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English school, 19th century, still life of game, oil on canvas, together with the companion, a pair, each 15 x 20cmDirty. Crazing within the surface. Some rubbing to the surface in places. No visible signature. Frames are old, but quite marked with losses. Collected from a local house move, so unrestored.
REMEDIOS VARO (1908-1963) WITH POSSIBLE ADDITIONS BY ÓSCAR DOMÍNGUEZ (1906–1957) & ESTEBAN FRANCÉS (1913–1976)Composition surréaliste (tableau collaboratif) bears the signature and date 'Ó. Dominguez 1935' (lower left), further indistinctly signed (lower left) and indistinctly signed and dated (upper right)oil on copper20.4 x 13.9cm (8 1/16 x 5 1/2in).Painted circa 1935Footnotes:We are grateful to Dr. Salomon Grimberg for his assistance in cataloguing this work, with regards to the artistic input of Remedios Varo. We would also like to thank the Asociación en Defensa de Óscar Domínguez, including Mélodie Bonnat, and Josefina Alix for their assistance cataloguing this work.ProvenancePrivate collection, Paris; their sale, Blanchet & Associés, Paris, 19 October 2022, lot 43.Acquired at the above sale by the previous owner. Acquired from the above by the present owner.On a warm August evening in a Montparnasse studio, a lively gathering of artists was taking place. The year was 1938 and the studio belonged to Óscar Domínguez, an exuberant young painter from Tenerife. He and his guests were acolytes of a vanguard cultural movement known as Surrealism. Its tenets promoted the omnipotence of dreams, the sovereignty of collaborative experimentation, and sexual freedom as a precondition to unbridled artistic expression. In attendance were the artists Yves Tanguy and Georges Hugnet, as well as the writers Paul Éluard and Benjamin Péret. The centre of the group's attention had turned to the vivacious and attractive Remedios Varo, a vigorously talented Spanish artist who lived an openly polyamorous lifestyle. Somewhat unsurprisingly for a strong-willed woman in a predominantly male setting, her romantic and sexual life became the topic of debate. The antagonist was Esteban Francés, a Catalan artist six years her junior, whose adoration of Varo was sometimes marred by his complicated and jealous persona. He openly criticised her for her multiple relationships, despite the fact that he was part of one such ongoing tryst. Domínguez - another of Varo's lovers - rose gallantly to defend her, but he swiftly lost control and flew into a towering rage. Suddenly concerned, their friends intervened in the ensuing tussle. Victor Brauner - a Romanian artist with whom Varo would later reside – restrained Francés' arms. The strong and thickset Domínguez twisted free from his own captors, grabbing a glass and launching it at Francés. But in the chaos, the glass struck the face of the unfortunate Brauner and ripped his eye straight from its socket.The complex layers of this group dynamic form a necessary backdrop to understanding the total enigma which is the present work. Spontaneous, disturbing and eerily auspicious, Composition surréaliste (tableau collaboratif) is a painting partially authored by Varo, and for which one can surmise possible contributions from both Francés and Domínguez. Completed around two years before the shocking incident in Montparnasse, this small painting on copper is psychically charged, foreshadowing the love, violence and strife that would descend upon its creators. Indeed, the artists of the Surrealist milieu possessed an uncanny knack for artistic divination. Domínguez had, around seven years prior to the brawl, completed a disturbing self-portrait in which his hand was mutilated, his arm veins severed. Twenty-seven years later, after an unsuccessful exhibition, he was discovered in the bathtub of his Montparnasse studio, having slit his wrists. (Brauner, too, completed a captivating and gruesome self-portrait around seven years prior to his injury, with a gaping hole in place of his right eye. This was one of his many artistic explorations of one-eyedness from the early 1930s).Varo believed wholeheartedly in such premonitions. She approached her art and her life constantly attuned to magic and mysticism, with a dash of psychoanalysis mixed into the heady cauldron of her stimuli. For Varo and her friends, the spontaneity and surprise of collaborative compositions conjured up the magic of the unexpected, resulting in fascinating works that are iconic to the story of Surrealism. The present work is key in this regard. Upon the shifting tectonic folds of a barren volcanic landscape, distorted, nude, puppet-like figures engage in sexual and sadistic behaviour. Their jagged, jaunty stances and smiling faces generate a sinister hue of contradictions - the true elixir of Surrealism. Blood-red biomorphic gourds menstruate and sprout wriggling, sperm-like, sinuous roots, evoking a twisted mix of gore and desire. To the centre, a nude woman, possibly pregnant, is showered in droplets of white liquid, the bars of her figurative prison cell suspending her over a gaping abyss. At the base of the scene, an embryonic form within a drop of liquid rises from a seashell like a child of Venus, cowering in anguish at the terrifying realm it has entered. In the foreground, the severed head of Gerardo Lizarraga, Varo's husband, looks on passively, encased in a perilously hanging box. Although the scene lacks a cohesive narrative, its vignettes generate the rhythm and flow of a hallucinatory vision, one that gains its vitality through its juxtapositions. This engrossing disjointedness arises in part from the work's collaborative nature. Collective creativity was core to the Surrealists' toolkit, as they believed such collaborations could release the individual from the biases of conscious thought, thereby accessing a shared subconscious realm. This ideal came to fruition in the summer of 1935 in Barcelona, a critical chapter in the story of Surrealism and a catalyst for the present work. During that time, Varo, Francés, Domínguez and their fellow Surrealist Marcel Jean devoted themselves to the game of cadavre exquis ('exquisite corpse'). A game of words that the Surrealists transformed into a visual exercise, cadavre exquis involved one player creating a collage or drawing, obscuring their design and passing the paper to the next player, who would add their own image. This resulted in a fascinating series of works, many of which were composed vertically so as to generate the head, body and limbs of a quasi-humanoid form. The vitality of these spontaneous works led the group to evolve related exercises allowing for fuller, more cohesive compositions that were still grounded in hasard objectif ('objective chance'). Thence grew the jeu de dessin communiqué ('game of shared drawing'), whereby a player would draw an image and show it to the next participant for a brief instant, who would then interpret it in their own spontaneous composition, inviting contributions from the ensuing players. The imagery that Varo and her friends thus conjured would often comprise biomorphic entities with zoological and humanoid features, sometimes in erotic or tortuous positions, who were somehow connected to the features and objects of their surrounding terrain. On rare occasions, paintings would be created in this fashion, started by one artist and then re-worked or even partially erased by the ensuing collaborators. The present work is a unique token of this fervent period, offering a privileged glimpse into this captivating artistic methodology. Many of the group's paintings and drawings from this time have been lost, due in part to the surrounding turmoil of the Spanish Civil War, as well as their free circulation among other artists by post and itinera... This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * AR* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
GIORGIO DE CHIRICO (1888-1978)Vita silente signed 'G. de Chirico' (lower right); signed, inscribed and dated 'Opera eseguita nel 1931 a Parigi Giorgio de Chirico' and further signed 'Giorgio de Chirico' (on the reverse)oil on canvas38.3 x 55.5cm (15 1/16 x 21 7/8in).Painted in Paris in 1931Footnotes:ProvenanceGalleria d'Annunciata, Milan, no. 1908 (probably acquired directly from the artist in the 1940s).Private collection, Italy (acquired from the above in the 1950s).Galleria Bergamini, Milan.Galleria Gussoni, Milan.Anon. sale, Brera Galleria d'Arte, Rome, 16 December 1964, lot 241.Private collection, Rome (acquired at the above sale).Private collection, Rome (by descent from the above).LiteratureC. Bruni Sakraischik, Catalogo Generale Giorgio de Chirico, Vol. III, Opere dal 1931 al 1950, Milan, 1983, no. 180 (illustrated; incorrect dimensions).Vita silente presents assorted fruits; apples and lemons stand alongside a ripe tomato and a clementine, delicately arranged on a white cloth. The bed of ivory fabric accentuates the contrast of this chromatic range of warm colours, with a diffuse light that crosses the work, casting soft shadows. The work is a harmony of yellow, red and orange hues, enhanced by a complementary blue woven softly into the background and foreground through classically Impressionistic strokes.Painted in Paris in 1931, the present work stands testament to the renewed interest for the still life genre from twentieth century Italian painters and it remained an important subject for artists until well into the 1960s. Arguably Giorgio de Chirico and Giorgio Morandi were at the forefront of this revival and the style's most prolific protagonists in Italy, however, the subject was also widely explored by many fellow Italian artists such as Carlo Carrà, Gino Severini, and Renato Guttuso. Despite this modern revival of the subject, de Chirico sought to draw inspiration from the past more than from his contemporaries. When he settled in Rome in 1918-1919, he spent his time in museums, copying and studying the works of Old Masters. Thus when he returned to Paris in 1925, his technique was imbued with the influences of the Baroque and the Renaissance, which reveal themselves through his luxurious brushwork, dramatic stage settings and grandiosity in sumptuously elaborated paintings. Nevertheless, despite de Chirico's negative opinion of the Impressionist group, his pared down composition in the present work is brighter, and his technique tends more to their handling, particularly through the thin strokes of complementary colours etched into the background. His focus on volumes standing out on the white cloth also recalls one of the masters of still life and of the modern painting genre, Paul Cézanne. The most unequivocal reference here however, is to Pierre-Auguste Renoir. One of the few Impressionists de Chirico openly admired, he once wrote that: 'Renoir [was] the only French painter to hold his own without camphor oil injections or oxygen tents, [...] because his painting pleases and because he was a real painter.' (G. de Chirico, 'L'eterna questione', in L'Ambrosiano, Milan, March 1938). Following Renoir's example, de Chirico applied vibrant strokes of paint, using diagonals to his advantage while playing on the convolution of folds, and combining the broken lines of the cloth with the circular volumes of the fruit. Another of Renoir's greatest talents was his masterful use of coloured shadows, which de Chirico subtly implements here, with soft blue shadows tucked into the folds. As with his contemporary Giorgio Morandi, whose almost vocational pursuit of the still life sculpted some of the most renowned pieces of twentieth century Italian painting, for de Chirico, a still life was more than a simple exercise in style and technique, hence his peculiar choice of title: Vita silente rather than 'natura morta', the Italian translation of 'still life'. As much a painter as a theorist, he wrote extensively on the subject: 'In the German and English language 'natura morta' has another name that is far more beautiful and correct. Its name is Still leben and Still life: 'vita silenziosa' (silent life). It refers to a painting, in fact, which represents the silent life of objects and things, a calm life, without sound or movement, an existence that expresses itself by means of volume, form and plasticity.' (G. de Chirico, 'Le Nature morte', in L'Illustrazione Italiana, Milan, 24 May 1942). This form of inner life, hidden beyond reality, is the essence of what metaphysical painting was all about. Indeed, the term 'metaphysical' refers to the painter's perpetual search for the hidden meaning of objects. De Chirico's work was always guided by the idea that there was meaning hidden behind the surface of the objects represented. Thus, the subject of the silent life is not so far removed from de Chirico's imagined impossible landscapes, his juxtapositions of objects, and his oneiric scenes that seem to come directly from the subconscious and go beyond physical reality. As he explained in a 1919 text: 'every object has two appearances: one, the current one, which we nearly always see and which is seen by people in general; the other, a spectral or metaphysical appearance beheld only by some rare individuals in moments of clairvoyance and metaphysical abstraction, as in the case of certain bodies concealed by substances impenetrable by sunlight yet discernable, for instance, by X-ray or other powerful artificial means' (G. de Chirico, 'Sull'arte metafisica', in Valori Plastici, April-May 1919, p. 16).Despite the apparent simplicity of Vita silente, the composition illustrates de Chirico's mastery of both practice and theory. While referring to a traditional subject inherited from the Old Masters, later reinvented by Impressionists, he gave it new meaning while subtly showing that the genre also belonged to the metaphysical dimension. As J.M. Faerna writes: 'throughout his long career [de Chirico] spoke with different voices [and] he entered and left different spheres with freedom; but in some sense, the Metaphysical realm was the domain of all his paintings.' (J.M. Faerna, De Chirico, Barcelona, 1995, p. 14).Aside from its rich heritage among de Chirico's oeuvre, the present work comes from the family of the artist's notary, who compiled an eminent private collection of carefully curated Italian Novecento works, assembled during the twentieth century. Having since descended through the family to the present owners, Vite Silente has not been seen publicly since its acquisition in the 1960s.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * AR* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
NICOLAS TARKHOFF (1871-1930)Trois tournesols stamped with the artist's signature 'N. Tarkhoff' (lower left)oil on paper 42.6 x 26.1cm (16 3/4 x 10 1/4in).Painted circa 1920-1925Footnotes:The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Dr. Oscar Ghez. This work will be included in the forthcoming Nicolas Tarkhoff catalogue raisonné, currently being prepared by the Nicolas Tarkhoff Committee. We are grateful to Guy Abot, Director of the Nicolas Tarkhoff Committee, for his assistance cataloguing this work.ProvenanceDr. Oscar Ghez Collection, Geneva, no. 14368.Private collection, Geneva (acquired from the above in 1989).Private collection, Geneva (by descent from the above).ExhibitedGeneva, Musée du Petit Palais, 1980 - 2000.San Francisco, Harcourts Gallery, Nicolas Tarkhoff, A retrospective exhibition, September – November 1989, no. 25.Nicolas Tarkhoff moved to Paris in 1899 where he attended the École des Beaux-Arts, and soon after, started exhibiting his paintings at the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d'Automne. His artwork was regarded as pioneering and extremely desirable, and Tarkhoff was granted solo exhibitions at Galerie Ambroise Vollard (where Cézanne, Gauguin, and Renoir had all exhibited) in 1906 and Galerie Drouet in 1909. As early as 1910, an extraordinary list of collectors had acquired his work, including Sergei Shchukin and Sergei Diaghilev. The artist kept ties with Moscow and participated in several exhibitions in Russia; his pictures were included in the Mir Iskusstva (World of Art) exhibitions of 1899, 1911 and 1913. He also exhibited seventeen paintings in Sergei Diaghilev's landmark exhibition of Russian art, Two Centuries of Russian Painting and Sculpture, in October 1906 at the Grand Palais in Paris.Tarkhoff's distinct style aligned him closely with the Fauves, a style indebted to Impressionistic canons as it often stressed varying qualities of light, visibly broad brushwork and an exploration of pure colour. He was continually influenced by Van Gogh and Post-Impressionism, as evidenced by his oft chosen themes of rural landscapes and floral still-life compositions. In particular, Tarkhoff held a fondness for sunflowers, utilising them as a constant vibrant environment through which to develop his Impressionistic style. In this, Tarkhoff was influenced by the writings of Edmond Duranty, who wrote in his 1876 article 'La Nouvelle Peinture': 'Painters must try to capture the motion... and render the shaking of the leaves, the glistening of the water and the vibration of the sun-soaked air...' (Duranty quoted in N. Tarkhoff, Impressions of a Russian Painter in Paris, Ahlen, 1999, pp. 65-66).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
§ Alan Kingsbury (British, b. 1960), 'Still Life with Ballet Dancer', oil on board, monogrammed lower right and inscribed with title and signature to the reverse, 57 x 72cm, framed and glazed.Please note that Artist's Resale Right may be additionally payable on top of the hammer price for this lot, where the price is above the threshold of Euros 1,000, up to a maximum of 4% of the hammer price. Please visit www.dacs.org.uk for more information.
§ Darren Baker (British, b. 1976), 'Summer Salad', still life with wine and salad, pastel, signed lower right, 23 x 17cm, framed and glazed, W. H. Patterson label to the reverse.Please note that Artist's Resale Right may be additionally payable on top of the hammer price for this lot, where the price is above the threshold of Euros 1,000, up to a maximum of 4% of the hammer price. Please visit www.dacs.org.uk for more information.
2004 Aston Martin Vanquish 5.9 litre 2+2 Coupe No Reserve Estimate £40,000 to £60,000 Registration: YA04VZL Odometer: 32,850 Colour: Meteorite Silver Fuel Type: Petrol Engine Size: 5900cc Transmission: Automated manual MOT: 31st January 2024 -- Last of the hand built Newport Pagnell cars -- Represent great value today -- Original factory build sheet -- Important Sports Dynamic Pack Outside -- Stunning meteorite silver which presents excellently with no dents or corrosion -- There's a very small area on the satin black area of the off side a pillar where the door glass has rubbed approximately 10mm of the paint off, probably been left with a flat battery as the door glass drops when opening -- Being over critical, one of the aluminium wiper arms is showing some signs of corrosion -- Immaculate and un marked diamond cut face alloy wheels, shod with near new Michelin Pilot Sport 4's all around Inside -- Black cherry leather trim looks in excellent condition with only the slightest sign of wear to the drivers seat bolster -- Ivory alcantara headlining is in perfect order -- Heated electric seats -- Perfect Aston interior which is a wonderful place to be Mechanicals -- Extensive history file is evidence that this car has been pampered all its life -- Legendary Aston V12 engine starts well and soon settles into a nice idle -- The automated manual gearbox shifts well through the gears, both in manual and automatic modes -- A joy to drive everything feels tight and well screwed together with no undue knocks or bangs coming from anywhere -- History file details a new clutch fitted at 20,000 miles -- Sold with Aston trickle charger and 2 keys History -- Supplied new by JCT 600 Aston Martin agent in Leeds -- V5C shows 9 previous owners, history file includes copies of every V5 and details each owner from new -- File also shows the car was owned by retired footballer Ian Edward Wright from 2010 to 2012 -- Supplied to current registered keeper by Tom Hartley Cars in 2018 for £80,000, purchase invoice on file -- Build sheet included shows the following options 2 plus 2 seating configuration sports dynamic pack front stone guards grey brake calipers body coloured door release sports heated front seats colour keyed/leather steering wheel heated front screen rear park distance sensors Sat nav system Powerfold exterior mirrors Telephone - Integral system -- There is no service history book present however we have correspondence from Aston Martin stating the vehicle has a full main dealer history from 2004 to March 2008 (7 services including the PDI) by which time the car had covered 13,438 miles -- The next evidence of service is by Aston Service London in December 2011 at 19,329 miles -- From this point onwards the car has had regular services and repairs carried out by Aston Martin Works, Aston Service London, Christian Lewis and Nicholas Mee -- Notable works include a new clutch assembly replaced by Aston Martin Works at 20,000 miles the engine wiring Harness was replaced at the same time with the total cost for these works coming to £15,000 -- The last service was carried out by Aston Service London on 6th May 2021 with a mileage of 31,045 Our Opinion One of the very few collectors cars that values have dropped in the past 3 years, we believe the Vanquish is still a modern classic for many many reasons and we can only see the values increase from this point. Its clear that this car has been pampered throughout its life and the service and parts invoice's on file show it has wanted for nothing. A wonderful and unique driving experience, if a Vanquish has ever been on your radar, now's the time to get one of these very special cars bought before buyers start to realise the importance of their place in Aston Martin history and values start to climb again.
LE CARRE (John): 'Smiley's People', 2nd impression, 1980: inscribed in black ink to title and opposite page 'For Rick Churchill with my sincere good wishes from John Le Carre on a beautiful autumn day in Hampstead - Nov 5th 1981, and a smell of woodsmoke coming off the heath..' adding 'the picture on the back is still said by those who know me to be the best..': 'The Pigeon Tunnel..stories from my life': Viking, 2006 FIRST EDITION: inscribed to title page 'Dear John and Anthea, I'm in your debt: chapter 36 on page 302...with much love to you both David aka John Le Carre 26/X/17: with 19 others by Le Carre, including 2 inscribed copies and 2 signed Franklin Library first editions, all but last 2 mentioned in dustjackets, VG, 8vo. (21)
Ewan McClure (Scottish Born 1975) ARRFramed oil on canvas'The Red Teapot Still Life' (And Squirrel) 58cm X 74cm Provenance McEwen Gallery, BallaterEwan McClure is a mid-career well respected Scottish artist and has works in the Robert Fleming Collection andThe Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh
Laurence Biddle (British 1888-1968) Gilt framed oil on canvas 'Still Life of a Bowl of Flowers' 31.5cm x 31.5cm Provenance with Porteous - Allison Street, Glasgow, old label verso Condition reportShould read on paper, some paint loss and bubbling, cracking to the paint. and some water marking
Suiveur de Karel van Vogelaer, dit Distelbloom (Maastricht 1653-1695 Rome)Nature morte aux fleursFollower of Karel van Vogelaer, called Distelbloom (Maastricht 1653-1695 Rome)Still life of flowers bears initials 'K.V' (lower left)oil on canvas95.5 x 69cm (37 5/8 x 27 3/16in).For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Jacob Marrel (Frankenthal 1614-1681 Francfort-sur-le-Main)Nature morte avec un panier de fruits, des coquillages et un lézardJacob Marrel (Frankenthal 1614-1681 Frankfurt-am-Main)Still life with a basket of fruit, sea shells and a lizard signed with monogram 'JM* f' (lower right, possibly strengthened)oil on panel74 x 49cm (29 1/8 x 19 5/16in).Footnotes:Provenance:With Julius Böhler, Munich, 1981, where purchased by the present ownerJacob Marel was apprenticed to the Frankfurt still life artist Georg Flegel until he moved to Utrecht in the early 1630s and trained under Jan Davidsz. de Heem. Here he also came under the influence of the Bosschaert family and Roelandt Savery, all of whom were active in Utrecht at that time. The basket, shells and fruit in the present work are clearly inspired by Balthazar van der Ast's still life, from circa 1635, now in Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada (inv.no. 83.27), which may have been painted before the artist left for Delft. Marrel moved to Frankfurt in 1650 and tutored Abraham Mignon, for whom he later arranged training in Utrecht with de Heem. He continued to travel between Utrecht and Frankfurt throughout his life, forming an important link between two early centres of interest in flower painting.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Jacqueline Gougis, French 1926-2021- Floral still life; oil on canvas, signed 'J. GOUGIS' (lower right), signed on the reverse, 100 x 81 cm (ARR)Condition Report: The canvas is secure on the stretcher and sits well within the frame. Unexamined out of frame. Paint surface is stable on the support. Light marks and surface dirt generally. Otherwise in very good condition overall.
Elise Claudine Arntzenius, Dutch 1902-1982- Floral still life; watercolour and gouache on paper, signed bottom left 'E.C. Arntzenius' and inscribed on the reverse, 18.9 x 24 cm (ARR)Condition Report: Framed, mounted, and glazed, and unexamined out of frame. Minor marks and scuffs to the frame generally. The sheet lies flat within the mount. Very minor craquelure to some of the spots of gouache. Evidence of minor abrasions in areas. Possible minor marks and spots of foxing in areas. Otherwise in good condition overall.
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76475 item(s)/page