Philip Taaffe - 20th Century & Contemporary Art: Online Auction, New York New York Monday, March 11, 2024 | Phillips
  • Philip Taaffe’s art occupies a unique position at the intersection of an array of sources. Blending elements from the work of modern artists like Barnett Newman with motifs found in Byzantine and Islamic art, Taaffe creates works that challenge temporality. The juxtapositional nature of these works illuminate the idiosyncrasies of Taaffe’s sources of inspiration simultaneously, emanating a sense of liminality.

     

    In St. John’s Gate, Taaffe captures the monumentality and fortitude of a wrought iron gate. Two 12-foot canvasses each depict one half of the titular object. Taaffe's work mirrors an iron gate in both physical appearance and implied function, with the panels serving as metonymic extensions of the half gates they depict, only creating a "closed gate" when hung side-by-side. The solid, perpendicular black lines dividing the canvasses into gridded sections imbue the work with a sense of strength.

     

    The ornate balusters and finials echo the aesthetic of a Victorian style gate–a design employed by churches throughout history that draws from the Gothic visual language and continues to the present day. The soft gradation of the blues towards the upper edge of the work gives the impression of light shining through from behind the gate, creating an ethereal atmosphere. Taaffe has asserted the importance of light in his work, saying “as for light, painting is primarily about capturing it which is critical to the power of a work. Light is the crux of the matter.”i

     

    The solidity of the iron gate is balanced by the convivial primary color scheme of soft reds, blues and yellows seen in the scalloped pattern constituting the body of the gate. The familiarity of the color palette exudes a sense of jovial innocence, contrasting the rigidity conveyed by the unwavering black lines. The unlikely visual cohesion of the present work establishes it as a totem of the artist’s ability to amalgamize elements taken from vastly different sources of inspiration, rather than a mere representation of the barrier it embodies. The stunning nature of St John's Gate caught the attention of Gianni Versace, who acquired this work to be displayed at the Versace Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York, where it remained for many years before coming up for auction.

     

    i Philip Taaffe, quoted in Paul Laster, “Philip Taaffe Interview: Painting is About Capturing Light,” TimeOut, January 13, 2015, online.

    • Provenance

      Collection of Gianni Versace
      Thence by descent to the present owner

12

St. John's Gate

signed, titled and dated "SAINT JOHN'S GATE 1993 Philip Taaffe" on the reverse of each part
oil, pencil and paper collage on canvas, in 2 parts
each 145 x 59 in. (368.3 x 149.9 cm)
overall 145 x 118 in. (368.3 x 299.7 cm)

Executed in 1993.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$30,000 - 50,000 

Contact Specialist

Katerina Blackwood
Associate Specialist, Head of Online Sales
20th Century & Contemporary Art
+1 212 940 1248
KBlackwood@phillips.com
 

20th Century & Contemporary Art: Online Auction, New York

11 - 20 March 2024