Victor Pasmore

Marlborough-Gerson, New York, Victor Pasmore, 1967, no.8, illustrated in the catalogue. 

Alan Bowness and Luigi Lambertini (intro.), Victor Pasmore with a catalogue raisonné of the paintings, constructions and graphics 1926 - 1979, Thames and Hudson, London 1980, no.389, illustrated p.138. 

There are tiny cracks across the surface of the panel. There are scattered scuffs, abrasions and watermarks to the wood relief but these are inherent to the work. The tiny cracks in the paint surface on the panel reflect the cracks in the panel itself. There are one or two surface deposits on the paint surface, for example on the green paint in the upper right quadrant, which may be the mark of the artist. Held in a simple, rectilinear wooden frame which has sustained some surface deposits and abrasions. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 5381 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

During the early 1950s, Pasmore developed a new formal visual vocabulary that embraced a more minimalist idiom and took on a three dimensional nature through the use of construction and relief resulting in works such as Abstract in White, Black and Maroon (1954, B&L 181), exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1960. He continued to explore the use of relief and its consequent sculptural and architectural ability to bring the traditional two dimensional picture plane into a three dimensional space. The early reliefs focus principally on the formality of the constructed forms themselves, however, in the 1960s, he began to introduce paint and colour into the series; 'a return to painting meant a return to the fluid process of line, liquid paint, the paint brush or the paint spray, thus producing an entirely different image from that of rigid construction but still organic in process' (Pasmore, quoted in Bowness and Lambertini, op.cit., p.132).

The resultant combination of abstract yet organic form, evident in the present work, combined with pure colour tones of black and green, achieve a new intensity of expression. Pasmore had been interested in the luscious qualities of paint and colour from an early stage in career and the saturation of colour in the present work recalls the rich hues of early works such as Lamplight (1941, Tate Collection, London) whilst the curvilinear shapes are prophetic of the style he developed in the 1970s (see lot 143).