Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000
American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists Featuring the Collection of Virginia and Stuart Peltz
Auction: December 5, 2021 2:00:00 PM EDT
Oil on canvas
31 x 35 in. (78.7 x 88.9cm)
Executed circa 1930.
Provenance
The Artist.
The Estate of the Artist.
Collection of Mercedes Matter, the Artist's daughter.
Graham Gallery, New York, New York.
Private Collection.
Janet Fleisher Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Acquired directly from the above.
Private Collection.
Sotheby's, New York, sale of November 29, 1995, lot 92.
Acquired directly from the above sale.
Private Collection, New Mexico.
Exhibited
(Possibly) "Arthur B. Carles, 1882-1952: Retrospective Exhibition," Graham Gallery, New York, New York, April 14-May 9, 1959.
(Possibly) "Arthur B. Carles Retrospective, " Janet Fleisher Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 5-30, 1975.
Note
The present work was executed in the 1930s. It is evocative of Carles' mature years, when the artist fully embraced the Cubist heritage he had first discovered in France through the paintings of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Georges Braque (1882-1963). At the same time, it remains true to Carles' first and true passion for colors; the jagged, intersecting forms of the composition being typical of the artist's abstract pieces from the same time period. Unlike Carles' other abstract pieces which used a floral still life as a point of reference however, the present work seems more exuberant and further disconnected from reality. The only figurative element is a strange, ghostly figure on the right of the composition, who remains mostly hidden behind a black curtain. The rest of the painting revolves around dynamic, bold lines flying across the canvas. Yet, everything seems contained through Carles' expert use of colors. As Barbara A. Wolanin explained: "Carles integrated Cubism into his vision, not overlaying it, but using it to rein in his fauve tendencies." Through his solid blacks, tender pinks and contrasting blues, Carles implies a soothing mood of mystery that ultimately transcends the geometry introduced by the abstract shapes. Each pattern is completed by a certain color, which has its own quality and which instills a certain energy in the canvas. In this regard, Carles' approach to color resembles music: each hue acts as a note that the artist summons to diffuse a feeling, which ultimately resonates onto the canvas as a colorful symphony.