 and 1974.

Victor Vasarely (Hungarian/French, b. 1906) Torony-Co, 1973 - limited edition postcard (signed)

From the grandfather of the style termed Op Art.

Estimated value: $300-500

DESCRIPTION:
Victor Vasarely (Hungarian/French, b. 1906) Torony-Co, 1973, framed print postcard from a limited unknown edition, signed by Vasarely in silver

Dimensions - approx. 8.75 inches x 10.75 inches, framed

PROVENANCE:
Autograph dealer Markus Brandes, Switzerland
Acquired from the above by the present owner

ABOUT:
Vasarely studied at a small private art school in the 1920s that at the time was considered Budapest’s center for Bauhaus studies. He later moved to Paris, where he opened his first studio, and embarked on a very long career of artistic invention.

Because of his early experiments with shapes and how the human eye perceives them, he is considered the grandfather of Op art. Op art is a form of abstract art that creates an optical illusion such as a sense of movement, vibration, or warping, or that presents a structure whose perceived angles and surfaces change as your eyes move through the image, like the piece we have here.

*Condition report upon request.

Paul Jenkins (American, 1923 - 2012) Composition pour Eric, 1972 - lithograph

From the celebrated pioneer of abstract expressionism.

Estimated value: $1200-$1600

DESCRIPTION:
Paul Jenkins (American, 1923 - 2012) Composition pour Eric, from
Souveniers de Portraits d’Artistes - 1972, lithograph in colors on wove paper, hand-signed in pencil on front

Dimensions - approx. 19.75 inches x 12.75 inches, unframed

PROVENANCE:
Rex Rivolo Collection, Long Island, NY
Heritage Auctions
Acquired from the above by the present owner

ABOUT:
Paul Jenkins grew up in Kansas City, where his uncle once introduced him to the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who suggested he focus on agriculture rather than art. In his teens he lived with his mother and stepfather in Ohio, who ran a local newspaper, before serving in the navy air corps during World War II. After the war, he studied at the Art Students League of New York, where he met Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. He settled in Paris not long after, living between Paris and New York throughout the rest of his life.

During his long career, he created an extensive body of work, predominantly abstract pieces, with some in permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Tate in London, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

*Condition report upon request.

.pro-gallery-wix-wrapper {display: block !important;} .pro-gallery-wix-wrapper .gallery-item-container {opacity: 1 !important; display: block !important;}