Provenance
Louis Hélion Blair, Virginia
Nicolas Hélion (acquired from the above in the 1990s)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Literature
Jean Hélion, Carnets IV, 1939, p. 189
Jacqueline Hélion, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint de Jean Hélion, (http://www.helion-cat-rais.com), no. 1373
Catalogue Essay
Jean Hélion began experimenting with abstraction in 1929, following the lead of artists such as Piet Mondrian and the De Stijl movement. Along with Théo van Doesburg, Hélion founded the relatively short-lived revue Art Concret, which later expanded and became known as Abstraction-Création, involving the collaboration of artists such as Jean Arp, Albert Gleizes, Auguste Herbin and Robert Delaunay. Collectively, this group moved away from the rigidity that dominated the abstract aesthetic, bending the rules by incorporating curved lines and volumetric forms into their compositions. As a tireless proponent of abstract art, Hélion traveled to London where he met Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson in 1934. Between 1935 and 1939 he made extensive trips to the United States where he was credited with influencing the work of Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning and other Abstract Expressionist artists through his painting and philosophical notions of art. However, it was not New York, but rather Rockbridge Baths, Virginia, that Hélion found most conducive to his art, away from the distractions and influences of his friends in New York or Paris. Painted in Rockbridge, Virginia, the present work was near completion when Hélion abruptly left America to return to France, due to the start of World War II in Europe. Variously described in the artist's own carnets recording his work on a near daily basis, as "finished" and "to be completed" in the later part of September 1939, this work and most of his belongings in his Virginia studio were left by Hélion in the care of his neighbor. His son, Louis, recovered the painting some years later and then sold it to his half-brother, Nicolas, in the 1990's.

On the occasion of Hélion’s fourth New York exhibition in 1940, the critic Meyer Schapiro singled him out as “the outstanding abstract painter of the younger generation of American and European artists. Painters here follow his work as the most advanced and masterly of its kind” (Jean Hélion. Works 1935-1939 , exh. cat., Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2004, p. 190). The current Abstraction is a seminal example of Hélion’s mature style. Various geometric forms push and pull against one another, just barely modeled, existing in this discrete realm of his creation. The composition’s vibrant layering of forms borders on figuration, yet the overlapping curves, bars, and lines are ultimately non-representational. The rhythm of the forms both in their subtle color relationships and their contrasts of vertical and horizontal orientation is critical to the harmony of the composition. A dynamic energy is generated by the play of curved and straight edges, and there is an implication of gravity in the way that Hélion has weighted the arrangement towards the bottom of the canvas even as two errant elements float towards the top. Vaguely reminiscent of natural forms, one gets the sense of Hélion’s impending renunciation of abstraction in favor of a more representative style. Much like one of his icons and contemporaries, Fernand Léger, Hélion ultimately transitioned to a more realistic style, but his abstractions of the 1930s would continue to inform this later work. Abstraction is the culmination of a life’s study in painting and a pivotal work from one of the most interesting and developmentally rich periods of the artist’s storied career.

39

Jean Hélion

Abstraction

stamped with the artist's signature and inscribed "Hélion p. 189" on the reverse
oil on canvas
53 x 69 in. (134.6 x 175.3 cm.)
Painted in 1939.
Phillips is grateful for the assistance of Louis and Jacqueline Hélion in the cataloguing and research of this work.

Estimate
$500,000 - 700,000

Sold for $514,000

Contact Specialist
Kate Bryan
Head of Evening Sale
New York
+ 1 212 940 1267

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

New York Auction 18 May 2017

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Nicole Eisenman
Winter Solstice 2012 Dinner Party
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David Hammons
African-American Flag
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Kenneth Noland
Bridge
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Ellsworth Kelly
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5
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Venus 2000 B.C.)
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6
Roy Lichtenstein
Woman: Sunlight, Moonlight
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Alexander Archipenko
White Torso
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Damien Hirst
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9
Peter Doig
Rosedale
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10
Marlene Dumas
Colorfields
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11
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $3,610,000
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12
Adolph Gottlieb
Shadows
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13
Willem de Kooning
Untitled II
Estimate $12,000,000 - 18,000,000
Sold for $13,130,000
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14
Lee Krasner
Gold or Silver
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15
Kazuo Shiraga
T52
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
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16
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Three Heads)
Estimate $650,000 - 850,000
Sold for $790,000
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17
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
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18
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
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19
Ed Ruscha
Cherry
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20
Agnes Martin
Untitled #1
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
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21
Glenn Ligon
Stranger #55
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $874,000
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22
Wolfgang Tillmans
quiet mind
Estimate $70,000 - 100,000
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23
This lot is no longer available.
24
David Hockney
Three Oranges with a Vase
Estimate $1,800,000 - 2,500,000
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25
John Chamberlain
Untitled
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26
Donald Judd
Untitled
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27
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
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28No Reserve
Anselm Kiefer
Merkaba
Estimate $600,000 - 900,000 •
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29
Wade Guyton
Untitled
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30
Adrian Ghenie
Charles Darwin as a Young Man
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31
Ai Weiwei
Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads
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32
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33
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
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34
Sigmar Polke
Untitled
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35
Richard Prince
Going Going Going
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36
Alexander Calder
Two Red Petals in the Air
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37
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38
Marc Chagall
La joie au cirque
Estimate $1,800,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $1,930,000
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39
Jean Hélion
Abstraction
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
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40
Keith Haring
Keith and Julia
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20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

New York Auction 18 May 2017

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Provenance

Literature

Catalogue Essay

39

Jean Hélion

Abstraction

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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