Lot 3278 - A209 Art Impressionniste & Moderne - vendredi, 21. juin 2024, 17h00
LE CORBUSIER (CHARLES-ÉDOUARD JEANNERET-GRIS)
(La Chaux-de-Fonds 1887–1965 Roquebrune-Cap-Martin)
Femme et taureau. 1959.
Enamel on metal.
Monogrammed and dated lower centre: L–C / 19 Mai / 59.
Dedicated, signed and with date of the gift verso: pour Alfons Studer / amicalement / Le Corbusier / 23-1-61.
Dedicated, signed and with date of the gift verso: pour Alfons Studer / amicalement / Le Corbusier / 23-1-61.
56 × 64.5 cm.
With original wooden mounting plate.
With original wooden mounting plate.
Provenance:
- Alfons Studer, Zurich, received from the artist as a gift on 23.2.1961.
- Private collection, Liechtenstein.
Literature:
Pierre Imhasli: Alfons Studer oder Ein Eros in allen Dingen, Bern 1984 (ill.).
Greek mythology with all its dramatic stories and characters is a theme that Le Corbusier repeatedly incorporates into his works. The enamel work here is a wonderful example of this. The scene depicted could be either the creation of the Minotaur, i.e. the union of the Cretan queen Pasiphaë with Poseidon's bull, or the rape of Europa.
From 1952 onwards, Le Corbusier dedicated himself to a group of bull sculptures, the so-called "Taureaux" series, which would include around 21 sculptures by the end of his life. This shifting of the bull motif into sculpture does not happen by chance, but is preceded by intensive study of this theme in drawing and painting. Le Corbusier's well-known "Le Poème de l'Angle Droit" was created between 1947 and 1953. In the book, first published in 1955, Le Corbusier presents his ideas and philosophy of architecture. The texts are each accompanied by illustrations. On page ninety-nine of the book there is an image of a bull and a woman, which is probably a preliminary study for the present painting. According to Jornod, Le Corbusier depicts himself as a bull and his wife Yvonne as the nymph Europa, sitting on his lap.
Le Corbusier depicts this scene again here in a wonderfully abstract way. For the work, created in 1959, he used a metal plate left over from Chandigarh, India. The artwork remained in the artist's possession for around 10 years until he gave it to Alfons Studer in 1961. Studer, a dentist, architecture enthusiast and true Le Corbusier fan, wrote the "Poème du Cimetière" during a three-week stay in a cell at the Corbusier monastery "La Tourette" in the early 1960s. After its completion, he sent it to Le Corbusier, who was so enthusiastic that he invited the previously unknown man to Paris and gave him the painting. Studer recorded this event in his 1984 book "Alfons Studer or an Eros in All Things".
From 1952 onwards, Le Corbusier dedicated himself to a group of bull sculptures, the so-called "Taureaux" series, which would include around 21 sculptures by the end of his life. This shifting of the bull motif into sculpture does not happen by chance, but is preceded by intensive study of this theme in drawing and painting. Le Corbusier's well-known "Le Poème de l'Angle Droit" was created between 1947 and 1953. In the book, first published in 1955, Le Corbusier presents his ideas and philosophy of architecture. The texts are each accompanied by illustrations. On page ninety-nine of the book there is an image of a bull and a woman, which is probably a preliminary study for the present painting. According to Jornod, Le Corbusier depicts himself as a bull and his wife Yvonne as the nymph Europa, sitting on his lap.
Le Corbusier depicts this scene again here in a wonderfully abstract way. For the work, created in 1959, he used a metal plate left over from Chandigarh, India. The artwork remained in the artist's possession for around 10 years until he gave it to Alfons Studer in 1961. Studer, a dentist, architecture enthusiast and true Le Corbusier fan, wrote the "Poème du Cimetière" during a three-week stay in a cell at the Corbusier monastery "La Tourette" in the early 1960s. After its completion, he sent it to Le Corbusier, who was so enthusiastic that he invited the previously unknown man to Paris and gave him the painting. Studer recorded this event in his 1984 book "Alfons Studer or an Eros in All Things".
CHF 70 000 / 90 000 | (€ 72 160 / 92 780)
Vendu pour CHF 87 500 (frais inclus)
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