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Lot Essay
The Jean Hélion Association will include this painting in their forthcoming Hélion catalogue raisonné.
Heavily influenced by Mondrian and the de Stijl movement, Jean Hélion began experimenting with abstraction in 1929. Along with Théo van Doesburg, a founding member of the de Stijl movement, Hélion founded the relatively short-lived revue Art Concret which later became known as Abstraction-Création, and which involved the collaboration of artists such as Arp, Gleizes, Herbin and Robert Delaunay, among others. As a tireless proponent of abstract art, Hélion travelled to London where he met Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson in 1934. Between 1935 and 1939 he also made extensive trips to the United States where he has been credited with influencing the work of Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning and other Abstract Expressionist artists.
The present painting clearly reflects the influence of Mondrian and de Stijl, while remaining highly individualistic. By 1936 Hélion had crafted his own distinct brand of abstraction characterized by using dramatically rounded forms and variations in colour to create volumetric figures in space. According to Hélion, 'Mondrian, whom I always admired but could not agree with, based his expressions on a reduction of means and the elimination of particularized representation. He used to say to me, "We are not of the same tradition--you are a Naturalist." Even as early as 1935 he "accused" me of belonging to the French naturalist tradition' (quoted in, 'Eleven Europeans in America', The Museum of Modern Art Bulletin, New York, 1946, vol. XIII, nos. 4-5, p. 29).
Heavily influenced by Mondrian and the de Stijl movement, Jean Hélion began experimenting with abstraction in 1929. Along with Théo van Doesburg, a founding member of the de Stijl movement, Hélion founded the relatively short-lived revue Art Concret which later became known as Abstraction-Création, and which involved the collaboration of artists such as Arp, Gleizes, Herbin and Robert Delaunay, among others. As a tireless proponent of abstract art, Hélion travelled to London where he met Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson in 1934. Between 1935 and 1939 he also made extensive trips to the United States where he has been credited with influencing the work of Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning and other Abstract Expressionist artists.
The present painting clearly reflects the influence of Mondrian and de Stijl, while remaining highly individualistic. By 1936 Hélion had crafted his own distinct brand of abstraction characterized by using dramatically rounded forms and variations in colour to create volumetric figures in space. According to Hélion, 'Mondrian, whom I always admired but could not agree with, based his expressions on a reduction of means and the elimination of particularized representation. He used to say to me, "We are not of the same tradition--you are a Naturalist." Even as early as 1935 he "accused" me of belonging to the French naturalist tradition' (quoted in, 'Eleven Europeans in America', The Museum of Modern Art Bulletin, New York, 1946, vol. XIII, nos. 4-5, p. 29).