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Galerie von Vertes
George Condo (New Hampshire, Concord 1957) Female composition, 2006 Oil on canvas 165.1 x 152.4 cm Verso signed and dated 'Condo 06' George Condo, Female Portrait, 2006 'Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before'. Edgar Allan Poe Like the ‘Manichini’ or metaphysical mannequins of Giorgio de Chirico that reject a face as a symbol of status and identity, Female Composition is created as a hand puppet on a stick wearing a distinguished cloak, mocking the traditional depictions of the female portrait as seen in the works by Parmigianino, Rembrandt, and Picasso. This ironic interpretation depicts the woman as a faceless puppet with breasts, a cape, neckless and head topped with a carrot. Condo simultaneously offers a deep respect for art history and a blatant disregard for conventional narratives. In his own words: “As far as I’m concerned, the Renaissance was yesterday, and Cubism was a hundred years before it.” (George Condo quoted in Simon Baker, George Condo: Painting Reconfigured, New York 2015, p. 104). Female portrait perfectly encapsulates Condo’s concept of Artificial Realism. Exploring the carefully constructed conventions of traditional portraiture and how our reality is made up of artificial components, this majestic dystopian portrait ingeniously challenges the artificiality of visual representation.
Claes Gallery
Songye Mask Democratic Republic of Congo, Katanga Presumed period: late 19th-early 20th century Wood, pigments H 31.8 cm Provenance: acquired in situ by John Henry (aka Jack) Sandground in Ebombo, 1934; passed on to descendants; American private collection, Washington Amongst Songye masks, a general distinction was made in reference to the function of male and female masks. Male masks (bifwebebalume) were involved in rites of passage. On the other hand, female masks (bifwebe bakashi), which appeared on the occasion of the death or investiture of a chief and during lunar rites, were an integral part of the symbolic composition of these rituals, animating benevolent spiritual forces through dance. This mask is a female ‘kikashi’ mask, as indicated by the two-tone white and black, the absence of a sagittal crest and the flat nose. According to Plasmans, ‘the female kifwebe animates the vital forces through dance, calling upon the benevolent spirits of the forest. The woman, as the bearer of children and thus of good fortune, perpetuates the lineage and simultaneously also the magical essence of buci. In this way, female masks represent the continuity of life and cultural tradition. The presence of the passive female mask in the composition of bwadi society accentuates and completes the dialectical opposition of the active force of the male masks'.
Galerie Raf Van Severen
pierre alechinsky
Pierre Alechinsky (Brussels, 1927) Les Pleins et les Déliés, 1962 Oil on canvas 100 x 80 cm Signed and dated Provenance: Kunsthandel M.L. de Boer, Amsterdam, n° 8048; private collection, The Netherlands 'Les pleins et les déliés' is an abstract expressionist painting by the Belgian painter Pierre Alechinsky (1927). Alechinsky was one of the prominent members of the avant-garde group Cobra (1948-1951). Characteristic for the art movement of that time, Alechinsky applied a chaotic and dynamic use of colors, with red the main color in this painting. He got to that result by using wild brushstrokes. This painting is considered an early work in the oeuvre of Alechinsky and can be situated during the top period with the likes of Karel Appel. Paintings like 'Barbaars Naakt' (SMAK, Ghent) by Karel Appel used a similar color palette with again violent paint strokes. As a result, the figures in their paintings are barely obeservable. But that was basically what they were trying to achieve. Together, the members of Cobra all tried to bring over the same message in their paintings. They wanted to disrupt an existing order and harmony. As this is an early work, the painting is still oil on canvas. Not much later in his career, Alechinsky made the full-time switch to mixed media on paper laid down on canvas. In the latter technique, the viewer can recognize elements of calligraphy. That became a passion for Alechnisky, after he visited Japan in 1955. In these paintings, he started expressing his love for calligraphy, by using it on the canvas itself, more specifically the typical ink. Even in this painting, we can already notice a reference to calligraphy or handwriting. Just not yet on the canvas, but in the title. 'Les pleins et les déliés' is a concept used in calligraphy where 'Les Pleins' refers to the thick strokes or the full, bold lines made when writing. 'Les Déliés' refers to the thin strokes or the delicate, lighter lines. It is easier to comprehend by imagining a brush stroke. If it’s done vertically you get a thicker brush stroke, if done horizontally, it’s possible to get a finer stroke.
Montagut Gallery
Baule statue Baule people, Ivory Coast, 19th century Wood H 40.5 cm Provenance: Galerie Olivier Le Corneur, Paris; Marceau Rivière collection, Paris, France; Alberto Costa Romero de Tejada, Barcelona, Spain; Javier Lentini collection, Barcelona, Spain Literature: África. La Figura Imaginada. Fundació LaCaixa, Barcelona, 2004. nº 44, p. 9 Unique within the corpus, this masterpiece destabilises, fascinates, and intrigues with its beauty and singularity. Its powerful serenity is magnified by its stature, refinement, gesture, and adornment. The sculpted forms, robust and vigorous due to its accentuated musculature, paradoxically suggest lightness, enhanced by its missing feet. The represented dignitary seems to be weightless, levitating, with its remarkably imposing elevated presence. The ideal of beauty and perfection amongst the Baule, representing moral perfection through its traits, is embodied here. Prestige is revealed in its details. Animated by combined energy and tranquility, its authority and dignity vibrate with admirable majesty. The distinctly rounded shoulders reinforce its stature, symbolising power, whilst the finely sculpted beard collar emphasises wisdom and maturity. Emerging from the torso are two nascent, flattened circular breasts with a dark brown patina, giving the figure an androgynous character and suggesting completeness through the union of both sexes. The finesse of the minute details enhances its gesture and adornment. The surface of its emaciated torso is adorned with subtly carved scarifications in slight relief, revealing or suggesting an armour, a necklace, an insignia of prestige and high rank. With fluidity, its delicate gesture attracts and guides the gaze to its slender fingers, which, on either side of the navel—slightly rounded, symbolising wealth and high social status—evoke a sign of welcome and esteem that spirits make when they encounter a diviner with whom they will form a future alliance. This gesture and the very particular treatment of the hands are unparalleled but can be closely associated in finesse with the treatment of the fingers in a work by the Master of Truth. Framed in a gentle oval, the strikingly peaceful face is sublimated by its crusty patina and the subtle interplay of forms between concave curves and reliefs. Slightly hollowed, the impact of its traits, carefully and clearly drawn, is accentuated. Its fine nasal ridge extends in a gentle continuity to the curved brow arches, intensifying the contours of the hollowed eyes, enhancing the circular shape of the gaze, revealing both its closed eyelids and the depth of introspection and meditation. The exceptional sophistication of its hairstyle, a testament to the Baule's sculptural finesse, contributes to this quest for perfection. This statue has been held in a collection for more than forty years and is now fresh on the market.
Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels
Shirley Jaffe (USA, Elizabeth 1923-2016 Louveciennes, France) Untitled, circa 1955 Oil on canvas 174.5 x 101.5 x 4 cm Provenance: the Artist’s studio; Estate of Shirley Jaffe; Galerie Nathalie Obadia Dated circa 1955, Shirley Jaffe's Untitled is a work that is both remarkable and characteristic of this decisive decade, for its composition of bursts of small, independent brushstrokes that coalesce into irregular blocks. These shapes, composed of countless brushstrokes and sometimes evoking natural forms, are inserted into surfaces that are more modulated than before, and in which patches of local color appear. Fine glazes and dramatic shifts from light to dark contribute to the luminous transparency of her works from the 1950s, which seem flooded with a beautiful, roborative clarity. At the time, Shirley Jaffe was looking for “the moment in a painting that was unusual”. The important thing, for her, was to “bring the forms out of the background, while constantly tilting the balance”. In her works from this period, she often succeeded in giving the impression that shapes emanate naturally from the application of paint, and that compositions become unstable, sometimes radically so. This text appears in Raphaël Rubinstein's 2014 catalog Les Formes de la Dislocation. This work has never been exhibited. Courtesy of Shirley Jaffe Estate / ADAGP, Paris 2024 and Galerie Nathalie Obadia Paris/Brussels © Bertrand Huet / tutti image
A&R Fleury
bernar venet
Bernar Venet (Château-Arnoux, 1941) 226.5° Arc x 4, 2004 Rolled steel H 128 x W 130 x D 24.5 cm Certificate of authenticity issued by the artist and registered in the Bernar Venet archives under inventory n° bv04s17 Provenance: Guy Pieters Gallery, Knokke-Heist; private collection, Belgium
Whitford Fine Art
reinhold koehler
Reinhold Koehler (Germany, 1919-1970) Thorax contrecollage, 1963-64 Dessin trouvé Décollage with ink, paper and smashed glass laid down on canvas 72.5 x 50 cm Signed and dated lower right and signed, dated, titled and inscribed verso The work is included in the Koehler Archives as RK 58 Provenance: private collection, Germany
Galerie Sophie Scheidecker
Philip Pearlstein (USA, 1924-2022) Seated Models on red and orange drapes, 1968 153.5 x 184 cm Oil on canvas Signed and dated 'Pearlstein 68' Exhibitions: Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York (with two labels on stretcher); Georgia Museum of Art, Georgia 1970; Massachusetts Institute of technology, Heyden Gallery 1971 (with label on reverse); Galerie M. E. Thelen, Köln; Galleri Östergren, Malmö (also printed three times on reverse)
Hoffmans Antiques
Pair of Gustavian armchairs Ephraim Ståhl (Sweden, 1768-1820) Parcel gilt and bronzed wood Stockholm, circa 1810 H 85 x W 63 x D 50 cm Each armchair has a scrolled back and armrests decorated with carved laurels. The side rails are adorned with griffin heads and a palmette frieze; the fluted, tapered front legs with leaf-tip carvings. The sabre-shaped back legs end in lion's paw feet. The pair of armchairs is attributed to Ephraim Ståhl and made around 1805. Ephraim Ståhl a renowned Swedish craftsman who was a prominent furniture maker from the late 18th century to the early 19th century. Known for the high quality of his work and as well his bold, innovative designs. Ståhl became a favorite of the Swedish Royal family, with his pieces featured in nearly every royal castle. This model however featuring griffins beneath the armrests, is one of Ståhl’s more unusual designs, rarely seen on the open market. It was likely a special commission, possibly by Duke Karl, the brother of Gustav III, who had a particular fondness for the griffin motif, incorporating it throughout the interiors of Rosersberg Castle.
Gokelaere & Robinson
bodil kjaer
Bodil Kjaer (Denmark, 1932) President desk, 1959 Rosewood, steel H 72 x W 210 x D 100 cm Manufactured by E. Pedersen & Son, Denmark Bodil Kjær is a Danish architect, furniture designer, professor and researcher. Kjær’s furniture creations mainly date from 1959 to 1964. Her first commission was a series of upholstered sofas for Paul Rudolph, the dean of the Yale School of Architecture. She also designed a building for Harvard University for Josep Lluís Sert, the head of the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer installed 28 of her upholstered sofas in a building he had designed in New York. Examples of her furniture are still visible today at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University. In the notes she prepared in 1995 for an exhibition in Berlin, Kjær commented: "I often had problems finding furniture that could express the same ideas as those we used in the buildings we designed and which could, at the same time, express the ideas of Modern management."
Galerie Hadjer
alexander calder
Alexander Calder (Lawnton 1898-1976 New York) Autumn Leaves, 1971 Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop, France Wool and silk Original cartoon from 1971 170 x 240 cm Edition of six + two artist proofs - AP Provenance: Pinton workshop; private collection, France Exhibition: Victoria and Albert Museum, Collection, London
Giammarco Cappuzzo Fine Art
Bartolomeo Manfredi (Ostiano 1582-1622 Rome) The Denial of Saint Peter, circa 1618-1620 Oil on canvas 125 x 183 cm Provenance: private collection, Belgium This unpublished Denial of Saint Peter (fig. 1) is an important autograph work by Bartolomeo Manfredi, painted during his mature years. The evident elements of style and quality of this new Denial of Saint Peter, especially in its best preserved places, affirms Manfredi’s authorship, which has been confirmed by leading expert Dr. Gianni Papi.
Galerie Hadjer
joan miró
Joan Miró (Barcelona 1893-1983 Palma de Mallorca) La femme au miroir Aubusson tapestry woven by the Pinton workshop / Mobilier National, France Wool Based on original tapestry cartoon from 1965 138 x 200 cm Edition 2/8 - Project with the Miro Foundation in 2024 Provenance: Atelier Pinton Aubusson-French National collection/Miro Foundation Literature: The Fabric of Modernity. Matisse, Lurçat, Miró and French tapestry, 2020 Exhibition: The Fabric of Modernity: Matisse, Lurçat, Miró... and French tapestries. Kunsthalle München, 6 December 2019-8 March 2020; Au fil du siècle, 1918-2018 Chefs-d'œuvre de la tapisserie, Galerie des Gobelins, 2018
Sylvia Kovacek – Vienna
gustav klimt
Gustav Klimt (Baumgarten 1862-1918 Vienna) Standing nude, hands on the hips, 1911 Pencil on paper 57.1 x 37.5 cm Provenance: private collection, USA, courtesy Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York; private collection, Japan; 110. auction Klipstein und Kornfeld, Bern 1963, n° 536 (pl. 69); private collection Hikonobu Ise, Japan Literature: The Ise Collection, Ise Lifedesign House, Japan 1984, ill. n° 12; Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen 1904-1912, vol. II, Salzburg 1982, catalogue raisonné n° 2023, p. 252f
New Hope Gallery
jean dubuffet
Jean Dubuffet (Le Havre 1901-1985 Paris) Figure. Bust. 29 March 1967 Marker with collage 30.5 x 20 cm Provenance: Collection Ernst Beyeler; Private collection, Belgium Exhibitions: Kunstmuseum Basel, 6. June 1970- 2 August 1970, Catalogue n° 188; Galerie Beyeler Basel, February-April 1968, Catalogue n° 55
Klaas Muller
Frans Snijders (Antwerp, 1579-1659) Kitchen interior with two dogs, offal and a basket with fruits and vegetables, circa 1620 Oil on canvas 113 x 183 cm Signed upper left: F. SNIJDERS. Fecit Provenance: sale Campo, Antwerp, 13-15 December 1966, lot 90; sale Sotheby’s, London, 7 October 1981, lot 123, ill. p. 89; sale Sotheby’s, London, 7 July 1982, lot 233, ill.; private collection, Belgium In a kitchen, a dog (a Friesian Wetterhound) guards its booty from another dog that appears on the left. Apparently, he has pulled away from his chain and is not giving up his booty (entrails) lightly. On the right of the painting, we see an overturned basket with artichokes, asparagus, a lemon and apples. At the top left, the painting is proudly signed 'F. SNIJDERS.FECIT'. Frans Snijders had a predilection for depicting dogs and they appear frequently in his oeuvre. About seven -mostly larger works as is the case here- can be named as scenes in larders or front rooms of kitchens. The theme is usually similar: a dog defends its stolen loot against another dog (e.g. a painting on loan with a similar theme among others in the Snijders-Rockoxhuis 'Larder with dogs and a cows head'). It remains conjecture whether Snijders was pursuing a metaphor or deeper symbolism with this theme. However: each time, he shows himself to be a fantastic cinematographer and manages to render a scene just before the climax through which he builds the tension. Also typical is the dog's head on the left, which is only partially depicted (cut off from the composition it seems) which generates even more movement. The textures of the fur, meat, vegetables and fruit are fantastically rendered.
Galerie BG Arts
jean dunand
Jean Dunand (Switzerland, Lancy 1877-1942 Paris, France) Screen 'Swans and Water Lilies', circa 1932 Four-panel screen with black, ivory and gold lacquer H 180 x W 304 cm Provenance: collection M. B.-Paris; private collection, Paris; Galerie BG Arts, Paris Literature: Félix Marcilhac, Jean Dunand, Vie et Œuvre, Les Éditions de l’Amateur, Paris, 1991, p. 215 (ref. 121) Exhibition: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, December 1932 Certificat d'Amélie Marcilhac