“Figurative artists develop subject matter; abstract artists like Mangold develop ‘object matter.’”
—Robert StorrRobert Mangold’s Curved Plane/Figure VIII, Study, 1995, explores his notion of fragments in relation to a whole, or the legibility of discrete elements within a unified entity. The artist’s gently curved semicircle – truncated on the right – is striking in its elegance and restraint. It is divided into three different color sections of equal width: a marigold yellow to the left, a raw Siena in the middle, and a modeled grey to the right. Two ovals are drawn in graphite atop the paint, each one traversing a boundary between two colors. Upon closer inspection, one realizes that the middle section is in fact an amalgamation of the two colors which flank it – a coalescence of yellow and grey. In this manner, Mangold investigates the notion of parts in a whole, and whether they can exist without the other.The American artist is known for working in series, a means for which he can carefully work through ideas and experiment with various permutations of a single composition. In his Curved Plane/Figure Series of 1994-1995, of which the present work is a part of, each work is composed of three separate canvases, which in their entirety form a large, harmonious semicircular composition. Mangold then used black pencil to draw ovals upon the surface, uniting the discrete canvases. As a part of this seminal series, Curved Plane/Figure VIII, Study is a striking example of Mangold’s ability to juxtapose the flatness of a work with the illusion of depth created by his use of shapes.
Mangold began painting on canvas in the 1960s and is known for shaped panel paintings like the present work, which rely on subtle variations of color and meticulous graphite lines to create a contemplative and reflective experience for the viewer. For his early shaped and multi-panel constructions, Mangold airbrushed oil-based pigments in gradations of color. Later, he replaced the airbrush technique with the use of a roller, before finally adopting a brush method to apply acrylic in near-transparent layers. Throughout his practice in all of its iterations, his dual interest in color and composition has remained.
[Left] Brygos Painter, Ilioupersis cup, circa 480 BCE. Image: Image: © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY
[Right] Barnett Newman, Vir Heroicus Sublimis, 1950-1951, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Image: © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY, Artwork: © 2023 Barnett Newman Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkWhereas Minimalism rejected the picture plane, Mangold strove to investigate and chose to embrace the two-dimensional space. In many ways, his practice had more in common with his Abstract Expressionist forebearers and the directness and immediacy of expression that they pursued in their art. One of his strongest influences was Barnett Newman, who’s Color Field paintings characterized by crisp edges can be seen echoed in Mangold’s works. On Newman, Mangold has said that his work “…presented to me a kind of serious monumentality, mental expensiveness and emotional tenseness that was to be a model for me of what great art should be.”i These qualities can be seen reflected in Curved Plane/Figure VIII, Study not only in its grand scale—its total width measuring more than six feet long—but in its conceptual clarity and directness. Mangold also found inspiration in earlier periods of art history, such as Renaissance frescos and even ancient Greek vases, striving to emulate their integration of paint and surface to emphasize flatness and frontality.
i Robert Mangold, quoted in Robert Mangold: Paintings and Drawings 1984-1997, exh. cat., Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, 1998, p. 148.
來源
紐約佩斯畫廊
私人收藏（1995年購自上述來源）
紐約，蘇富比，2014 年 3 月 7 日，拍品編號 56
現藏者購自上述拍賣過往展覽
New York, PaceWildenstein, Robert Mangold: Curved Plane/Figure Paintings, October 28–November 25, 1995, pp. 20, 21, 37 (illustrated, p. 21)
New York, Mnuchin Gallery, Robert Mangold: A Survey, 1965-2003, February 14–March 25, 2017
London, Pace Gallery, Robert Mangold: A Survey, 1981-2008, April 12–May 22, 2021
New York, Mignoni, Robert Mangold: The Space In Between, November 16–December 18, 2021文學
Robert Mangold: Recipient of the Alexej von Jawlensky-Award. Paintings and Drawings 1984–1997., exh. cat., Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, 1998, no. 953, pp. 211, 237 (illustrated)
John Yau, “Robert Mangold’s Sense of Things,” Hyperallergic, February 26, 2017, online
David Carrier, "Robert Mangold: A Survey, 1965-2003," Brooklyn Rail, March 2017, online
134
《曲面/圖像 VIII（習作）》
款識：CURVED PLANE/FIGURE VIII (STUDY) R. Mangold 1995 PANEL B（中組畫背）R. Mangold 1995 VIII PANEL [C, A]（左組畫背、右組畫背）
壓克力 石墨 黑色鉛筆 畫布（共三組）
48 7/8 x 73 3/4 英吋 (124.1 x 187.3 公分)
1995年作
估價
$300,000 - 500,000
成交價$381,000
Annie Dolan
日間拍賣（上午部分）拍賣主管暨專家
+1 212 940 1288
adolan@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
紐約拍賣 2023年11月15日
126
此拍品已不再提供買賣。
137
此拍品已不再提供買賣。
145
此拍品已不再提供買賣。
