24 - UARY 31 JANUAR RUARY 2027

BRUSSELS EXPO | HEYSEL

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Artworks

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Galleries
Galleries Galerie AB - Agnès Aittouarès Franck Anelli Fine Art Ars Antiqua d'Arschot & Cie Art et Patrimoine - Laurence Lenne Arte-Fact Fine Art Artimo Fine Arts Galerie Ary Jan Galerie BA - Berthet Aittouarès HELENE BAILLY MARCILHAC Véronique Bamps Barbara Bassi Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art Galerie de la Béraudière Galerie Berès Bernier/Eliades Galeria Bessa Pereira Galerie BG Arts Boon Gallery Galerie Alexis Bordes Bernard Bouisset Galerie Boulakia Galerie Nicolas Bourriaud Brame & Lorenceau Cabinet of Curiosities - Honourable Silver Objects Galerie Capazza Giammarco Cappuzzo Fine Art Carlucci Gallery Galerie Jean-François Cazeau Galerie Cento Anni Chambre professionnelle belge de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne (CLAM) Citadelles & Mazenod CKS Gallery Claes Gallery Collectors Gallery COLNAGHI Costermans Dalton Somaré De Brock De Jonckheere Galerie Bernard De Leye Galerie Oscar De Vos De Wit Fine Tapestries De Zutter Art Gallery Dei Bardi Art Thomas Deprez Fine Arts Patrick Derom Gallery Desmet Fine Arts Virginie Devillez Fine Art DIE GALERIE Douwes Fine Art b.v. Epoque Fine Jewels Finch & Co Galerie Flak A&R Fleury Galerie La Forest Divonne Galerie Christophe Gaillard Galerie des Modernes Gilden's Art Gallery Grusenmeyer-Woliner Galerie Hadjer Galerie Haesaerts-le Grelle Philippe Heim Heutink Ikonen Galerie Hioco Hoffmans Antiques Huberty & Breyne Galerie Hurtebize rodolphe janssen Francis Janssens van der Maelen Kunsthaus Kende Harold t’Kint de Roodenbeke Florian Kolhammer Hartford Fine Art - Lampronti Gallery Alexis Lartigue Lemaire Galerie Lowet de Wotrenge Francis Maere Fine Arts Maison D'Art Maisonjaune Studio Martins&Montero Martos Gallery MARUANI MERCIER MassModernDesign Galerie Mathivet Mearini Fine Art Galerie Greta Meert Meessen Galerie la Ménagerie Mulier Mulier Gallery Jan Muller Antiques Klaas Muller NARDI VENEZIA Nosbaum Reding Dr. Nöth kunsthandel Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels Objects With Narratives Galeria Jordi Pascual Galerie La Patinoire Royale Bach Pauline's Jewellery Box Pelgrims de Bigard Galerie Alexis Pentcheff Christophe Perlès Galerie Perrin Guy Pieters Gallery Gallery de Potter d’Indoye Galerie de la Présidence Pron Van Pruissen Asian Art QG Gallery Maison Rapin Almine Rech Stéphane Renard Fine Art Repetto Gallery robertaebasta Romigioli Antichità Laurent Schaubroeck Serge Schoffel - Art Premier Segoura Fine Art Edouard Simoens Gallery Herwig Simons Fine Arts Stern Pissarro Gallery Stone Gallery Galerie Taménaga TASCHEN TEMPLON The old Treasury Galerie Patrice Trigano unforget Decorative Arts Univers du Bronze Vagabond Antiques Gallery Sofie Van de Velde Van Herck-Eykelberg Galerie Raf Van Severen Samuel Vanhoegaerden Gallery Maurice Verbaet Gallery Galerie von Vertes Axel Vervoordt Galerie Dina Vierny VKD Jewels Galerie Florence de Voldère N. Vrouyr Floris van Wanroij Fine Art Galerie Watteeu by Edouard & Andrea de Caters Victor Werner WHITFORD Willow Gallery
 

Galerie Nicolas Bourriaud

François Martinez (Oran 1902–1986 Toulouse) Two Birds of Prey, circa before 1938 Direct carving in thuja wood H 57 x W 39 x D 26 cm Signed ‘F Martinez’ Unique piece

 

MassModernDesign

jose zanine caldas

Jose Zanine Caldas (Brazil, Belmonte 1919-2001 Vitória) Denuncia bench, 1979 Pequi hardwood H 50 x W 300 x D 41 cm Provenance: private collection, Brasilia

 

Galerie Patrice Trigano

césar

César, alias César Baldaccini (Marseille 1921-1998 Paris) Hommage à Eiffel, 1989 Welded bronze Bocquel foundry 280 x 200 x 55 cm Signed and numbered Provenance: acquired from the artist in 1990 Literature: P. Restany, César, éd. De la Différence, Paris, 1988, p. 65 and p. 328 (Monumental version of Cartier Foundation, photography in progress); B.-H. Lévy, César, les bronzes, Éditons de la Différence, Galerie Baubourg, Paris, 1991, p. 24; César, Oeuvres de 1947 à 1993, Musée de Marseille, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Marseille, 1993, p. 159; César, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, 1996, pp. 76-77; César, Museu Brasileiro da Escultura Marilisa Rathsam, São Paulo, 1999, p. 212; Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, César la rétrospective, December 2017- March 2018, p. 173; Archives Denyse Durand-Ruel, n° 4499 Exhibitions: Marseille, centre de la Vieille Charité, César, oeuvres de 1947 à 1993, July-September 1993, p. 159; Monte-Carlo, César à Monte-Carlo, May-September 1993, (unnumbered); Luxembourg, Dexia Banque Internationale, Hommage à César, October-December 2000, p. 70; Cannes, La Malmaison, César, l’oeuvre de bronze, July-October 2002, p. 86; Travelling exhibition: Cannes, parvis du palais des Festivals, July-September 2002; Geneviève, Galerie Artrium, September-December 2002; Rabat, Musée Mohammed VI d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, César, une histoire méditerranéenne, December 2015-March 2016, reproduced in colour p. 68 and p. 70

 

Huberty & Breyne

nicolas de crécy

Nicolas de Crécy (Lyon, 1966) Brouillard, vers plan glacier, 2024 Watercolour, acrylic and gouache on paper 80 x 120.5 cm

 

Brame & Lorenceau

julio gonzález

Julio González (Spain, Barcelona 1876-1942 Arcueil, France) Personnage au cornet, 1937 China ink and coloured pencil on paper 29 x 21 cm Signed and dated lower centre Provenance: private collection Literature: J. Gibert, Catalogue raisonné des dessins de Julio González, Projets pour sculptures personnages, Paris, 1975, vol. 9, p. 47 (ill.) Exhibition: New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Julio González, Drawings and Sculpture, February-April 1956, Minneapolis

 

Edouard Simoens Gallery

christo and jeanne-claude

Christo (Bulgaria 1935-2020 New York) and Jeanne-Claude (Casablanca 1935-2009 New York) The Pont Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris), 1985 Pencil, charcoal, pastel, wax crayon, and technical data 144 x 165 cm (overall) Provenance: Wolfgang Volz collection; private collection Literature: Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Water Projects, Silvana 2016, p. 167

 

N. Vrouyr

Boro textile Patchwork of cotton rags Japan, mid-20th century 163 x 73 cm Provenance: Japan

 

Virginie Devillez Fine Art

pierre-louis flouquet

Pierre-Louis Flouquet (Paris 1900-1967 Brussels) Féminités, circa 1923-1925 Oil on canvas 125 x 87 cm Signed lower right 'flouquet' Provenance: Galerie Patrick Derom, Brussels; private collection, Brussels; private collection, Brussels (by descent to the present owner) Literature: Serge Goyens de Heusch, Pierre-Louis Flouquet. 1900-1967, Brussels, Fondation pour l’Art belge, 1993, (ill. p. 56) Exhibitions: Brussels, Galerie Patrick Derom, The Avant-garde of the 1920s in Belgium, 1992, cat. n° 12 (ill.); Drogenbos, FeliXart Museum, L’Équerre / 7 Arts 1923, scenographic reconstruction of the fair stand of the publishing house L’Équerre, 2008-2011, no catalogue published Born in Paris, Pierre-Louis Flouquet was nine years old when his family moved to Brussels. Mainly self-taught, he received a brief artistic education at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, where he met, among others, Victor Servranckx and René Magritte. The latter soon shared a studio with Flouquet, who began producing geometric works that represented a true synthesis of Cubism and Futurism. Throughout the 1920s, Flouquet exhibited frequently on the international stage - in Paris, Madrid, New York, Chicago, Buenos Aires, and Berlin, at the Galerie Der Sturm. For the gallery’s eponymous magazine, Flouquet even designed a large number of covers. During this period, he developed an art that evolved primarily through distinct series: Paysage plastique, Féminités, Composition, Formes, and Construction. The large-scale painting Féminités belongs to the series of the same name, begun in 1922, which explores geometric variations on the morphology of the female body. The rigor and purity that Flouquet infused into these anthropomorphic stylizations - further emphasized by his distinctive sense of composition - reveal his fascination with the formal perfection of the new technological creations of the modern age. Yet, in Flouquet’s work, as in that of Fernand Léger, such faith in mechanical forms does not lead to a total rejection of figuration, but rather to a search for plastic correspondences between the human and the machine. The composition Féminités is particularly harmonious, achieving a balance between line and color, enhanced by a marble-like background that lends warmth to the work.

 

Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art

max ernst

Max Ernst (Brühl 1891-1976 Paris) Un Caprice de Neptune, 1959 Oil on canvas 27 x 35 cm Signed lower right 'max ernst' Provenance: Paolo Marinotti; Lawrence Rubin Greenberg Van Doren Fine Art, New York; private collection, Germany Literature: W. Spies, S. and G. Metgen: Max Ernst. Oeuvre-Katalog, Werke 1954-1963, Cologne, 1998, p. 194, n° 3425 (ill.) Exhibitions: 1961, June-July, Paris, Max Ernst sculptés, Galerie au Pont des Art Weill; 1966, 17 June-2 October, Venice, Max Ernst, Oltre la pittura, Palazzo Grassi, cat. n° 7 (ill.); 1979, Munich, Max Ernst, Retrospektiv, Haus der Kunst, cat. n° 296, ill. III (colour ill. n° 30, ill. 331)

 

WHITFORD

paul van hoeydonck

Paul Van Hoeydonck (Antwerp 1925-2025 Wijnegem) White New World, 1966 Mixed media H 91.5 x W 61 x D 20 cm Signed and dated on verso Whitford reference PVH068 Provenance: acquired directly from the artist

 

Brame & Lorenceau

george condo

Georges Condo (USA, Concord 1957) Composition, 1983 Oil on canvas 122 x 92 cm Provenance: private collection

 

Ars Antiqua

pieter van lint

Pieter van Lint (Antwerp, 1609-1690) Allegory of Labor rewarded by Peace and Abundance, in the presence of Minerva and Time Oil on copper 104 x 130 cm Authenticated by Professor Carlotta Venegoni Published on RKD

 

Galerie Hurtebize

marc chagall

Marc Chagall (Belarus, Vitebsk 1887-1985 Saint-Paul de Vence, France) Maternité au grand soleil, circa 1967 Gouache, graphite and felt-tip on paper 40 x 32.3 cm Certificate of authenticity from the Comité Meret Meyer Provenance: private collection, France

 

Herwig Simons Fine Arts

Wooden chef-d'oeuvre of the Compagnonnage France, 19th century Walnut, maple and mohogany wood H 185 cm Provenance: former private collection, France A fine, rare and large nineteenth-century wooden exhibition model, the chef-d'oeuvre of a master carpenter of the Compagnonnage. These models were made to show the technical expertise and skill of the master carpenter. The Compagnonnage is an old French guild with roots in the 12th century. In the eighteenth century, they incorporated symbols and rituals, many of which were borrowed from Freemasonry to create an initiatory progression for its members.

 

Galerie BG Arts

Georges Clairin (Paris 1843-1919 Clohars-Carnoët) Portrait of Suzanne Lalique Oil on canvas 140 x 80 cm Signed 'Á Suzanne Lalique son ami G. Clairin' Provenance: property of Suzanne Lalique-Haviland; private collection, France Literature: Maritch-Haviland, N. de Léobardy, C., Lalique-Haviland-Burty Family Portraits, Limoges, 2009, p. 29, ill. in a group photograph, taken at Cours-la-Reine in Paris, showing Suzanne Lalique wearing this same dress for a costume ball to mark her birthday in about 1913 Georges Clairin is best remembered as an orientialist and portrait artist. He was a close friend and advisor to René Lalique. They regularly had dinner together and shared an interest in oriental objects, as well as travelling together to Venice. Clairin belonged to the bohemian world and painted Sarah Bernhardt, the celebrated actress of the day, in her different roles on numerous occasions. He also introduced her to Lalique, and she became one of Lalique’s most significant patrons for whom he designed jewellery. For both men, women were a constant theme of their work. As a family friend it is not surprising that Clairin should have painted Suzanne, René Lalique’s daughter, in costume for her birthday ball in 1913.

 

Véronique Bamps

. cartier

Cartier Panther head set with diamonds, pear-cut emerald eyes and onyx muzzle White gold bracelet, circa 2000

 

De Zutter Art Gallery

corneille

Corneille (Liège 1922-2010 Auvers-sur-Oise) Le rouge itinéraire de l'été, 1964 Oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm Provenance: Galerie Delta, Rotterdam; kunsthandel Lambert Tegenbosch, Heusden; collection Dr. Johan B.W. Polak (1928-1992), Amsterdam; Christie's, Amsterdam, 10 December 1992, lot n° 325; private collection, Switzerland Literature: Catalogue Galerie Cimaise Bonaparte (Patrick d'Elme and Daniel Templon), 1967, Paris Exhibition: Galerie Cimaise Bonaparte (Patrick d'Elme and Daniel Templon), 1967, Paris

 

Pelgrims de Bigard

frans francken the younger

Frans Francken the Younger (Antwerp, 1581-1642) Death and the Miser Oil on copper 21.9 x 16.9 cm Certificate of authenticity by Dr. Ursula Härting

 

Bernier/Eliades

thomas schütte

Thomas Schütte (Germany, 1954) Iroquois Double Head 7.10.24, 2024 Glazed ceramic, watercolours Sculpture: H 45 x W 28 x D 40 cm Framed watercolours: 49.5 x 38.5 cm Steel pedestal: H 120 x W 43 x D 30 cm

 

Serge Schoffel - Art Premier

Litxókó figure Karajá tribe, early 20th century Rio Araguaia valley, Brazil Wood, pigments and vegetal fibers H 52 cm

 

De Wit Fine Tapestries

After David Teniers II The Fish Quay–Return of Fishermen Brussels, 1725-1750 Wool and silk 264 x 390 cm Celebrated for their lively depictions of rural life, sets of tapestries inspired by the famous peasant scenes of David Teniers II (1610–1690) formed some of the most popular tapestry series in late 17th- and early 18th-centuries. Their extraordinary appeal is reflected in the sheer number of workshops that produced them. In Brussels alone, seven ateliers wove this distinctly Flemish genre, while so-called Teniers tapestries were also produced in other European centres such as Amsterdam, Aubusson, Beauvais, Lille, London, Madrid, and Oudenaarde. Owing to this widespread production and the enduring commercial success of the genre, attributing individual designs can often be challenging. The present example, however, belongs to a distinguished series that laid the foundation for the genre and was designed by David Teniers II himself. Description The tapestry depicts a bustling quay where fishermen unload and sort their catch. On the left, a boat carrying five men arrives, still hauling in its nets, while one fisherman on the bow hands a line to a man standing at the end of the quay. In the foreground, a fisherman empties a barrel of fish and shellfish, while three men nearby appear to be negotiating. Further along the quay, another sorts his catch, two men converse, and a man leans casually on a donkey. Behind them, a figure with his back turned adds a touch of unvarnished realism. In the background, a bay stretches out, framed by a wooded coast to the left and a fortified structure to the right, complete with patrolling figures and a tall, three-tiered tower. Through the central passageway, two additional boats are visible. One hauling in its nets, the other lowering its mast. Attribution The Fish Quay was executed in the Brussels workshop of Hieronymus Le Clerc (1643-1722) or that of his associate Gaspar van der Borcht (1675-1742). Several editions of the scene are known, some bearing the signature of one of these associated tapissiers: Le Clerc or Van der Borcht’s Latinized form, A Castro. A now-lost edition formerly in Dresden bore Van der Borcht’s signature along with an extensive inscription identifying David Teniers II – the court painter to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614-1662) and Don John Joseph of Austria (1629-1679), governors of the Southern Netherlands from 1648 to 1656 and 1656 to 1658 respectively – as the designer. Teniers is also cited as the designer in a 1701 archival document recording that Le Clerc and Van der Borcht sold a six-part edition of the series, including a tapestry described as “un port de mer, où l’on pesche le poisson” (a seaport, where fish are caught). Dating the collaborative production of this particular example is difficult. The earliest known editions of the series were likely produced in the 1680s, with production continuing until Le Clerc’s death in 1722. The Fish Quay lacks the usual outer border, suggesting it was intended for mounting on wainscoting.

 

Vagabond Antiques

Pair of carved Heraldic stone lions Central European, Hapsburg Territories, late 17th century Carved limestone H 90 x W 57 x D 77 cm A striking pair of limestone lions, carved in full relief and designed as true opposites. Each is seated upright, with bared teeth, strong haunches and tightly curled manes. Both wear a crown and hold an oval cartouche carved in bold relief with an interlaced monogram. They were made to flank the formal entrance of a major estate. The form and detailing are typical of high-status Baroque culture in Central Europe and the crown design is especially telling. Each features a repeating pattern of fleur-de-lis and crosses, closely following the design of imperial crowns used in Habsburg heraldry - particularly in the realms of Austria and Bohemia. A crucial distinction is the placement of such a crown directly on the animal - not merely above the cipher - which indicates an emblem of royal standing. Comparable examples can be seen on the monumental lions at Prince Eugene of Savoy's Upper Belvedere Palace in Vienna and others across Bavaria and Austria, where lions were used as heraldic supporters for noble or imperial arms. The monograms are hard to decipher but are almost certainly ciphers for the original owners or patrons. They likely stood at the gates of a major estate or seat of power under Habsburg rule or allegiance, marking out territories and status.

 

Herwig Simons Fine Arts

Game box with chess and backgammon Eger, 17th century 48 x 48 x 11.5 cm Provenance: Lothar Schmid (1928-2013), German chess Grandmaster Literature: publications World of Art: Art chamber games by the Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna Double-sided game box : one side shows a bas-relief depicting the meeting of Aeneas and Dido, accompanied by a Putto. The other side features a chessboard in finely executed marquetry. The interior reveals an elegant backgammon board decorated with double-tailed dolphins. Eger, a Bohemian Free City (now Cheb, Czech Republic), was well known in the 17th century for a specialised type of woodworking, particularly for intarsia panels. This set belonged to Lothar Schmid, the German chess Grandmaster and collector of chess books, boards and pieces. He is best known as the chief arbiter of the World Championship of chess in 1972 between Bobby Fisher and Boris Spassky in Reykjavik.

 

Galerie La Patinoire Royale Bach

alfredo jaar

Alfredo Jaar (Chili, Santiago 1956) Life Magazine, 19 April 1968 1995 Three lightboxes, analog C-print on Duratrans 183 x 360 cm (entire dimension) 183 x 120 cm (one lightbox) Unique piece Life Magazine, 19 April 1968 (1995) by Alfredo Jaar is one of the Chilean artist’s iconic lightbox works in which he pointillistically engages an image from the public archive, intervening with his signature cutting precision to highlight social inequities and the politics of image making. The source image for this work is a documentary photograph of Martin Luther King’s funeral printed in 1968 in Life Magazine, the magazine of reference for a generation of Americans. In the image, a horse drawn casket is surrounded by supporters, and behind, a crowd fills the boulevard, stretching into the vanishing point beyond. It is a powerful representation of the late civil rights leader’s influence. The source photograph is presented large scale on the left third of the lightbox. In the center, the image is whited over, and in the place of faces in the crowd are black dots, massing and overflowing the street. In the rightmost part of the triptych, the source image is similarly whited out, but this time only a smattering of red dots appear — a handful scattered across the crowd. The artist placed black dots on the faces of African Americans. The red dots highlight White attendees. Created while Jaar was researching the Life archives for another iconic lightbox work, Searching for Africa in Life (1996), in which the artist reprints every cover of the magazine, highlighting through the punctum of the title the glaring absence of adequate representation of the continent, Life Magazine, 19 April 1968 (1995) similarly makes manifest a glaring absence. Through the precision of the artist’s intervention, and rendered in the artist’s signature clean lines, a singular gesture evokes the imbroglia of lingering racism and inequality in contemporary society.

 

Mulier Mulier Gallery

andy warhol

Andy Warhol (USA, Pennsylvania 1928-1987 New York) Shoe, circa 1956 Ink, tempera and gold flake on paper 45.9 x 60.6 cm Stamped twice by the estate of Andy Warhol, with number of the estate

 

Cabinet of Curiosities - Honourable Silver Objects

Cartier necklace 18-carat yellow gold, diamond and onyx France, 1970s Commissioned for a Belgian family Signed and numbered Provenance: private collection, Brussels

 

Galerie Nicolas Bourriaud

jacq orlande sinapi

Jacq Orlande Sinapi (Marseille, 1911-1989) Bison, circa 1940 Bronze with nuanced brown patina Cast by Leblanc-Barbedienne and bearing the foundry's stamp H 50 x W 57 x D 21 cm Signed ‘Jacq Orlande Sinapi’ Only two pieces known to date Provenance: private collection, France

 

Galerie Alexis Pentcheff

pierre bonnard

Pierre Bonnard (Fontenay-aux-Roses 1867-1947 Le Cannet) Promenade à Paris, circa 1911 Oil on canvas 40 x 60 cm Estate stamp lower left Provenance: collection of Pierre and Marie-Françoise Vernon Literature: Dauberville Jean et Henry, Bonnard, Vol. IV, Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, 1974, repr. p. 312 under n° 01992 Exhibitions: Pierre Bonnard, A. Tooth & Sons, London, 17 June-12 July 1969, repr. in exh. cat. n° 8; Matisse e Bonnard. Viva la pittura!, Rome, 2006, repr. in exh. cat. (ed. Skira) p. 340 under n° 125; Bonnard, Le Cannet, une évidence, Musée Bonnard, Le Cannet, 2020, repr. in exh. cat. p. 42 The creation of this work by Pierre Bonnard reminds us that the artist was also a photographer, experimenting with daring compositions. Though his painting captures the fleeting moment, it shares little with the tentative realism of early photography. Made entirely of color and sensation, it constructs a fragile world of subtle harmony. Just before embracing the South - before letting the Mediterranean light burst into color across his canvases - Bonnard explored a quieter, more muted sensuality in the early 1910s, while working in a studio in Paris, not far from the avenue depicted here. The “very Japanese Nabi,” as his friends from the group of his youth liked to call him, knew how to let color whisper on the canvas, how to conjure the intimacy of a letter. On one side of the painting, cool tones — blues and violets placed side by side - contrast with the russet hues of this autumnal Parisian avenue, bringing to the foreground, beneath a hat bathed in light like a reinvented halo, the lowered face of a woman reading. Her eyes are hidden, absorbed in the text. Though she has removed her gloves, she surely no longer feels the sharp chill of that November afternoon… Elegant silhouettes glide through the landscape; yet they endure — along with this hat-wearing heroine - on our retinas and in our memories, as companions to a shared intimacy, lasting only the time it takes to read a love letter. Unseen on the art market since the 1960s, this painting has been shown in several museum exhibitions, the most recent in 2020 at the Musée du Cannet, dedicated to the artist.

 

Almine Rech

tom wesselmann

Tom Wesselmann (USA, Ohio 1931-2004 New York) 'Smoker Study (For Smoker #11)', 1972 Oil on canvas 29.2 x 29.2 cm 46.4 x 46.4 x 3.8 cm (framed) Examined by the WPI's Wesselmann committee on 13 December 2023, for inclusion in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné Provenance: estate of the artist Courtesy of the Estate of Tom Wesselmann and Almine Rech / Photo: Thomas Barratt Smoker Study (For Smoker #11), 1972 belongs to Tom Wesselmann’s Smoker series, which the artist began in 1967. Born out of a desire to isolate and further investigate the representation of lips and the act of smoking, the Smoker series also found its origin in advertising, and stands as testament to the major role Wesselmann occupied in the birth and development of the Pop aesthetic. Today, Wesselmann’s Smoker paintings are among his most renowned works. The series began with Smoker, 1 (Mouth, 12), 1967, which is now held in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Wesselmann found photography to be a useful medium to capture his models in poses he would later translate to larger scale works. On one occasion, his friend Peggy Sarno lit a cigarette during a modeling session. Wesselmann took some photographs of her as she inhaled, still posing in a reclined position. This moment inspired the Smoker series, which is characterised by the presence of vivid red lips juxtaposed with curling white smoke. Smoker Study (For Smoker #11) is both bold and intimate, capturing a single moment of pleasure in a complex and ambitious composition indicative of the artist’s experimentation with subject, form, and color. In mid-century America, cigarette advertisements were incredibly elaborate, among the most sophisticated forms of marketing. As well as standing as an example of Wesselmann’s fascination with popular culture and the female body, Smoker Study (For Smoker #11) also demonstrates the artist’s mastery of oil paint, attention to detail, and sophisticated compositional style. In the 1960s, Wesselmann had been developing his Great American Nudes series when he was inspired to focus on specific details of female figures. In an almost fetishistic act, he started isolating elements of the female figure, creating smaller preparatory pieces as well as larger scale works depicting hands, breasts, and lips. Out of this approach his Mouth paintings and Smoker Series, works such as Smoker Study (For Smoker #11) were born. Tom Wesselmann (1931–2004) was one of the leading American Pop artists of the mid-20th Century. Departing from Abstract Expressionism, he explored classical representations of the nude, still life, and landscape, while incorporating everyday objects and advertising ephemera. Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 23, 1931. He attended Hiram College in Ohio from 1949 to 1951 before entering the University of Cincinnati. In 1953, his studies were interrupted by a two-year enlistment in the army, during which time he began drawing cartoons. He returned to the university in 1954 and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1956. During this time, he decided to pursue a career in cartooning and enrolled at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he was accepted into the Cooper Union and where his focus shifted dramatically to fine art.

 

Dalton Somaré

Female figure Baule, atelier of Essankro, Ivory Coast, late 19th century Wood 51 cm Provenance: private collection, Germany; private collection, Paris

 
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