Ulrik Samuelson
Covered by droit de suite
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"Nekromanti-reminiscens"
Signed Ulrik Samuelson and dated 1968 verso. Tissue, plastic water-lily leaves, enamel and glass in artist's frame 60 x 95.5 cm.
Provenance
Bukowski Auktioner, Stockholm, Moderna Höstauktionen, 3 November 2006, lot 559.
More information
Ulrik Samuelson's art is characterised by the use of refined materials such as silk, mahogany, glossy black plastic, gold, and marble. His works are often symbolically charged and explore oppositions such as death and sexuality, desire and transience.
In 1966, Samuelson had an exhibition at Galerie Hedenius in Stockholm titled Nekromanti, from which clear parallels can be drawn to the painting at auction executed two years later. The composite title "Nekromanti-reminiscence" carries multiple layers of meaning. The word necromancy is composed of the Greek words for death and divination. The concept of necromancy also encompasses words like the water spirit (näcken) and water lilies (näckrosor), romance, and even necrophilia, all recurring elements in the works included in the 1966 exhibition and a recurring theme in Samuelson's subsequent creations.
The water lily, which grows in the borderland between water and air, between the visible and the hidden, becomes a metaphor for the human existential condition and the search for balance between opposing forces. Samuelson's "water lily period" therefore represents not only a phase in his artistic development but also a deeper reflection on the complex relationship between nature and humanity.