Beatríz Milhazes

Galería Elba Benitez, Madrid
Acquired by the present owner from the above

This work is in very good condition. All surface nuances, abrasions, losses visible in the catalogue illustration are inherent to the artist's transfer process as described in the catalogue note. The colors are vibrant, the collaged elements are stable and the canvas is well stretched. There are no apparent condition problems with this work. Unframed.
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.
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A convulsive beauty—proud in its decorative efflorescence—radiates from O Mágico (1997), an exemplary work by Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes. Largely disregarded by modernism for its ostensible lack of 'seriousness,' the decorative surface is hereby praised as aesthetic virtue; an 'art for art´s sake', freed from didactic, philosophical, and utilitarian functions. O Mágico indulges in the decadence of cultural clichés and its figurative counterparts: its captivating imagery of flourishing flowers; colorful jewels; ornaments and arabesques; garlands and mandalas. Even the sounds and energy of Rio de Janeiro, especially Roberto Burle Marx's five-kilometer Copacabana beach promenade appear mirrored in its whimsical design.

  

Certainly, the pictorial referents asserted in Milhazes´ work are numerous. They include, but are not limited to: art deco, Op art, geometric abstraction, embroidery patterns, wallpapers from Minas Gerais, psychodelia, and tropicalia. From these, it is the Baroque—arguably  Brazil's first historicized art period—that takes central stage on Milhazes' canvases. Baroque excesses are here synchronized in a rhythm of successive backgrounds blurring the traditional distinction between high and low culture. It is a testament to Milhazes' talent: that instead of a visual overload—the most likely result from a heavily charged surface—one finds the legacies of Matisse, Tarsila do Amaral, and Bridget Riley coexisting harmoniously.

 

In spite of a seemingly explosive genesis, Milhazes' technique is based on the meticulous use of the monotype and collage. Executing her motifs through 'translucent plastic sheets that work as films for the reproduction of the images in her paintings,' Milhazes achieves a visual vocabulary where shape and size are vastly predetermined. (Jose Augusto Ribeiro, Art Nexus, October 2004) Therefore, while each motif looks handmade, in reality it is the product of an image transferred onto the canvas. The artist's touch however, remains highly personal. Given the imperfect process of pressing the images onto the canvas, the decorative elements of the design are never duplicated. As noted by Philip Auslander, the 'accretion of elements behind and beneath one another constitutes an archeological record of the painting´s development over time,' therein adding a layer of complexity to the reading of each motif. (Philip Auslander, Artforum, November 2001)

 

An index of decorative beauty, O Mágico asserts its presence by the magnificence of its size. As if responding to the tradition of North American abstraction, where vast expanses of color are employed to create works that are awe-inspiring, O Mágico succeeds: it absorbs and sustains our attention throughout three meters of unfragmented and intensely delirious color.