Munich (kk) - Carrying an estimate of € 180 000-240 000, "Bronze I" by Pierre Soulages is to go under the hammer at the Ketterer Kunst Auktion of Modern Art & Post War to be held at the HBV Forum, Munich, Kardinal-Faulhaber Strasse 1, on December 5, 2006.

Pierre Soulages' "Bronze I" is, at 1.16 m in height and 86 cm wide, a sculpture of considerable size. However, since it is only 6 cm thick, it appears to hover in the air although it is really quite heavy. This sculpture, dating from 1975, marks Soulages' only venture into that medium. In the mid-1970s he created monumental reflections on his aquatint etchings XIII, XX und XXIX dealing with his underlying theme "light" in the form of bronzes.

In the reflecting gold of the patina, the artist is exploring the polarising properties of black, which swallows light, that he examined in his paintings and prints. Surfaces that would otherwise be dark become light and gleaming; light ridges and hatchings become dark sunk lines. In "Bronze I", Soulages has translated the calligraphic element informing his work to the third-dimensional plane.

Early impressions of austere Romanesque architecture and the Celtic monuments of his native France as well as the later influence of East Asian calligraphy have shaped his work. Apart from his travels in Mexico and the US, a stay in Japan in 1958 is bound to have played a key role.

Pierre Soulages is a leading exponent of the École de Paris and Informel. He has received numerous international art awards, including the Rembrandt Prize in Germany, the Grand Prix national for painting in France and the Praemium Imperiale for painting in Japan. In addition to the very rare “Bronze I”- Soulages himself owns the trial cast and there is another cast in the Nordjyllands Art Museum in Aalborg, Denmark - some 300 works will be sold at the auction of Modern Art & Post War.

Pre-sale viewings of selected works are scheduled for November 15 and 16 at Ketterer Kunst, Meßberg 1 in Hamburg from 11am-5 pm. All works can be viewed at Ketterer Kunst, Prinzregentenstrasse 61 in Munich:

Nov.27 Vernissage06 pm-08 pm
Nov.27 -Dec. 01 10 am-06 pm
Dec.02 -Dec. 03 11 am-05 pm
Dec.04 09 am-01 pm

Since it was founded in 1954, Ketterer Kunst has been firmly established in the front ranks of auction houses dealing in art and rare books. While our Munich headquarters in the Prinz-Alfons-Palais is responsible for the two traditional annual auctions of Modern Art & Post War, the Meßberghof in Hamburg is the venue for two auctions a year each based on the following fields: Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century/Marine Art and Rare Books - Autographs - Manuscripts - Decorative Prints as well as Modern Art & Post War, with a focus on works on paper. In addition, exhibitions, special auctions and benefit auctions for charity are regular events at Ketterer Kunst.

Hamburg, October 19, 2006