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Monday, May 8, 2017

"Danseuse Debout, Acoudée (Standing Dancer, Leaning)," 1927 by Henri Matisse


Danseuse Debout, Acoudée (Standing Dancer, Leaning), 1927; Lithograph on Japon paper; Signed Henri Matisse and numbered 15/15 in pencil lower right; Published by Galerie D'Art Contemporain de Paris; Catalog Raisonne: Duthuit 482; Size - Image 18 x 11"; Sheet 19 1/2 x 12 3/4", Frame 32 3/4 x 25 1/2"; Framed with a gold wood frame, two acid free linen mats, a gold fillet, and UV Plexiglass.

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

"What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.” – Henri Matisse

Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse (1869 – 1954) was a French artist who was known for both his use of colour and his original draughtsmanship. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso, as one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists who redefined the visual arts of painting and sculpture. Although he was initially labelled a Fauve (wild beast), by the 1920s he was increasingly being hailed as a leader in the classical tradition of French painting. His artistic creation spanned over a half-century, and he is now considered a leading figure in the modern art movement.

Although Matisse is better known as a painter and sculptor, he became an avid print maker starting in 1906. His preferred medium was lithography, which he utilized in the creation of illustrations for books and over 100 original limited edition lithographs. The majority of the lithographs were executed in black and white, thus maintaining the sense of spontaneity and intimacy inherit in his pencil drawings. As with his paintings and sculptures, original lithographs are currently in world renowned permanent collections of major private and public institutions; including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Modern, and the Guggenheim.


Close up of the edition number and the Henri Matisse pencil signature.

 
Framed image of "Danseuse Debout, Acoudée (Standing Dancer, Leaning)," 1927 by Henri Matisse.

"Danseuse Debout, Acoudée (Standing Dancer, Leaning)," 1927 is a wonderful lithograph with the subject being a beautiful ballet dancer wearing a fitted flower covered bodice and a crinoline tutu that is tied at the waist with flowers and a bow. The artwork is instantly recognized as being from the hand of Matisse, as it is executed in his loose drawing style. One only need to look at the subject's face to see Matisse's great economy of lines, that form a balanced composition. The use of contour and value, in order to convey both a sense of softness and depth, makes the execution of the artwork exceptional. The standing dancer is leaning with her head resting in the palm of her right hand. Her gaze is fixed into the distance, implying a daydream state; and she does not appear to notice that she is being seen by the viewer. Her background is abstracted and washed out, focusing the attention only on the beautiful ballerina. The resulting composition is relaxed and calm, creating a peaceful daydream like escape for both the subject and the viewer. This is a spectacular, large, rare, and early work by Henri Matisse; and a great addition to any art collection!

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

"Portraits Of The Artists," 1967 by Andy Warhol


Portraits Of The Artists, 1967; Screenprints on 100 polystyrene boxes in ten colors; Incised initials AW & numbered 152/200 in the Warhol lower right blue box; Artists left to right: Lee Bontecou, Frank Stella, Larry Poons, Robert Morris, Donald Judd, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, & Andy Warhol; Published by Tanglewood Press, Inc., NY; Size - 20 3/4 x 20 3/4 x 1 1/2"; Catalog Raisonne: Feldman/Schellmann: II.17; Framed in a plexibox.


"My fascination with letting images repeat and repeat - or in film's case 'run on' - manifests my belief that we spend much of our lives seeing without observing." - Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol became part of a very exclusive group of artists that the famous and influential New York dealer, Leo Castelli, represented. Castelli (1907 - 1999) was an Italian-American art dealer. His New York gallery showed modern and contemporary artwork for five decades. Among the art movements which were covered included: Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dada, Pop Art, Op Art, Color Field, Hard-edge Geometric, Lyrical Abstraction, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and Neo-expressionism.


Close up of the Andy Warhol incised initials, A. W.


Close up of the edition number 152/200.

In 1967, David Whitney organized an exhibition to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Leo Castilli Gallery. The show was entitled "Leo Castelli Ten Years," was held February 4-26, and included sixteen gallery artists. Andy Warhol's contribution (who came to the gallery late, after having two shows at Eleanor Ward’s Stable Gallery) to the show was a series of individual canvas portraits of twelve of the gallery artists: Lee Bontecou, John Chamberlain, Frank Stella, Larry Poons, Robert Morris, Donald Judd, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, and himself. The photographs of the artists were provided by the Castelli Gallery and Warhol then both cropped and enlarged them to created a silkscreen. The individual portrait images were then screened onto single colored canvases and were hung in the gallery foyer.


Close up of the top four rows of "Portraits Of The Artists," 1967 by Andy Warhol.

In early 1967 Tanglewood Press published a Portfolio entitled "Ten Faces of Leo Castelli," also to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Leo Castilli Gallery. Warhol's contribution was a variant of his work for the Castelli exhibition. The work was entitled "Portraits of the Artists" and depicts the same portrait images of ten of the Castelli artists (Chamberlain and Twombly were not included). Warhol screenprinted each portrait using black ink onto ten different colored 3-D polystyrene boxes, each measuring approximately 2” x 2”. The boxes were then put into a frame, but they were not attached to each other; thus allowing the owner to rearrange the boxes in any order (Note: The order pictured seems to be the original published orientation). The framed 100 boxes form a square work of art approximately 20” x 20” and the artists pictured here are left to right: Lee Bontecou, Frank Stella, Larry Poons, Robert Morris, Donald Judd, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, and Andy Warhol.


Close up of the bottom six rows of "Portraits Of The Artists," 1967 by Andy Warhol.

"Portraits Of The Artists," 1967 is one of Warhol's greatest editioned works from the 1960's; the high period for Pop Art. The work certainly references the portrait that Warhol created for Ethel Scull, whose father was a wealthy taxi cab owner. "Ethel Scull 36 Times," 1963 was a series of equally sized portraits of Scull varying only in the portrait pose and the background color of the canvas. The 36 canvass, like "Portraits Of The Artists," could be rearranged into any order that most appealed to the owner. Both works illustrate the wonderful use of Warhol's fascination with repetition. For "Portraits Of The Artists," 1967 because the portrait is screened onto the top of a colored box, there is a shadow created on the bottom; further adding to the multiplicity of the portrait image. The edition for the multiple is only 200, however because so many from the edition are part of major art museums throughout the world (including the Museum of Modern Art and The Andy Warhol Museum), this is a wonderful opportunity to obtain a very rare, original, and important piece of Andy Warhol 1960's artwork!

"Isn't life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?" - Andy Warhol