$30,000
Estimate: $30,000 - $50,000
Auction: November 17, 2020 12:00:00 PM EDT
Signed bottom right, signed again, titled, inscribed 'Ore Lode Vein' and dated 1971 verso, acrylic on canvas.
70 1/2 x 84 1/4 in. (179.1 x 214cm)
Provenance: The Artist.
Property from a Private Corporate Art Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (acquired directly from the above in 1971).
EXHIBITION:
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, New York, November 16 - December 18, 1971.
NOTE:
Based on an inscription verso, Paul Jenkins painted Phenomena Over Mont (sic) Tamalpais while living and working at 831 Broadway, near Union Square in New York City, an important location for the development of Abstract Expressionism. Designated as a cultural landmark in 2017, the building was home to studios and lofts of Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Jules Olitski, Larry Poons and the Museum of Modern Art curator William Rubin. Jenkins rented spaces from the de Koonings from 1963 to 2000, wanting to be close to the energy of the "Tenth Street enclave" of artists. Here he hosted popular gatherings of gallery owners, fellow artists, foreign dignitaries, museum curators and important collectors (including the collector of the present painting). The artistic company, as well as the natural light and ample space of the loft, inspired Jenkins' work and allowed him to flourish.
For his Phenomena paintings, Paul Jenkins employed a technique that was more akin to guiding paint on the surface, rather than the pouring, soaking and splattering of paint favored by his contemporaries. He once said he hoisted a canvas "as if it were a sail," [1] using an ivory knife to control the paint as it flowed across the surface, while communing with the painting to identify its title. This monumental painting is named for a peak north of San Francisco, occupying one's field of vision much like the mountain landscape and displaying the artist's characteristic saturation of rich, earth toned colors.
[1] The Artist quoted in Randy Kennedy, "Paul Jenkins, Painter of Abstract Artwork, Dies at 88," New York Times, June 17, 2012.