Fernando Zobel

The work is in good condition overall. Examination under ultraviolet light shows no sign of restoration. Framed.
"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."

Philippine by birth but a cosmopolitan at heart, Fernando Zobel is regarded as one of the foremost Southeast Asian abstractionists, known for his expansive colour fields and captivating strokes and shades, and for his use of horizons as an epistemological position to interrogate the human condition.

This piece is a work of concerted minimalism. A slim, tapered white stroke divides this work into two areas of gray. The gray below the line takes on a dark character, concentrated at the line itself and fading into the field of beige, carrying with it a hint of a sea green. The above the line is far lighter, acting as a faded reflection of the shape of the dark gray below, foregoing its intensity for a quiet and subtle position of difference to the rest of the canvas. This movement of gray is met with a harsh stop on its left, as if it is a comet that has crashed into an invisible wall.

Zobel’s works deny us the ease of three-dimensional form. Rather, he reaches toward an understanding of the world mediated through the flat two-dimensional, seeing in painting the potential for a way of knowing that is more true to the realities of its medium. At first glance an image of simplicity, this work contains the multitudes of a world as interpreted through the eyes of an unparalleled artist.