Mira Schendel - Latin America New York Monday, May 23, 2016 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Collection of Joaquim Millan, São Paulo
    Estudio Nobrega, São Paulo
    Collection of Eduardo Boueri, São Paulo
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Artist Biography

    Mira Schendel

    Brazilian • 1919 - 1988

    Born in Zurich and of Jewish heritage, Mira Schendel escaped Switzerland during World War II to settle in Sarajevo and Rome, finally immigrating to Brazil in 1953. In the 1960s, she began to produce her iconic monotipas, delicate drawings on luminescent rice paper. She rejected the notion of painting as a primary medium, abandoning the genre in the 1970s for almost a decade. Schendel worked mostly with paper and objects made of unusual materials such as Plexiglas, fabrics and aqueous inks.

    Recurring themes in her work include letters, geometric figures and phrases reflecting a radical lexicon, often juxtaposing elements from two languages (visual and numerical). Many of her works hover in the space between drawing and writing, creating a certain visual poetry that is completely her own. Schendel's works go beyond the materiality of making art and allow viewers to understand the relationship between language, time and human thought processes.

    View More Works

42

Untiltled (From the series 'Toquinhos')

1972
ecoline and letraset on paper
19 1/4 x 9 7/8 in. (48.9 x 25.1 cm)
Signed and dated "Mira Schendel 72".

Estimate
$15,000 - 20,000 

Sold for $25,000

Contact Specialist
Kaeli Deane
Head of Sale
New York
+1 212 940 1352

Latin America

New York Auction 23 May 2016