Lot 15
  • 15

Alan Davie

Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Alan Davie
  • Sculptural Organisms, 1950
  • signed, titled and inscribed on the reverse
  • oil on masonite
  • 122 by 152.5cm.; 48 by 60in.

Provenance

The Artist
Gimpel Fils, London, where acquired by the present owner, 5th November 2007

Literature

Alan Bowness (ed.), Alan Davie, Lund Humphries, London, 1967, cat. no.38, illustrated pl.15;
Douglas Hall and Michael Tucker, Alan Davie, Lund Humphries, London, 1992, cat. no.53, p.168.

Condition

Sound board. There appears slight rounding to the bottom left corner, only partially visible in the present frame. There is very minor surface dirt, with flattening and rubbing to some of the raised elements of thicker impasto. There is a small area of rubbing and resultant loss to the centre of the bottom edge, a further to the right hand edge in the bottom corner, and a third to the top right edge, visible upon close inspection. There are further areas in the top half of the composition which reveal the board beneath, which may be in keeping with the artist's technique. This excepting the work appears in very good overall condition. Ultraviolet light reveals a few scattered traces of fluorescence to the extreme right and left edges, in line with the nail heads, as well as a further spot to the aforementioned area of rubbing to the top right edge, with a few minor scattered traces appearing elsewhere to the composition. These have all been executed in a very sympathetic manner. Housed in a thin, tight light-wooden frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 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."

Catalogue Note

'Thus the artist must be a prophet; that is, one who utters that which is meaningful in a timeless sense, not out of reason or knowledge or the past, but out of the eternal NOW which is everlastingly fresh and wonderful.'

Alan Davie, from ‘Towards a New Definition of Art, Some Notes on (NOW) Painting’, for Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zurich, 1960, quoted in Alan Bowness, Alan Davie, London, 1967.