Unconventional Figures: The Abstracted Body

OCTOBER 2020

The Abstracted Body This October, the featured work of Unconventional Figures explores the relationship between the figurative and the abstracted body. As Modernism took its course, and abstract painting rose in prominence, the figure— or its resemblance—often disappeared from the canvas, subsumed by fractured pictorial planes and the physicality of gestural brushstrokes.

In works by George Valmier, Dorothy Dehner, and Conrad Marca-Relli, the viewer is alerted to the presence of a figure by the title: Personnage debout (1920), Man & Woman (1950), and Standing Figure (1954), respectively.

These works, formally, are almost entirely void of figurative resemblance, yet the subject of the human form is clearly vital to their interpretation. In Pierrot (1924), Jean Lurçat depicts a stock French character of pantomime, literally twisting the figure into a surrealist form. In this work on paper, Lurçat portrays not simply an abstracted figure, but also a deconstructed persona: Pierrot is atypically nude, supine, and retains only a few signifiers of his character. Léopold Survage’s Composition surrealiste (1940) also depicts an abstracted Pierrot-like figure—alone, yet anchoring a surrealist landscape.

Towards the end of the century, in Sensa titolo (Extra-Strong) (1991), Alighiero Boetti presented two figures almost by means of their absence—vague outlines in fields of color, seemingly dancing amidst writing, stamped numbers, and carefully-drawn graphite circles. The body here has certainly changed significance,

and could be said to be of equal importance as the other collaged elements in the work. The twentieth century saw great expansions in notions of the figure, and the artists in this exhibition adapted the subject in imaginative and contemporary ways.

PETER KINLEY Figure with Easel (I), 1962 Oil on canvas 19.9 x 16.1 in. (50.5 x 41 cm) The authenticity of this work as been confirmed by Catherine Kinley.

PROVENANCE

Estate of the artist Osborne Samuel, London Rosenberg & Co., New York

PETER KINLEY Three Studies for Figures with Mirror and Easel, 1960 Oil on board 7 x 4 in. (17.6 x 10.5 cm) (each panel) The authenticity of this work as been confirmed by Catherine Kinley.

PROVENANCE

Acquired from the artist Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York Private collection Osborne Samuel, London Rosenberg & Co., New York

Artworks from left to right: Henry Moore, Three Heads (1979) Georges Valmier, Personnage debout (1920) Louis Ribak, Untitled (seated nude) (c. 1920s) LĂŠopold Survage, Composition surrĂŠaliste (1940) Alighiero Boetti, Senza titolo (Extra-Strong) (1991)

HENRY MOORE Three Heads, 1979 Crayon, watercolor, gouache, and pen on paper 9 x 7 in. (22.9 x 17.75 cm) Signed and dated Moore 79 lower right.

This work is recorded in the Moore archive as no.HMF 79(4); AG79.4.

PROVENANCE

Acquired from the artist Wildenstein & Co., New York Private collection, USA Osborne Samuel, London Rosenberg & Co., New York

GEORGES VALMIER Personnage debout, 1920 Gouache and collage on paper 10.6 x 8.25 in. (27 x 20.9 cm) This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Denise Bazetoux.

PROVENANCE

Private collection, Bordeaux Brame & Lorenceau, Paris Rosenberg & Co., New York

LÉOPOLD SURVAGE Composition surrÊaliste, 1940 Oil on canvas 7.5 x 9.45 in. (19 x 24 cm) Signed and dated Survage, 18.9.40 lower left.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Anne Marie Divieto.

PROVENANCE

Acquired from the artist Collection of Pierre Minet Private collection, France Stern Pissarro Gallery, London Rosenberg & Co., New York

ALIGHIERO BOETTI Senza titolo (Extra-Strong), 1991 Collage and mixed media on paper laid down on canvas 11.6 x 8.25 in. (29.5 x 21 cm) Signed Alighiero e Boetti upper right.

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the Archivo Alighiero Boetti, and is listed as no.1347.

PROVENANCE

Studio d’Arte Contemporanea Dabbeni, Lugano Rosenberg & Co., New York

Artworks from left to right: Jean Lurรงat, Pierrot (1924) Dorothy Dehner, Man & Woman (1950) Max Weber, Woman with a Purple Scarf (1921) Conrad Marca-Relli, Standing Figure (1954)

JEAN LURÇAT Pierrot, 1924 Watercolor over graphite on paper 9.5 x 13.5 in. (24.1 x 34.3 cm) The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Gérard Denizeau. This work will be included in the forthcoming edition of the Jean Lurçat catalogue raisonné edited by Denizeau.

PROVENANCE

Private collection Rosenberg & Co., New York

DOROTHY DEHNER Man & Woman, 1950 Gouache and ink on paper 23 x 18 in. (58.4 x 45.7 cm) PROVENANCE

Frankenthaler Collection Stair Galleries, New York Rosenberg & Co., New York

CONRAD MARCA-RELLI Standing Figure, 1954 Collage and gouache on board 28 x 22 in. (71.1 x 55.9 cm) Signed Marca-Relli lower center right.

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Archivio Marca-Relli, Parma, and is registered as archive number MARE-6226 / Š Archivio Marca-Relli, Parma.

PROVENANCE

Stable Gallery, New York Private collection, New York Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles Private collection, Long Branch, NJ Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York Rosenberg & Co., New York

PAUL ÉLUARD Le cirque (Triptyque), 1913 Oil pastel on mat paper on canvas 29.5 x 13.6 in. (75 x 34.5 cm) PROVENANCE

Collection of Myrtille and Georges Hugnet, Paris Galerie 1900–2000, Paris Rosenberg & Co., New York

ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO Standing Nude, 1922 (conceived 1921) Bronze 26 x 5.5 x 6.25 in. (66 x 14 x 15.9 cm)

Private collection