No connection to server
513
1269692

Hans Hartung

(Germany, 1904-1989)
Estimate
225 000 - 250 000 SEK
20 100 - 22 300 EUR
20 800 - 23 100 USD
Hammer price
390 000 SEK
Covered by droit de suite

By law, the buyer will pay an artist fee for this work of art. This fee is 5% of the hammer price, or less. For more information about this law:

Sweden: BUS
Finland: Kuvasto

Purchasing info
Image rights

The artworks in this database are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the rights holders. The artworks are reproduced in this database with a license from Bildupphovsrätt.

For condition report contact specialist
Lena Rydén
Stockholm
Lena Rydén
Head of Art, Specialist Modern and 19th century Art
+46 (0)707 78 35 71
Hans Hartung
(Germany, 1904-1989)

"P1958-28"

Signed Hartung and dated -58. Pastel 50 x 33 cm. The work will be included in the "Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre de Hans Hartung" by the Hartung Bergman Fondation. Certificate by Hartung Fondation included with this lot.

Import VAT

Import VAT (12%) will be charged on the hammer price on this lot. For further details please contact customer service +46 8-614 08 00.

Provenance

Collection Arild Wahlstrøm (1959 – 1994), acquired directly from the artist.
Collection Tone Skedsmo and Erik Wahlstrøm (1994 - ), by descent from the above.

More information

As a child in Leipzig, Germany, Hans Hartung was afraid of thunder and lightning. He would fill notebook after notebook with zigzag lines in the childish hope that these would protect him from being struck. Much later, when Hartung was an established artist, he would argue that his interest in the abstract could be traced back to these drawings of bolts of electricity.

Hartung was a prominent figure in abstract art after the Second World War. His style, known in America as abstract expressionism and in Europe termed as ‘Art Informel’ or ‘Tachisme’, focused on the creative process rather than the end result. In this context Hartung was mentioned alongside artists such as Pierre Soulages and Nicolas de Staël.

Having graduated from the Fine Arts Academy in Dresden Hartung moved to Paris at the end of the 1920s. After joining the French Foreign Legion he was gravely injured in battle and, in 1944, had to amputate one of his legs. Towards the end of the war Hartung became a French citizen and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Following this period Hartung changed his artistic direction. From the earlier inspiration of Kandinsky and the Cubists he now transitioned to painting powerful motifs with lines and dashes, as if combed across the canvas – sometimes straight, sometimes swirling – in a style reminiscent of Eastern calligraphy.

At first look these compositions appear entirely improvised. Yet, Hartung’s paintings from the late 1940s and 50s were carefully planned. He began with drawings, which were then meticulously transferred to the canvas using a special grid-technique.

In the 1960’s Hartung’s work strongly impacted many younger American painters, and made him an important predecessor to the lyrical American abstraction of the 60s and 70s.

 Hide
 Show more

Important Winter Sale 661

1227. A group of monocromes, Qing dynasty.
Estimate
8 000 - 10 000 SEK
Bid History
26 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
24 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
22 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
20 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
19 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
18 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
17 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
16 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
15 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
14 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
13 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
12 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
11 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
10 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
9 500
 
SEK
Your Bid
9 000
 
SEK
Your Bid
Current bid:
26 000 SEK