.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Jacqueline Helion has confirmed the authenticity of this painting.
Hélion began experimenting with abstraction in 1929, following the lead of artists such as Piet Mondrian and the De Stijl movement. Along with Théo van Doesburg, Hélion founded the relatively short-lived revue Art Concret, which later expanded and became known as Abstraction-Création, involving the collaboration of artists such as Jean Arp, Albert Gleizes, Auguste Herbin and Robert Delaunay. As a tireless proponent of abstract art, Hélion traveled to London where he met Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson in 1934. Between 1935, the year the present work was painted, and 1939, he also made extensive trips to the United States where he was credited with influencing the work of Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning and other Abstract Expressionist artists through his painting and philosophical notions of art.
The present painting clearly reflects the influence of Mondrian and De Stijl, while remaining highly individualistic. By 1935 Hélion had crafted his own distinct brand of abstraction characterized by using dramatically rounded forms and variations in color 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).
Hélion's abstractions of the 1930s have always been well-regarded, even as his subsequent stylistic changes took him far from the modern mainstream. While this was regarded in some quarters as apostasy, in recent years there has been a reevaluation of his later works, and renowned contemporary artists who have acknowledged the influence of Hélion include Roy Lichtenstein, Nell Blaine, and Leland Bell.
(fig. 1) Hélion in his Rockbridge Baths, Virginia, studio, circa 1935.
Hélion began experimenting with abstraction in 1929, following the lead of artists such as Piet Mondrian and the De Stijl movement. Along with Théo van Doesburg, Hélion founded the relatively short-lived revue Art Concret, which later expanded and became known as Abstraction-Création, involving the collaboration of artists such as Jean Arp, Albert Gleizes, Auguste Herbin and Robert Delaunay. As a tireless proponent of abstract art, Hélion traveled to London where he met Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson in 1934. Between 1935, the year the present work was painted, and 1939, he also made extensive trips to the United States where he was credited with influencing the work of Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning and other Abstract Expressionist artists through his painting and philosophical notions of art.
The present painting clearly reflects the influence of Mondrian and De Stijl, while remaining highly individualistic. By 1935 Hélion had crafted his own distinct brand of abstraction characterized by using dramatically rounded forms and variations in color 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).
Hélion's abstractions of the 1930s have always been well-regarded, even as his subsequent stylistic changes took him far from the modern mainstream. While this was regarded in some quarters as apostasy, in recent years there has been a reevaluation of his later works, and renowned contemporary artists who have acknowledged the influence of Hélion include Roy Lichtenstein, Nell Blaine, and Leland Bell.
(fig. 1) Hélion in his Rockbridge Baths, Virginia, studio, circa 1935.