Adolph Gottlieb - Contemporary Art Day Sale New York Tuesday, November 12, 2013 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation
    Manny Silverman Gallery, Los Angeles, 1991

  • Exhibited

    Boston, Thomas Segal Gallery, Adolph Gottlieb: Paintings, Works on Paper, Sculpture, April 8 - May 3, 1978
    Toronto, Klonaridis Inc., Adolph Gottlieb: The Monotypes (1973-74) and Intimate Sale Paintings, October 4 - October 25, 1980

  • Literature

    B. Rose, "Portfolio: Abstract Art in America" Dialogue, no. 50 (April 1980), p. 51 (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    One of the founding members of the Abstract Expressionists, first known as “The Ten”, Adolph Gottlieb has left an indelible imprint in the history of Modern and Contemporary art. Dismissing the prominent discourse of American art during the post-war period, Gottlieb sought to convey expression through color and gesture, stating: “I use color in terms of emotional quality, as a vehicle for feeling…feeling is everything I have experienced or thought.” (A. Gottlieb in R. Doty and D. Waldman,
    Adolph Gottlieb, New York, 1968).

    Pursuing the possibilities of a “global language of art”, the artist soon turned towards his contemporaries in Paris, the Surrealists. While the outcome of his practice clearly deviated from Surrealism, it appeared nonetheless to be an amalgamation of Surrealism and tribal art; suggestions of mystical interventions through the use of hieroglyphs, totemic symbols, and grid-like compositions. By the 1950s Gottlieb had abandoned his grids, simplifying compositions by focusing on color, form and expression, ultimately making way for his seminal series of Burst paintings. The present lot, Volcanic, 1971, exemplifes the artist’s vertical Burst paintings, ofering a contained space for visual disruption. Despite the fact that the artist had suffered from a debilitating stroke just a year prior to this painting’s creation, Volcanic, 1971, delivers an explosive impression. Dividing his canvas into two sections, Gottlieb suggests an abstracted view of landscape and cosmos over a monochromatic deep brown background, revealing explosive gestures of red paint in the lower half of the canvas and a quiet moon-like disk hovering above it. Indeed, Volcanic, 1971, is atense balance of dualities, in form, color and reference.

PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED WEST COAST COLLECTOR

196

Volcanic

1971
oil on linen
30 1/4 x 24 1/4 in. (76.8 x 61.6 cm.)
Signed, titled and dated "1971 'Volcanic' Adolph Gottlieb" and stamped twice by the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation on the reverse.

Estimate
$100,000 - 150,000 

Sold for $161,000

Contact Specialist
Amanda Stoffel
Head of Day Sale
astoffel@phillips.com
+1 212 940 1261

Contemporary Art Day Sale

New York 12 November 2013 11AM