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“Light is what binds my works together, as if I am balancing light and shadow.”
— Lucas ArrudaHailing from São Paulo, Brazil, Lucas Arruda has garnered wide international acclaim for his nuancedly coloured canvases that linger between landscape painting and quasi-abstraction. Conveyed on an intimate scale and with great precision, the present work, Untitled, is a marvellous exemplar from Arruda’s celebrated series, Deserto-Modelo - a title inspired by the writings of Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto.
Lucas Arruda mixing paint directly on the walls around his canvas in his studio, 2017Presenting a scene of ochre sea waves that blend into tumbling cloud on horizon line that feels just out of reach, Arruda masterfully balances light with shadow, using an array of cool-toned pigment he mixes directly on the wall around the perimeters of his painting. Although strongly evocative of the landscape paintings from the Romantic period, Arruda does not seek to portray realistic nature in his work. Instead, he draws from the landscapes of his mind to conjure scenes of an uncanny atmosphere, beckoning the viewer to ‘peer in as if looking through a portal to another world’ i, as they find themselves transported to places from their own memories and imaginative registers.
A Dance of Shadow and Light
“My work is informed at a technical level by certain landscape painting, in the use of colour and brushwork for example, or Constable’s clouds, which are the best in that tradition. But those painters were observing nature.”
— Lucas Arruda
Claude Monet, Marine near Etretat, 1882
Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Ar
J. M. W. Turner, Seascape, 1828
Collection of the Tate, United Kingdom
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights, 1872
Collection of the Tate Modern, London-
Claude Monet, Marine near Etretat, 1882
Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Ar -
J. M. W. Turner, Seascape, 1828
Collection of the Tate, United Kingdom
Enveloped in a hazy field of cloud, in the present work sky and sea merge to seem infinitely expansive, conveying an awe for the grandeur of nature reminiscent of the oeuvres of J.M.W. Turner and James Abbott McNeill Whistler – artists to whom Arruda is frequently compared. At the same time, the luminous surface of Untitled from the series Deserto-Modelo also recalls the techniques of Impressionist masters Claude Monet and John Constable, notably for their understanding of how light, shade, and colour can communicate the passing of time over the course of the day. The present work perfectly exemplifies this in the whispers of blue that peek through the dense blanket of ecru tinged mist, indicative of a break in the clouds paving the way for sunbeams to shine through once again.
John Constable, Cloud Study, 1822
Collection of the Tate Modern, LondonUnlike Monet and Constable’s preference for painting en plein air, however, Arruda’s compositions are not tied to any specific viewpoint. Instead, he favours the power of the imagination, regarding his imposing horizon lines as symbols to elicit emotions and ideas. As the artist asserts: ‘In a way, the only reason to call my works landscapes is cultural: it’s simply that viewers automatically register my format as a landscape, although none of the images can be traced to a geographic location. It’s the idea of a landscape rather than a real place.’ ii
Another artist who sought inner reflection from depicting seascapes was George O’Keefe, such as in her York Beach paintings of 1922 – 1928, which were created during a period of emotional turbulence as she dealt with the challenging aftereffects of heartbreak. Both Arruda and O’Keefe interrogate the understanding of perception in exploring the balance between man and nature, but whilst O’Keefe’s compositions showcase a clear distinction between sea and sky, Arruda’s paintings mesmerise in that ideas of foreground and distance are virtually eliminated.
Georgia O'Keeffe, Wave, Night, 1928
Collection of the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Massachusetts
© 2021 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / ARS, NYThe Atmospheric Effects of Texture
“It’s more powerful to contain something as immense as a seascape in a tighter scale. It increases and concentrates the radiation, and the surrounding frequency.”
— Lucas Arruda
Mark Rothko, Blue and Gray, 1962
Collection of the Beyeler Foundation, Switzerland
© 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkDespite his format of painting the classical structure of a landscape divided by a horizon line, Arruda differs from his predecessors as it is the process of painting itself that he brings to the forefront of each composition. Seeking to reveal 'a sensation, a state of mind suspended within the medium of paint… that can't be grasped through language because there aren't sufficient visual elements to describe it' ii, Arruda’s likens his working methods to being almost meditative in nature, akin to the contemplative capacity evoked by the grand canvases of Mark Rothko, which too, radiate an ethereal sense of sublime light caught within the subtleties of tonal hue.
Gerhard Richter, Seestück, 1968
© 2021 Gerhard RichterPerfectly complimenting this attitude are the works of Gerhard Richter, whose practice is also largely guided by his pushing of the boundaries of his chosen medium. However, whereas Richter starts from photographic reference for his own seascape series, works like Untitled from the series Deserto-Modelo stem from Arruda’s own reverie and the surface of his paintings is all but flat. Working on a small scale that requires intense concentration, he first applies thick layers of paint over a white background, building up hues before peeling and carving them away to draw out light from darkness.
As such, it perhaps may be more appropriate to consider the present work in respect to Richter’s series of Abtraktes Bilder (see for example, Lot 16 - Gerhard Richter, Kerzenschein (Candle-light) (1984)), as both artists build up an almost sculptural definition of texture through layers of paint that tease the eye through the hints of colour that emerge from deep beneath. And yet, in stark contrast to Richter’s technique which is largely left up to chance, Arruda’s approach is meticulously calculated as each aesthetic decision is ‘worked out with great precision, including the scale, the choice of paints, [and] the shape of the canvas.’ii
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (940-7), 2015
Sold by Phillips Hong Kong in Association with Poly Auction on 8 June 2021 for HK$95,100,000
© 2021 Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (867-1), 2000
© 2021 Gerhard Richter-
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (940-7), 2015
Sold by Phillips Hong Kong in Association with Poly Auction on 8 June 2021 for HK$95,100,000
© 2021 Gerhard Richter -
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (867-1), 2000
© 2021 Gerhard Richter
Collector’s Digest
As one of the youngest artists to be represented by David Zwirner, Arruda’s London debut at the gallery in 2017 launched him onto an international stage. His practice has since been celebrated across numerous exhibitons, including at David Zwirner, New York in 2019, and the Pond Society in Shanghai – who were the first to present a solo presentation of Arruda’s work in China between November 2020 to January 2021.
When Phillips Hong Kong in Association with Poly Auction were the first to debut Arruda’s work in Asia at the end of 2020, his work Untitled (2013) far surpassed its pre-auction estimates of HK$1,500,000 – 2,500,000, achieving an impressive HK$3,780,000 - the world record for the artist. His second top auction result was accomplished only recently at Phillips London, when it sold for £352,800 in October 2021, slotting in above the artist’s previous second-place record which also achieved in Hong Kong by Phillips in association with Poly Auction in June 2021.
Arruda’s works are included in major collections globally, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, and the Fondation Beyeler in Basel.
3rd top auction result:
Lucas Arruda, Untitled from the series Deserto-Modelo, 2012
Sold by Phillips Hong Kong in Association with Poly Auction on 8 June 2021 for HK$3,213,000
© Lucas Arruda
1st top auction result:
Lucas Arruda, Untitled, 2013
Sold by Phillips Hong Kong in Association with Poly Auction on 3 December 2020 for HK$3,780,000
© Lucas Arruda
2nd top auction result:
Lucas Arruda, Untitled, 2013
Sold by Phillips London on 15 October 2021 for GBP 352,800
© Lucas Arruda-
3rd top auction result:
Lucas Arruda, Untitled from the series Deserto-Modelo, 2012
Sold by Phillips Hong Kong in Association with Poly Auction on 8 June 2021 for HK$3,213,000
© Lucas Arruda -
1st top auction result:
Lucas Arruda, Untitled, 2013
Sold by Phillips Hong Kong in Association with Poly Auction on 3 December 2020 for HK$3,780,000
© Lucas Arruda
Provenance
Herald St, London
Acquired from the above by the present ownerExhibited
London, Herald St, I'll Be Your Mirror, 7 September - 6 October 2013
Artist Biography
Lucas Arruda
Lucas Arruda is a Brazilian contemporary artist who lives and works in São Paolo. Arruda paints diffusive land- and seascapes characterized by faint horizon lines, intense internal light, and a placid expression of the sublime. His paintings recreate the unrelenting violence of nature, blending wisps of clouds and the foam of the sea into the indistinguishable whole of the storm. His works are meditations on memory and loss, created by paradoxically using abstraction as a means to achieve illusory figuration.
Arruda’s paintings are marked both by an all-encompassing elusiveness and an immersive turbulence of form. Primarily working on an intimate scale, Arruda co-opts the onerous expressiveness of abstract painting to create scenes of the intense power and beauty of nature. Arruda’s formal experimentations with the temperament of light and the capabilities of tonality align his work with that of James Abbott Whistler and J.M.W. Turner as much as with that of Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still.
58
Untitled from the series Deserto-Modelo
signed and dated 'LUCAS ARRUDA 2013' on the reverse
oil on canvas
50 x 50 cm. (19 5/8 x 19 5/8 in.)
Painted in 2013.
Estimate
HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
€113,000-170,000
$128,000-192,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
Charlotte Raybaud
Head of Evening Sale, 20th Century & Contemporary Art
+852 2318 2026
CharlotteRaybaud@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Association with Poly Auction
Hong Kong Auction 30 November 2021
1
Cinga Samson
Ivory V
Estimate HK$250,000 - 350,000
Sold for HK$2,520,000
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2
Salman Toor
East Village Iqbal Bano
Estimate HK$1,800,000 - 2,800,000
Sold for HK$4,536,000
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3
Nina Chanel Abney
Untitled (IXI Black)
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$3,024,000
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4
Jamian Juliano-Villani
Clear Cough from Your Schedule
Estimate HK$200,000 - 400,000
Sold for HK$781,200
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5
Mr.
Yume—Breath of the Earth
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for HK$4,032,000
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6
Julie Curtiss
Escargot
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$1,449,000
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7
Javier Calleja
30 works: Untitled
Estimate HK$10,000,000 - 15,000,000
Sold for HK$12,108,000
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8
Javier Calleja
You Me
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for HK$7,026,000
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9
Aya Takano
In the Lab (the Birth of Jelly)
Estimate HK$200,000 - 300,000
Sold for HK$441,000
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10
Hernan Bas
Minimalism (cracking the code)
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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11
Joel Mesler
Untitled (Night Out)
Estimate HK$500,000 - 700,000
Sold for HK$1,512,000
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12
Shara Hughes
Magic Island
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$4,788,000
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13
Scott Kahn
Cadman Plaza
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for HK$7,510,000
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14
Matthew Wong
Nature’s Church
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$9,204,000
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15
Matthew Wong
Far Away Eyes
Estimate HK$8,000,000 - 12,000,000
Sold for HK$21,183,000
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16
Gerhard Richter
Kerzenschein (Candle-light)
Estimate HK$55,000,000 - 75,000,000
Sold for HK$101,970,000
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17
This lot is no longer available.
18
Yayoi Kusama
INFINITY-NETS (OPRT)
Estimate HK$15,000,000 - 25,000,000
Sold for HK$22,635,000
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19
Yayoi Kusama
Repetition
Estimate HK$15,000,000 - 20,000,000
Sold for HK$19,005,000
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20
Nicolas Party
Still Life
Estimate HK$6,200,000 - 9,400,000
Sold for HK$17,190,000
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21
David Hockney
Bridlington Violets
Estimate HK$10,000,000 - 15,000,000
Sold for HK$12,350,000
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22
Léonard-Tsuguharu Foujita
Self-Portrait with a Cat
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$5,292,000
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23
This lot is no longer available.
24
Sanyu
Paysage Aux Hirondelles
Estimate HK$26,000,000 - 46,000,000
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25
Zao Wou-Ki
Sans titre ("Notre Dame")
Estimate HK$7,500,000 - 10,000,000
Sold for HK$10,051,000
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26
Zao Wou-Ki
Brume d’automne
Estimate HK$4,500,000 - 7,500,000
Sold for HK$4,788,000
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27
Auguste Rodin
Le Baiser, 1ère réduction dite aussi "réduction n°1"
Estimate HK$10,000,000 - 15,000,000
Sold for HK$11,745,000
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28
Zao Wou-Ki
20.3.64.
Estimate HK$20,000,000 - 30,000,000
Sold for HK$22,030,000
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29
This lot is no longer available.
30
Alexander Calder
Two Red Petals in the Air
Estimate HK$16,000,000 - 20,000,000
Sold for HK$20,820,000
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31
Claude Monet
Pavots dans un vase de Chine
Estimate HK$9,500,000 - 15,000,000
Sold for HK$13,560,000
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32
Georges Mathieu
Saxifrage
Estimate HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for HK$2,520,000
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33
This lot is no longer available.
34
Huang Yuxing
Floating Bubbles
Estimate HK$1,800,000 - 2,800,000
Sold for HK$2,772,000
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35
Zhou Chunya
Smell the Flowers
Estimate HK$5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for HK$6,905,000
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36
This lot is no longer available.
37
Liu Ye
Flagship No. 2
Estimate HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for HK$5,922,000
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38
Wang Xingwei
Untitled (Heart-Shaped Dance)
Estimate HK$2,800,000 - 4,800,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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39
Liu Ye
Untitled
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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40
Liu Wei
You Like Smoking?
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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41
Izumi Kato
Untitled
Estimate HK$4,500,000 - 7,500,000
Sold for HK$11,745,000
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42
Yoshitomo Nara
Pandora's Box
Estimate HK$7,500,000 - 10,000,000
Sold for HK$13,560,000
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43
George Condo
The Dreamer
Estimate HK$4,600,000 - 6,200,000
Sold for HK$11,140,000
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44
George Condo
Entangled Figures
Estimate HK$6,200,000 - 9,200,000
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45
This lot is no longer available.
46
KAWS
NEW YORK
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$5,040,000
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47
KAWS
FINAL DAYS
Estimate HK$6,200,000 - 8,200,000
Sold for HK$8,115,000
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48
Raymond Pettibon
Untitled (Force makes nature...)
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$3,906,000
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49
Robert Nava
Angel Shark
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for HK$4,410,000
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50
Susumu Kamijo
Marching To The Sun
Estimate HK$450,000 - 650,000
Sold for HK$2,142,000
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51
Jadé Fadojutimi
Fishing For Steps
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 2,200,000
Sold for HK$4,788,000
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52
Mickalene Thomas
Looking Up from the She Works Hard For the Money Pin-Up series
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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53
Billie Zangewa
Cirque d'hiver
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$567,000
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54
Godwin Champs Namuyimba
The Connector
Estimate HK$200,000 - 400,000
Sold for HK$1,323,000
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55
Tunji Adeniyi-Jones
Blue Ancestor
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$1,071,000
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56
Tomoo Gokita
Final Confrontation
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 2,200,000
Sold for HK$2,520,000
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57
Ewa Juszkiewicz
Appropriation
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$1,890,000
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58
Lucas Arruda
Untitled from the series Deserto-Modelo
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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