Eberhard Havekost - Contemporary Art London Friday, October 13, 2006 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Dresden

  • Catalogue Essay

    Eberhard Havekost, living in Dresden and Berlin, occupies his canvases with the urban landscape that surrounds him. His paintings are pervaded with and connected by an elusive atmosphere-- a continuous stream of light with no localized source-- and a radiant collection of bold colors. In the present lot, the viewer confronts a large-scale façade from below. The composition is reminiscent of an ocean landscape—blue and white are the predominant hues. Full-circle perfection is obtained through his rendering of the manicured tree, bushes and the high-level apartments behind. Along with this, the artist contrasts nature and man in a sharp silhouette, challenging perhaps one against the other.

    Havekost incorporates the visual effects often used for specific kinds of video and photographic production: the extreme close-up and distortion lends itself to a video still or focused zoom. In a way, the artist represents the visual image with a heightened sense of awareness- referring to our visual environment with an attenuated truth.

    Taking inspiration from the clean lines and bold angles that the Post-War movement created as a new aesthetic in the view of urban space as we know it today, Havekost captures the complete look and feel of perfect modernist architecture in this work. In a way, he references the failed Utopian vision of 20th century post-war politics. His canvases are systematically perfected through the modes of his impeccable construction.

55

Platanen 1

1998
Oil on canvas.
51 1/4 x 70 3/4 in. (130.2 x 179.7 cm).
Signed, titled and dated "Havekost WD 98 Platanen 1” on the reverse

Estimate
£70,000 - 90,000 

Sold for £72,000

Contemporary Art

14 Oct 2006, 7pm
London