Counterpoint No3

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C O U N T E R P O I N T

Maxy and Pettoruti versus Picasso

Christiaan versus Christiaan Rem Koolhaas versus Isamu

Noguchi

Julio Gonzalez versus Unknown

Fang Artis



NUMBER 3, OCOTBER 2010


Christiaan versus ChristiaanRem Koolhaas versus Isamu NoguchiWallace Harrison versus Constantin BrancusiJulio Gonzalez versus Unknown Fang Artist Cover:

Max Herman Maxy, Three Musicians, 1926, © Collection Zylberstein, Switzerland



Why

C O U N T E R P O I N T ?

My questions is whether the contrapuntal techniques from musicalcompositions can be applied to visual arts.

C O U N T E R P O I N T

is published monthly by

C A L U S A R I A U C T I O N S

Comments are welcomed on the facebook page. Alex Mitrutz




From left to right: Guillaume Apollinaire (The Pierot), Pablo Picasso (The Harlequin),Max Jacob (The Monk).

ARTIST: Pablo PicassoTITLE:Three MusiciansMEDIUM: oil on canvas

YEAR: 1921COLLECTION: MoMA, New YorkPerhaps the most famous painting for synthetic cubism style, Picasso'sThree Musiciansfeatures a Harlequin, a Pierrot, and a Monk. Music was a favoriteCubist theme, and here Picasso equips Harlequin with a guitar Pierrotwith a recorder, and the Monk with an accordion.The painting has been interpreted as a commemoration of the recently

deceased poet Guillaume Apollinaire in the form of Pierrot, with thepoet Max Jacob as the Monk and Picasso himself as Harlequin.



From left to right: Pablo Picasso (The Harlequin), Guillaume Apollinaire (The Pierot),Max Jacob (The Monk).

ARTIST: Pablo PicassoTITLE: Three MusiciansMEDIUM: oil on canvasYEAR: 1921COLLECTION: Philadelphia Museum of Art A year before he painted Three Musicians, Picasso designedcostumes for Sergei Diaghilev's Pulcinella. The characters Harlequin,

Pierrot, and Monk, derive from Italian popular theater and carnivaltraditions the artist had encountered them during his visits to Italy asthe set designer Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.



ARTIST: Max Herman MaxyTITLE: Three MusiciansMEDIUM: oil on canvasYEAR: 1926COLLECTION: A. Zylberstein, BaselMax Herman Maxy was a proeminent figure of Romanian modernism.A year before Max Herman Maxy painted Three Musicians, he

designed the costumes and the scenes for the play Der Zinger funzayn troyer by Ossip Dimov (Joseph Perlman) and for Saul by AndréGide. Both were played at the Teatrul Central (Central Theatre) anddirected by I.M. Daniel. In the 1926 Max Herman Maxy designed thecostumes (i) and/or the scenes (ii) for: L'Uomo, La Bestia e La Virtù by Luigi Pirandello, directed by Henry Tarlo, (i and ii),Got fun Nekomeh by Sholem Asch, directed by Sandu Eliad, (ii),Manechinul Sentimental by Ion Minulescu, directed by Paul Gusty, (i and ii),

Thought by Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev, directed by Alexander Stein, (ii). All were played at the Teatrul Central .



ARTIST: Emilio PettorutiTITLE: El Improvisador MEDIUM: oil on canvasYEAR: 1937COLLECTION: Colección Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Both Max Herman Maxy and Emilio Pettoruti exhibited at Der Sturm in 1923.



Christiaan versus Christiaan

Like Christiaan Huygens, Christiaan van der Klaauw is obsessedby the cosmos and all phenomena that take regularly place in

the Universe. It was Huygens who discovered Saturn’s moonTitan, and also Huygens gave the correct explanation for therings around Saturn. Christiaan van der Klaauw is mostly knownfor his astronomical complications he builds into watches. Hemanufacturers the smallest working planetarium Planetarium2000 , and he is so far the only watch manufacturer who cancreate a watch that shows when an eclipse of the Sun or Mooncan occur, Eclips 2001.

The watch Pendulum CH1 commemorates the 350th year of Huyghens invention.The watch is limited to 350 pieces.



Science Museum reconstructed the pioneer pendulum clockdesigned by Christiaan Huygens in 1656, as it was described andillustrated in his 1958's book Horologium. Although Galileo had suggested the use of a pendulum to count

the time, Huygen's design,where the dial and hands of a clock were controlled by a pendulum, was the first truly practical pendulum clock. Huygensattached a pendulum to the gears of a clock.The regular swing of the pendulum allowed the clock to achievegreater accuracy,

as the hands are turned by the falling weight, which releases the same

amount of energy with each tick . (www.sciencemuseum.org.uk)



Rem Koolhaas versus Isamu Noguchi

ARCHITECT: Rem KoolhaasTITLE:China Central Television HeadquartersBUILT:2007

rightAccording to Isamu Noguchi Museum: Among the Noguchi sculptures that are variations on a single theme,the most dramatic works employ the image of the void. Noguchi beganthe void series in Italy in 1970 with In Silence Walking, but it was inJapan that he created the largest work of this kind, Energy Void. In hisvoids Noguchi brought together a number of his theoretical interests,including physics (envisioning a circular flow of energy at the heart of matter), the concept of emptiness from Zen Buddhism, and the use of empty space as a positive formal element.



ARTIST:Isamu NoguchiYEAR: 1970'sMEDIUM: marbleCOLLECTION: IsamuNoguchi Museum



Wallace Harrison versus Constantin Brancusi

ARCHITECT: Wallace Harrison

TITLE: The Egg

BUILT:1966-1978

ENGINEER: Peter Steinborn

The symbol of "Fish" migrated from Modern Art to Modern Achitecturein the shape of an "Egg". While Constantin Brancusi argues hismasterpiece by "its speed, its floating, flashing body seen throughthe water . . . the flash of its spirit", I have not found any argument of Wallace Harrison about his shape which resemble more like a fish

rather than an egg.



ARTIST:Constantin Brancusi

YEAR: 1930

MEDIUM: marble

COLLECTION: MoMA

Wallace Harrison "The Egg" was built close to the water and to theMoMA where Constantin Brancusi's "Fish" resides.



Julio Gonzalez versus Unknown Fang Artist

ARTIST: Julio Gonzalez

TITLE: MasqMEDIUM: pen, ink and wash on paper YEAR: 1940 Based on geometrical proportions of his own face !and on tribal art,Julio Gonzalez made several works like this in the 1940's. Comparinghis mask with authentic tribal masks we understand why Hans Hartung(a famous painter and close friend to Julio Gonzalez) has found the

mathematical system of proportions that Gonzalez used to draw themask series as " both elaborate and confusing".



ARTIST: Unknown Fang ArtistYEAR: early 20th centuryCOLLECTION: A.M. SwitzerlandPURPOSE: despite of many studies, it is not known today how Fangtribe used this mask and the meaning of geometrical incissions. Butit is certainly know that Georges Braque, an avid collector of tribalart, owned a quite similar one, in his famous collection. The cubism ismade so easy when you are inspired by an unknown Fang artist!Before the financial crisis, mask like this one cost !only twice thanminor drawings like Julio Gonzalez Masq, but today the Fang maskpreserved it's market value while minor drawings dropped at least by50%.



We apologise for incovenience caused by postponing our auctions.The updated calendar of 2010 auctions is listed below. MODERN, POST WAR and CONTEMPORARYSale 105, Wednesday, December 22, 2010, Oradea PHOTOGRAPHYSale 104, Wednesday, December 22, 2010, Basel PRINTS&MULTIPLES Sale 103, Wednesday, December 22, 2010, Basel





HIGHLIGHT

LOT1, SALE 103, SAM FRANCIS, Untitled, 1991, colour lithograph

(detail)

ESTIMATE: EUR 3,000-5,000

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Counterpoint No3