Lot 165
  • 165

Willem De Kooning

Estimate
500,000 - 700,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Willem de Kooning
  • Untitled
  • signed
  • oil on paper mounted on canvas
  • 39 1/2 by 29 in. 100.3 by 73.7 cm.
  • Executed in 1968.

Provenance

Estate of the Artist
Private Collection
Gagosian Gallery, New York
Private Collection, London
Sotheby's, London, February 15, 2012, lot 66
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

Exhibited

San Francisco, John Berggruen Gallery, Willem de Kooning Paintings 1967-1984, October - November 2002, p. 19, illustrated in color

Condition

This work is in good condition overall. The edges of the sheet are are deckled. Under close inspection, scattered oil rings are visible around areas of oil paint. The sheet appears to have discolored slightly, particularly toward the edges. There are some light and scattered hairline abrasions and a localized spot of foxing to the left of the figure's right hand. The sheet is mounted to canvas. Framed under Plexiglas.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

"I've always been crazy about Soutine - all of his paintings. Maybe it's the lushness of the paint. He builds up a surface that looks like a material, like a substance. There's a kind of transfiguration, a certain fleshiness in his work... I remember when I first saw the Soutines in the Barnes Collection...the Soutines had a glow that came from within the paintings - it was another kind of light." - Willem de Kooning (Margaret Staats and Lucas Matthiesen, "The Genetics of Art," Quest 77, March - April 1977, p. 70)