Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7

Hans Jean Arp
Relief II (Arntz 183), Société internationale d'art XXe siècle

1954

About the Item

Woodcut on vélin paper. Paper Size: 12.4 x 9.65 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné references: Arntz, Wilhelm F., and Jean Arp. Hans (Jean) Arp : Das Graphische Werk 1912-1966, L’œuvre Gravé. G. Arntz-Winter, 1974, illustration 183. Notes: From the album, XXe siècle, Nouvelle série N° 4 (double) Janvier 1954, Cahiers d'Art publiés sous la direction de Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, 1954. Published by Société Internationale d'Art XXe siècle, Paris, under the direction of Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, éditeur, Paris; printed by Mourlot Frères, Paris, 1954. Additional notes: Excerpted from the academic article, “Promoting Original Prints, The Role of Gualtieri di San Lazzaro and XXe Siècle” by Valerie Holman, published in Print Quarterly, XXXIII, 2016, 2, Until recently very little has been written on the Italian author and art publisher Gualtieri di San Lazzaro (1904-75), yet for 50 years he chronicled the life and work of contemporary artists, produced monographs of exceptional quality, and disseminated original prints by modern painters and sculptors through his best-known periodical, XXe Siècle. Although still a relatively unfamiliar figure in the United Kingdom, San Lazzaro is one of the half-dozen great art publishers of the mid-twentieth century who, together with his exemplar, Ambroise Vollard (1866-1939), and those of his own generation, Christian Zervos (1889-1970), Tériade (1889-1983) and Albert Skira (1904-73), chose to base himself in Paris, seeing it throughout his life as the centre of the art world….XXe Siècle, an illustrated periodical, was launched in 1938 and printed in editions of approximately 2,000, each issue containing both photographs and four-colour separation reproductions across a wide spectrum of visual imagery ranging from masterpieces of Western painting to popular prints from the Far East. Its large format, lively design, and close integration of text and image, were immediately striking, but its most innovative feature, introduced at the suggestion of Hans Arp (1886-1966), was the inclusion of original prints by contemporary artists in every issue. With obvious appeal for collectors, XXe Siècle was also designed to introduce a wider, international public to contemporary painting and sculpture through good quality colour reproductions and the immediacy of original prints. Comparable in price to Cahiers d'Art, early issues of XXe Siècle sold out rapidly. While San Lazzaro's own aesthetic preferences tended towards lyric abstraction, he made clear that XXe Siècle was non-partisan [publication ceased during World War II]….in 1951, San Lazzaro relaunched XXe Siècle with thematic issues that were materials based, or centred on a topic of current interest in the visual arts, particularly in Europe: concepts of space, matter, monochrome, mark-making and the sign.' A defining feature of the new series was Italy's artistic dialogue with France for, while San Laz-zaro had originally concentrated on Paris-based painters and sculptors, his aim was to create an international network, to make known the work of French artists in Italy and Italian artists in France, and subsequently extend this bilateral axis to the English-speak-ing world. The artists represented in No. I by an original print were all best known as sculptors: Arp, Laurens, Henry Moore (1898-186) and Marino Marini, San Lazzaro not only sought to show readers the full range of an artist's work, but to encourage the production of prints, a stimulus much appreciated, for example, by Magnelli…. Suffering from failing health, in 1968 San Lazzaro lost overall control of XXe Siècle to Léon Amiel, a printer-publisher who had provided financial backing and helped with distribution in America." Thematic issues now ceased and were replaced by a 'panorama' of the year, but San Lazzaro was still active as a publisher of books and albums of prints….Shortly after his death, San Lazzaro himself was the subject of two exhibitions: 'Omaggio a XXe Siècle' in Milan in December 1974 centred on graphic work by those artists closest to him late in life, while 'San Laz-zaro et ses Amis' at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1975 featured work by all those whose work he had promoted for more than 50 years: Arp, Calder (1898-1976), Capogrossi, Chagall, Sonia Delau-nay, Dubuffet, Estève, Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), Gili-oli (1911-77), Magnelli, Marini, Miró, Moore and Poliakoff. This exhibition was seen by one of his closest colleagues as an indirect portrait of San Lazzaro, a complex man whose modesty and reserve masked his unremitting drive to extend international appreciation of contemporary art, and to bring the reading public closer to its making through the medium of print. HANS JEAN ARP (1886-1966), something of a one-man movement, he could—and did—make anything into art. Best-known for his biomorphic sculptures, and one of the most versatile creative minds of the early-20th century, he fashioned sculptures out of plaster, stone and bronze, and also expressed himself in paintings, drawings, collages, and poems. His approach to form, often referred to as organic abstraction, was remarkably consistent: his wavy lines suggested plants, body parts and other natural motifs, while remaining entirely abstract. Like an extraterrestrial on earth for the very first time, Arp's genius was in presenting visual information as if he is first seeing it. Transformation, growth, fecundity, and metamorphosis are among the dominant themes in his work. On November 11, 2018, a sculpture, Déméter, by Hans Jean Arp sold for $5,825,000 USD at Christie's New York, setting a world record for the artist.
  • Creator:
    Hans Jean Arp (1886 - 1966, French)
  • Creation Year:
    1954
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12.4 in (31.5 cm)Width: 9.65 in (24.52 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Auburn Hills, MI
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1465216462432

More From This Seller

View All
Chillida, Composition, Derrière le miroir (after)
By Eduardo Chillida
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Woodcut on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From Derrière le miroir, N° 174, 1968. Published by Aimé Maeght, Éditeur, Paris; print...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Chillida, Composition, Derrière le miroir (after)
By Eduardo Chillida
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Woodcut on vélin paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition, with centerfold, as issued. Notes: From Derrière le miroir, N° 174, 1968. Published by Aimé M...
Category

1960s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Composition (Arntz 133), Derrière le miroir
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Woodcut on vélin paper. Paper Size: 15 x 22 inches, with centerfold, as issued. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné references: Arntz, Wilh...
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Composition (Arntz 134), Derrière le miroir
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Woodcut on vélin paper. Paper Size: 15 x 11 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné references: Arntz, Wilhelm F., and Jean Arp. Hans (...
Category

1950s Modern Abstract Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Zwei Reiter vor Rot (Roethel 95), XXe Siècle, Wassily Kandinsky
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Woodcut on wove paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, XXe Siècle, n°3, July-August-September 1938. Published and printed und...
Category

1930s Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Schwarzer Fleck (Roethel 145), XXe Siècle, Wassily Kandinsky
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Woodcut on wove paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, XXe Siècle, n°3, July-August-September 1938. Published and printed und...
Category

1930s Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

You May Also Like

February -- Orchid. (Nigatsu - Ranjo no saku).
By Shiko Munakata
Located in Storrs, CT
February -- Orchid. (Nigatsu - Ranjo no saku). 1956. Woodcut with hand-applied color from the verso. Kodansha vol.9 No. 125. 17 x 13 (sheet 18 1/4 x 21 1/2). Series: Calender in the ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Watercolor, Woodcut

Four trees. Paper, wood carving , 29x29 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Four trees. Paper, wood carving, 29x29 cm Dzidra Ezergaile (1926-2013) Born in Riga. School years alternate with summer work in the countryside. In 1...
Category

1970s Abstract Landscape Prints

Materials

Paper, Woodcut

Clinton Hill, Arroyo, 1962, woodcut, landscape/abstraction
By Clinton Hill
Located in New York, NY
Clinton Hill (1922-2003), lived in SoHo, New York, and was a frequent Gallery visitor. Born in Idaho and raised on a working ranch, he joined the US Navy during World War II and beca...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Clinton Hill, (Vertical Landscape), 1960, woodcut, landscape/abstraction
By Clinton Hill
Located in New York, NY
Clinton Hill (1922-2003), lived in SoHo, New York, and was a frequent Gallery visitor. Born in Idaho and raised on a working ranch, he joined the US Navy during World War II and beca...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Clinton Hill, Ocotillo (Cactus), 1962, woodcut, landscape/abstraction
By Clinton Hill
Located in New York, NY
Clinton Hill (1922-2003), lived in SoHo, New York, and was a frequent Gallery visitor. Born in Idaho and raised on a working ranch, he joined the US Navy during World War II and beca...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Clinton Hill, Title Page II, 1956, woodcut, landscape/abstraction
By Clinton Hill
Located in New York, NY
Clinton Hill (1922-2003), lived in SoHo, New York, and was a frequent Gallery visitor. Born in Idaho and raised on a working ranch, he joined the US Navy during World War II and beca...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Recently Viewed

View All