Pierre Soulages
Sérigraphie No. 8 (Encrevé & Miessner 100)
About the SessionSpanning 4 centuries of global art history, The International Sale, presents 127 exceptional lots by artists from 27 countries across five continents. The auction highlights masterworks ranging from 17th century European paintings to post-2000 editions by contemporary artist's such as Mr Brainwash (lot 51), Jim Dine (lots 83-86), Isaac Julien (lot 108), Jeff Koons (45), and Lucas Samaras (lot 107 and 110). The sale is anchored by important pieces from Georg Baselitz, Erik Laubscher, Shirin Neshat, and a newly repatriated 1935 portrait by Irma Stern.
The auction's diversity is driven by rare museum-quality highlights, led by Irma Stern's Two Women (lot 31), which returns to South Africa after decades in a Berlin private collection. It is joined by Erik Laubscher's rare recto-verso painting Young Family / Construction (lot 48), an Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat photographic portrait linked to her award-winning Turbulent installation (lot 66), and a uniquely hand-coloured linocut by German master Georg Baselitz titled Das Pferd, Im Wald und auf der Heide Series (The Horse, in the Forest and on the Heath Series) (lot 72).
LOT 41
Pierre Soulages
Sérigraphie No. 8 (Encrevé & Miessner 100)
About this Item
signed and numbered 105/150 in pencil in the margin; accompanied by a commemorative information sheet inscribed 'At their meeting in Paris on 20 June 1980, Monsieur Jacques Chirac, former Prime Minister of France and Mayor of Paris, presented this contemporary painting by Soulages to the mayor of Cape Town, Alderman Louis Kreiner'
Provenance
The Patricia Fine Art Collection.
Notes
Printed by Atelier Michel Caza, Francoville, published by Ville de Paris, Paris.
Pierre Soulages, born in 1919 in Rodez, France, is recognised as one of the major figures of post-war European abstract art and one of the most important painters of contemporary French art. He found inspiration in ancient art forms, particularly menhirs, large, upright stones erected during prehistoric periods, as well as Celtic carvings he encountered in the local museum. The Romanesque art and architecture of the surrounding Aveyron region also had a lasting influence on his artistic sensibility.
In 1938, Soulages travelled to Paris, where he encountered exhibitions of Pablo Picasso and Paul Cézanne. He briefly studied at the École des Beaux-Arts but returned to Rodez shortly afterwards when he was called up for military service.
After the war, Soulages returned to Paris in 1946 and began developing the distinctive abstract language that would define his career. Soulages met the artist Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979), who introduced him to abstract art. Rather than adopting the bright, gestural colours associated with many abstract painters of the period, he increasingly explored dark forms, broad brushstrokes, and the expressive possibilities of black. He was soon associated with a generation of pioneering post-war abstract artists and became one of the youngest and most prominent figures within the movement.
In the late 1950s, Soulages gained major international recognition, receiving the first prize at the International Exhibition in Tokyo jointly with Sam Francis, as well as the Windsor Prize in Paris. Despite being associated with Art Informel and European abstract painting, his output remained distinctive.
Soulages remained committed to abstraction throughout his career. He died in 2022, leaving behind a highly influential body of work.
Literature
Pierre Encrevé and Marie-Cécile Miessner (eds) (2003) Soulages : L’œuvre Imprimée. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, cat. no. 100, another example illustrated.
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