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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE VINCENZO BITETTI. Vincenzo Bitetti (1924-2002), both art collector and gallerist, began his activities in Potenza (southern Italy) in 1969 when he opened his art gallery "Galleria 70". Fascinated by colourism and by artistic trends of expressionist origin, his interest in the Cobra movement was a logical step. In 1971 he met Dutch Cobra painter Corneille, resulting in a life lasting friendship and professional relationship. Corneille influenced Bitetti in his fervent passion for African art. At the beginning of the 1970's he presented the first one-men shows in Italy of Dutch artists Lucebert and Anton Rooskens and of photographer Irina Ionesco, still at the very beginning of her career. From 1974 to 1976 he worked closely together with Galerie Herman Krikhaar in Amsterdam, presenting among others, Corneille, Martin Bradley, Antoni Clavé and organizing a memorable exhibition of pre-colombian art, including mummies, jewels and ornaments from the grave of a Huari-Inca royal family. Among the many exhibitions at the Galleria 70 the one in 1989 should be remembered; celebrating 40 years since the first exhibition of the Cobra group was held in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In his last years Vincenzo Bitetti worked mostly in Rome, Paris and Milan, where to, in 1993, he transferred the gallery. The following works are a significant example of the personal collection Bitetti had created through the years. Many of the works by Jorn, Appel, Constant, Lucebert and Rooskens were included in the Potenza exhibition of 1989: Cobra. 40 anni dalla prima mostra allo Stedelijk Museum di Amsterdam.

Asger Jorn (Danish, 1914-1973)

Sommerens Bal - Summer blaze

Details

Asger Jorn (Danish, 1914-1973)
Sommerens Bal - Summer blaze
signed 'jorn' (lower right), and signed again, dated and inscribed with title '69' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
73 x 92.5 cm.

Literature

Guy Atkins, Asger Jorn The final years 1965-1973, London 1980, no 1849 (ill.)
Potenza, Galleria 70, Cobra. 40 anni dalla prima mostra allo Stedelijk Museum di Amsterdam, 10-30 November 1989 (ill. unnumbered pages) Milano, Galleria 70, 1948-1998 L'anno del Cobra, 5 March-24 April

Exhibited

Copenhagen, Galerie Birch, Aktivitet, November 1969 (ill. in catalogue).
Paris, Galerie Ariel, year unknown, no. 6524.
Genoa, Galleria Nuovo Sagittario, Ventisette pittori, June 1973, no. 1133 (ill. in catalogue).
Milan, Galleria Nuovo Sagittario, 35 pittori, 2 scultori, September 1973 (ill. in catalogue).
Rome, Galleria La Borgognona, Artisti Contemporanei, December 1979.

Special notice

Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

Sale room notice

Literature: Potenza, Galleria 70, Cobra. 40 anni dalla prima mostra allo Stedelijk Museum di Amsterdam, 10-30 November 1989 (ill. unnumbered pages)

Milano, Galleria 70, 1948-1998 L'anno del Cobra, 5 March-24 April

Lot Essay

Troels Andersen says about the last period of Jorns oeuvre: In the best works of the 1960's until the artist's death, colour has at last achieved the autonomy which he had so long sought. Now it is the surge of colour that dictates the composition - colour which in the late works is cleaner and stronger than ever before. Now and then broad brushstrokes appear, done with a brush the same size as that used by Japanese calligraphers. Line drawing is often introduced as a final stage, with pure color applied straight from the tube to bring out a figure. Sometimes a painting is as clearly built up as in certain lithographs: the base is first tinted, then each individual color is disposed in different areas of the plane, as if applied on different stones. The packed, texturally aggressive canvases are rare in the last years. It is more a shift in viscosity from a thin turpentine-fluid colour to a denser surface controled by the palette knive - variations within a limited range (Troels Andersen in: Exh.cat. Silkeborg Kunstmuseum, Asger Jorn, Malerier, keramik, vaevninger, Silkeborg 1985, p. 31).

"To make the material speak to man
in the name of man,
This is the aim and reality of art"
Asger Jorn, 1971

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