"Natural History Part I Mushrooms: No. VII," 1974 by Cy Twombly

Natural History Part I Mushrooms: No. VII, 1974; Lithograph, collotype in colors, collage, and hand-coloring on Rives Couronne paper; Numbered 94/98 and initialed C T in pencil lower right; Printer, © 1974, and VII stamps lower left; Published by Propyläen Verlag, Berlin; Catalog Raisonne: Bastian 48; Size - Sheet 30 x 22", Frame 38 x 30"; Framed floated with an acid free mat, cream wood exterior frame, and plexiglass.

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

"Each line is now the actual experience with its own innate history. It does not illustrate - it is the sensation of its own realization." - Cy Twombly

Cy Twombly (1928-2011) was an American painter, sculptor, photographer, and print maker. He is most known for his large scale paintings that depict calligraphic, scribbled, and graffiti-like compositions that are set on a grey, tan, or off-white field. His works are in every major museum in the world with numerous works in the Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim, and housed and shown in a separate building as part of the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas. Twombly was also commissioned to paint the ceiling in a room in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. His most expensive painting at auction was "Untitled (New York City)," 1968 which sold for $70.5 million at Sotheby's in 2015.

Twombly's artistic style began to emerge in the mid 1950's. He was influenced by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, with whom he shared a studio. Twombly was to develop a simplified form of abstraction that was influenced by tribal art, that immediately lead to the invocation of primitivism. He developed a technique of gestural drawing, characterized by thin white lines on a dark ground. This contrast and painting technique lead to the appearance that the lines had been scratched onto the surface of the canvas. Once he moved to Gaeta in Southern Italy, he began to integrate classical source material into his compositions. Soon, erotic and corporeal symbols were utilized, as well as a greater move towards lyricism. In the mid 1970's there was a shift, and he began to incorporate color into his works; particularly brown, green, and light blue. There was also an increase in inscriptions and collage elements; as well as inspiration being drawn from historical events, literature, and mythology. The rough utilization of the source material, combined in unique and primitive (ritual and fetish elements) ways, evoked the memory of those events without an overt need for elaborate illustration.

Close up of the edition number and Cy Twombly's initials.

Close up of the Printer, © 1974, and VII stamps lower left.

Framed "Natural History Part I Mushrooms: No. VII," 1974 by Cy Twombly.

"Natural History Part I Mushrooms: No. VII," 1974 is an exceptional work by Cy Twombly. The work has as it's subject various mushroom images that are scattered about the sheet and overlaid by Twombly's scribbles, scrawls, and smudges. There is a scientific artistic commentary conveyed by the use of diagrams, graph paper, numbers, charts, and binomial nomenclature of genus and species names typed alongside botanical illustrations from an unknown specimen book. The stacked placement of images suggest a draftsman level of design, with the intentional creation of depth. The application of forms, in combination with the immediacy of the drawing, seems planned but executed quickly. The exact reason and meaning of the composition is deliberately obscured for the viewer, but there are strong phallic, corporeal, and mortality references in the imagery that are layered on and around a pseudoscientific array of connections. It is clear that the mushrooms serve as a jumping-off point to a deeper understanding of Natural History. "My line is childlike but not childish, Twombly said. "It is very difficult to fake... to get that quality you need to project yourself into the child's line. It has to be felt." This is a wonderful example of Cy Twombly at his best and a great addition to any twentieth century art collection!

#Twombly #CyTwombly #Warhol #RoyLichtenstein #RichardSerra #RobertRauschenberg #JamesRosenquist #AndyWarhol #Stockholm #LeoCastelli #untitledartgallery #Art

Chouette aux taches (Owl with spots) Vase, 1951 by Pablo Picasso

Chouette aux taches (Owl with spots) Vase, 1951; White earthenware ceramic vase with colored engobe and glaze; From the edition of 300; Inscribed 'Edition Picasso' and with the 'D'Après Picasso and Madoura Plein Feu pottery stamps on the underside; Size - Chouette aux taches (Owl with spots) Vase: 11 3/4" x 6" x 8 3/4"; Catalogue Raisonne: A.R. 120.

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

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 Chouette aux taches (Owl with spots) Vase by Pablo Picasso

Front view of Chouette aux taches (Owl with spots) Vase 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

Back view of Chouette aux taches (Owl with spots) Vase by Pablo Picasso

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.”

Close up of the 'D'Après Picasso and Madoura Plein Feu pottery stamps.

From Charles Mathes's site valuethoughts.com:
"In 1946 Picasso was staying near Antibes in the South of France and decorating the walls of what would become the Musée Picasso. A small owl with an injured claw that had been found in a corner ended up living with him and his lover, Francois Gilot. According to Gilot in her book “Life With Picasso” the owl was an ill-tempered creature who smelled awful and ate only mice. The owl would snort at Picasso and bite his fingers; Picasso would reply with a string of obscenities just to show the bird who was the most ill-tempered. Clearly bad manners were the way to Picasso’s heart for not only did he do a number of paintings, drawings and prints of owls, he created numerous ceramics."

Close up of the 'Edition Picasso' inscription.

Top view of Chouette aux taches (Owl with spots) Vase by Pablo Picasso

Picasso would use the owl in paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, and ceramics for the rest of his life. After Picasso's death, drawings were found that illustrate that the form used for the owl ceramics had been made during the time in 1946 when the wood owl first appeared in Picasso's atelier. This is a wonderful owl vase ceramic created in 1951, and the painting of the vessel is beautifully rendered in brown, black, and cream colors. Free form brushstrokes are used to create the eyes, beak, feathered wings, tail, and feet. The owl is spotting on both sides and on the tail feathers. This is a spectacular piece of original Picasso artwork and a great addition for any art collection!

Click on the short video below to see Francoise Gilot, the lover and muse of Pablo Picasso from 1944-1953 and the mother of his two children Paloma and Claude, discuss the small wood owl that came into their lives.

#Picasso #PabloPicasso #ceramic #Picassoceramic #Madoura #MadouraPottery #Vallauris #SuzanneRamie #GeorgesRamie #Ramie #JacquelineRoque #untitledartgallery #cubism #diaulos #diaulosplayer #faun #GeorgesBloch #Chouette #Owl #WoodOwl #FrancoisGilot

"Untitled," 1973 by Ellsworth Kelly

Untitled, 1973; Serigraph on wove paper; Numbered 102/300 in pencil lower left; Initialed E K in pencil lower right; Stamped © Copyright 1973 By Ellsworth Kelly Printed At Styria Studio in black ink, upper right verso; Published by Experiments in Art and Technology, Inc.; Catalog Raisonne: A.: 92; Size - Sheet 12 x 9"; Unframed.

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

"I have worked to free shape from its ground, and then to work the shape so that it has a definite relationship to the space around it; so that it has a clarity and a measure within itself of its parts (angles, curves, edges, and mass); and so that, with color and tonality, the shape finds its own space and always demands its freedom and separateness." - Ellsworth Kelly

Ellsworth Kelly was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker who was associated with Hard-Edge painting, Color Field, and Minimalism. He is one of the 20th century's greatest and most influential artists, and his work hangs in the world's finest museum's permanent collections.

Despite Kelly being associated with Minimalism, he does not see himself as a minimalist at all; but rather a figure to ground and a color interaction painter. Ellsworth Kelly's works do have a life model, and unlike Ad Reinhardt, Josef Albers, or Barnett Newman; Kelly derives his forms from nature and his surroundings. Photographs taken by Kelly in France as early as 1949 show the casting of shadow and light over surfaces of Parisian architecture; and it was these photographs that served as references for his paintings at the time. The forms, derived from shadows or just small sections of trees or buildings, are then edited and isolated into regular and irregular geometric shapes. Kelly then paints these forms choosing specific colors to isolate the form, and in some cases to relate to other colored forms within the composition. 

Close up of the E K initials. 

Close up of the edition number.

Close up of the stamp © Copyright 1973 By Ellsworth Kelly Printed At Styria Studio.

"Untitled," 1973 (created to raise funds for the acquisition of works of art by artists working in New York during the 1960's that were to be donated to the Moderna Museet, Stockholm) by Ellsworth Kelly is an extremely well executed work of art. The vertical rectangular sheet is equally bisected with a black panel on top, and a white below. The stark contrast of black and white combined with the hard edge forms create simple structure that is devoid of figuration, but not of subject. The black form is heavy and dense, but seems to float above a field of empty space. The act of viewing the work is the realization that there is a specific and elegant balance, created with the intent of invoking a feeling of calmness and introspection. An exceptional work by Ellsworth Kelly and a great addition to any art collection.

#EllsworthKelly #JasperJohns #JosephKosuth #RoyLichtenstein #RichardSerra #Minimalism #ColorField #EdwardRuscha #BruceNauman #LeoCastelli #untitledartgallery #Blackandwhite

"Untitled," 1974 by Robert Morris

Untitled, 1974; Screenprint on Dutch Etching paper; Numbered 9/100 lower left; Signed R. Morris and dated 74 lower right; Co-published by Multiples Inc. and Castelli Graphics, New York; Size - Sheet: 22 x 30"; Unframed.

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

"Simplicity of shape does not necessarily equate to simplicity of experience." - Robert Morris

Robert Morris (b. 1931) is an American sculptor, print maker, conceptual artist, and writer. He is regarded as one of the most influential artists of Minimalism, through both his extensive theoretical writings and sculptures. Through his artwork, he was able to explore and advance the ideas of chance, ephemeral, and temporal aspects of art. Morris has also made important contributions to the development of Performance Art, Land Art, Process Art, and Installation Art.

Morris set forth a vision of art that was pared down to simple geometric shapes that had been stripped of any metaphorical associations, and focused on the artwork's interaction with the viewer. What set Morris apart from his fellow Minimalists such as Donald Judd and Cart Andre, is that Morris was advancing other contemporary American Art movements, most notably, Process Art and Land Art.

In the mid-1960s, Morris created some of the key exemplars of Minimalist sculpture: enormous, repeated geometric forms, such as cubes and rectangular beams devoid of figuration, surface texture, or expressive content. These works forced the viewer to consider the arrangement and scale of the forms themselves, and how perception shifted as one moved around them, which was a central preoccupation of Minimalism Morris's 1966 essay "Notes on Sculpture" was among the first to articulate the experiential basis of Minimalist artwork. It called for the use of simple forms, such as polyhedrons, which could be grasped intuitively by the viewer. and also described Minimalist sculptures as dependent on the context and conditions in which they were perceived, essentially upending the notion of the artwork as independent in and of itself.

Merce Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer was a leader in field for over 50 years. He is also remembered for his collaboration with other artists in other mediums including: John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg Bruce Nauman, Jasper Johns, and Andy Warhol.

Cunningham's performance, "Canfield" premiered on March 4, 1969. The title is derived from a solitaire card game that Merce played while on vacation. He decided to use chance to determine the sequence of movements, and assigned a motion to each card in the deck; while the red and black suits denoted fast and slow motions respectively. Pauline Oliveros composed the score, Jasper Johns designed the costumes, and Robert Morris designed the set that featured a grey vertical beam that moved back and forth across the front of the stage. A light was positioned on the back of the beam aimed at a black cloth that intensified the illumination when a dancer was performing.

Close up of the R. Morris signature and date. 

Close up of the edition number.

"Untitled," 1974 is a wonderful work by Robert Morris. A classic hard edge geometric composition creating a maze or labyrinth, with either an entrance or exit located in the bottom right. Over the years Morris has produced multiple versions of a labyrinth constructed out of wood, and more recently glass. This is a great addition to any art collection!

#RobertMorris #Labyrinth #maze #Warhol #AndyWarhol #MerceCunningham #Dance #dancers #JasperJohns #untitledartgallery #RobertRauschenberg #popart #modernart #art #artists #Rauschenberg #JohnCage #signedandnumbered

"Untitled," 1973 by Cy Twombly

Untitled, 1973; Lithograph and serigraph on mould made rag paper; Numbered 102/300, initialed C.T., and dated 73 in pencil lower edge verso; Stamped © Copyright 1973 By Cy Twombly Printed At Styria Studio in black ink, upper right verso; Published by Experiments in Art and Technology, Inc.; Catalog Raisonne: Bastian 38; Size - Sheet 12 x 9"; Unframed.

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

"Each line is now the actual experience with its own innate history. It does not illustrate - it is the sensation of its own realization." - Cy Twombly

Cy Twombly (1928-2011) was an American painter, sculptor, photographer, and print maker. He is most known for his large scale paintings that depict calligraphic, scribbled, and graffiti-like compositions that are set on a grey, tan, or off-white field. His works are in every major museum in the world with numerous works in the Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim, and housed and shown in a separate building as part of the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas. Twombly was also commissioned to paint the ceiling in a room in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. His most expensive painting at auction was "Untitled (New York City)," 1968 which sold for $70.5 million at Sotheby's in 2015.

Twombly's artistic style began to emerge in the mid 1950's. He was influenced by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, with whom he shared a studio. Twombly was to develop a simplified form of abstraction that was influenced by tribal art, that immediately lead to the invocation of primitivism. He developed a technique of gestural drawing, characterized by thin white lines on a dark ground. This contrast and painting technique lead to the appearance that the lines had been scratched onto the surface of the canvas. Once he moved to Gaeta in Southern Italy, he began to integrate classical source material into his compositions. Soon, erotic and corporeal symbols were utilized, as well as a greater move towards lyricism. In the mid 1970's there was a shift, and he began to incorporate color into his works; particularly brown, green, and light blue. There was also an increase in inscriptions and collage elements; as well as inspiration being drawn from historical events, literature, and mythology. The rough utilization of the source material, combined in unique and primitive (ritual and fetish elements) ways, evoked the memory of those events without an overt need for elaborate illustration.

Close up of the edition number, initials, and date. 

Close up of the stamp © Copyright 1973 By Cy Twombly Printed At Styria Studio

"Untitled," 1973 (created to raise funds for the acquisition of works of art by artists working in New York during the 1960's that were to be donated to the Moderna Museet, Stockholm) is an exceptional work by Cy Twombly. Strong and aggressively applied black lines, primarily diagonal, are drawn onto a tan and blue-grey field. There are floating forms that are created by space being left by adjacent lines not being drawing continuously, as well as line gaps that appear to exist because a line was not drawn with an equal amount of pressure. A subtle background of lighter horizontal lines and shaded fields suggest a draftsman level of design and an underpinning structure. The application of the lines seems planned but executed quickly and with little precision; however the exact reason and meaning of the composition is deliberately obscured for the viewer. This is a wonderful example of Twombly at his best and a great addition to any twentieth century art collection!

#Twombly #CyTwombly #Warhol #RoyLichtenstein #RichardSerra #RobertRauschenberg #JamesRosenquist #AndyWarhol #Stockholm #LeoCastelli #untitledartgallery #Art

"Finger Pointing," 1973 by Roy Lichtenstein

Finger Pointing, 1973; Serigraph on wove paper; Numbered 102/300 lower right verso; Stamped © Copyright 1973 By Roy Lichtenstein Printed At Styria Studio in black ink, lower left verso; Published by Experiments in Art and Technology, Inc.; Catalog Raisonne: Corlett: 126; Size - Sheet 12 x 9"; Unframed.

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

"I'm interested in what would normally be considered the worst aspects of commercial art. I think it's the tension between what seems to be so rigid and cliched and the fact that art really can't be this way." - Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Fox Lichtenstein (1923-1997) was an American Pop artist, who in the 1960's along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, and others, became a leading figure in the in the emerging new Pop art movement. He was first recognized for his utilization and re-appropriation of a single pane from a comic strip, that both documented and parodied the resulting composition. He used bright primary colors (red, yellow, blue, and occasionally green) that were heavily outlined in black; and he borrowed techniques from the print industry in order to produce paintings. Instead of shades of color, Lichtenstein used either close diagonal black lines or the Benday dot, a method by which primary colors of dots are printed onto a white ground and then when viewed from a distance show a density of tone. Roy Lichtenstein's artwork is collected by all major world art museums and his most expensive painting "Masterpiece," sold in January 2017 for $165 million.

"Finger Pointing," 1973 is derived from Roy Lichtenstein appropriating an iconic symbol of American Nationalism and militarism: Uncle Sam, who had appeared on recruitment posters during World Wars I and II. The posters featured Uncle Sam wearing his trademarked colors of red, white, and blue and pointing his right index finger outward. Below him was the text "I WANT YOU FOR U.S. ARMY." Lichtenstein cropped away all but Sam's coat jacket and white shirt cuffs, wrist, and hand with extended index finger. The hand was colored using Lichtenstein's Benday dots; and the assertive gesture is now much more aggressive and confrontational; with the outstretched finger pointing directly at the viewer. By changing the color of the jacket from blue to black and maintaining a classic business attire white shirt, the image is more generalized. The red ground overlaid with the black and white figure makes the image highly charged and activates the composition. Uncle Sam, by the time this print was made, had already been re-purposed by advertising firms, civil rights activists, and anti-war demonstrators; and thus was no longer only associated with only military recruitment.

Close up of the edition number. 

Close up of the stamp © Copyright 1973 By Roy Lichtenstein Printed At Styria Studio.

Lichtenstein had initially designed the Finger Pointing image for a poster for the 1964 exhibition of American Pop Art in Stockholm, Sweden. For this print (created to raise funds for the acquisition of works of art by artists working in New York during the 1960's that were to be donated to the Moderna Museet, Stockholm) Lichtenstein removed the text from the poster and reduced the size. "Finger Pointing" is an exceptional Pop Art work of art by Roy Lichtenstein, and a great addition to any collection!

#BendayDot #Stockholm #FingerPointed #RoyLichtenstein #ClaesOldenburg #RobertRauschenberg #JamesRosenquist #Warhol #AndyWarhol #LeoCastelli #untitledartgallery #UncleSam #PopArt