Drawing from his signature use of nautical motifs, Laurens Legiers’s Ship in the Evening Light depicts a lone vessel sailing amongst a backdrop of repeating mountains. Drawing inspiration from the seascapes and atmospheric qualities of the Romantic period, Legiers employs rounded natural forms in his paintings to craft gentle, painterly visuals that veer into the realm of the surreal. Instead of relying on specific references, he fully embraces his memory and imagination during his artistic process to yield compositions that remain legible, even in the absence of specific details or geographically recognisable elements.
To portray idealised representations of reality in his paintings, Legiers utilises a technique of delicately dabbing his brush numerous times, resulting in a nuanced texture. This is accomplished through a restricted color palette, which effectively hides any visible brushstrokes. Simultaneously, the artist purposely embraces brushstroke-dominant elements to highlight the presence of water and light, as evidenced in the present painting by the glassy waves atop which the ship with an undulating sail floats. Suspended in time, Legiers’ paintings meticulously balance the serene and ominous, and the familiar and mysterious.
Legiers graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 2018. His first solo exhibition in the United States, titled if only, was shown at Nicodim Gallery from 16 March - 29 April 2023. The artist currently works and lives in Antwerp, Belgium.
In September of last year, Phillips set the artist's current top record at auction with the sale of Four Ships (2020) which hammered down for USD 44,100 with buyer's premium, against a pre-auction estimate of USD 5,000-7,000. His second top record at auction was set by Phillips in Hong Kong in March 2023.
The artist in his studio
© PLUS-ONE Gallery
Provenance
PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp
Private Collection
Acquired from the above by the present ownerExhibited
Antwerp, PLUS-ONE Gallery, Soft Thoughts, 1 - 25 October 2020
209
Ship in the Evening Light
signed, titled and dated 'LEGIERS "SHIP IN THE EVENING LIGHT" 2020' on the stretcher
oil on canvas, in artist's frame
work 50 x 40 cm. (19 5/8 x 15 3/4 in.)
frame 52 x 42 cm. (20 1/2 x 16 1/2 in.)
Painted in 2020.
Estimate
HK$100,000 - 150,000
€12,100-18,200
$12,800-19,200
Sold for HK$88,900
Anastasia Salnikoff
Head of Day Sale, Associate Specialist
+852 2318 2014
anastasiasalnikoff@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale
Hong Kong Auction 7 October 2023
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