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British painter George Rouy investigates themes of symbolism, sexuality, and the expressiveness of the body in his vast, striking paintings of colossal, formless, entangled figures. Coming to auction for the very first time, Posing in Our Image depicts two monumental spectral figures, one cradled in the embrace of the other, neck thrown back as she probes a slit on her chest. Rendered in muted fuchsia with the smooth, glowing style of the Old Masters, Rouy’s almost spiritual figures emanate a powerful symbolism as they float in a dreamy, deep purple atmosphere.
Installation photo of the present lot at Los Angeles, Steve Turner Gallery, Smothered Awake, 27 October - 8 December 2018
Rouy’s figures spring from the depths of his fertile imagination. Through his unique, amorphous yet sculptural style, he seeks to ‘capture a feeling that is not subjective to a specific person.’ His figures hold each other, knotted together in a primordial, writhing mass, evoking a universality of emotion through their primal, godlike gesture.The Emotive Body
Rouy simultaneously utilises the human figure as a site for expressing emotion and rejects the conventions of art history through his unique portrayal of the human body. In Posing in Our Image, Rouy’s bodies exude a powerful eroticism, the figure in the foreground throwing back her head ecstatically as she pries open her wound, while the figure holding her has eyes closed in either reverent meditation, or blissful rapture.
“I slowly started to see the direction I wanted to take, talking about emotions and provoking feelings and reactions rather than evoking a specific narrative. That’s where my work situates itself: it’s less about narratives and more about emotions, akin to life. I also like seeing a component of the abstract. Although there’s a tangible figure, it’s a figure that works within an abstract setting.”
— George RouyBy intentionally diverging from the traditional manner of figure painting in Posing in Our Image, Rouy creates a world where bodies take on an added layer of meaning, eclipsing preconceived notions of what the human body must represent in art. In Rouy’s vast, vivid canvases, his abstracted, otherworldly figures transcend narrative and adopt as subject the fathomless potential of human emotion. Rouy’s mammoth, intertwined figures are not unlike those of Brazilian Modernist Tarsila do Amaral, who similarly defied academic conventions of figure painting in works such as her 1929 painting Anthopophagy.
Tarsila do Amaral, Anthropophagy (Antropofagia) , 1929
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Artwork: © Tarsila do AmarolAmaral’s massive humanoid figures serve a different mission than Rouy’s: to symbolise Brazilian modernists’ cannibalism, digestion, and reinvention of European art. However, like Amaral, Rouy combines art historical reference with a novel form of rendering the figure to create powerful work that symbolically examines death, the body, and resurrection.
Choosing the Symbolic over the Narrative
“I think it’s important that [the works are] not autobiographical. There needs to be enough space so that the viewer can enter it and not just assess it as these stories, because they’re not stories. They’re almost like symbols.”
— George RouyOne of the most fascinating figure painters working today, Rouy paints the human body in a wide variety of styles: contorted, often nude, ephemeral, ghostly, or solid, exhibiting his extensive technical range and capability as an artist. Painted with a fluid gravitas, Rouy’s figures overwhelm the viewer and their heated gazes, interlocked limbs, and closeness to one another are imbued with emotional and symbolic significance. In the present lot, the figures’ close embrace reveals an intense intimacy that is questioned by the one figure’s almost clinical, seemingly painless probing of her wound. This action itself carries symbolic weight, as a possible reference to the biblical story of the doubtful apostle Thomas, who refused to believe in his own resurrection without firsthand experience.
Caravaggio, Doubting Thomas, 1601-02
Sanssouci Picture Gallery, Potsdam, GermanyPosing in Our Image references Caravaggio’s painting of the apostle Thomas probing Christ’s wound, entitled Doubting Thomas. Rouy’s painting similarly portrays a person who probes a cut under their right breast, his luminous purple bodies evoking the glowing chiaroscuro of the master Baroque painter. By rendering his behemothic, sacred figures in a primitive, godlike style, Rouy subtly references the story of apostle Thomas while masterfully eluding narrative and evoking an ardent, divine presence.
Collector’s Digest
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Born in Britain in 1994, George Rouy graduated from Camberwell College of Arts in London in 2015 and has garnered considerable recognition since for his massive, haunting paintings of nude figures. Rouy has had several major international solo exhibitions, among which are Belly Ache (solo), at Almine Rech Gallery in Paris, France (2022), Real Corporeal, Gladstone Gallery, New York, USA (2022); Shit Mirror (solo), at Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany (2022); A Thing for the Mind, Timothy Taylor Gallery, London, UK (2022), and Clot (solo), in 2020 at Hannah Barry Gallery in London. Rouy’s work has been collected by institutions such as M Woods, 69 Art Campus and X Museum, Beijing, China; Ståhl Collection, Norrköping, Sweden; ICA, Miami, USA; Fondation Cartier and Lafayette Anticipations, Paris; and Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China.
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Provenance
Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles
Private Collection, USA
Acquired from the above by the present ownerExhibited
Los Angeles, Steve Turner Gallery, Smothered Awake, 27 October - 8 December 2018
3
Posing in Our Image
acrylic on canvas
225 x 180 cm. (88 5/8 x 70 7/8 in.)
Painted in 2018.
Estimate
HK$500,000 - 700,000
€59,200-82,900
$64,100-89,700
Sold for HK$889,000
Charlotte Raybaud
Specialist, Head of Evening Sale
+852 2318 2026
CharlotteRaybaud@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Hong Kong Auction 30 March 2023
1
Genesis Tramaine
Mother of Suns of Thunder
Estimate HK$300,000 - 500,000
Sold for HK$2,667,000
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2
Christina Quarles
Our Eyes Our Open/Are Eyes Are Open
Estimate HK$1,600,000 - 2,600,000
Sold for HK$4,064,000
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3
George Rouy
Posing in Our Image
Estimate HK$500,000 - 700,000
Sold for HK$889,000
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4
Louise Bonnet
The Velour Jumpsuit
Estimate HK$800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for HK$2,413,000
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5
Lauren Quin
Third Belly
Estimate HK$700,000 - 900,000
Sold for HK$1,905,000
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6
Loie Hollowell
A Gentle Meeting of Tips
Estimate HK$5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for HK$6,604,000
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7
Lucy Bull
False Tail
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for HK$4,826,000
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8
Matthew Wong
The Road
Estimate HK$24,000,000 - 35,000,000
Sold for HK$36,145,000
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9
Hernan Bas
The hillsides must not know it
Estimate HK$6,500,000 - 8,500,000
Sold for HK$8,255,000
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10
Yayoi Kusama
Pumpkin
Estimate HK$40,000,000 - 50,000,000
Sold for HK$56,110,000
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11
Yayoi Kusama
Infinity Dots (HTI)
Estimate HK$25,000,000 - 30,000,000
Sold for HK$27,675,000
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12
Yayoi Kusama
Untitled (Mannequin from The Driving Image Show)
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,300,000
Sold for HK$2,032,000
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13
Yoshitomo Nara
Lookin' for a Treasure
Estimate On Request
Sold for HK$83,850,000
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14
Takashi Murakami
Flower Parent and Child
Estimate HK$15,500,000 - 23,500,000
Sold for HK$14,002,000
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15
Izumi Kato
Untitled
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$5,715,000
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16
Stanley Whitney
The Last Cowboy Song
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$5,080,000
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17
Gerhard Richter
Strip (923-23)
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$2,286,000
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18
Roy Lichtenstein
Reflections on Brushstrokes
Estimate HK$14,000,000 - 19,000,000
Sold for HK$19,810,000
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19
Claude Monet
Paysage à Villez
Estimate HK$5,500,000 - 8,500,000
Sold for HK$8,890,000
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20
This lot is no longer available.
21
Li Chen
The Pavilion and Angelic Smile
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 2,400,000
Sold for HK$1,778,000
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22
Angel Otero
Butterflies Drinking Crocodile Tears
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for HK$2,032,000
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23
Rashid Johnson
Untitled Escape Collage
Estimate HK$5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for HK$6,350,000
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24
Kudzanai-Violet Hwami
Let Us Now Praise the Children (Zwizwai Family)
Estimate HK$600,000 - 800,000
Sold for HK$762,000
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25
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Time is Money)
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for HK$3,429,000
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26
Andy Warhol
Life Savers from the series Ads
Estimate HK$4,500,000 - 6,500,000
Sold for HK$5,334,000
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27
Andy Warhol
Mobilgas from the series Ads
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for HK$3,810,000
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28
Andy Warhol
Untitled (Volkswagen Lemon) from the series Ads
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
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29
Andy Warhol
Paramount from the series Ads
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
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30
Takashi Murakami
Cherries
Estimate HK$2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for HK$3,302,000
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31
KAWS
Pinch
Estimate HK$5,500,000 - 7,500,000
Sold for HK$6,096,000
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32
Mr.
The Endless Landscape of this Reality
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for HK$5,080,000
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33
Liu Ye
Flagship No. 1
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$6,985,000
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34
Liu Wei
Purple Air 2017 No. 1
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
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35
Huang Yuxing
Bubbles
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$2,667,000
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36
Ayako Rokkaku
Untitled
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 5,000,000
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37
Chen Ke
Outside the Window
Estimate HK$2,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for HK$5,080,000
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38
Cheng Xinyi
Goodnight, Thomas
Estimate HK$600,000 - 900,000
Sold for HK$1,206,500
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39
Anna Park
Covees
Estimate HK$500,000 - 700,000
Sold for HK$1,524,000
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40
This lot is no longer available.
41
MADSAKI
Untitled (Masters of the Universe)
Estimate HK$900,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for HK$889,000
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42
Brett Crawford
H3RE HE COMES
Estimate HK$600,000 - 800,000
Sold for HK$2,159,000
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