Sale: 343 / Post War / Contemporary Art, Dec. 04. 2008 in Munich Lot 505

 
Hans Hartung - T 1969-H10


505
Hans Hartung
T 1969-H10, 1969.
Acrylic on canvas
Estimate:
€ 25,000 / $ 27,000
Sold:
€ 43,920 / $ 47,433

(incl. surcharge)

T 1969-H10. 1969.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed and dated lower right. Titled and dedicated "A Antonio Corpora très amicalement Hans Hartung Paris le 25-10-69" on the reverse. 50 : 73,5 cm (19,6 : 28,9 in). [NB] "In my opinion the painting which is called abstract is none of the 'Isms' of which there have been so many lately, it is neither a 'style' nor an 'epoch' in art history, but merely a new means of expression, a different human language - one which is more direct than that of earlier painting." (Hans Hartung)
Hans Hartung was one of the few artists who spent their entire life working in an Informel manner. He began studying philosophy and art history in 1924 at the university of Leipzig, but soon changed to the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Leipzig and then Dresden. 1926-27 Hartung lived in Paris, where he attended the private art schools of André Lhote and Fernand Léger. He continued his training in 1928 with the painter Max Doerner in Munich. This period is reflected in his oeuvre in spontaneous, sketchy line compositions in which Hartung was guided by the inspiration of chance and analysed the tension between the areas of colour and the lines. In 1931 he had his first solo show.
After a lengthy stay on the Balearic island Menorca, Hartung settled in Paris in 1935. Here he kept in touch with the Avantgarde movement and exhibited works at the 'Salon des Surindépendants'. At the beginning of the war Hartung joined the Foreign Legion and returned to Paris in 1945 with severe injuries and his right leg was amputated. Hans Hartung became a French citizen in 1946. His work during this period is characterised by suspended areas of colour superimposed by calligraphic bunches of lines. Hartung became friends with Willi Baumeister, Georges Mathieu, Mark Rothko, Gérard Schneider, Pierre Soulages and Fritz Winter. 1948-49 his works were shown at the “Wanderausstellung Französischer Abstrakter Malerei”. As one of the most important representatives of European Informel Hartung showed works at the first three documenta exhibitions in Kassel between 1955 and 1964. He was honoured with the 'Prix Guggenheim' in 1956 and awarded an honorary membership of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. He was awarded the Great International Prize for Painting at the Biennale in Venice in 1960. During the 1960s Hartung made monochrome areas of colour in which he engraved rows of parallel grooves, thus introducing not only a calligraphic but also a three-dimensional element into his work. Hartung published his memoirs called 'Autoportrait' in 1976. One year later he became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris and in 1981 was awarded the Oskar-Kokoschka-Prize of the Republic of Austria. In 1972 Hans Hartung moved to Antibes, where he died in 1989.
EXPERTISE: The work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné, prepared by the Fondation Hans Hartung et Anna-Eva Bergman, Antibes

In good condition. The margins partially minimally rubbed.




505
Hans Hartung
T 1969-H10, 1969.
Acrylic on canvas
Estimate:
€ 25,000 / $ 27,000
Sold:
€ 43,920 / $ 47,433

(incl. surcharge)