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A pale grey chair sits alone on a white ground in Luc Tuymans’ Absence, 2001. There is a faint, horseshoe-shaped impression in the back of the chair, signaling where someone, now absent, may have been. The motif of the empty chair recurs throughout art history, taken up by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and David Hockney, as both symbol of absence and of the artist’s own presence. This enigmatic work, consistent with the artist’s minimal, realist style, dates to a period of critical and political acclaim for the artist’s paintings, circa 2000-2002. Sold in 2001 to benefit victims of 9/11, Absence’s hauntingly spare composition is all the more poignant.
![[left] Pablo Picasso, Still Life with Chair Caning, 1912. Musée Picasso, Paris, France. Image: © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY, Artwork: © 2022 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York [right] Vincent Van Gogh, Van Gogh’s Chair, 1888. National Gallery, London. Image: © National Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY](https://phillips.vo.llnwd.net/v1/web_dev/lot-component/178245_FIG 1_FINAL REPLACEMENT and 2_2d5d7a88-563a-475c-bf00-53aef789f025.png)
[left] Pablo Picasso, Le Hibou sur la chaise, 1947. Image: © Christie's Images / Bridgeman Images, Artwork: © 2022 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
[right] Vincent Van Gogh, Van Gogh’s Chair, 1888. National Gallery, London. Image: © National Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY"I am not into aesthetics; I am into meaning and necessity… It’s about anonymous elements, something that is not owned by anybody in particular. It’s a collective thing, it’s precise, it may look banal at first but it isn’t."
—Luc TuymansIn Absence, Tuymans’ restrained use of paint creates a chair that is more symbolic than representational. “I am not a material painter,” the artist has said, meaning, “I don’t use a lot of paint,” and yet the subtle surfaces that result from his restrained hand have symbolic meaning, too.i The physical reality of the chair in Absence is not so important as the titular concept it symbolizes; the muted, perhaps fading, form could suggest that even the chair itself is becoming absent. This sense of distance between the viewer and painted object is an essential result of Tuymans’ artistry, recalling an out-of-focus photograph, or a fading memory. In this way, his paintings, though grounded in realism, become abstracted from reality.
Tuymans’ work draws on collective themes, such as memory, longing, and fear. These muted moments of stillness, blurred in paint, encourage a form of morose introspection in the viewer; Tuymans calls this gloominess “a sort of second skin” on the surface of the painting.ii One could see it as a thematic layer of paint, enshrouding the canvas in emotional resonance.
Hans Rudolf Reust writes that quiet paintings such as Absence function as “active empty space[s]” in Tuymans’ oeuvre, which throw into relief the sharp political meaning of adjacent works.iii In this context, Absence’s? position between two of Tuymans’ most poignant paintings becomes essential.
![[left] Tuymans, Lumumba, 2000. Museum of Modern Art, New York. [right] Tuymans, Untitled (Still Life), 2002. On loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.](https://phillips.vo.llnwd.net/v1/web_dev/lot-component/178245_FIG 2-3_b2a9a09f-660f-43cf-809d-e6b4d280fa4e.png)
[left] Luc Tuymans, Lumumba, 2000. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Artwork: © Luc Tuymans
[right] Tuymans, Untitled (Still Life), 2002. On loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Artwork: © Luc TuymansRepresenting the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Bienale in 2001, Tuymans shocked and provoked attendees with a group of paintings, including Lumumba, 2000, Museum of Modern Art, New York, that directly addressed the legacy of Belgian colonial violence in the Congo.iv Many expected that his submission for documenta 11 in 2002 would address the recent events of 9/11 in the same manner, so the seemingly banal Untitled (Still Life), 2002, on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, came as a surprise. Tuymans, however, who witnessed the events of 9/11 firsthand, defended the work by saying, “I thought it was impossible to do something with the event at that time. That’s not how painting works.”v Instead, he sought to react with “a sort of anti-picture.”vi
Absence, then, can be seen both as the sort of “active empty space” Reust describes between Lumumba and Untitled (Still Life), and also as a stylistic and symbolic prelude to the latter on its own. In an overwhelming news cycle of graphic images of human suffering, Absence offered a quieter way to process the trauma of 9/11. Rather than focusing on sensational imagery, or becoming overly sentimental, Tuymans’ “anti-picture” gives symbolic image to an emotional state—of memorial, of grief, of absence.
i Luc Tuymans, interviewed by Juan Vincent Aliaga [1996], Luc Tuymans, London; New York, 2003, p. 26.
ii Ibid.
iii Hans Rudolf Reust, “Update,” in Luc Tuymans, p. 152.
iv Lisa Liebmann, “Best of 2001: Top Tens,” ArtForum, December 2001, p. 96.
v Luc Tuymans, quoted in Ben Eastham, “A Necessary Realism: Interview with Luc Tuymans”, Apollo, August 8, 2015, online.
vi Luc Tuymans, quoted in exhibition guide to Luc Tuymans, Tate Modern, London, 2004, p. 8.Provenance
David Zwirner, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2001Exhibited
New York, David Zwirner, I ♥ NY - A Benefit, October 19–November 3, 2001
Literature
Artforum (Best of 2001: A Special Issue), vol. 40, no. 4, December 2001, p. 3 (illustrated on the cover)
Eva Meyer-Hermann, ed., Luc Tuymans: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, 1995-2006, vol. 2, New York, 2018, no. LTP 314, p. 278 (illustrated, p. 279)
43
Absence
signed, dedicated and dated "Luc Tuymans 2001 FOR .N.Y." on the reverse
oil on canvas
47 1/4 x 54 1/8 in. (120 x 137.5 cm)
Painted in 2001.
Estimate
$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $453,600
Amanda Lo Iacono
Global Managing Director and Specialist, Head of Evening Sale, New York
+1 212 940 1278
ALoiacono@phillips.com
Carolyn Mayer
Associate Specialist, Associate Head of Evening Sale, New York
+1 212 940 1206
CMayer@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
New York Auction 15 November 2022
1
Ilana Savdie
Marimonda Desplegada
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $176,400
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2
Danica Lundy
Miss Fist Kiss
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $189,000
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3
Lauren Quin
Arrow
Estimate $70,000 - 100,000
Sold for $163,800
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4
Avery Singer
Untitled
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,724,000
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5
Rashid Johnson
Standing Broken Men
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,724,000
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6
Pablo Picasso
Mousquetaire buste
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $2,450,000
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7
Julie Mehretu
Tsunemasa (next to Kaija)
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,386,000
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8
Cy Twombly
Untitled
Estimate $35,000,000 - 45,000,000
Sold for $41,640,000
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9
René Magritte
Le météore
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,265,000
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10
Amy Sherald
Pilgrimage of the Chameleon
Estimate $1,800,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $2,087,000
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11
Loie Hollowell
Lick, Lick in Purple, maroon-yellow
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,361,000
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12
Tom Wesselmann
Mouth #14 (Marilyn)
Estimate $3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for $3,236,500
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13
René Magritte
Le coup de grâce
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,966,000
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14
Anna Weyant
Bum
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $390,600
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15
Mark Bradford
He Barked Just Like a Watchdog
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,870,000
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16
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Circus No. 12 Face 44.30)
Estimate $8,000,000 - 12,000,000
Sold for $9,809,000
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17
Marc Chagall
Le Père
Estimate $6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Sold for $7,404,500
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18
Marlene Dumas
Snow White in the Wrong Story
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $3,781,000
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19
María Berrío
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $1,603,000
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20
Alex Katz
The Grey Dress
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $2,208,000
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21
Yayoi Kusama
All The Eternal Love
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,966,000
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22
Alexander Calder
Plutôt jaune
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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23
Amy Sherald
Madame Noire
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
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24
Jean-Michel Basquiat
To Repel Ghosts
Estimate $7,000,000 - 10,000,000
Sold for $7,862,500
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25
This lot is no longer available.
26
Yayoi Kusama
Nets Blue
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $2,450,000
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27
Lucy Bull
Untitled
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $478,800
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28
Willem de Kooning
Untitled
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,870,000
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29
Milton Avery
Hot Moon
Estimate $1,800,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $2,208,000
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30
Amoako Boafo
Pink Shorts
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $403,200
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31
Rashid Johnson
Untitled Anxious Collage
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $567,000
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32
Joan Mitchell
Cobalt
Estimate $3,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for $3,418,000
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33
Andy Warhol
Oxidation
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,450,000
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34
Alexander Calder
Petite croix
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $4,023,000
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35
This lot is no longer available.
36
Willem de Kooning
Event in a Barn
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $3,055,000
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37
Pablo Picasso
Paysage au pin
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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38
Mickalene Thomas
I Can’t See Me Without You
Estimate $350,000 - 550,000
Sold for $441,000
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39
Balthus
La Sieste
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $1,058,500
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40
Andy Warhol
Nosepicker I: Why Pick on Me (The Broad Gave Me My Face But I Can Pick My Own Nose)
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $491,400
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41
Andy Warhol
Living Room
Estimate $250,000 - 450,000
Sold for $315,000
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42
Robert Motherwell
Open No. 25: In Blue with Variations
Estimate $900,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $2,329,000
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43
Luc Tuymans
Absence
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $453,600
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44
Ernie Barnes
Slam Before the Storm
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $604,800
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45
Carmen Herrera
Noche Verde
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $567,000
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46
Anne Truitt
Autumn Dryad
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $567,000
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