Ellsworth Kelly - New Now New York Tuesday, September 20, 2016 | Phillips

New Now

New York Auction 20 September 2016

  • Provenance

    Gifted by the artist to the present owner

  • Exhibited

    Ithaca, Cornell University Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Contemporary Prints from the Anbinder Collection, April 5 - June 15, 1997

  • Catalogue Essay

    Characterized by an extreme economy of means, the works that comprise Ellsworth Kelly’s highly-regarded practice reveal the artist’s keen interest in formal issues such as ground/foreground, planarity, shape, and line. This particular drawing is uniquely notable both as a brilliant juxtaposition of naturalistic plant drawing and hard edged abstraction, and also as the maquette for the cover of the original catalogue raisonné of Kelly’s prints. Combining hand-drawn reinvestigations of two prints, Cyclamen III and Conques, which are both actually reinterpretations of an earlier drawing and painting respectively, Untitled from 1987 is both a fully realized object in its own right and a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of one of the most important American artists of the post-war era.

  • Artist Biography

    Ellsworth Kelly

    American • 1923 - 2015

    Acting as a vital contributor to the Abstract movement, Ellsworth Kelly focused on color and composition. Becoming inspired by ornithology and the bold coloring of birds, Kelly used a two or three pigment color palette — painted flatly and geometrically — on his canvases. While living in Paris, the artist used Monet's late works as a base for experimenting with expressionism and serial work

    View More Works

From the Collection of Helen and Paul Anbinder, New York

59

Ellsworth Kelly

Untitled

signed, inscribed and dated "for Paul with thanks, Sept. 1987 Ellsworth Kelly" on the reverse
graphite and collage on paper, in 2 parts
13 3/4 x 21 3/4 in. (34.9 x 55.2 cm.)
Executed in 1987.

Estimate
$60,000 - 80,000 

Contact Specialist
Rebekah Bowling
Head of Sale
New York
+ 1 212 940 1250

New Now

New York Auction 20 September 2016