Hélio Oiticica - Latin America New York Wednesday, November 18, 2015 | Phillips

Latin America

New York Auction 18 November 2015 6pm

  • Provenance

    Collection of Francisco Auxiliador de Sousa, São Paulo
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Artist Biography

    Hélio Oiticica

    Brazilian • 1937 - 1980

    Hélio Oiticica is one of Brazil's most influential artists. His work ranges from abstract compositions to early environmental installations exploring color, form, and material. He studied under Ivan Serpa in the mid-1950s and joined Grupo Frente, an association of artists in Rio de Janeiro interested in developing the legacy of European Constructivism within the context of the modernization of Brazil. Disagreements with the São Paulo Ruptura group led Oiticica and Lygia Clark to create the Neo-Concrete group (1959-'61).

    His Metaesquemas (1957-'58) are an important series of gouaches where color is reduced to a few tones and broken into irregular shapes that are isolated within a grid. However he soon rejected this conventional art form for more radical ones that demanded viewer participation, including his Parangoles (1964–'68), three-dimensional sculptures based on traditional Brazilian Carnival costumes. Yet an exploration of the physical nature of color remained a constant in his work up until his untimely death in 1980.

    View More Works

11

Hélio Oiticica

Metaesquema

1958
gouache on cardboard
19 1/4 x 23 1/4 in. (48.9 x 59.1 cm)
Signed, titled and dated "Metasquema 1958 (1° semestre)" on the reverse. This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Projeto Hélio Oiticica.

Estimate
$150,000 - 250,000 

Sold for $185,000

Contact Specialist
Kaeli Deane
Head of Sale
New York
+1 212 940 1352

Latin America

New York Auction 18 November 2015 6pm