Albert Oehlen - Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale New York Thursday, March 7, 2013 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Galerie Max Hetztler, Berlin
    David Gill, London

  • Catalogue Essay

    “ I thought that art history went from figurative to abstract...And I should do the same. I should have the same development in my life as art history.”
    ALBERT OEHLEN

    The engagement of negative space, perimeters of color, and limitations of gesture are all critical components to Albert Oehlen’s work. For Oehlen, the act of painting is as
    much about what the artist will not do as much as what he does. To this extent, he is known as an artist who remains critical and relevant while actively engaging a central art historical foundation. Vacillating between guration and abstraction, monochromatic and extremely colorful palettes, the artist exposes the limitations of traditional art making, reveailng a nuance and complexity within visual splendor.

    During the period of TRAURIGKEIT, 2005, Oehlen had just executed a very successful solo exhibition at Luhring Augustine Gallery in New York. In this exhibition the artist gave himself the parameter of only employing a monochromatic palette of shades of grey for three large abstract pieces. These three large abstractions, created solely in varying shades of gray, became the centerpieces of the exhibition and rmly placed the artist as extending the limitations of abstraction. While other artists at the height of their career may begin to rely on their own proven methodology and technique, Oehlen is an artist continually challenging his own conventions, pushing through the limitations of space, color and dimension to expose their inherent differences. Perhaps his most profound achievements lie in the indelible influence he has had upon a new generation of painters.

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN COLLECTION

13

Traurigkeit

2005
oil on canvas
82.5 x 102 in. (210 x 260 cm)

Estimate
$300,000 - 500,000 

Sold for $362,500

Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale

7 March 2013
New York