Written by Andrea Domenech

Antique perfume bottles, object of desire for collectors. Auction April 25

Antique perfume bottles, object of desire for collectors.

Auction April 25

The perfumery firms have not only commissioned their formulas from relevant “noses”: they have also ordered the bottles from great craftsmen and consecrated artists. The result is pieces of great value that are acquired to collect.

Perfume bottles, with their graceful curves and light-refracting facets, are subtle reminders of more elegant and luxurious times. From ancient Egypt to recent history, perfume bottles have played a role in documenting beauty throughout the centuries.

Today, perfume bottles serve as luxury items, a reminder that in ages past, the dressing table was a place of personalized beauty where form met function in refined style.

Perfume bottles are usually made of glass and have a rounded base with a stopper that, in most cases, is made of the same material or is sometimes lined with metal.. The bottle is filled with a fragrant liquid (perfume), then tilted to deposit the perfume in the stopper, then the stopper is removed and gently rubbed on the skin to apply the fragrance. In more modern times, atomizers were used, allowing the liquid contents to be sprayed onto the skin.

Perfume bottles, with their graceful curves and light-refracting facets, are subtle reminders of more elegant and luxurious times. From ancient Egypt to recent history, perfume bottles have played a role in documenting beauty throughout the centuries.

Today, perfume bottles serve as luxury items, a reminder that in ages past, the dressing table was a place of personalized beauty where form met function in refined style.

Perfume bottles are usually made of glass and have a rounded base with a stopper that, in most cases, is made of the same material or is sometimes lined with metal.. The bottle is filled with a fragrant liquid (perfume), then tilted to deposit the perfume in the stopper, then the stopper is removed and gently rubbed on the skin to apply the fragrance. In more modern times, atomizers were used, allowing the liquid contents to be sprayed onto the skin.

THE MANUFACTURERS

While historically perfume bottles were custom-made items, individually handcrafted in small batches, the dawn of the Industrial Revolution ushered in the manufacture of perfume bottles by established glassmakers. In England, both Thomas Webb & Sons and Stevens & Williams Glass Company were known for their cameo perfume bottles, as well as their smaller-sized bottles designed to fit discreetly in a lady’s handbag.

Tiffany was important in the manufacture of perfume bottles, adorning their glass bottles with silver caps that often covered the stopper. René Lalique was perhaps the best-known French perfume bottle maker. Lalique, himself a jeweler, used a jewel casting process called “cire perdue”, to create a jewel-like finish on his bottles.

THE STYLES

Perfume bottles were not only meant to be placed on the vanity table, some perfume bottles were designed to be worn as a necklace or jewelry. Perfume bottle necklaces were popular in the early 20th century with well-known perfume makers like Chanel getting in on the game and designing decorative jewelry pieces that also had their signature scents.

RARE OLD PERFUME BOTTLES

Perfume bottles are a tradition dating back to the Golden Age of the Roman and Egyptian empires. With such a long and rich history, there are many varieties of vintage perfume bottles to collect. Made from a variety of ceramic, glass, and metal materials, perfume bottles remained popular throughout Europe throughout the Middle Ages.

The oldest pieces are very rare and are not only collected by individuals, but also by museums and anthropologists.

ATOMIZERS

Atomizers are a fun part of any perfume bottle collection. You may remember playing with them on your grandmother’s dresser, as they were popular from the late 19th century through the 1960s. Atomizers come in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and materials. Although the bulbs (used to atomize the perfume into a fine mist) may have hardened over time, they are still beautiful pieces to display.

CAMEO PERFUME BOTTLES

Similar to a Wedgwood pottery design, these bottles feature a chalky matte finish, colored porcelain construction, and feature white embossed detailing. Cameo perfume bottles often depict human forms in silhouette or natural elements such as floral motifs. Floating cherub-like figures and symmetrical floral designs can also often be seen on these bottles.

ART NOUVEAU

Art Nouveau perfume bottles are unique and amazing in their designs and details. Similar to Tiffany glass lamps, Art Nouveau perfume bottles, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, feature naturalistic elements such as flora and fauna and soft organic shapes and curves. In fact, Tiffany produced a series of perfume bottles with round glass bottoms and ornately decorated silver caps that covered a glass stopper.

ART DECO

Art Deco perfume bottles gave way to more architectural elements, with clean lines and geometric shapes. They were more streamlined in shape, and although they were still made primarily of glass, they used more metal than designs from earlier eras.

Throughout the 20th century, perfume bottles have become more sophisticated and have retained their elegant style, continuing with the tradition of being luxury items for any dressing table.

Setdart auctions next April 25 a collection of old perfume bottles whose owner dedicated himself to searching, selecting and collecting as a compendium of the designs made since the beginning of the 20th century. In a certain way it could be considered as a very special History of Art since it represents the movements of the different eras since 1900.

The magic of perfume lies in its evocative power and vintage and antique perfume bottles are the perfect way to transport yourself to glamorous bygone eras.

Written by Andrea Domenech

Antonio Orzaez; The art photographer

Antonio Orzaez; The art photographer

Setdart presents at auction, on April 20 and 21, the unpublished collection of photographer Antonio Orzáez made up of more than three hundred pieces that bring us closer personally and intimately to the most relevant artists of the 20th century.

Setdart is putting out to tender a large selection of works from the personal collection of photographer Antonio Orzáez, who through his lens captured a large part of the most relevant artistic moments of the 20th century. His work made him a direct witness to the lives of famous artists, with whom in many cases he established great friendships. Approaching with his camera the most intimate and personal moments of artists as famous as Pablo Picasso, the Orzáez collection has several snapshots of the artist’s work from Malaga, such as the photomontage of Las Meninas that he made around 1957, in his well-known “Variaciones sobre las Meninas”, and in this case Joan Gaspar, dedicated to Orzáez (Lot: 35273678 ). But the Orzáez collection also reveals the most intimate Picasso to us, through snapshots, in which he appears with his children and his last partner Jacqueline Roque, at his private estate La Californie (Lot: 35274489 ), or in which little Paloma is seen with her brother Claude, both dressed in Spanish costumes (Lot: 35274488 ).

The immense collection of Antonio Orzáez can be understood as an archive that documents the life of the most important artists of the 20th century, beyond their works. Invitations to exhibitions by Joan Miró, Chillida, or Tàpies reveal the intense activity of these artists, who showed their works in countries as far away as the United States or Japan. Photographs, catalogues, informative booklets… are testimonies that come together in this collection, and bring us closer to the intimacy of the great geniuses of the 20th century. Original works such as drawings, engravings and serigraphs that the artists themselves gave to Orzáez, dedicating the pieces to him personally, artists such as Tàpies (Lot: 35274498 ) and Antoni Clavé (Lot: 35256982 ), among others.

Orzáez worked with all of them, their bonds of friendship united him in an intimate and personal way, an example of this was his relationship with the artist Antoni Clavé, of whom he kept numerous original works, invitations, and catalogs, which help us understand the artist. in its entirety, until the last days of his life that are contemplated in this great collection through the invitation to the funeral of Antoni Clavé that Orzáez received (Lot: 35273833 ).

Thanks to his experience and technical quality, Orzáez was hired by the famous Sala Gaspar, at that time, the most prestigious gallery in Barcelona, which had been founded in 1909. At the time Orzáez began working for Sala Gaspar, Miquel Gaspar, son of the founder, and Joan Gaspar, nephew, ran the space. On most occasions, Orzáez covered the openings, where he captured the Barcelona art scene and all those who were part of the cultural elite of the time. He also photographed the pieces and, with his snapshots, documented artistic projects such as the collaboration between Joan Miró and Josep Royo, who created the “Tapis de Tarragona” (Lot: 35274277 ). His work at the Sala Gaspar led him to meet several generations of artists, thus getting closer to the young promises with whom he also had a relationship, such as Montserrat Gudiol (Lot: 35273977 ).

The auction also houses a wide variety of cameras that he used to work (Lot: 35273733 ). But Orzaez’s desire for photography led him to enrich his collection with numerous unique and exceptional cameras, such as spy cameras from the 1940s (Lot: 35273730 ), or even a Nemrod underwater camera (Lot: 35273629) .

This extensive collection reflects Orzaez’s work as a photographic artist, and his value as a collector. Made up of more than three hundred pieces (photographs, books, invitations to exhibitions, drawings, engravings and cameras), the objects that will be put up for auction on April 20 and 21, stand as indispensable testimonies of one of the most fertile periods of the history of art in this country. The work of Antonio Orzaez, his contact with the cultural life of Barcelona, and his friendships are witness to this and gave rise to a life full of memories.

Written by Andrea Domenech

The immortality of ‘bracket’ clocks

The immortality of 'bracket' watches

Setdart presents this magnificent collection of clocks treasured and preserved for more than forty years by the same collectors. The auction includes pieces by the hand of the most illustrious European builders from the 17th to the 20th century. The pieces that will be auctioned on March 24 are a perfect example and a clear reflection of exquisite craftsmanship and technical precision.

Bracket clocks stand out mainly for their mechanism, but also for their decoration. This typology has its origin in the 1760s, when the pendulum was applied to the clock, replacing the previous “foliot” or flywheel regulator. This change made it necessary to provide the mechanism with a box that would protect it from knocks that could alter its progress. This is how the watches called in England “bracket” were born, that is, the transportable watches. These are short box pieces, which house inside a mechanism held between two thick plates and containing, as the driving force for each train, a combined cube and snail. These clocks were initially intended to be placed on a corbel, hence their English name. This corbel was an independent piece that used to be made at the same time, with decoration to match the clock. Later, however, base and watch began to be made separately.

The English developed a watchmaking mechanics differentiated from that of the rest of Europe, based on an industry of specialized workshops that produced products of great technical perfection. The boxes were made by cabinetmakers who enriched the watches, turning them into authentic jewels. For this reason, throughout the 18th century, English clocks evidenced the stylistic evolution that developed in English cabinetry, starting with the William and Mary and Queen Anne models, passing through the Chippendale and Hepplewithe styles, to finally return to classicism with the Adam, the Sheraton and finally the Regency. Regarding the specific typology of the bracket clock, it maintained its elegant and stately appearance throughout the 18th century, and at the end of the century the boxes were larger, more monumental.

The solidity of its mechanism makes it almost immortal, each piece is specially designed to last over time, without sacrificing taste and style. On numerous occasions, the dial was ordered to be made by goldsmiths who carefully carved the figures, engraved on the front sole and on the plate, incorporated the silver dial on a golden sole, the most characteristic watches have black numerals and a silver background.

The accuracy in measuring the time of English watches has survived to this day and there are magnificent pieces made with excellent materials and in perfect condition. Some of the best examples have been made by watchmakers such as Robert Higgs, Abel Panchaud, Windmill & Bennet, James Smith, among others, who will be part of the next watch auctions, as well as exceptional pieces by other Spanish, French, German and Swiss.

Written by Andrea Domenech

Master glassmakers: when glass became art

Master glassmakers: when glass became art

The most renowned master glassmakers of Art Nouveau and Art Decó star in the next auction on March 16 and 17

Setdart offers us these days the possibility of contemplating this starry vault thanks to this important and extensive Spanish collection forged between 1970 and the 1990s. through her we can take a tour of one of the most splendid chapters in the history of glass art; focusing on that glassware that explored the expressive possibilities of Art Nouveau and Art Deco in the leading geographical enclaves in its development such as France (Nancy), the Czech Republic (Bohemia), Italy (Murano) or Sweden (Orrefors)

For the occasion we have gathered more than two hundred pieces (vases, centerpieces, decanters, paperweights, lamp stands, ashtrays, small sculptures…) signed by the most renowned glass manufacturers. Its exquisite workmanship and avant-garde concept is in keeping with the time in which they were made.

These great master glassmakers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries managed to turn a type of work that until then had only been crafts into authentic pieces of art . In this sense, Émile Gallé inaugurates this brilliant genealogy of glass artists, which would find continuity in the hands of figures such as René Lalique and the Daum brothers. The names follow each other like stars that form eternal constellations: Charles Schneider, Marius Ernest Sabino, François Theodore Legras, Tiffany, Loetz, Wilhelm Kralik…

Far from being repeaters of models (as their predecessors had been), glassmakers at the end of the century were also daring designers, not lagging behind artistic novelties and fashions, but even ahead of them. .

Thus , Émile Gallé, promoter of the Nancy School, opened a vein of research and recovery of forgotten techniques , so that tradition served him to innovate and revolutionize the decorative arts with his genius. He was a pivotal figure in the development of Art Nouveau.

From Gallé , in Setdart you can buy characteristic pieces from a time when it had no competitors, made around 1900: fine enameled pieces, cameo vases in the Art Nouveau style. ( 35238790) . Likewise, Art Decó pieces are also included, made by notable designers that the firm hired after the death of the master. These are acid-etched vases and centers, decorated with aquatic and botanical landscapes, characteristic of the firm.

René Lalique also made glass a means of creative expression, in the same way that the great glass houses such as Daum, Moser or Loetz would know how to adapt to “modern” designs, since at the turn of the century and during the interwar period languages and styles followed each other at a galloping pace.

René Lalique, after participating as a modernist jeweler in the Paris exhibition of 1900, began to investigate the field of glass, becoming in the twenties the most admired producer of art deco glass. (lot 35238712)

As for the Daum family, and probably as a consequence of the success achieved by Gallé, they initially produced luxury vases etched in acid or in the manner of enamelled cameos. very much in the taste of the time. An example of this is this splendid vase with typically Art Nouveau decoration based on the representation of large plant motifs of great beauty and sophistication, dynamic and asymmetrical, ( 35238754)

Another figure endowed with unusual artistic skills was Charles Schneider. After studying Fine Arts in Paris, he joined forces with his brother to found a factory that would take art glassware to the top between 1926 and 1930. As an example put out to tender these days in Setdart, we mention the large Art Deco “Colliers” vase, whose pink marbled background decorated with acid etched geometric shapes represents a magnificent example of the Deco style. (35238745)

As for the production made in the United States, you stand out above all the extraordinary creations of LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY and its Favrile glass vases whose creation would lead it to win a grand prize at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. This type of iridescent artistic glass was patented by Louis in 1894 and first produced glass for its manufacture in 1896 in Queens, New York. This type of glass has the particularity that some glasses of Classical antiquity also had: its iridescence . The shiny finish that this gives them while giving them a certain degree of opacity was obtained by mixing different colors of glass together while it was hot ( 35238740 and 35238732).

During the first quarter of the 20th century, glass techniques underwent enormous development and creative audacity. A large part of the pieces included in the collection of artistic glass, which Setdart is putting out to tender on these dates, have a value comparable to many of those that are exhibited and guarded in the most important Decorative Art Museums in the main European capitals. Now in Setdart, you can have them at your fingertips.

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Mannerism and the exquisiteness of its extravagance

Mannerism and the exquisiteness of its extravagance

The expressive and dramatic force of Mannerism becomes one of the protagonists of the Alta Época auction on February 23

The Mannerist style, which emerged in Italy around the 1530s, represented a paradigm shift with respect to the Renaissance where the proportion, balance and harmony traits that until then had defined artistic creation lost their total hegemony by virtue of artistic intentionality. and expressiveness. Once the knowledge of human anatomy, perspective and color was consolidated, the artists and their workshops advanced on their path towards experimentation, thereby seeking greater drama and distinction in their compositions that would emerge in the Baroque period.

Also known as Late Renaissance, Mannerism is seen as a bridge between the High Renaissance and the Baroque period, which adopted the ornate aesthetic of this current, adapting it to shape its characteristic extravagance. In this way, the artists began to make clear in their creations their intention to go one step further, beginning to endow their compositions with an expressive force that they reflected both through artificial chromatism and through twisted and exaggerated figures that increased the sensation of movement.

We can see a clear example of this in this oil painting from the Mannerist School of the 16th century, “The Flagellation” (lot 35273292). We see here the passage of the flagellation of Christ, a scene widely represented in the Christian tradition. Stylistically, we can appreciate that the figures are not inserted within the classical canon of representation, but rather are stylized and elongated. Also noteworthy in this scene is the posture of Christ, whose artificial twist emphasizes the dramatic strength and his suffering of being flogged by the Roman soldiers. Light is also used subjectively, with the body of Christ receiving the most, despite being located in the center of the composition, all with the intention of emphasizing his figure and anatomy.

As we have pointed out before, the artificial use of color is a clear reflection of this expressive style. We see for example in this “Stigmatization” of Saint Francis of Assisi (lot: 35273511) as the use of color on the saint’s skin moves away from a realistic representation to emphasize the dramatic aspects. What we can see of the saint, his complexion and his stigmatized hands, are painted in gray tones, also contributing a greater mysticism to the figure of Saint Francis. The palette used here aesthetically brings us closer to the work of Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli, son of the famous El Greco, whose style is especially linked to that of his father.

Despite developing during a brief historical period that finally gave way to the Baroque, the fascination aroused by the artists and mannerist schools of Europe has remained alive until today.

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Post-war art innovations

Post-war art innovations

The creativity of post-war art is brought together in our auction by the hand of some of its most decisive movements of the 20th century

The diversity and cultural brilliance that emerged after the devastation caused by the Second World War represents one of the most fertile and groundbreaking creative periods in our history. The multitude of artistic expressions that broke into the international scene at a frenetic pace are the manifestation of a vital need of the human being to face the barbarism that he himself had caused . After the profound changes brought about by the war came the end of the artistic utopias that the historical avant-gardes had proclaimed.

The world had changed and with it, it was inevitable that art would too. With a Europe completely sunk physically and morally, the artistic center par excellence that until then had been Paris, moved to the United States where the birth of the first great post-war artistic movement, abstract expressionism, turned the city of New York into the new capital of western art. However, Pollock’s withering dominance of gestural painting prompted the appearance of two counter-movements such as Pop art and Hard Edge.

  • HARD EDGE PAINTING – Frederick Hammersley

Used for the first time in 1959 the term Hard Edge (hard edges) defined the sample “Four abstract classicist” where in contrast to the gestural painting of abstract expressionism, four artists from the west coast opted for a rationally controlled geometric abstraction stripped of the emotional substratum close to the aesthetics of Mondrian . Along with John McLaughlin, Lorser Feitelson, Karl Benjamin, Frederick Hammersley was one of the 4 abstract classicists who succeeded in painting simplified shapes, pure colors and neat, clean surfaces against the almighty abstract expressionism.

  • POP ART – Peter Philipps

With radically opposed approaches to pop art, it will be born as a revulsive against what they consider an elitist art . Although its origins take place in the United Kingdom, many of its pioneers such as Peter Phillips soon moved to the United States . In his case, the trip he made together with Allen Jones was decisive, touring the roads of the country’s geography where they were able to assimilate the novelties of American pop art. It was then, when in addition to introducing the characteristic monochrome backgrounds and making use of an entire iconography from mass culture, he became interested in large formats and techniques such as spray, which gave his works a more polished and industrial finish. However, his first works were the ones that most clearly connect him with American pop and especially with the work of Rauschenberg and Jasper Jones, in which, as in this case, he transforms the canvas into prize machines, painballs or game boards. On the other hand In Europe, art became a means to find its meaning in a changed world, as a result of which inevitably a host of new artistic styles emerged, including Tachism, Arte Povera, New Realism or conceptual art.

  • NEW REALISM – Jean Tinguely

From the exhaustion before the different formulas of abstract painting and the impact of a rapidly expanding consumer society in Western Europe, a series of proposals for a return to “the real” are born . The object, the movement, the performative, and the event are the new interests of European artists who, like Jean Tinguely, grouped themselves around the so-called Nouveau Réalisme,

His work developed around the Dadaist idea of an anti-art where assemblages, waste or “found objects” and the use of movement by gas or electric motors became constants in his work. Movement, chance and the use of everyday materials define not only his kinetic sculptures but also his works on paper in which we find an artist of infinite creativity and fantasy . these letters collage that he sent to countless prominent figures in the world of culture are particularly important documents that teach us about Tinguely’s approach to the creative act, writing down and shaping his ideas, thoughts and desires from his impressions and of everyday or discarded objects which, as he himself stated, “I systematically transform these types of drawings into messages for my friends, in letters and things like that.”

  • LAND ART AND CONCEPTUAL ART – Dennis Oppenheim

He is undoubtedly one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century who, as a forerunner of conceptual art and a pioneer of performance, achieved fame and public recognition as part of the generation of artists that made land art known. Oppenheim has also been one of the most versatile artists of his time, taking on all possible forms of artistic expression: from writing to video-installation, passing through Body Art , conceptual art or photography. In fact, everything related to visual art is present in his work as a reminder of the years in which he dedicated himself to advertising.

In the series “Salutations from the sky” to which both works belong, and which gave its name to the exhibition organized at the Gabarrón Foundation in New York, Oppenhiem makes a proposal using aerial photographs intervened by the artist to redirect the flow of the river California Sacramento. Without a doubt, the avant-garde interpretation that the artist made of the environment, and specifically of the connection between heaven and earth, is perfectly illustrated in the works that we present to you.

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Ramón Tusquets, an artist who makes Italy the cradle of his art

Ramón Tusquets, an artist who makes Italy the cradle of his art

The Neapolitan and Roman countryside, as well as daily activities in beautiful towns in southern Italy, and also in its capital, inspired some of the best works of Ramón Tusquets.

We confirm this with three important oil paintings that these days can be purchased at Setdart Auctions. Both belong to the period of greatest recognition of Tusquets, as shown by the fact that at the time he painted them (in the last decade of the 19th century) he was presiding over the International Artistic Circle of Rome.

See “Procession Day” (lot 35252587 ), a splendid canvas in which our gaze is entertained, lingering over each visual line of a plural narration, rich in details and anecdotes. At the same time, it does not disregard the overall vision, through a scene recreated in depth, where nature and noble stone intertwine. We are probably in a corner of the Vatican gardens, among equestrian statues and papal effigies crowning a neoclassical patrician basilica.

A procession of friars slowly climbs a staircase, escorting the canopy of the Virgin that precedes them. The upper part of the bodies peeks out from behind the red stone parapet, glowing from the lighted torches they carry in their hands. A multitude of figures crowd under the gilded tympanum of the church. Tusquets manages to make us feel the vivid as well as restrained monastic heartbeat , but all this remains in the background, diverting our curiosity to what happens in the foreground: a cardinal appears accompanied by two guards with tricornes and another ecclesiastical figure. Muted words and sideways glances intertwine between the members of this small group. The precious attention paid to the details of the clothing stands out, as well as those of the majestic carriage that awaits them behind them. The precarious clothing of the beggar who begs with his eyes for mercy, sitting by the roadside, reveals by contrast the squandering of fine gold and brocades by the lords.

The painter Ramón Tusquets describes in this composition , rich in anecdotes, the arrival of a carriage in a town, before whose medieval walls with crenellated towers the members of a family alight. Under a luminous sky, the midday sun shapes each of the figures gathered before what appears to be the town hall, with its stately facade of ancient ashlars. Almoners sitting on the cobblestones, travelers and country people enliven the scene.

Ramón Tusquets was a painter with a light palette, who participated in the Impressionist currents of his time and stood out in them for his observant aptitude and the anecdotal realism with which he imbued his scenes. This is also evident in the other canvas that Setdart is offering up for auction: “La Diligence” (lot 35252586), signed in Rome in 1897.

Once again we find ourselves before a composition rich in anecdotes. It describes the arrival of a carriage to a town, before whose medieval walls with battlemented towers the members of a family alight. Under a luminous sky, the midday sun shapes each of the figures gathered before what appears to be the town hall, with its stately facade of ancient ashlars. Moss covers some battlements. Almoners sitting on the cobblestones, landowners, travelers and country people enliven the scene, distributing themselves in groups that seem to come and go spontaneously, transmitting the freshness of character of humble people.

Ramón Tusquets (1837-1904) traveled to Italy at an early age and by his own means, a country where he would reside for the rest of his life. After a year’s stay in Rome, where he studied at the Chigi Academy and joined the circle of Catalan painters living there, he appeared for the first time at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid (1867), being awarded the third medal. class. He also took part in the Barcelona Exhibition that same year, where he presented the work “Kitchen”, which was acquired by the Diputación. Oriental themes, directly influenced by the work of Fortuny, and views of the countryside and the outskirts of Rome are frequent in his production during this period. In 1869 he traveled through Andalusia with the Italian Pio Joris, taking notes for compositions such as “El requeebro”. In 1871 he sent a work from Rome to the Nacional, being awarded the second medal. Starting in 1872, he became deeply friends with Fortuny, and together they undertook a trip to Naples. There they will learn about the latest trends of the Portici group and, in particular, they will be interested in the work of Domenico Morelli. Tusquets is currently painting landscapes of Naples and Amalfi, specializing in rural landscape compositions with figures dressed in traditional costumes. On Fortuny’s death, he reproduces his burial in an impressive painting, where the influence of the “macchiaioli” can be seen.

In 1875 he will exhibit several paintings at the International Circle in Rome, being highly praised by Italian critics . In 1877 he was awarded the diploma of honour, the only one reserved for foreigners, at the Naples Exhibition, and the Italian Government acquired the work. During these years his works are exhibited in numerous European cities, being awarded at the Universal in Vienna (1876) and Paris (1878). In 1880 he exhibited for the first time in the Parés room in Barcelona. Definitively installed in Rome, Tusquets is named president of the International Artistic Circle of the city. With his works from the 1980s, he established himself in the official historicist genre, so far removed from the simple compositions of his earlier stages. During his last years he will deal with a wide range of topics, capturing both orientalist scenes as well as customs and historicists. He is represented in the Prado Museum, the MACBA in Barcelona, Montserrat and the National Art Museum of Catalonia.

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Design “Made in Italy”: avant-garde and innovation

“Made in Italy” design: avant-garde and innovation

To speak of Italian design is to speak of innovation, avant-garde, quality, and elegance.

Italy has been and is a point of reference in the field of interior decoration. Talking about Italy is undoubtedly synonymous with art and culture, but it is also synonymous with industry, innovation and luxury. In this sense, the concept of Italian design furniture is intrinsically linked to high-quality furniture, with elegant and clean lines, but also with large doses of creativity and modernity. Therefore, the “Made in Italy” design is distinctive of exclusivity and avant-garde in both technique and aesthetics.

In this sense , the entry of the 20th century marked a turning point that would start a new chapter in Italian furniture design . While before the First World War, Italian design was consistent with international style and lacked a balance between elegance and creativity, at the end of the war Mussolini’s fascist regime brought about the total isolation of Italy, which resulted in the creation of a truly Italian design. Before the fall of fascism at the beginning of the 1940s and the opening to the outside world, Italian furniture experienced a period of splendor guided by designers such as Piero Bottoni, Antonio Citterio, Gio Ponti, Ico Parisi and Luigi Caccia Dominioni, who gave their designs a distinctive, sophisticated and original touch.

In short, the Italian style both for its history and for its aesthetics, it will always be a success if we try to give added value to our decoration. Below, we present some of the names that, among many others, you will be able to find in our next Design and Decorative Arts auction:

  • Ettore Sottsass ‘s designs are probably the most coveted by collectors around the world. Singers like David Bowie or Miley Cyrus, or designers like Karl Lagerfeld were fascinated by the mixture of striking colors, geometric shapes and a playful mentality that characterized the pieces of the Memphis collective of which he was a part.
  • Massimo Vignelli created his own firm, Vignelli Associates, together with his wife. Lella Basó, giving birth to creations that, like the Wagnerian lamp, are synonymous with modernism and simplicity, manifesting themselves through her taste for the use of geometric designs. The synthesis between classicism and modernity gives the piece a timeless and eternal patina, which is accentuated by the use of black marble combined with patinated metal.
  • Andrea Branzi , who belonged to such iconic groups as ‘Archizoom’ and ‘Memphis’ in the 60s, 70s and 80s, was one of the most unconventional Italian architects of the 20th century. Rejecting functionalism and for anti-design, he became one of the protagonists of the Florentine radical movement and one of the most respected voices.
  • The playful aspect of Lucio del Pezzo’s designs is evident in the bookcase that we present here. The ironic tone and the use of decontextualized everyday objects make his works reminiscent of Pop Art, but there is also an obvious echo of Giorgio De Chirico, Carlo Carrà, Giorgio Morandi and the geometries of metaphysical painting.
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Baltasar Lobo: between tradition and modernity

Baltasar Lobo: between tradition and modernity

Modern sculpture finds in Baltasar Lobo the roots of our Mediterranean tradition, in works such as “La source”, where the female figure is conceived as a true Goddess of Antiquity.

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, sculpture underwent a radical revolution that would forever transform the excessively academic conception, which until now had dominated its practice. It will be then when the changes that some sculptors of the previous century pointed out will materialize to give birth to a work that, independent of architectural and urban projects, will gain value by itself.

In this way, the revolution started by the master August Rodin, changed the paradigm of the sculptural work , marking a turning point for a whole generation of later artists who found in Rodin’s legacy, the starting point of their experimentations. In this sense, it should be noted two fully differentiated trends , which in turn fed into each other: on the one hand, the aspect conceived under the identity stamp of the incomplete and fragmentary represented by sculptors of the stature of Julio Gonzalez and on the other the more naturalistic tendency in which we can inscribe Baltasar Lobo . In the latter and as in the case of the Zamorano sculptor, the substratum of reality will continue to be present which, despite revitalizing and transforming it, will be intimately linked to the most ancient and primitive traditions of Egyptian and Mediterranean culture .

Faced with its ambivalent aesthetics, it is inevitable to lose sight of the border line that separates repulsion from attraction where the usual order by which we are governed does not reach our understanding. And it is precisely in this uncertainty where the power of attraction of the grotesque exerts its greatest influence.

This feeling is precisely the one exerted by Fabelo’s work, whose superreal, dreamlike and unfathomable universe, inhabited by fantastic and monstrous creatures, exerts on the viewer a power of attraction that is as disconcerting as it is captivating. In the grotesqueness of Fabelo, the influence of two great masters such as Velázquez and Goya can be guessed, but also of the Cuban pictorial tradition together with certain elements from surrealism and the crudest expressionism through which he forms a parallel world, whose codes escape to our reasoning, sowing endless contradictory reactions, doubt, mystery, empathy.

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Córdoba – 2,000 years of art

Córdoba - 2,000 years of art

“Pearl of the Guadalquivir,

Roman and Moorish Cordoba,

pride has to feel

of Andalusia, lady.

And the sons of Muhammad

they reached the west,

they made you equal to Rome,

in almighty power.

Rooted the crescent

in your fruitful heart

and your land was the cradle

of art and deep knowledge ”.

Luis of Cordoba

Of all the Andalusian cities, Córdoba has a specific type of expression through flamenco, which is the Cordovan soleá , and this “palo” is probably the most solemn, poetic and direct expression ever found in this genre. The depth of this cante, like the one we have just read, is a reflection of the identity of this city, since it is capable of looking back at that glorious past, full of pride, giving it the recognition and value it deserves. The auction presented by Setdart in homage to the city of Córdoba follows in the wake of the soleá. The specific objective of this proposal is not only to make known the art of an ancient city, either in the period caliph or in the Baroque , if not really explain how tradition and communion between cultures are a living part of the city with one of the most important artistic heritages in the world. We will analyze from a close point of view, from faith to daily life, using works of art as the common thread and argument of the identity of the city.

Only two cities in the world can boast the privilege of saying that they have four world heritage sites. The very concept of heritage of humanity is very close to the essence of Córdoba, since it affirms that this cultural value does not belong only to the inhabitants of that city or that country, but that it belongs to everyone. A heritage of which we can all be proud; Roman, Arab, Jewish, Gypsy, Baroque and modern Córdoba, today they are all one. History and tradition live and coexist between the walls of the houses, inside the churches, in their streets, patios and squares. A life and an art open to all.

Caliphal column base, 10th century.
White marble.
Caliphal column base, 10th century. White marble.
ANTONIO DEL CASTILLO Y SAAVEDRA (Córdoba, 1616 - 1668). "The martyrdom of San Bartolome".
JULIO ROMERO DE TORRES (Córdoba, 1874 - 1930)
"Female portrait", 1900-1905.
JULIO ROMERO DE TORRES (Córdoba, 1874 - 1930) "Female portrait", 1900-1905.
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Roberto Fabelo and the aesthetics of the grotesque

Roberto Fabelo and the aesthetics of the grotesque

The draftsman par excellence of Cuban art Roberto Fabelo has established himself as a worthy continuation of the long artistic tradition developed around an aesthetic of the grotesque.

“There is a poetry of the rare and a beauty of the rare” Roberto Fabelo

In the history of art, there is an aesthetic founded on the idea of the beautiful and the grotesque, an a priori antagonistic pairing that, however, is clearly indivisible. From the origins of artistic and literary practice, The grotesque has been one of the greatest sources that nature has been able to offer to artistic creation , through which some of the most brilliant reflections and metaphors in relation to the human condition and existence have been constructed. One only has to think of the monstrous faces of Da Vinci, the jesters of Velázquez, the black paintings of Goya, or the tremulous nudity of Francis Bacon, to verify that, even with a diversity of connotations, there are common themes to which art always It has turned over artistic periods and trends.

In this sense , the persistence of the theme of the grotesque in art is a reflection of our own history as a civilization, whose story, plagued by episodes linked to madness, poverty or violence, make the grotesque an imperishable element intimately linked to Our culture. Art, then, does not invent the conception of the grotesque, but instead, using a reality common to human beings, it imbues us in a juice of mirrors, which confronts us with our own monsters. Likewise, the multiple readings that underlie the concept of grotesque indicate a metamorphic nature that, as in the case of beauty, evolves in parallel with its time.

ROBERTO FABELO (Camagüey, Cuba, 1950). "A bit of us", 2012.
ROBERTO FABELO (Camagüey, Cuba, 1950). "Mermaid", 2013.

Faced with its ambivalent aesthetics, it is inevitable to lose sight of the border line that separates repulsion from attraction where the usual order by which we are governed does not reach our understanding. And it is precisely in this uncertainty where the power of attraction of the grotesque exerts its greatest influence.

This feeling is precisely the one exerted by Fabelo’s work, whose superreal, dreamlike and unfathomable universe, inhabited by fantastic and monstrous creatures, exerts on the viewer a power of attraction that is as disconcerting as it is captivating. In the grotesqueness of Fabelo, the influence of two great masters such as Velázquez and Goya can be guessed, but also of the Cuban pictorial tradition together with certain elements from surrealism and the crudest expressionism through which he forms a parallel world, whose codes escape to our reasoning, sowing endless contradictory reactions, doubt, mystery, empathy.

Deformed beings, humanoid insects and an extensive multiform bestiary, coexist in his grotesque and avernic imaginary together with delicate and beautiful mermaids in what seems to be a great utopian metaphor of human existence, where the artist cries out for the need to build a plural and harmonic society on a universal scale as the only solution to the decadence of a human being, increasingly disconnected from his true animal essence.

The most daring and bizarre aspect of the Cuban artist is possibly also the most sincere and admired both by critics and by great collectors. Symptoms of this are the amazing results that this type of production, dominated by what we could call a beauty of the grotesque, achieves in the international market, thus ratifying the powerful influence and fascination that the irrational and unknown exerts on the viewer.

ROBERTO FABELO (Camagüey, Cuba, 1950). "The woman who loved dogs", 2007-2012.
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Joan Obiols Vié and collecting.

The extensive collection of Joan Obiols-Vié, a famous Catalan psychiatrist and friend of some of the most renowned artists on the Catalan art scene of the time, will be put out to tender at Setdart on December 16.

When speaking of a collector psychiatrist, the ghost of Hans Prinzhorn no doubt haunts our imaginations. It is known that this German psychiatrist unintentionally revolutionized contemporary art history by giving priority to the plastic creations made by his patients. His collection of “alienated art” greatly influenced Art Brut (led by Dubuffet) and, later, Outsider Art.

But it is not this link (on the other hand, already too exploited) between art and madness or between art and therapy that motivates the writing of this article.

Conversely, the Catalan psychiatrist we are going to talk about, Joan Obiols Vié (Granollers, 1918-Cadaqués, 1980), was a great lover of art regardless of his profession. Although his sensitivity must have been heightened and skewed by his deep understanding of the human spirit, it was not “art made by madmen” that encouraged his commitment to the newest art.

With Tàpies, with whom he struck up a great friendship.
With Tàpies, with whom he struck up a great friendship.
Dinner with members of Dau al Set, Tàpies, Brossa ...

In fact, throughout his life He proved to have a natural intuition for discovering valuable gems when they had not yet begun to shine. From a very young age, since the fiftiesWhen his economy was still far from being comfortable, he began to buy works from painters and sculptors with whom he would become friends . Many of them would end up being great figures in the art world. Among his early acquisitions he already had pieces from the main members of Dau al Set: Joan Ponç, Antoni Tàpies, Joan Tharrats, ModestCuixart… Over the years, his dowsing rod would not stop giving him magnificent insights: Joan Miró, Antonio Saura, Eduard Arranz-Bravo, Rafael Bartolozzi, Perejaume, Josep M. Subirachs, Josep Uclés, Joan-Pere Viladecans, Juan Hernández Pijuan, Sergi Aguilar… The list is immense and of juicy quality. A large part of its collection is made up of Spanish artists, although it also has works by Marx Ernst, Fontana, Calder, among others.

Many of these great names will be represented at the next contemporary art auction, to be held in Setdart on December 16, with work from the Obiols collection.

“Sometimes coincidences acquire a symbolic value”, comments Jordi Obiols, son of the great collector and renowned psychiatrist: his premature and unexpected death, caused by a heart attack, took place in Portlligat, at the home of Salvador Dalí, “whom he treated as doctor and as a friend ”. Josep Obiols passed away at the age of 61.

His had been a passionate and impulsive collecting, far from any speculative pretense . Just as he frequented artists’ workshops, walked through old-fashioned bookstores, through street markets … The compulsion to buy, touch, possess … satisfied in his case a deep spiritual thirst, and perhaps, a longing to endure beyond physical life , in the material life of the objects that he had treasured.

In Banyoles with the main members of Dau al Set: Joan Ponç, Antoni Tàpies, Joan Tharrats, Modest Cuixart.
Lot: 35217900. JOAN PONÇ BONET (Barcelona, 1927 - Saint-Paul, France, 1984).
Untittled
Lot: 35217900. JOAN PONÇ BONET (Barcelona, 1927 - Saint-Paul, France, 1984). Untittled
Lot: 35217876. JOAN JOSEP THARRATS VIDAL (Girona, 1918 - Barcelona, 2001). Untitled, 1950.
Lot: 35217870. MANUEL MOLI, (La Portella, Lleida, 1936 - Terrassa, 2016).
Untittled
Lot: 35217870. MANUEL MOLI, (La Portella, Lleida, 1936 - Terrassa, 2016). Untittled
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Fragments of Gaudí’s most emblematic buildings up for auction.

La Pedrera, Casa Vicens. Park Güell … original fragments of the most emblematic buildings of Gaudí and the city of Barcelona will go up for auction on December 14 on Setdart.com.

Today, it is hard to believe that authentic works of art were ever thrown amidst demolition material . Fortunately, cities have always had urban gleaners with an enviable watchful eye . We must thank some of these distinguished collectors for the recovery of stained glass windows, fragments of ceramic trencadís, wrought iron pieces … from restorations carried out in emblematic places of the Gaudinian geography of Barcelona: Park Güell, La Pedrera, Casa Vicens, Casa Milà …

The MNAC (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya) and the Museo del Disseny de Barcelona They currently guard several of these architectural elements designed by Gaudí that were recovered from the gradual reforms of the most famous modernist buildings. Many of them have been seen in national and international exhibitions organized by the Gaudí Chair and the Finca Güell.

At other times, the valuable Gaudinian architectural details were left in the hands of individuals. The current owner of the pieces that Setdart puts up for auction on December 14 is an expert on Gaudí’s work, to whom some of the happy finds from restoration work were entrusted . He is a specialist in Gaudí, who has written various books on the architect and is related to entities dedicated to the study, protection and conservation of his work . He has also collaborated in the dissemination of some of the pieces he owns by presenting them at exhibitions, which is why they appear in catalogs.

La Pedrera is the last residential building designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí before dedicating himself exclusively to the Sagrada Familia.
Lot: 35111755. ANTONI GAUDÍ. Fragment of the original bench seat at the entrance of Park Güell. Design: Antoni Gaudí.

Among the pieces tendered on the 14th, we highlight the fragment worked in ceramic trencadís from the original seat of the bench at the entrance of Park Güell stairs (see lot 35111755). This piece was replaced in the 1985-1993 restoration. It is the odeon-shaped bench on the last section of the double staircase leading to the enclosure.

In Park Güell, trencadís is one of the most emblematic finishing materials. Gaudí used bright, long-lasting colors on undulating surfaces that captured this brilliance and enhanced the plastic effects.. To achieve these conditions, he used ceramic, but he needed it to adapt to the variety of surfaces he built. Trencadís was the solution that allowed him to use this material flexibly in all types of construction, even those with rounded shapes.

Gaudí also devised the trencadís for the snaking bench turtle that crowns the hypostyle hall of Park Güell (see lot 35111749), cataloged in “La ceràmica en l’obra de Gaudí” Gaudí i Trencadís (Gaudí 2002, pg.78). It is an original piece of the ingenious winding bench , replaced by the current ones in the restoration of the year 1985-1993, such as the one mentioned above. Gaudí had Josep Maria Jujol as his main collaborator for the ceramic mosaic. The result of the brilliant polychrome glistening in the sunlight was a running structure with the appearance of a fantastic animal.

Lot: 35111749. ANTONI GAUDÍ. Trencadís tortoise on the bank of Park Güell, ca.1900.
Lot: ANTONI GAUDI. Palm heart leaf from the grating of Casa Vicens, ca.1900.

The cast iron architectural details were also elements in which Gaudí expanded his genius. Setdart auctioned a palm heart or margallón leaf from the entrance gate of Casa Vicens (lot 35111750). The architect adopted this plant motif around the perimeter of the estate. Today, part of this fence can be seen in Park Güell, where the bid sheet comes from. Similar pieces are kept at the MNAC. The sculptor was Llorenç Matamala.

The floors also received special attention in Gaudí’s architectural concept. In this context, mention should be made of the parquet section currently up for auction (lot 35111748), in oak wood and white poplar, designed by Gaudí for the living rooms in the noble area of the La Pedrera floors. The piece we present is original and was replaced by the current parquet.

Lot: 35111748. ANTONI GAUDÍ. Parquet section Casa Milà and La Pedrera, ca.1910

By integrating different decorative arts -forge, ceramics, carpentry, etc.-, Gaudí made nature, sublimated by art, enter the house. With this auction, Setdart opens the door again for Gaudí, shown in his details, to also enter your home.

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The image of the Virgin Mary in art: attributes and symbols

The image of the Virgin Mary in art: attributes and symbols

The cult of the Virgin Mary has played a major role within the Christian religion and is also one of the most represented throughout the history of art. The devotion that from the origins of Christianity was professed to Mary as “Mother of God”, favored the appearance of multiple iconographies referring to her life, as well as allegorical scenes dedicated to highlighting her human and divine values.

The complexity of the Marian cycle was expressed in a multitude of Marian invocations, each of which acquired an iconographic convention that allowed the faithful to identify them. From the Middle Ages, its representation in art experienced a notable boom, especially thanks to the proliferation of writings related to the Virgin on which artists of all ages relied to capture the multiple episodes of her life. Undoubtedly, the diversity of literary sources, such as the apocryphal Gospels, the Golden Legend, and the books of mystical thinkers such as San Bernardo, San Buenaventura and Santa Brígida, have constituted a fundamental pillar in the construction of Marian iconography and the way in which the art has reflected the identity and character of the Virgin.

Next, we provide you with a small guide to its most common and representative attributes, as well as the symbols they hide behind them:

The cloak: It is a sign of authority and an attribute of power. Many times, Mary extends it to shelter the faithful under it, crosses it on her chest to also indicate her virginity or carries it loose and dragged as a sign of mourning. Usually the color of the cloak has been blue as a symbol of eternity and protection. However, there are variations where she is represented with the red cloak symbolizing the principle of life

The tunic: Due to its wide shapes that cover the body, it is a symbol of modesty, just as the tight high waist is a symbol of virginity. As in the representation of the mantle, its color may vary, the most common being red. However, and especially in the Sevillian school of the seventeenth century, the color white was imposed as a symbol of purity

Crown of twelve stars : The star refers to the Star of David and the number 12 refers to various biblical passages. Also, it is the number of eternal perfection.

Crescent: In contrast to the Sun, the moon symbolizes feminine divinity and fertility. Placed under the feet of the Virgin, it represents the triumph of Christianity over Islam.

Heart with seven daggers : It symbolizes the seven pains that Mary has nailed in her heart: pain, anguish, anguish, consternation, martyrdom, wound and consolation. All of them are related to the suffering of Maria, who as a mother felt the fateful fate of her son.

The lily: As a symbol of purity, chastity or virginity, it is the most used iconographic reference in all kinds of representations of the Virgin (particularly in the Annunciation scene). Mary’s triple virginity (“before, during and after childbirth”) is usually indicated by the presence of three lilies.

The Rose: It is usually related to the Virgin as a symbol of sacrifice and of the blood shed by Christ. Likewise, a correlation is often established between the two, the rose being the queen of all flowers and the Virgin of all virtues.

The Lilies : Like the lily, the white color of the lilies tells us about the virginity of Mary and the conception free from all sin.

The Carnation: It symbolizes the purest love since it is believed that the first carnation sprouted from the tears of Maria when she saw her son carrying the cross.

The source: This symbol applied to Mary is interpreted as a life-giving and purifying element. Likewise, it alludes to the origin of creation since, as the mother of Jesus Christ, she is also the mother of humanity.

The palm : The Virgin is symbolized by the palm tree since she is the image of the triumph of God’s salvation, of his hope and of his justice.

The Granada : In Christian art, the pomegranate is a fruit of great symbolism. On the one hand, it represents fertility, as it is one of the fruits that contains the most seeds. Likewise, his presence in the hands of the Virgin also refers to his chastity and the union of the Church.

The cedar: It evokes the greatness and incorruptibility of Mary.

The orange: this futa when it is represented in the hands of Mary symbolizes salvation.

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Joaquim Sorolla and his inexhaustible facet as a draftsman.

The best version of Joaquin Sorolla’s facet as a cartoonist shines through in the magnificent watercolor that will be tendered on December 1.

The technical virtuosity that Joaquin Sorolla achieved with his pictorial work established him as the painter of light par excellence . However, the scope of his work goes far beyond his well-known canvases in which he captured like few others the lighting effects of the Mediterranean. In this sense, the Valencian artist’s facet as a cartoonist represents a valuable testimony of the evolution that his work underwent, revealing in it the key aspects that marked his artistic personality. Far from considering it a secondary manifestation, Sorolla builds his production as a painter and draftsman in parallel, evolving at the same time both in terms of technical and thematic aspects. With some exceptions, his drawings are not usually preparatory, but, as in the case at hand, they are in themselves true works of art.

Within its evolution, the scholarship that after winning the contest convened by the Valencia Provincial Council is granted in 1884 to complete its studies in Rome. In the Italian capital, a young Sorolla will discover not only the work of the great Italian Renaissance masters, but it will also be where his admiration for the work of Mariano Fortuny will surface, who will come to exert a powerful influence on the work of the Valencian artist.

DESCRIPCIÓN JOA­QUÍN SO­RO­LLA Y BAS­TI­DA (Va­len­cia, 1863 – Cer­ce­di­lla, Ma­drid, 1923). “To­can­do la gui­ta­rra”, Roma, 1887.

In fact, his academic training and his time in Rome will be decisive in the development of his production as a cartoonist, marking the plastic ideal to which he should aspire. From his earliest drawings, the painter explored with different techniques that, such as charcoal, watercolor, ink or gouache, combined with each other. This is the case of “Playing the guitar”, carried out during his early Italian period and where, despite his youth, Sorolla already offers us clear samples of the technical mastery that he would achieve. The scene that he presents us with traditional roots denotes the excellent narrative sense and compositional skill that will define this type of production in which the mark left on him by teachers such as Ignacio Pinazo, Francisco Pradilla or the aforementioned Fortuny is evident. Likewise, Sorolla already offers us indications of what his artistic personality will become, delighting us in this scene, with the expressive force of his quick but concrete brushstroke and allowing us to glimpse the special sensitivity that he will acquire when capturing light effects.

Throughout his artistic career, Sorolla tirelessly made more than 5000 drawings in which between line and line we intuit how it happens in watercolor that concerns us here, the mastery of the painter in all its dimensions .

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Charity auction in favor of those affected by the La Palma volcano.

Setdart welcomes this great altruistic gesture at its headquarters, organizing this charity auction by the artist Teresa Unsain on November 30 on our web portal.

“The impact that the destruction of the houses and the fields caused by the mass of lava descending like a river towards the sea was devastating. This destructive force of nature determines the smallness of the human being and makes you reposition yourself as a being. tiny in the universe ”. These are the words of the painter Teresa Unsain, to whom the chilling ecological and human disaster has motivated not only an immense pictorial series but also the generous initiative of organizing a charity auction in favor of those affected by the La Palma volcano.

 

Setdart welcomes this great altruistic gesture at its headquarters, organizing this online charity auction. Many of the works by this Barcelona painter (who currently resides in Valencia) have been made as a result of the volcanic eruption. They show skies traversed by electric discharges, or horizons shimmering in disturbing but beautiful amber atmospheres. Others represent the volcano regurgitating lava that advances like a formless and silent monster over the sleeping city. All of them are made with the encaustic technique on wood.

 

The auction is completed by other paintings by the same artist who, although they deal with other urban and landscape themes, share that characteristic and inimitable style of hers, with which he makes us enter a world plagued by indomitable forces.

The proceeds of the sales will go to the Cabildo de La Palma, which has set up a specific account for those affected by the volcano.

Lot: 35278306. TERE UNSAIN (Barcelona, 1952). "Volcano". Encaustic on wood.
The artist painting Juan de Borbón.

Setdart appreciates the trust placed by Teresa Unsain, and feels enormous satisfaction for having been the auction house chosen by this great artist and not a lesser person.

Unsain has numerous international recognitions and exhibitions to his credit, having shown his work at the MEAM in Barcelona, at the Art Tentation Fair in Monaco, at the Museum Galerie Rosmolen, in Miami. She has been awarded the First Prize, La Mujer en el Realismo del Siglo XXI, with the Ynglada Guillot Prize, among many others.

This is a special opportunity for lovers of art and good causes.

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Max Bill and Gottfried Honegger: the legacy of the Bauhaus and concrete art

Max Bill and Gottfried Honegger: the legacy of the Bauhaus and concrete art

Concrete art finds in our next auction on November 16 a magnificent representation of the hand of two of its greatest exponents: Max Bill and Gotffried Honegger

In the development of the second European avant-gardes, the founding of the Bauhaus School in 1919 marked a turning point that definitively transformed modern art. Considered a true visionary of the time, the German architect Walter Gropius laid the foundations from which a myriad of artistic movements would be born which, like concrete art, orbited around the precepts of the Bauhaus founding manifesto.

The central idea behind his program is related to the concept of total art, in which the boundaries that until now had separated the different creative disciplines, had to be completely abolished in order to achieve a universal art at the service of the society. Gropius’s proposal to indulge in an entirely rational art, free of ideologies and only linked to solid mathematical and geometric laws, is also the result of the terrible interwar historical context in which it was conceived. In this way, the conception of art promulgated by the Bauhaus is intrinsically linked to a social function as a means through which to heal a sick society.

The legacy of the Bauhaus, which with only 14 years of life became the largest art school in the world, has survived to this day through artists who, such as Max Bill or Gottfried Honegger, found in their postulates the germ of their creations.

Max Bill: the great promoter of concrete art

Architect, designer, sculptor, painter, theorist, publicist and educator, we could say that the Swiss artist Max Bill, embodies the concept of universal genius of the Renaissance. His career started at the Bauhaus school was inevitably linked to the teachings he received during his formative stage until he became a firm defender of functionalism and geometric formalism. In fact, in the mid-30s, the artist immersed himself fully in his investigations around abstract form, based on the inexorable laws that govern mathematics and geometry as the only means to achieve the universality of the art to which it is applied. should aspire.

In the sculptural field, Max Bill was especially interested in the spherical figure and its different sections, which, as in the case at hand, combined to give light to multiple variations of the same geometric figure. Likewise, this quarter of a wedge-shaped sphere symbolizes, in addition to the idea of infinity, a dilemma between spiritual art and functional art, considering that the created object must first fulfill its mission in order to subsequently be able to feed the soul through the esthetic.

"No title"

Gottfried Honegger: the purity of concrete art

Following in the footsteps of Max Bill, the also Swiss artist Gottfried Honegger was throughout his vast career, a faithful defender of concrete art and of the maxim coined by Theo van Doesburg in 1930 according to which, the universality of art could only be achieved through clarity and purity. Following this artistic conception of rationalist roots, Honegger gives birth to a work free of emotional implications. The work in question belongs to one of the artist’s most representative series, known as relief-paintings where monochrome reds cover the entire surface made up of repetitive geometric elements. In them, Honegger reaffirms his conviction that art must be constructed using only its fundamental elements in a geometric abstraction completely devoid of any symbolic association linked to reality.

Protagonist of the great debates around abstract artistic practice that took place between the 20th and 21st centuries, Honegger maintained until his death the idea that art could change the world.

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Antoni Tàpies, Dau al Set and the surrealist influence

Antoni Tàpies, Dau al Set and the surrealist influence

Antoni Tapies stars in our auction on November 16 with one of the unmistakable drawings he made during his assignment to the iconic avant-garde group, Dau al Set. The few occasions in which the more surrealist side of Tàpies breaks into the art market, make the works of this stage one of the most appreciated and sought after by the artist in the sector.

Possibly, Antoni Tapies is one of the most studied and admired contemporary artists in our historiography, achieving unanimous recognition as an essential figure in the development and evolution of the artistic avant-garde in Spain.

With one of the richest and most influential creative trajectories in 20th century art, Tàpies forged his work under the sign of a staunch political and social commitment, where true art, as he himself stated, “must aspire to change the world” .

Antoni Tàpies "Untitled" 1950

It was the 1940s when in a Spain subjected by the Franco regime, there was a radical reaction supported under the surrealist orbit against the conservative art that prevailed at that time. Surrealism, which as the last movement of the avant-garde before the civil war, became a powerful symbol of freedom and transgression, spread from the 30s among the restless minorities of Barcelona, thanks, not only to the influence that the movement had had throughout Europe, but also thanks to the great references that were constituted by figures such as Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró.

From this context the germ of the Dau al Set group was born in 1948, where Tapies, together with Modest Cuixart, Joan Ponç, JJ Tharrats, the poet Joan Brossa – a true inspiration for his aesthetics – and Arnau Puig , laid the foundations of the subversive character that de crucially marked his identity .

The prestige it has had and continues to have ‘Dau al Set’ is due, in addition to the height of its representatives, the shock it was for the Spanish art scene. On the other hand, it is also undoubted that the notoriety achieved by Antoni Tàpies has contributed significantly to the unanimous recognition of the group.

As we have previously pointed out, this determining period in Tàpies’ career will be marked by a work that, like the one we are dealing with here, will be dominated by a magicist figurativeism with a surrealist roots linked to the literature of the unconscious . The magnificent ink on paper that we present to you highlights all the elements that defined the Dausatian production of Tàpies, as well as the A determining influence exerted by the work of Paul Klee and Max Ernst in dreamlike and fantastic landscapes that, like this one, will populate with a multitude of objects, creatures and symbols full of suggestive hermetic echoes that already anticipate the mystical charge that will characterize Tàpies’s painting.

Lot awarded at € 18,000
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Graphic work of Joan Miró in our Contemporary Art auction.

Graphic work of Joan Miró in our Contemporary Art auction.

The formal simplicity that Joan Miró always claimed as the guiding principle of his art hides behind it an extensive constellation of references, tributes and synergies with other artists, poets and mystics.

Of the rich variety of extra-pictorial influences and interests that pervade the Mirian universe, his fascination with the poetry of Saint Francis of Assisi stands out. His love for the verses of the religious is not surprising, since both shared a love of a pantheistic nature for nature and its creatures: birds, stars, earthly and cosmic elements intertwining without rest.

Setdart puts up for auction one of the aquatint engravings of “Cántico al Sol”, a series inspired by the homonymous poem of San Francisco de Asís (lot 35221980).

Next to this, they coincide In the next auction of contemporary art by Setdart, Miró’s engravings and lithographs in which several of the Mironian passions to which we referred are evident. Thus, along with mystical poetry, Miró dedicated several series to the character of Ubú Rey, created by the playwright Alfred Jarry (see lots 35221981 and 35221997). Miró shared with Jarry the interest in the popular, as well as the surreal and humorous slant of his vision of the world. The Catalan painter also loved Jarry’s audacity in making that tyrannical character, Ubú, a prototype of a vulgar and tyrannical dictator, who for Miró would become a metaphor for Franco.

Another unique work in Miró’s intimate blog is “Montroig 4” (lot 35221983), a lithograph of few copies, emblematic in that its title refers to Montroig del Camp, the town linked to Miró’s childhood and an essential emotional landscape for the gestation of his work.

Finally, mention should be made of “Woman, birds, star” (lot 35221982), a lithograph derived from the homonymous painting kept in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York , which Miró made in 1949 and where the most recurrent evocations come together of the artist. The woman alludes in Mironian symbology to the bond of the human being with the roots of the earth, while the bird and the star symbolize the spiritual attraction and the cosmic enigma respectively.

In summary, the essence of Miró could be illustrated with this chosen sample of graphic work that you now have the opportunity to acquire.

Lot: 35221980. JOAN MIRÓ I FERRÀ "Càntic del Sol, Franz von Assisi",
Lot: 35221982. JOAN MIRÓ I FERRÀ). "Woman, Birds, Star", ca.1953.
Lot: 35221983. JOAN MIRÓ I FERRÀ "Montroig 4", 1974.
Lot: 35221981. JOAN MIRÓ I FERRÀ "Ubu Roi 4", 1966.
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Richard MacDonald Bronzes Up for Auction

Richard MacDonald Bronzes Up for Auction

Explanatory video about the works at auction.

Theater and dance, mime and balé, are the worlds in which the prestigious sculptor Richard MacDonald has been immersing himself for decades to extract from them a renewed idea of beauty in movement, of contained expression and imprisoned pathos.

Closely linked to Cirque du Soleil and the Royal Ballet of London, MacDonald dedicates long sessions to the contemplation of acrobats and dancers live. From his rigorous study and his faith that the truth of the soul resides in the body in motion, a work is derived that is worthy heir to the best tradition of Western sculpture. In his bronzes, the flexible agility of Donatello’s figures and the existential depth of August Rodin seem to combine.

But his gaze is not nostalgic: if he restores the past, it is to forge the future by consciously inhabiting the present.

Setdart has collected five important bronzes by the author in his auctions , some of which could be seen in the anthology that the MEAM (European Museum of Modern Art of Barcelona) dedicated to him in 2014. This is the case of the adolescent dancer, focused on his “First position” (1994), whose stylized and elastic figure reminds us of Donatello models , but above all transmits the result of a live vision, extremely vital (see lot 35221993).

Also included in the Barcelona retrospective was the mysterious veiled woman from “Nightfall Heroic” from 1972 (lot 35221994). Both pieces are reproduced in the MEAM catalog.

Other sculptures tendered at Setdart Auctions belong to the London Royal Ballet Series, such as “Doves” (lot 35221996), a young woman with an arched torso, balancing herself perfectly on the tip of her foot. Similar mastery of the anatomical representation and the vital breath that animates the bodies is also expressed in the couple “Season” (35221992).

Finally, the figure of the mime could not be missing among the figures gathered on this occasion (see lot 35221995). Mimicry has greatly interested MacDonald as an ancient, almost primal art form. Through acting he freezes the expressive qualities of gesture and emotion.

A unique opportunity to acquire pieces of incomparable quality from a sculptor on the rise.

The artist in his studio with a member of Cirque Du Soleil.
Lot: 35221995 "Mimo".
Lot: 35221993. "First position". 1994.
Lot: 35221996. "Season". Royal Ballet Series, London.

Up for auction soon

"Doves". and "Phases of the Moon", up for auction soon.
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Vela Zanetti: The soul and dignity of the rural world

Vela Zanetti: The soul and dignity of the rural world

The most social and committed aspect of art finds in the work of Vela Zanetti one of its greatest supporters. The canvas that was put out to tender on the 27th is undoubtedly a magnificent representation of the mastery with which Zanetti vindicated the lives of humble people

Often times, art has been a weapon of vindication and social struggle through which the problems of a certain time and geographical location have been reflected. In this sense, there is a long tradition in Spain of artists who, like Goya, Solana, or Zabaleta wanted to capture under their brushes, the reality of those who throughout history have been reviled and marginalized.

In this regard, one of the most notable cases is that of the Burgos-born painter Vela Zanetti, whose work and socio-political commitment form a latent indivisible whole in each and every one of his creative stages. With his unmistakable style, the result of a mixture of realism sifted by the shocking force of expressionism, and the heritage of the great classics that he admired, Zanetti addressed a diversity of themes whose common denominator lies in the protagonism of the human figure.

In works such as “Peasants resting after the harvest”, the painter gives birth to a true epic of the rural world, whose customs, people and work, he represents with a deep sense of human dignity. Fleeing from idealization, Zanetti bets on the faces of the people, of those who have the dignity of the simple, humble and hard-working men engraved in their hands, on their skin and in their eyes, who populated the infinite fields of his native Castile. The monumental character that it gives to its peasants, as well as the rotundity of its forms, enclose the individualized portrait of a people, whose work and sacrifice claim it here, as the absolute owner of the land it sows. The implicit criticism makes even more sense if we take into account the deplorable situation in which the country was at that time, and especially the rural world.

Jose Vela Zanetti

His stroke, of a forcefulness and masterful precision, together with a chromaticism that, although austere and contained is also as warm and rich in nuances as are the ocher, red and orange of his land, provide us with a work without ambiguities or folds, as sincere, direct and frank as the protagonists to whom he paid tribute in his work.

Ultimately, Zanetti’s painting represents the story of a part of our history that, although it belongs to the past, remains in us despite the times, despite the changes. Because no matter how much tractors and harvesters have replaced mules and scythes, dreams, desires, sacrifices and roots in the land of men survive throughout history (and in spite of it). And it is precisely about this universal and imperishable reality that Vela Zanetti speaks to us.

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The gypsy people, beyond the stereotype. José Mongrell and Joaquín Sorolla.

The gypsy people, beyond the stereotype. José Mongrell and Joaquín Sorolla

The fascination of artists with the wandering life of the gypsy people goes back a long time, but it was especially from the romantic era that this attraction transcended the mere search for picturesque or exotic themes. The image that the romantic artist began to gain of himself (and that would intensify with the painters of the first avant-gardes) found in the figure of the gypsy a model with which to illustrate his commitment to bohemia and his anti-bourgeois commitment.

Let’s remember the paintings of caravans and gypsy camps settled in the vicinity of Arles that Van Gogh painted , or the numerous portraits of gypsies that KeesVan Dongen made or, in the Spanish sphere, Isidre Nonell, Ignacio Zuloaga and Joaquín Sorolla.

Sorolla, in parallel to his theme of sea and beach, developed an important production of gypsy theme, immortalized their dances and parties, as well as the beauty of their women. An outstanding student of the Valencian master, José Mongrell (Valencia, 1870 – Barcelona, 1937), not only inherited the master’s colorful technique, but also his thematic interests. The painting that Setdart is auctioning these days (see lot 35227233) has the peculiarity of showing the theme mythologized by so many artists (a gypsy camp) together with the portrait of Sorolla himself.

Vincent van Gogh. 'The Caravans, gypsy camp near Arles ", GYPSY CAMP NEAR ARLE
Lot: 35227233 "Sorolla con gitana" by José Mongrell.

The theme is singular: S Orolla is in front of a gypsy woman who seems to be reading her hand . A silent dialogue is established between the two through the exchange of glances. Sorolla lowers his head, remaining in a reflective attitude, perhaps after hearing the admonitory words of the gypsy. Her weathered face, wrapped in a handkerchief, is hardened but at the same time kind.

Mongrell reveals himself to be a true master in the psychological uptake of his characters : here, the silent dialogue captures us by the mysterious magnetism of the expressions, which always preserve an impenetrable dignity. Mongrell goes beyond genres, because here the social theme is mixed with manners and with the tribute to his mentor friend. The scene is dominated by a warm palette that reflects the Mediterranean sun: an intense cerulean blue reflects on the variety of ocher, browns and reds contrasted, although toned and balanced, with the luminous whites and yellows of the outfits.

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Julio Romero Torres painter par excellence of flamenco.

Julio Romero Torres painter par excellence of flamenco

The work of Julio Romero de Torres occupies in the history of Andalusian painting a place similar to that occupied by García Lorca in poetic art. , since in both the vernacular reached a depth of universal resonance. Both comparable, in their respective artistic languages, with the effects of cante jondo on the listener’s mind, elevate the apparent banality of regional customs and peculiarities to a sublime expression of shared concerns in any time and place: love and death, desire. passion and instinct, channeled by the magic of creation.

A) Yes, avant-garde and tradition, local flavor and universal significance, intertwine in the work of Romero de Torres . Only he had the secret of the master formula whose ingredients (symbolism, decadence, genre painting …), skillfully recombined, gave rise to mysterious scenographies where the manners theme was veiled behind dense warps in whose nets the spellbound gaze of the spectator was trapped.

Portrait of Julio Romero de Torres
To the left "Malagueña" to the right portrait of Rafael Romero, lot up for auction.

See, for example, the painting “Malagueña” (1917, exhibited in the Majestic Hall in 1919), where a young man wearing a Cordovan hat leans over Amalia “La gitana”, whose guitar rests on her lap . The young man seems to want to console the woman’s pain, suffering that is expressed in the crease of the eyebrows and the fleeting gaze. Behind them, a crime of passion is described (as belonging to an episode that has already occurred, or perhaps yet to come). The cypress announces death and mourning. The flamenco theme and its stereotypes (passionate love, jealousy, guitar, Christian cross, funeral rite…) have been treated in such a way that they rise beyond local folklore. Rather, they respond to a plastic transposition of eternal feelings.

To characterize the male character of the aforementioned canvas, the painter used his son Rafael Romero. The The same face and clothing, the same gesture and a very similar expression, is the one adopted by the character portrayed in the painting that Setdart puts up for auction this time (lot 35201692): it is a portrait of Rafael Romero in which only the face and shoulders are framed, and where the hint of the landscape hinted at in the background also coincides with that fragment of the Malagueña.

It is clear from these parallels that this portrait should have served as a study of the artist’s expression for the painting “Malagueña”, as the historian Mercedes Valverde Candil has pointed out . Be that as it may, this portrait of Rafael wearing a Cordovan hat acquires value in itself, given the psychic depth that covers his expression. A look and features that, despite their expressiveness, preserve the secret of their emotions, as was usual in Romero de Torres’ characters.

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Cartographic collection: illuminated engravings from the 18th century

Cartographic collection: illuminated engravings from the 18th century

It is not an exaggeration to affirm that geopolitical maps translate the mental maps of a certain society, of a certain historical moment. Cartography condenses an image of the world that goes far beyond mere topographic studies.

If we look at the cartography of the enlightened period, we will observe that the rise of scholarship in all fields of knowledge and the emergence of scientific institutions in the modern sense of the term will greatly affect the making of maps. In the first place, because the French kings (in collaboration with the Spanish crown and other European powers) will promote expeditions to the new world in order to reconfigure the maps from astronomical observations and physical measurements.

Setdart Subastas has assembled an important collection of maps from this flourishing period, the 18th century, both for science in general and for cartographic science in particular. Specifically, a large part of the cartographic documents tendered in our current auction belong to the Universal Atlas of 1757 (“Atlas Universel, dressé sur les meilleurescartes modernes”). It consisted of an ambitious project that would end up involving cartographers and engravers from all over Europe. It was an initiative of Gilles Robert de Vaugondy and his son Didier, geographers of Louis XV, who had the most recognized globe manufacturing workshop in France.

The illuminated engravings grouped in this collection show the scope of this singular project: a very precise map of the then still non-conflictive Holy Land (“divided into its twelve Tribes”, lot 35251586); a splendid map of the East Indies (to highlight the allegorical figures, the putti and galloping horses that adorn the cartouches, num. 35251568), the Map of Patagonia and the Strait of Magellan (illustrated with caravels plying the seas); the Bering Strait …

Apart from the maps that resulted from the expeditions to the colonies of the New World and the East Indies, this same Atlas of French origin and Venetian edition (the Santini brothers acquired the plates of the Vaugondy), also included numerous maps of Europe: of the Islands British (Britannicae Insulae, 35251582), of the German Empire (under William I, 35251629), French Flanders …

In our cartographic collection, together with the aforementioned maps from the Atlas Universel, we also include engravings belonging to the famous Encyclopaedia of Diderot and d’Alembert. The edition of the Encyclopédieraisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers It was the fruit of the same enlightened spirit that we commented on cartographies. The prints tendered in Setdart correspond to the Architecture section, in which it was intended to disseminate the accumulated knowledge in architecture so far, through plans, elevations, typologies, gadgets and latest technical advances (see lots 35221796 and 35221794).

Old maps are one of the most complete documentary typologies, due to their dual nature, cartographic and historical. The rarity of some of the editions, coupled with the longevity of many of the copies, make the possession and enjoyment of ancient cartography a booming value. The meticulous and ambitious work of engravers, illustrators and cartographers turn these pieces into authentic works of art.

Batch: 35251587. "ITALY ANTIQUA"
Lot: 35251579. "ANTILLE ISLANDS
Lot: 35251586-. "HOLY LAND AND THE PROMISED LAND
Lot: 35251615. "MALLORCA, MENORCA AND IBIZA
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The representation of “Ecce Homo” in the history of art

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The forcefulness of the words “Behold the man” that Pilate pronounced when presenting Christ to the crowd, mocking and implying that his power was insignificant in front of those who judged him there, attracted the attention of multiple painters, who saw in This theme is a powerful way to represent the suffering of Christ.

The scene, which took place after the flagellation of Christ tied to the column and the crowning with thorns, moved all faithful who heard or saw an image of the subject, as it showed the most defenseless face of Christ, alone and badly wounded in front of a hostile crowd. to which he subjected his final destiny.

In the vast majority of works intended for private devotion, the usual thing was to summarize the scene in a single figure, that of Christ, who was normally represented half-length, on a dark background that enhanced his corporeity and without other narrative elements other than those of the that the iconography required. In this way, the expressiveness and drama of the image was concentrated, moving the soul of the faithful who prayed before it and preventing their attention from being dispersed in the details.

The importance that the “Ecce Homo” had for the history of art is demonstrated in our next auction on the 20th, in which up to five works on this theme are collected, belonging to different schools and periods. Both the Flemish school dated around 1500 (35233470 ), like the Spanish schools of the seventeenth century (35121388 , 35272006 ), respond to the iconography of Christ on a black background, with no other narrative elements than the crown of thorns; the follower of Luis de Morales (35148635 )However, it introduces the figure of Pilate, although it also places both characters on a black background that enhances their corporeity. The last of the works, a 17th century wood carving attributed to the García Brothers ( 35244644 ) , highlights the pathos and drama that this recurring theme contained.

Spanish school; second third of the 17th century “Ecce Homo”.
Castilian school from the second half of the 16th century. Following models of LUIS DE MORALES (Badajoz, 1509 - Alcántara, 1586). “Ecce Homo”.
Spanish school; 17th century “Ecce homo”.
Granada school from the second half of the seventeenth century. Attributed to the García Brothers: MIGUEL FRANCISCO GARCÍA AND JERÓNIMO FRANCISCO GARCÍA (Granada, 16th and 17th centuries). “Ecce Homo”.
Flemish school, ca. 1520. "Ecce Homo".
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Christ carrying the cross, symbol of redemption in the late Renaissance

Christ carrying the cross, symbol of redemption in the late Renaissance

Next October 20, Setdart will present 170 pieces at the Alta Época auction where exceptional works such as this work from the Spanish Renaissance from the Milá Collection in Barcelona stand out.

We are facing a Christ serene, who enters into a silent dialogue with the viewer. His features do not show physical pain, which is reflected in the drops of blood that fall from his head and run down his naked back. The hard work of glazing produces a realistic feel to the point that gliding tears and drops of blood appear to bulge . The thorns of the crown are inserted into the flesh of Jesus, piercing it so aggressively that when they sink, they mark the relief under the skin and even tear it, as is the case with the eyebrow. The precision with which he has executed many details gives it a high degree of realism, as in the case of the hair painted almost individually or in the grain of the wood.The cross, of which we only see part of the two logs , is presented with almost architectural resounding and thus make explicit the symbolic heaviness of the load.

The message of this passage is the very acceptance of the Passion. The suffering of Christ has an end and with full consciousness embraces the pain materialized on the cross.

The painting in question reminds us of the models of the great Leordanesque followers located in the cities of northern Italy. . Opting for a contrasting palette between the dark backgrounds and the blurred contours of the figure, while in the flesh tones and drapes (in the red tunic that wraps the torso) she uses bright colors and extracts beautiful velvety qualities. We are before a painting fully inscribed in the late Renaissance.

The iconography of Christ carrying the heavy cross on his ascent to Mount Calvary had a development of its own throughout the history of art. , the result of his adaptation to the expressive peculiarities or to the communicative habits of the plastic arts in each era. Already in early Christian art the theme was represented to allude to the symbolic role of the cross as an instrument of redemption and achievement of eternal life.

An important A turning point in the representative habits of this episode of the Passion took place during the Late Renaissance and the Baroque , both in northern Italy and in Spanish art. The Via Dolorosa and the anecdotal description of the vicissitudes that Jesus encounters during his ascent disappear to focus on the suffering and redeeming countenance, on the bust covered with a red tunic and the injured arms holding the cross. Let us remember that the representation of a whole retinue of onlookers, scoffers and friends had been common: the most frequent episodes were that of Simon the Cyrene helping him carry the cross or Veronica offering him a cloth to wipe the sweat and blood from his face.

Starting in the middle of the 16th century, in northern Italy, this other model emerged: the embodiment of a moment of great dramatic intensity of Christ in the Via Crucis, but from which all anecdotes are removed. Painters who will help define the plastic variations of this model will be Sebastiano del Piombo, Correggio or Tiziano (in the Italian case) and Luis de Morales or el Greco (in Spain).

In these works the devotional and allegorical character is intensified. In the painting that Setdart is putting out to tender these days, “Christ Carrying the Cross” (ca.1550, from the Northern Italian school, from the Milá Collection in Barcelona), the approach to the figure at the bust level gives the canvas a singular tactile character . On the other hand, Jesus does not avoid our gaze. On the contrary, his penetrating gaze seems to want to involve us in his decision to assume

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Rafael Canogar VS Luis Feito

Rafael Canogar VS Luis Feito

Luis Feito was the penultimate witness of the artistic legacy that the El Paso group gave us. With his recent loss, Rafael Canogar becomes the only living representative of a time when informalism transformed and renewed stagnant Spanish art to give birth to new ways of understanding and experimenting with artistic practice. Both artists share the limelight in our contemporary art auction of the next October 19

After being linked to the Bucholz and Fernando Fe art galleries in Madrid, young artists soon became aware of the need to travel to Paris to see first-hand the new trends that dominated the international art scene. The direct contact with the informalism of Dubuffet and Fautrier, as well as the approach to the American abstract expressionists, were undoubtedly the breeding ground under which the El Paso group was conceived and its staunch defense of a new creative freedom. United by the same spirit of transformation and renewal, Feito, Canogar, Saura and company proclaimed, as they left on record in their founding manifesto, the need to express “a new reality” from social and spiritual responsibility.

“We intend to present an authentic and free work and we fight for an art towards the salvation of individuality, within the sign of our time.” Manifesto “El Paso”

Despite being founding members of El Paso, Feito and Canogar independently developed their own plastic character, thus demonstrating their personal way of assimilating and reinterpreting the various influences that marked their creative corpus. The works that we present magnificently exemplify this creative independence, as well as the evolution that both experienced throughout their trajectories, subjecting his work to constant research and experimentation. In this way, while Feíto’s pair of works reflects the trend and geometric simplification that began in the 1970s, Canogar’s transfers that fragmentation and materiality that he imprinted on his works from the 2000s.

Luis Feito

The evolution of Luis Feito is one that takes place without major shocks and with the coherence and cohesion of those artists fully committed to the creative act. All his work addresses from the purest abstraction, the tensions and dualities between radically opposite concepts . Under this premise, the canvas becomes a space of confrontation, which gravitates between the structural balance and the dynamic tension that arises from the interaction of colors and shapes. “1195” reflects a key moment in Luis Feíto’s career when, from 1963, he began a increasingly slow and restrained expressive trend that leads him towards a growing formal and material purification. In the 1970s, the fullness of color and a trend towards geometrization, where the elements of the composition were simplified to the essentials, ended up being imposed.

Rafael Canogar

In recent decades, Canogar’s research has gone beyond the concept of painting to create a series of images that, like the one that concerns us here, is based on the manipulation of the support and the enhancement of the material. Canogar tears and fragments a material made of sheets of cellulose pulp, linen and binder, to later recompose each of the parts into a composition in which color, structure and matter predominate. The result is images of great plastic power with irregular contours and overlapping fragments like collages, which, According to Canogar himself, “they are the reflection of the destructive constructive opposition forces inherent to the human condition.”

We see in both cases how the game between opposites or opposites will be an imperishable idea throughout its entire trajectory, a fact that should not surprise us if we take into account that,

Both for them and for their fellow group members, the canvas became a true battlefield through which to break with the total slack in which Spanish art and society were plunged.

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EXCEPTIONAL RUSSIAN ICON COLLECTION AT SETDART

EXCEPTIONAL RUSSIAN ICON COLLECTION AT SETDART

Setdart offers, on September 23, an exclusive collection of Russian icons, never seen in Spain. A set made up of more than seventy pieces, which has housed a single collector, and which is a witness to times that have crossed borders to finally reach our room making history.

It is the first time that a Spanish auction brings a collection of such important icons from different schools and regions of Russia to the general public. The online format of the auction will allow collectors and interested parties from all over the world to access this tender, which is complemented by the exhibition of the pieces in the SetdartMadrid room and with a physical catalog with interesting texts from world-renowned experts and that put in value these unpublished pieces. Using his digital tools, Setdart reveals the thoroughness and spirituality applied by icon painters in creating these masterpieces.

The Orthodox icon, as an object of artistic value, appears on the Russian historical-artistic scene at the beginning of the 20th century, coinciding with the excavations of medieval churches, with the discovery of ancient icons and their subsequent restoration. Images appeared beneath the centuries-old layers of dirt, revealing hitherto unknown chapters of Russian national history. From this moment the first private collections of these works were formed. In 1906 Sergei Diagilev organized a pompous and revolutionary exhibition “Two Centuries of Russian Art”, which occupied ten rooms of the Parisian Autumn Salon. Thirty-five ancient Russian icons were featured there for the first time, sparking the interest of the European public in Russia, Russian art, and icons in particular.

Henri Matisse, a great friend of the Russian collector Sergei Schukin, visited Russia in 1911. The purpose of that trip was to see Russian religious art. The sublime simplicity, great spiritual depth, and even the artistic techniques that the French absorbed by visiting regional Orthodox churches, carried over into his Moroccan series and the rest of his later work.

During this frenzied decade and a half before the Revolution, Russia has managed to discover, enhance and turn its religious art into a visiting card that, to this day, in an almost mystical way, attracts foreign audiences and arouses their interest in Russian heritage.

This pioneering auction of more than seventy unpublished Russian icons on the market will be accompanied by traveling exhibitions between the Madrid and Barcelona venues, digital tools, the online auction format and the catalog with publications by experts in Russian art. in order to awaken the interest of collectors, art lovers and professional researchers for the pieces that were created thousands of kilometers from our lands, in chapels and workshops impregnated with the smell of incense and under the prayers of the painters monks.

Exposed to the public in our rooms during the month of September, these mysterious pieces are telling the story of a people that, possibly, have more things in common with our culture than one can imagine.

In short, with This auction of Russian icons, unprecedented in Spain, to be held on Thursday, September 23, Setdart begins a new chapter in the Spanish collecting scene, highlighting the role of patron and collector when building historic bridges.

Lot: 35244494. Russian school, workshops of the old believers, ss. XVIII-XIX. "Saint Venerable Macarius of Zheltovodsk"
Lot: 35244506. Russian school, 18th-19th centuries. "The Virgin of Kazan". Tempera, gold leaf, on board.
Lot: 35244532. Russian school, workshops of the ancient believers, ss. XVIII-XIX. "Saint George slaying the dragon and twelve hagiographic scenes."
Lot: 35244546. Russian school, workshops of the old believers, s. XVII. "The Virgin of all the painful ones."
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The Ante-tempore portrait-photography?

The Ante-tempore portrait-photography?

During centuries, portraits have fascinated generations of art lovers, conveying faces that would otherwise have inexorably faded over time.

By definition, the portrait is the representation of the physiognomic features of a person, created through different means of expression such as painting, sculpture, photography and literature. Does this mean that when we look at a portrait, we are seeing the actual effigy of the person’s features? To what extent is a portrait a free interpretation agreed between the subject and the artist of the reality to be portrayed?

In the Middle Ages, portraits were used for official purposes or simply in the hope of gaining divine recognition. To portray a man for other purposes would have been a scandalous individualistic will, strongly condemned by the Christian church; we will have to wait for the first representations commissioned from the artists, portraying their clients (Giotto).

It was during the Renaissance that portraiture, strengthened by the resurgence of classicism and the rise of the middle class, became the most popular and widespread genre among the wealthy classes. However, the portrait remained a symbolic, almost idealized element, to which the present attributes (skins, animals, jewels, weapons, etc.) conferred a deeper double meaning; attention to the fidelity of the features was not the main objective of the painter.

The transmission of the image to posterity became synonymous with greatness, an opportunity for social affirmation within the reach of the new emerging classes, no longer a mere aristocratic legacy. From the first profile portraits (evocative of Roman numismatics), the great masters passed to a less majestic, more intimate representation, although still linked to allegories and celebrations of social status.

Leonardo was the first to instill in his subjects a new attention, not only to the fidelity of the traits, but to the psychological characterization: a clue to the soul of the subjects represented.

In the seventeenth century, massive figures were imposed, occupying almost the entire pictorial surface and appearing in the same plane as the viewer. Soon they give way to the “political portrait”: a three-quarter pose, armor or war attributes, in the representation of a majestic and statuary image of almost timeless characters.

It was not until the 19th century that artists gave greater priority to expressiveness and the inner world than to physical appearance: the dramatic brushstrokes helped to highlight the emotional impulses and intimacy of the subjects; later, with the avant-gardes, decomposition and extremes also affected portraits, presenting us with works with increasingly less naturalistic perspectives.

The portrait is undoubtedly one of the most complex and varied artistic genres in the history of art, a dynamic approach to the context in which it is practiced and with innumerable results, never identical to each other.

PABLO PICASSO "Portrait". Sold at Setdart.
JUAN PANTOJA DE LA CRUZ (Valladolid, h. 1553 - Madrid, 1608). "Portrait of Felipe III" .. Sold at Setdart.
OSWALDO GUAYASAMÍN (Quito, Ecuador, 1919 - Baltimore, USA, 1999). "Portrait of Atahualpa", 1945. Sold at Setdart.
JULIO ROMERO DE TORRES (Córdoba, 1874 - 1930). "Portrait of a Lady with a Crystal Vase". Sold at Setdart.
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Art, flowers and symbolism

Art, flowers and symbolism

Since ancient times, art has used symbolism to express an infinity of concepts and feelings hidden under the physical appearance of everything and everything around us. In this sense, the symbolic charge of the floral world will acquire a special relevance in art, being the object of the deepest moral, religious, political and social reflections. Her own nature, beautiful, fleeting, delicate and joyful, captivated the gaze of countless artists who, whatever their time and style, found in them the metaphorical image with which to convey messages of a very diverse nature. The richness of its meaning will evolve and oscillate over time depending on the historical context, but also on the intention of the artist himself.

In fact already in ancient civilizations we find the first manifestations of its symbolic character . In Egypt the lotus flower, represented the Sun and was therefore considered symbol of light and life . The importance it reached is reflected in the multiple objects found in the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun in which this flower appears, which, at that time, became a true amulet.

Deceased metamorphosed into a lotus. Chapter 81 of the Book of the Dead
Flemish school, 17th century. "Annunciation". Lot sold in Setdart.

With the arrival of Christianity, flowers occupied a privileged place as symbols of a spiritual truth. The meaning of many of them was transformed to express the dogmas and beliefs of the new religion whose importance will become especially evident in the iconography of Marian themes and the Passion of Christ. In this way, the carnation associated up to now with the eroticism and fertility of the goddess Hera, will become a symbol of the nails of Christ but also of the divine love of the Virgin Mary for the Child. Likewise, during the Renaissance the representation of the Archangel Gabriel was very common offering a lily to the Virgin Mary, as a symbol par excellence of her purity, chastity and devotion. On the other hand, and due to the 3 petals that form it, the lily will also be associated with the dogma of the Holy Trinity. Another of the flowers most linked to Christianity and therefore to religious art will be the rose, a flower that accompanied Mary from the earliest times of the Church as an expression of her purity, suffering and glory. Along with the lily and the roses, the columbines will have a special significance within Christian iconography whose dove shape will be associated with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, flowers were also a recurring element when indicating the virtues or values of the person portrayed as well as his lineage. The woman was often depicted with the thistle or carnation flower as a symbol of conjugal love and fidelity. On the other hand, the male figure appeared accompanied by the purple lily, the violet, the vinca or the chamomile, all of them associated with the virtues of the good Christian knight.

So far we have seen how flowers are represented in art imbued mostly with religious connotations. However, this trend will begin to change with the irruption of still lifes in the dutch painting of the seventeenth century, now when its representation will emancipate itself from Christianity, to express more “earthly” concerns and emotions. These still lifes, described with the meticulousness and attention to detail that characterized the art of the Netherlands, often contain a message. linked to human fragility and the transience of life. The introduction of withered flowers became a symbol of death that until then had been represented through skulls and hourglasses. Conversely, fresh flowers were an emblem of power and the continual resurgence of nature.

One more of the infinite hidden meanings behind flowers is related to the idea of power, dominance and social position In this sense, the arrival of species such as tulips or daffodils that from the old Ottoman Empire had a very high cost due to their exoticism was of vital importance. For this reason, monarchs and noble characters were very often represented alongside these precious and distinguished flowers.

With the arrival of realism and impressionism, the meaning of the flowers becomes more personal, being the fruit of the emotions and experiences of the artist. We just have to think about Monet’s water lilies, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers or Matisse’s bouquets to realize that now, the flowers will be the vehicle through which to project the most subjective impressions.

From the hand of artists as prominent as Andy Warhol or Georgia O’keeffe, contemporary art continued to find a perpetual source of inspiration in the floral world that has remained intact to this day.

"The water lilies" by Monet.
Sunflowers by Van Gogh.
"Bouquet of flowers" Matisse.
Georgia O'Keeffe - White Flower on Red Earth I, 1943
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