"La Patisserie from Paysages et Interieurs," 1899 by Jean-Édouard Vuillard

La Patisserie from Paysages et Interieurs, 1899 by Jean-Édouard Vuillard; Lithograph in colors on Chine; From the edition of 100 with margins; Size: 14" x 10 5/8"; Sheet 15 3/8" x 11 7/8" Catalogue Raissone: R.-M. 41; Unframed.

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"Conceive of a picture really as a series of harmonies." -  Jean-Édouard Vuillard

Jean-Édouard Vuillard (1868 – 1940) was a French painter and print maker associated with the Nabis; a group of Post-Impressionist avant-garde artists who, in the 1890's, led the fine art movement in France. An early turning point in the career of Vuillard occurred when, on the advice of his closest friend Roussel, he refused a military career and instead joined Roussel in the studio of painter Diogène Maillart.

By 1890, the year in which Vuillard met Pierre Bonnard and Paul Sérusier, he had joined the Nabis; a group of art students inspired by the synthetism of Gauguin. Vuillard contributed to their exhibitions at the Gallery of Le Barc de Boutteville, and later shared a studio with Bonnard and Maurice Denis. Soon Vuillard met brothers Alexandre and Thadée Natanson who were the founders of "La Revue Blanche," a well known cultural review. Vuillardʹs printed graphics began to appear in the journal, along with those of Pierre Bonnard, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Félix Vallotton, and many other famous artists of the time. In Vuillard's paintings and decorative pieces, he depicted mostly interiors, streets, and gardens. In 1898 he began to travel extensively, always looking for inspiration. He visited Venice and Florence; quickly followed by London, Milan, Venice, and Spain.

As photography began to rise in popularity, engraving had to be adapted to go beyond simple reproduction of artworks, and instead focus on creativity and originality. The advent of color lithography also affected the arts and Vuillard, in 1893, began working with the medium. His first works were several illustrations for books and theater programs. Six years later, Vuillard produced a beautiful suite of color lithographs entitled "Landscape and Interiors," that was published by a famous art dealer Ambroise Vollard.

This work, "La Patisserie" (The Pastry Shop) is from the famous 1899 Ambroise Vollard suite "Paysages et Interieurs" (Landscape and Interiors), with an edition size of 100 and containing twelve lithographs with a lithographed cover. "La Patisserie" is an excellent example of Vuillard at his best and the image depicts the inside of the Patisserie (the letters of "tisserie" can be seen on the sign on the top left hand side of the work). Various cafe tables are occupied by well dressed patrons enjoying food and drink; and there is a serving table balancing the composition to the left. The construction of the work is accomplished by using intricate patterns that are linked by strong forms and balancing structure. "La Patisserie" is regarded as one of the finest graphic works ever created by Vuillard and it is in the permanent collections of Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Van Gogh Museum, and many other major worldwide museums. A rare and important work, perfect for any fine art collection.

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"House Ball with Fallen Toy Bear," 1997 by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

 

House Ball with Fallen Toy Bear, 1997; Pigment print on Japanese watercolor paper; Signed Oldenburg in pencil lower right and numbered 22/50 in pencil lower left; Published by Contemporary Editions; Framed with a linen liner, black wood frame, and plexiglass; Size - Sheet 35 1/2" x 44", Frame 40 1/2 x 49".

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"I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something more than sit on its ass in a museum." - Claes Oldenburg 

Claes Oldenburg is an American sculptor living and working in New York and he is best known for his public art installations, which usually feature either very large replicas or soft sculpture versions of everyday objects. Many of the works were made in collaboration with his wife of 32 years, Coosje van Bruggen; who passed away in 2009.

 

Close up of "House Ball with Fallen Toy Bear"

Close up of the Fallen Toy Bear.

Oldenburg began working with with the idea of soft sculpture in 1957, when he completed a free-hanging piece made from a woman's stocking stuffed with newspaper (titled later as "Sausage"). In 1959, he began to make figures, signs, and objects out of papier-mâché, sacking, and other rough materials. This was followed in 1961 by objects created out of plaster and enamel, drawing inspiration from food and cheap clothing. In the 1960s he was very involved with the "Happenings" movement and his own productions were entitled "Ray Gun Theater." His artistic collaboration involved other members of the art scene and included: Lucas Samaras, Tom Wesselman, Carolee Schneemann, Oyvind Fahlstrom, Richard Artschwager, art dealer Annina Nosei, art critic Barbara Rose, and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer. In December 1961, he rented a storefront on Manhattan's Lower East Side to house "The Store;" a month-long installation he had first presented at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York, stocked with rough sculptures of consumer goods.

Close up of the Oldenburg signature.

Close up of the edition number.

Oldenburg moved to Los Angeles, California in 1963. By 1965 he had turned his attention to drawings and projects for imagined outdoor monuments. The first appearance of "Houseball" was the 1985 performance "Il Corso del Coltello;" which was based on the idea that individuals could gather all of their possessions into a large cloth, tie them up in the form of a ball, and roll them to their next location. In the performance, the "Houseball" was made up of possessions owned by the character Georgia Sandbag, played by Coosje, that accompanied her on a journey across the Alps. Coosje later came to see the "Houseball" as a symbol of displaced refugee populations, and in 1993 she proposed a permanent larger version of the sculpture near what had been Checkpoint Charlie, the gate entry for the Berlin Wall. The sculpture was approved, however the site was returned to it's former owners who had been displaced during World War II.

The first appearance of the "Houseball" sculpture was in Bonn Germany, in front of "Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik." The following year the sculpture was moved to it's permanent site in Berlin, the Bethlehemkirch-Platz, directly in front of a building designed by Philip Johnson.

"House Ball with Fallen Toy Bear" is a wonderful graphic by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, with the "Houseball" sculpture as it's subject. The work was created using Oldenburg's iconic draftsman style and illustrates the "House Ball" with ladder, stool, chair, washboard, and other household items tied up within a cloth ball. Having fallen away from the ball is a child's stuffed toy teddy bear, symbolizing both items left behind as well as displaced children. A beautiful and powerful work in large scale format; as the framed artwork measures an impressive 40 1/2" x 49".

#Oldenburg #ClaesOldenburg #Popart #Warhol #CoosjevanBruggen #HouseBallwithFallenToyBear #untitledartgallery #toybear #houseball #sculpture #fallentoybear #IlCorsodelColtello

"Dove Subject" Pitcher, 1959 by Pablo Picasso

 

Dove Subject, 1959; Glazed white earthenware pitcher painted in blue and black with white enamel; Numbered 173/500; Inscribed 'EDITION PICASSO' and 'MADOURA', with the 'MADOURA PLEIN FEU' and the 'EDITION PICASSO' pottery stamps on the underside; Size - Dove Pitcher: 6" x 8 3/4" x 4 1/2"; Catalogue Raisonne: A.R. 435.

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During the late 1940s, Pablo Picasso spent the summers on the Cote d'Azur in the South of France. There the artist visited Vallauris for the annual pottery exhibition in 1946. He was impressed by the quality of the Madoura works and was introduced to the owners, Suzanne and Georges Ramié. The Ramiés welcomed the famous artist into their workshop and gave him access to all the tools and resources the he needed in order to work in the medium of ceramics. In exchange, the Ramié family would produce and sell his limited edition ceramic works and this relationship spanned 25 years. It was also at the Madoura factory in 1953 that Picasso met Jacqueline Roque, who would become his second wife in 1961.

Side view of "Dove Subject" Pitcher by Pablo Picasso

Front view of "Dove Subject" Pitcher by Pablo Picasso

The Market for Picasso ceramics has been steadily rising as outlined by a recent article:
"Over the past 10 years, the market for Picasso ceramics has steadily grown, with seasoned collectors and new buyers alike vying for Picasso's editioned and unique ceramics at auction. This market is stable, with a steady high sell-through rate around 89% (87% in 2004, 89% in 2005, 87% in 2011, and 90% in 2012), and prices that are still lower than the rest of Picasso's work. The broad range of estimates and sales prices help make this market attractive to many collectors, but also explain the high average sales prices, which are skewed by a few exceptional pieces. In the previous two years, more than 60 exceptional ceramic works sold for over US$100,000: 34 in 2011 and 29 in 2012 (vs. six in 2004 and 2005)." - The Story Behind Picasso Ceramics, by Fanny Lakoubay and Conner Williams, 2013

The famed artist Georges Bloch stated of Picasso’s ceramic works:
 "…in approach, material and technique is as novel as it is interesting. Pottery, gleaming white discs with relief designs, monochrome or brightly coloured ovals, dishes and even jugs and vases here serve as bearers of compositions whose themes express the joyous, life-loving side of Picasso’s work. They are printed from blocks and stamps fashioned by the master over a period of more than twenty years in the Madoura pottery workshop in Vallauris.”

Back view of "Dove Subject" Pitcher by Pablo Picasso

Bottom view of "Dove Subject" Pitcher by Pablo Picasso showing the inscriptions 'EDITION PICASSO' and 'MADOURA' and showing the 'MADOURA PLEIN FEU' and 'EDITION PICASSO' pottery stamps

In 1937, Pablo Picasso was commissioned by the Spanish Republican government to create a large mural for the Spanish display at the "Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne" at the World's Fair in Paris. He created an enormous mural called “Guernica,” named after a Spanish town in the Basque country that had been firebombed by the Nazis, who were backers of the Nationalist forces of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War. This was the first political work that Picasso created, and it drew international attention to both the Spanish Civil War and to the horrors of war. “Guernica” soon gained monumental status, becoming a potent anti-war symbol; and in the process thrust Picasso into the forefront of the emerging world Peace Movement. In May 1940, Hitler invaded and occupied France. Throughout World War II Picasso, living in Nazi-occupied Paris, was continually harassed by the Gestapo who were familiar with his anti-Nazi mural.

With the international success of "Guernica" as a anti-war symbol, Picasso was invited to design an image to represent peace. He had painted and drawn pigeons and doves throughout his lifetime, and in 1949 the author Louis Aragon (a staunch supporter of the French Communist Party) chose the artist’s lithograph, “La Colombe (The Dove)" for a poster commemorating the Peace Conference in Paris. (Interestingly, the model for the famous “peace dove” was one of Henri Matisse‘s doves.) Posters of “La Colombe” were hung throughout Paris; and when Picasso’s daughter was born in April he named her Paloma, which is Spanish for dove.

Picasso later provided variations on the "Dove of Peace" theme for the Peace Congresses in Wroclaw, Stockholm, Sheffield, Vienna, Rome, and Moscow. The Peace Movement distributed images signed by Picasso, which were then multiplied throughout the world; thus creating an aura of notoriety around the artist. The “Dove of Peace” image caught the attention of the world; and would become a symbol for the peace movement, the Communist Party, and other liberal groups. In the years that followed, Picasso agreed to create other "peace doves" for conferences across Europe. Today, the modern "Dove of Peace" is a more whimsical bird than the 1949 original. The dove is portrayed in happy flight, bearing numerous bouquets of olive branches and flowers in its wings, beak, and feet; and has become one of the most recognizable works of art in the world!

This is an absolutely spectacular work of art by Pablo Picasso, because it depicts in three dimensions one of his most iconic images, the "Dove of Peace." The glazed white earthenware dove pitcher is beautifully painted in blue and black, with white enamel; and the work is almost nine inches long. A wonderful original work by the 20th century's greatest artist, and one of the most recognizable forms in the world! A fine addition to any art collection.

#Picasso #PabloPicasso #ceramic #Dove #DoveofPeace #LaColombe #Guernica #Picassoceramic #Madoura #MadouraPottery #Vallauris #SuzanneRamie #GeorgesRamie #Ramie #JacquelineRoque #untitledartgallery #cubism #Picador #PicadorPitcher #bull #GeorgesBloch #bullfighter #bullfighting #FrancoisGilot #HenriMatisse #PeaceDove #DoveSubject #DoveSubjectPitcher #SpanishCivilWar #PalomaPicasso #LouisAragon

"Comet," 1980-82; Soft-ground Etching, Sugar-lift Etching, and Aquatint Collage by Helen Frankenthaler

Comet, 1980-82; Soft-ground etching, sugar-lift etching, and aquatint in colors, on chocolate brown Moriki paper collaged to white HMP handmade Zaaen linen paper; Signed Frankenthaler and dated 1980-82 in pencil lower right and numbered 8/8 in pencil lower left; Published by Donn H. Steward, Halesite, NY (with their blindstamp); Catalogue Raisonne: Harrison 90; Size - Image: 16 x 19 1/2", Sheet: 25 x 29 3/4"; Unframed.

To purchase this work or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE

"Comet has all the luminous qualities of a mystifying and beautiful celstial body." - "Frankenthaler: A Catalogue Raisonne, Prints 1961-1994" by Pegram Harrison

Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter who exhibited artwork for over six decades starting from the early 1950's until her passing in 2011. She was included in the 1964 Post-Painterly Abstraction exhibition curated by the famed art critic Clement Greenberg; and the body of work presented in the show would latter be known as Color Field Painting. Frankenthaler's work has been the subject of several retrospective exhibitions, including the important 1989 retrospective held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 2011 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

Close up of "Comet."

Helen Frankenthaler is, without a question, one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century and is one of the very few female artists that would be included in such a list. She was married to the abstract expressionist artist Robert Motherwell, and had an intimate relationship with the famous art critic Clement Greenberg; so her connections within the art community run very deep. Frankenthaler was initially involved in the abstract expressionist movement but was looking for a path forward. Then, after a trip in October to Nova Scotia, had a breakthrough with a painting entitled "Mountains and Sea," 1952. The painting was abstract, and rather than painting the landscape seen on her trip, the work portrayed the experience itself. The composition was painted using a "soak stain" technique, whereby unprimed canvas duct is painted using oil paint that had been heavily thinned with turpentine. The effects of the technique reinforced the abstract nature of the landscape painting; and when the artists Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis saw it in her studio, their own painting styles and working methods were forever changed.

Close up of the Frankenthaler signature and date.

During the 1960's, ULAE published original prints by Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Jasper Johns, Barnett Newman, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, Cy Twombly, and many other major modern artists working at the time. In 1966 ULAE established an etching studio and on the printers hired was Donn Steward. Steward had studied etching at the University of Iowa and had trained as a lithography printer at Tamarind. He worked with Frankenthaler and printed the four aquatints made at ULAE.

The next paragraph is from "Frankenthaler: A Catalogue Raisonne, Prints 1961-1994" by Pegram Harrison:

"Frankenthaler and Donn Steward began work in 1980 on "Comet," their last and most challenging collaboration before his death in 1985, and it took them two years to complete the project. Using only soft-ground and sugar-lift etching as well as aquatint, "Comet" is one of the most painterly and interwoven of Frankenthaler's intaglio prints."

Close up of the edition number.

 Close up of the Donn H. Steward blindstamp.

This is an extremely important and rare work by Helen Frankenthaler. Over a period of two years, Frankenthaler and Donn Steward were able to create an amazing work of art that captures the experience of looking into the heavens and seeing a beautiful painterly night sky. The printed image is collaged onto a mottled and textured handmade paper, that further enhances the beauty of the work. The edition size is only eight and so represents a very rare opportunity for the collector.

#Frankenthaler #HelenFrankenthaler #printcollecting #noland #colorfield #artcollecting #etching #aquatint #sugarliftetching #softgroundetching #DonnSteward #Comet #ULAE #untitledartgallery