- 282
Victor Brauner
Description
- Victor Brauner
- DÉTERMINATION D'UN ESPACE
signed Victor Brauner and dated 1962 (lower right)
- oil on canvas
- 99.9 by 80.8cm., 39 3/8 by 31 7/8 in.
Provenance
Acquired by the present owner in the 1960s
Exhibited
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Samy Kinge.
Condition
"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."
Catalogue Note
Brauner was particularly interested in the ritual and symbolic qualities inherent in primitive art, qualities which he successfully transferred to the present work. Hybrids are a recurrent motif in Brauner's œuvre and indeed animals always play a particularly symbolic role. Determination d'un Espace is a perfect illustration of such symbolism, and in the words as the artist said himself, 'when I paint animals, I identify with them, it's as simple as that [...] a bird means, either you should be a bird, or you were a bird. If you are a bird, you are free' (quoted in Victor Brauner (exhibition catalogue), Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1972, pp. 84-85, translated from French).
This painting is ultimately a celebration of the freedom of man. The reduction of the figure to its most essential form, together with the symbolism of the animals, give this work an intrinsic universality, a quality which unifies much of the artist's oeuvre. Remarking upon Brauner's œuvre in general, Alain Jouffroy has argued that 'by its connections with the symbolic systems of various civilizations, it went beyond the traditional dichotomies between the old and the new, the West and the East, spontaneous dreams and reasoned criticism and [...] "the abstract" and "the figurative"' (Alain Jouffroy, op. cit., p. 8).