See highlights from Capsule's first sale of the spring.
In celebration of the season, Capsule presents Spring Art and Design on April 6. The sale offers a plethora of fine art sourced from prominent estates and collections, such as that of Latin American art historian Graciela Kartofel. The auction also includes a range of stunning furniture and design items by designers and makers such as Le Corbusier, Mario Bellini, and Sōri Yanagi.
The sale offers two impressive floor lamps by Pierre Jeanneret, the famed Swiss architect. He created the designs while residing in Chandigarh, India as part of a project to plan the city for the newly independent Indian government in the late 1940s. Uncomplicated yet striking, these lamps exemplify the architect’s reverence for simple geometric forms.
Interestingly, Jeanneret worked on the Chandigarh city planning project with his cousin and fellow architect Le Corbusier, furniture designs by whom are also featured in Capsule’s sale. His LC4 chaise has often been referred to as the “relaxing machine”: with its ergonomic arced shape, it is easy to see why this lounge has become an icon of modern design. A Petite Modele edition of Le Corbusier's LC2 chair is also available for bidding.
A pair of velvet lounge chairs by German designer Otto Schultz are also included in the sale: his ability to marry clean modern forms with more baroque traditional furniture styles shines through here. Although low to the ground in a way that resembles mid century modern designs, the chairs' rich upholstery and puckered seat back feel reminiscent of earlier movements.
Spring Art and Design also offers an assortment of Latin American artwork from the estate of art historian Graciela Kartofel, including an exquisite untitled sculpture by Mathias Goeritz. The clean square form exemplifies the artist’s belief in “emotional architecture,” or the idea that objects are capable of eliciting powerful emotional responses. Three collages by Mexican artist Rodolfo Morales are also being offered from Dr. Kartofel’s estate.
Three collages by Mexican artist Rodolfo Morales are also being offered from Dr. Kartofel’s estate. Typical of the dreamlike scenes he has become famous for, these works are whimsical and complexly textured, inviting close and careful looking.
Other highlights from the sale include Joseph Piccillo’s Study - February, a large-scale charcoal on paper work. The artist is best known for stunning renderings of horses in motion such as this one. Emerging from an entirely black background, the equine subject appears to gleam in the light. Its mane whipping in an invisible wind and the contours of its legs nearly obscured by the illusion of motion, the horse gallops across the dynamic composition.
Rufino Tamayo’s Figura en Jarras, a color aquatint on Guarra paper, marks another standout. “Art is a means of expression that must be understood by everybody, everywhere,” the artist once said. His unique aesthetic vocabulary and deep reverence for the power of simple forms certainly shines through here. Imposing and yet tranquil thanks to its earthy tones, Figura en Jarras impresses a sense of peace and harmony.
A stunning watercolor by Will Barnet, entitled Looking Forward - Looking Back, is also offered in April 6th's sale. Depicting a single double-faced figure against a swath of maroon, this work has the enigmatic quality that defines Barnet's body of work, which spans over 80 years.