MARK TOBEY (Centerville 1890–1976 Basel) Untitled. Ca. 1970. Tempera on styrofoam. Signed on the reverse: Tobey, as well as with the artists stamp. 99.6 × 49.7 cm. With the confirmation of authenticity by the Committee Mark Tobey, Münster, 28 February 2022. The present work is registered there under the number: 28/02/22-70.35. We thank Dr. Heiner Hachmeister for his kind assistance. Provenance: - Galerie Carzaniga, Basel. - Purchased from the above at Art Basel 2001 by the present owner, since then private collection Switzerland. White lines in movement symbolize a unifying idea which flows through the compartmented units of life bringing the consciousness of a larger relativity." Mark Tobey The painter, poet and composer Mark Tobey was an important pioneer of Abstract Expressionism. His pictorial world is complex and is characterised by an almost inexhaustible potential for creativity, experimentation, and the power to innovate. With his distinctive approach to abstraction and his fusion of elements of Western modernism with components of Far Eastern calligraphy, Tobey created something new and radiant. Tobey’s complex oeuvre ranges from figurative works to the iconic White Writings. His works are exhibited in notable museums around the world. The present work, created around 1970, features an internal structure of dynamic white, blue, and violet lines, together with scattered, intertwined calligraphic elements in a dark violet tempera impasto. The viewer searches in vain for a centre in this outstanding work. It is the entire painting that pulsates and is engulfed in optical rhythm and musical vibrations. Painting on polystyrene — as in the work presented here — represented a particular challenge for Tobey because of the dullness and resistance of the material. This brilliant composition reveals the broad spectrum of Tobeys themes and interests: nature, civilisation, cities, movement, the sky and the cosmos, emptiness and contemplation, and rhythm and music. Mark Tobey was born in Centerville, Wisconsin in 1890. From 1906 to 1908 he attended courses in oil and watercolour painting at the Art Institute in Chicago. In 1911 Tobey moved to New York, continued to teach himself painting and drawing, and earned his living as a fashion illustrator, portraitist, and caricaturist. From the time of his conversion to the Bahai faith in 1918, the meditative scriptural exercises and pictorial worlds of the Far East increasingly influenced his compositions. From 1925 Tobey began to travel, with visits to Paris and the Middle East. A longer trip took Tobey to China and Japan, where he closely studied Zen teachings and painting, as well as calligraphy, in a Zen monastery. From the 1940s onwards, Tobey produced his famous White Writings, which present a network of fine marks inspired by calligraphy. Tobeys international breakthrough came in 1958 when he won the International Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennale. Although Mark Tobey never lost contact with the country of his birth, he finally moved to Basel in 1960, where he died in 1976. MARK TOBEY (Centerville 1890–1976 Basel) Ohne Titel. Um 1970. Tempera auf Styropor. Verso signiert: Tobey, sowie mit einem Künstlerstempel. 99,6 × 49,7 cm. Mit der Best?tigung der Authentizit?t durch das Committee Mark Tobey, Münster, 28. Februar 2022. Das vorliegende Werk ist dort unter der Nummer: 28/02/22-70.35, registriert. Wir danken Herrn Dr. Hachmeister für seine freundliche Unterstützung. Provenienz: - Galerie Carzaniga, Basel. - Vom heutigen Besitzer 2001 bei obiger Galerie auf der Art Basel erworben, seitdem Privatsammlung Schweiz. "White lines in movement symbolize a unifying idea which flows through the compartmented units of life bringing the consciousness of a larger relativity." Mark Tobey Der Maler, Dichter und Komponist Mark Tobey ist ein bedeutender Pionier des Abstrakten Expressionismus. Seine bildkünstlerische Welt ist komplex und zeichnet sich durch ein fast unersch?pfliches Potential an Kreativit?t, Experimentierfreude und der Kraft zur Innovation aus. Mit seiner unverwechselbaren Herangehensweise an**Abstraktion und der Verschmelzung von Elementen der westlichen Moderne mit Komponenten der orientalischen Kalligrafie schafft Tobey etwas Neues mit grosser Strahlkraft. Tobeys Vielschichtigkeit reicht von figurativen Arbeiten bis hin zu den ikonischen White Writings. Seine Werke sind weltweit in namhaften Museen ausgestellt.**vorliegende Arbeit,**um 1970 entsteht, zeigt eine konstruktive Binnenzeichnung mit weissen, blauen und violetten, fliessend bewegten Linien und vereinzelten, mit pastos dunkelvioletter Tempera aufgetragenen, ineinander verschlungenen kalligrafischen Elementen. Vergeblich sucht der Betrachter in diesem herausragenden Werk nach einem Zentrum. Es ist das komplette Gem?lde, das pulsiert und vom optischen Rhythmus und musikalischen Schwingungen überzogen wird.**Malerei auf Styropor - wie beim angebotenen ?uvre - stellt für Tobey aufgrund der Stumpfheit und der Widerst?ndigkeit des Materials eine besondere Herausforderung dar. Diese brillante Komposition offenbart das breite Spektrum von Tobeys Themen und Interessen: Natur, Zivilisation, St?dte, Bewegungen, der Himmel und der Kosmos, Leere und Kontemplation sowie Rhythmus und Musik. 1890 wird Mark Tobey in Centerville, Wisconsin geboren. Von 1906 bis 1908 besucht er Kurse für ?l- und Aquarellmalerei am Art Institute of Chicago. 1911 zieht Tobey nach New York, bildet sich autodidaktisch als Maler und Zeichner weiter und verdient seinen Unterhalt als Modeillustrator, Portr?tist und Karikaturist. Seit seiner Konvertierung zum Bahai-Glauben im Jahr 1918 nehmen**meditativ bestimmten Schriftübungen und Bildwelten des Fernen Ostens zunehmend Einfluss auf seine Kompositionen. Ab 1925 beginnen seine Reisen mit Aufenthalten in Paris und dem Nahen Osten. Eine l?ngere Reise führt Tobey nach China und Japan, wo er sich in einem Zen-Kloster intensiv mit der Lehre und Malerei des Zens sowie mit der Kalligrafie der ostasiatischen Malerei auseinandersetzt. Ab den 40er Jahren entstehen Tobeys berühmte White Writings,**ein Netzwerk kalligrafisch durchmodellierter feiner Zeichen darstellen. Mit dem Gewinn des internationalen Preises für Malerei an der Biennale von Venedig gelingt Tobey 1958 ein weltweiter Durchbruch. Obwohl Mark Tobey nie den Kontakt zu seinem Geburtsland verliert, zieht er 1960 endgültig nach Basel, wo er 1976 verstirbt.
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