Carmen Herrera - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session New York Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | Phillips

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  • Two royal blue pentagons, inverted images of one another, form the basic Estructura, or structure, of Carmen Herrera’s Untitled Estructura (Blue), 1966/2015. The negative space between the forms intersects at a crossroads, adding shadow and depth to the work’s focal point: the apices of the mirrored pentagons, which just barely kiss together. While simultaneously drawing focus in, the negative space allows Untitled Estructura (Blue) to expand beyond its rectangular blue perimeter, so that the entire wall on which it is installed becomes part of the work. Originally conceived in 1966 and executed in acrylic and aluminum nearly fifty years later, Untitled Estructura (Blue) is a testament to the longevity of Herrera’s aesthetic vision and her commitment to the exploration of color and form in painting.

    “I believe that I will always be in awe of the straight line, its beauty is what keeps me painting.”
    —Carmen Herrera
    The first architectural works in her oeuvre, the Estructuras are focused on the relationship between form and structure. The first Estructuras, created with acrylic and wood were each based on original drawings from the 1960s. This link between drawing and sculpture was also a key aspect of the processes of many of her contemporaries, such as Carl Andre, Donald Judd and Dan Flavin. Through this intentional stepped method, Herrera began to break from the two dimensionality of her painting practice and embrace the notion that paintings were really just “crying out to become sculptures;” an idea which would go on to shape her sculptural practice for the remainder of her career.i

     

    Carmen Herrera, Untitled Estructura (Yellow), 1966/2016. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Artwork: © Carmen Herrera

    With a sharp edge containing the color, the present work reflects Herrera’s connections to the hard-edged abstraction of painters like Josef Albers and Ellsworth Kelly. Originally more minimal in color palette, Herrera’s practice grew to explore vibrant, primary colors, which became essential to her painting and sculptural practice. As evident in Untitled Estructura (Blue), “the distinction between figure and ground collapses as does the distinction between color and form. Color had now become her form. As she enlarged her canvases, her palette clarified and brightened to include brilliant hues of orange, green, blue, and yellow.”ii Though the Estructuras are technically the only monochromatic works in her oeuvre, Herrera envisioned the blank white wall peeking through the gaps in the forms as a complementary, secondary color. Herrera even seamlessly painted the edges of the aluminum, eliminating the need for a frame and expanding the viewer’s perception of the work. 

     

    Carmen Herrera, Untitled, 1966, Walker Art Centre. Artwork: © Carmen Herrera

    Herrera finally began receiving recognition for her ground-breaking abstractions at the age of 89 in 2004, more than sixty years after beginning her exploration into color and geometric forms. Realized during her 100th year of life, Untitled Estructura (Blue) was created around the same time as the artist’s landmark retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight. After over 70 years of creative output, Herrera’s work is held in renowned museum collections such as the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., the Tate Collection, London, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. 

     

     

    i  “CARMEN HERRERA Artist in Exile part 3,” Frederico Seve Gallery, December 10, 2009, video, online.

    ii  Dana Miller, Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight, exh. cat., The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2016, p. 23.

    • Provenance

      Lisson Gallery, New York
      Acquired from the above by the present owner

    • Artist Biography

      Carmen Herrera

      Cuban / American • 1915

      At the age of 101, Carmen Herrera is finally receiving long-deserved recognition for her arresting, hard-edge geometric compositions. Born in Cuba in 1915, Herrera has spent most of her life outside the island, permanently settling in New York in the mid-1950s. Herrera was formally trained as an architect at the Universidad de la Habana, and later completed studies at the Art Students League in New York from 1943 to 1945. During this time she became acquainted with key figures of postwar abstraction including Barnett Newman, whose work undoubtedly influenced Herrera's minimalist aesthetic.

      Herrera's work is chiefly concerned with formal simplicity and experimentation with bold color. Through the use of sharp lines and stark color contrasts, she creates dynamic and technically sophisticated compositions that reflect movement, balance and symmetry.

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Property from a Notable Private Collection

132

Untitled Estructura (Blue)

stamped with the artist's signature, title, inscription and date "Carmen Herrera Untitled Estructura Blue [A, B] 1966/2015" on the reverse of each part
acrylic on aluminum, in 2 parts
44 x 59 3/4 x 5 in. (111.8 x 151.8 x 12.7 cm)
Conceived in 1966 and executed in 2015, this work is number 1 from an edition of 1 plus 1 artist's proof.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$400,000 - 600,000 

Sold for $457,200

Contact Specialist

Annie Dolan
Specialist, Head of Sale, Morning Session
+1 212 940 1288
adolan@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session

New York Auction 15 November 2023