Sans titre (Untitled)

Maker

(artist)
1899-1984

Title

Date of Production

(June) 1959

Medium

brush and black ink on paper

Dimensions

Height: 75.4 cm
Width: 105.3 cm

Accession Number

LD.2020.HK.21

Mode of Acquisition

Karshan Collection, long-term loan, 2020

Credit

Promised gift by Linda Karshan in memory of her husband, Howard Karshan. On long-term loan to The Courtauld Gallery, London

Copyright

Location

Not currently on display

Label Text

Henri Michaux made this large and impressive drawing with swift calligraphic moves of his brush, allowing the ink to run and pool a little. The work’s rhythmic quality leads the eye across the composition. The viewer becomes immersed in its array of marks and movements. Michaux was fascinated by different forms of lettering and pictograms. This work also has affinities with musical notation. Nevertheless, its abstract forms remain open to interpretation.

Provenance

Galerie Daniel Cordier, Frankfurt, 1960; Galerie Le Point Cardinal, Paris [based on a photograph taken in the Galerie sometime between 1967-1984]; Promised gift by Linda Karshan in memory of her husband, Howard Karshan. On long-term loan to The Courtauld Gallery, London.

Exhibition History

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 19/11/2021-09/01/2022

Inner Worlds Outside, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 28/04/2006-25/06/2006

Literature

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20 Nov. 2021 - 9 Jan. 2022
cat. no. 13
Fig. p. p. 81

Inscriptions

Inscription: Recto: lower right, brush and black ink, signed with initials: “HM”. Verso: upper left, graphite: “B332, PF/5062, June 59”.

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