Lot 197 : LARRY RIVERS
Sotheby's - New York - 11 May 2006
Description:
1923-2002
POTS AND PANS
47 by 45 3/4 in. 119.4 by 116.3 cm.
signed and dated '58
oil on canvas
PROVENANCE
Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
Acquired by the previous owner from the above in 1958
Thence by descent to the present owner
EXHIBITED
Waltham, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University; Pasadena Art Museum; New York, Jewish Museum; Detroit, Institute of Arts; Minneapolis, Institute of Arts, Larry Rivers, April 1965 - February 1966, cat. no. 22
LITERATURE
Sam Hunter, Larry Rivers, New York, 1969, pl. no. 64, n.p., illustrated
Sam Hunter, Larry Rivers, New York, 1989, pl. no. 162, p. 203, illustrated
NOTE
The bravura of painterly expression sustained in Larry Rivers' 1958 Pots and Pans exemplifies the artist's individuality and simultaneous rejection of Abstract Expressionist and Pop Art movements. Notoriously non-conformist, Larry Rivers deliberately worked outside of any major movement to create an oeuvre uniquely his own. Rivers sought to reference the discourses and and engage the iconogarphy of art historical while reinventing them within a present-day context.
Rivers painted Pots and Pans at a watershed moment in his career. His first major work, The Buriel, 1951, derived from Courbet's A Burial at Ornans, was purchased by Gloria Vanderbilt in 1954. Perhaps his most famous work, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1953, based on Emmanuel Leutze's patriotic image, was acquired by New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1955. Rivers' choice of subject matter, gleaning images made familiar by past masters, was in stark contrast to the works of Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning and Joan Mitchell. Though his compositions reflected his knowledge and respect for academic subject matter, his manner of working remained faithful to his origins as an Action painter. Pots and Pans shows the bold spontaneous brushwork and superb draughtsman skills that catpulted Larry Rivers to the forefront of the New York art world.
The energy in this painting is palpable and breathes life into an otherwise stale and formal still-life study. As Rivers stated, "so much in the making of art is energy. Not just the manipulation of the arms or fingers, but the physical insistence of the mind to keep on making decisions -- in spite of continuous physical and mental disruption." (Sam Hunter, Larry Rivers, New York, 1969, p.16). His gestural brushwork, expressive pencil sketchings and uneven surface texture are reminiscent of the spontaneous techniques used in Abstract Expressionism. His focus on common household objects is suggestive of Pop Arts appropriation of mass culture. But self-consciously removing himself from any firm alignment, Larry Rivers "feels as free as ever to make up the rules as he goes along, merging naturalistic observation with poetic contrivance." (Marco Livinsgtone, Larry Rivers, London, 1983, n.p.).
