Jesús Rafael Soto - Editions & Works on Paper: Online Auction New York Wednesday, September 6, 2023 | Phillips

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  • “Repetition is an abstract value, perfectly inscribed in the universal”
    —Jesús Rafael Soto
    A pioneering Op artist, Jesús Rafael Soto’s works breach the traditional boundaries of the two-dimensional picture plane, instead looking to integrate time, space, and the viewer’s active participation. Largely working with three-dimensional, hand-painted assemblages and large-scale installation, Soto’s foray into multiples translates this engagement with the spatiotemporal on a condensed scale. Interested in the principle of seriality as a means to invoke optically dizzying effects, Soto’s pieces often comprise of shapes and stripes in varying colors and angled planes, invoking spatially ambiguous superimpositions in their elusive interactions. This engagement with serialization within the composition itself is further echoed in Soto’s decision to multiply the works as editions. 

    • Artist Biography

      Jesús Rafael Soto

      Venezuelan • 1923 - 2005

      Jesús Rafael Soto was born in Ciudad Bolívar and studied at the School of Visual and Applied Arts in Caracas. During this period he became acquainted with Los Disidentes, a group of artists that included Alejandro Otero and Carlos Cruz-Diez. In addition to his fellow compatriots, Soto’'s work was influenced by Kazimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian.

      The main artistic tenets evinced in Soto's works are pure abstraction, vibrations, progressions and geometric rigor. They can be seen through the use of lines and superimposed squares in his sculptures, made with paint and a series of industrial and synthetic materials. He spent much time in Europe, becoming a key member of the Group Zero movement, which included such artists as Lucio Fontana, Gunther Uecker and Yves Klein. As a result, Soto's work also incorporates modernist concepts such as light, time, movement, color manipulation and space. All of these facets place him as an important figure within the Kinetic and Op Art movements.

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Property from an Esteemed Collection

10

Incliné bleu et noir (Inclined Blue and Black)

1966
Black and white painted wood with painted metal rod and nylon string.
17 x 15 x 1 1/2 in. (43.2 x 38.1 x 3.8 cm)
Signed and numbered 53/100 in black ink on a label affixed to the reverse, published by Edizioni Galleria del Deposito, Genoa.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$3,000 - 5,000 

Sold for $4,826

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Editions & Works on Paper: Online Auction

6 - 13 September 2023