Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Francesco Clemente
Clemente Untitled B: surreal mythical landscape, voyage with ocean, Venus, snake

1986

About the Item

A black and white, large-scale surreal mythical landscape of an ocean voyage, with a snake wrapped around a clock, a ship, Venus sculpture, greek urns, and snakes, printed in black on translucent Japanese paper. Paper: three panels, total 65.5 x 199 cm. / 25.75 x 78.25 in. Lithograph in three panels on buff mould made Okawara (Kozo) paper. Edition 100. Signed and numbered by the artist. Published by Petersburg Press. Clemente drew this lithograph while working on his large scale de luxe book “The Departure of the Argonaut”, both of which were exhibited on publication at MoMA, New York in 1986. “The Departure of the Argonaut” includes 49 original lithographs overlaying the text of Alberto Savinio (the brother of Giorgio de Chirico). In both “Untitled B” and “The Departure of the Argonaut” Clemente’s surreal, mythological imagery, draws on themes of mortality, eternity, sexuality, and the fluidiity of life. This epic, three-part print portrays a surreal scene stretching across the paper. To the left, animals sit in row: a chimpanzee, crab, lemur, tapir, cockroach, and other species sit happily side-by-side, as if lined up for Noah's ark. Four figures stand above them in a row, assuming the pose of Rodin's The Thinker. To the right, a bisected nude female figure is flanked by urns. A snake-print ocean divided into long strips stretches across the middle of the print, its waves transforming into the body of a coiled snake. The clock, wrapped tightly by the snake, reads 11:55. A shrew hides beneath the snake. The ocean's stripes turn into a storm of capsized boats and urns: smoke rises from the striations, curling into dots and letters that curl into a spiral vortex. Fluid brushstrokes and airy, sketched marks capture the movement of the ocean, its waves marking the passage of time. Capsized ships imply the inevitable end of life. Clemente contrasts the traditional Memento Mori imagery of a clock, marking the mortality of man, with the snake, a symbol of renewal and rebirth. Here, the clock reads 10:45, while in this work’s companion piece, Untitled A, the clock has almost struck midnight. A nude woman displays male genitalia, containing the means for human reproduction in just one body. The promise of renewal in Noah's ark is dashed on the waves with the Grecian urns. John Keats' poem "Ode to a Grecian Urn" describes the urn's beauty as eternal, yet lacking the vitality and warmth of life itself, and ultimately serving as a reminder of the brevity of existence. The urns can be seen, too, as the ephemeral vessel of the human body, broken in the waves. And while Clemente's broken urns and boats suggest the inevitable end of things, the curved lines and spirals of Untitled promise the possibility of renewal. A prodigious producer of paintings, drawing, and prints, Clemente frequently depicts the nude human form, including intimate self-portraits and couples in erotic embrace. Clemente’s visual language combines art-historical reference and ancient mythology with images of nature, imbuing figurative scenes with a dreamy spirituality. Sex, violence, death and birth provide equal inspiration for Clemente’s nomadic soul-searching. Clemente was born in Naples, Italy, and raised surrounded by the images of Greco-Roman myth and the art of Italian masters. At the age of 21, he travelled to India, where he would later live for a time, immersing himself in the cultural and spiritual traditions of Madras. He currently divides his time between New York, India and Rome. A fixture of the New York art scene since the 1980’s, he has exhibited most recently at Blain Southern Gallery, London and Berlin; James Cohan Shanghai, Daniel Templon, Paris; and Mary Boone, New York. This lithograph is in the collection of Tate, London; Des Moines Art Centre, Des Moines and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra amongst others.
  • Creator:
    Francesco Clemente (1952, Italian)
  • Creation Year:
    1986
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 26.75 in (67.95 cm)Width: 119.25 in (302.9 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    This print is not pre-owned and has been stored in a flat file since its publication.
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1211210671902

More From This Seller

View All
Vladimir: Greek column abstract etching and screenprint, handmade paper frame
By Michael Hurson
Located in New York, NY
An abstract black and white shadowbox drawing of a Greek column, with a unique handmade, hand printed, leather brown wood grain frame. According to Roberta Smith, Michael Hurson "......
Category

1980s Contemporary Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Intaglio, Screen

Clemente Untitled A: surreal mythical landscape, voyage with ocean and animals
By Francesco Clemente
Located in New York, NY
A black and white, large-scale surreal mythical landscape of an ocean voyage, with a snake wrapped around a clock, female figure, greek urns, and an...
Category

1980s Contemporary Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

The Departure of the Argonaut by Francesco Clemente Alberto Sauvinio (portfolio)
By Francesco Clemente
Located in New York, NY
The Departure of the Argonaut (1918) is the travelogue and wartime diary of Alberto Savinio, one of the seminal figures in twentieth-century Italian arts and letters. Clemente's acco...
Category

1980s Abstract Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

The Departure of the Argonaut Francesco Clemente (bound book) Alberto Savinio
By Francesco Clemente
Located in New York, NY
The Departure of the Argonaut (1918) is the travelogue and wartime diary of Alberto Savinio, one of the seminal figures in twentieth-century Italian arts and letters. Clemente's acco...
Category

1980s Abstract Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Fjord by Henry Moore drawing of Scottish landscape for W.H. Auden poetry book
By Henry Moore
Located in New York, NY
One of a series of 18 lithographs drawn by the artist for the Auden Poems/Moore Lithographs 1974 book and portfolio. This work is from an edition of 25 printed on vellum aside from the portfolio (edition of 75) and the book. Signed by the artist lower right in pencil; numbered 8/25 lower left in pencil. Printed in inky black, Fjord features a close-up view of the water as it meets the shore. Yorkshire is famous for its rocky coastline, where fishing villages cling to cliffs, windswept abbeys peak above the skyline, and sand beaches attract families on vacation. Moore’s scene is dark and even sinister – the shore’s narrow inlets reaching into the water like gnarled fingers. Fjord displays Moore’s fascination with light and dark – what he called a “…bias towards the blackness and mysterious depths.” Moore was inspired by the prints of Rembrandt and the drawings of Seurat, and even drew on his memories of viewing the Altamira cave paintings, recalling how some of the images used the shadow of candlelight on the rough surface of the rock to model light. Shortly before starting work on this series of lithographs, Moore had fallen ill, leaving him aware of his own mortality. His mood pervaded these prints with a sense of danger and foreboding. Fjord is one of a group of lithographs...
Category

Late 20th Century Landscape Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Rainbow: colorful Rosenquist pop art with gold, turquoise, purple, pink, blue
By James Rosenquist
Located in New York, NY
A classic Rosenquist pop art composition with gold, turquoise, purple, pink, blue, green and yellow. Characteristically surreal and graphic, Rainbow incorporates bold geometric forms with painterly washes of color and airbrush texture. Rosenquist's signature gleaming metallic chrome texture can be seen on an inverted fork behind the glass of a golden window. Paper 25.25 x 30.25 in. / 64 x 77 cm Image 17 x 21.5 in. / 43 x 54.5 cm Lithograph with screenprint on cream-coloured Hodgkinson handmade Wookey Hole paper. Edition of 75 with 8 color trial proofs: this impression 8/8. Signed and dated 1972 lower right in pencil; titled, numbered 8/8 and labeled Color Trial Proof lower left in pencil. This graphic, colorful scene is based on Rosenquist’s 1962 oil painting of the same name, collected in the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. The artist used real glass and wood to construct windows for the original painting – here, house siding is abstracted to bold, black horizontal lines, and the window glass is printed in dark gold ink. At the top of the composition, a window with shutters pushed open is colored in turquoise, with sharp black shadows. The left-hand window pane is shattered, and to the right, the outline of an oversized...
Category

1970s Pop Art Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

You May Also Like

PONT NEUF LE SOIR Signed Lithograph Paris Night Scene Historic Bridge, Moon Boat
By Michel Delacroix
Located in Union City, NJ
Pont Neuf Le Soir is a hand drawn, limited edition lithograph(not a photo reproduction or digital print) printed using hand lithography techniques on archival Arches paper by the popular French artist Michel Delacroix, well known for his naif style paintings of a city he calls "the Paris of then". Pont Neuf Le Soir is a dramatic Paris night scene depicted with a deep gray blue moonlit evening sky as a backdrop for the oldest historic Paris bridge crossing the River Seine - the Pont Neuf. In the foreground, a nostalgic street scene of people in Victorian dress strolling beneath the glowing lampposts; women with a baby carriage, flowers, children, small dog, and a black tugboat billowing smoke heading up river toward a rosy...
Category

1990s Contemporary Landscape Prints

Materials

Lithograph

SPORT, SPIRIT, SPLENDOR Signed Lithograph, Town Landscape, Special Olympics
By Michel Delacroix
Located in Union City, NJ
In 1995, Michel Delacroix became the Official Artist of the Special Olympics World Games and was joined for the unveiling of the splendid commemorative lithograph ‘Sport. Spirit. Splendor' by Caroline Kennedy. This commissioned print edition, SPORT, SPIRIT, SPLENDOR is a town landscape scene depicting community people gathering by the flag pole at the town green to cheer on the colorfully dressed charity runners as they pass. In SPORT, SPIRIT, SPLENDOR a calming pink and blue horizon serves as the backdrop of this quaint New England town green landscape scene featuring a charity running event printed in shades of Autumn golden ochre, greens, brown. A prominent white steeple tops the terracotta brick town hall building, a red, white, and blue American flag and a dark blue and chrome yellow Special...
Category

1990s Contemporary Landscape Prints

Materials

Lithograph

DAILY CHORES Signed Lithograph, Seaside Landscape, Lighthouse, New England
By Sally Caldwell-Fisher
Located in Union City, NJ
DAILY CHORES is an original hand drawn lithograph(not a photo reproduction or digital print) by the American woman artist Sally Caldwell-Fisher, printed using hand lithography techniques on archival Arches paper 100% acid free. DAILY CHORES by Ms. Caldwell-Fisher presents a nostalgic look back at New England life - a refreshing seaside summer landscape featuring a brick red colored house and quintessential white light house set atop a lush green seaside overlook. A lone woman stands shading her eyes, looking toward the sea dressed in Victorian clothes...
Category

1990s Contemporary Landscape Prints

Materials

Lithograph

PROVINCETOWN SIDE STREET Signed Lithograph, New England Cape Cod Clapboard House
By Chaim Gross
Located in Union City, NJ
PROVINCETOWN SIDE STREET is a limited edition lithograph by the American artist/sculptor Chaim Gross. PROVINCETOWN SIDE STREET was printed using traditional lithography methods on a...
Category

1970s Contemporary Landscape Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Saul Steinberg lithograph derrière le miroir
By Saul Steinberg
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Saul Steinberg Lithograph c. 1970 from Derrière le miroir: Lithograph in colors; 15 x 11 inches. Very good overall vintage condition; well-preseved. Unsigned from an edition of...
Category

1970s Contemporary Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

THE CONVERSATION Signed Lithograph, Black Women, Train, African American Culture
By Romare Bearden
Located in Union City, NJ
THE CONVERSATION is an original limited edition lithograph printed using traditional hand lithography methods on archival Somerset printmaking paper, 100% acid free. THE CONVERSATION...
Category

1970s Contemporary Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Recently Viewed

View All