Due disegni di New York dell’artista inglese Christopher Nevinson in asta alla “Prints and Multiples Sale” di Bonhams che si terrà a Londra il 9 dicembre prossimo. “The mezzotint, New York Night (43rd Street)” è stimato a £ 25,000-35,000 e “The drypoint, Three A.M. A Corner by Madison Square at Night” a £ 10.000 – 15.000.
Nel 1919, Nevinson, molto noto per i suoi disegni con soggetto la prima guerra mondiale, fu invitato ad esporre a New York dall’editore e mecenate Frederick Keppel. Keppel, molto soddisfatto della mostra, gli chiese di ritornare l’anno successivo e il risultato di queste visite a New York fu una serie di suggestive immagini che ritraggono un paesaggio urbano dominato da edifici che sovrastano gli abitanti. Anche se gli artisti americani conoscevano già questo modo di rappresentare la grande mela, Nevinson è stato il primo inglese a farlo in questo modo.
“Three A.M. A Corner by Madison Square at Night” evoca immagini del capolavoro del 1927 di Fritz Lang “Metropolis” al punto che Nevinson successivamente sostenne che il regista si fosse ispirato a lui per alcune scenografie e la locandina del Film.
Rupert Worrall, direttore del dipartimento Prints and Multiples di Bonhams, ha detto, “Nevinson era ansioso di allontanarsi dall’Europa dopo gli orrori della prima guerra mondiale e di andare avanti artisticamente. Tuttavia, come dimostrano le atmosfere cupe dei suoi quadri non gli era facile sfuggirgli.
Nevison presto si stancò di New York, soprattutto a causa della tiepida accoglienza per la sua mostra del 1920. Tornato in Europa, ha trascorso un periodo produttivo in Francia e anche una serie di disegni di questo periodo sono presenti in asta. Un porto francese (Bordeaux) – € 20.000-30.000, Quartiere Latino (£ 3000-4000) e Pont Royale (£ 4.000-6.000) dimostrano l’affetto dell’artista per la capitale francese. Tutti questi lavori sono stati eseguiti nel 1922.
By Andrea Foffi e Manuel Galvez
www.meridianae.com – info@meridianae.com
www.oredelmondo.com – info@oredelmondo.com
Two images of New York by the British artist Christopher Nevinson feature in Bonhams next Prints and Multiples Sale in London on 9 December. The mezzotint, New York Night (43rd Street) is estimated at £25,000-35,000 and the drypoint, Three A.M. A Corner by Madison Square at Night at £10,000 – 15,000.
In 1919, Nevinson, who had built a reputation on the strength of his defining images of World War I, was invited to exhibit in New York by the American print dealer and publisher Frederick Keppel. Keppel asked him back the following year and the result of these New York visits was a series of striking images depicting a cityscape dominated by buildings that tower over the inhabitants. Although American artists had already tapped into this idea, Nevinson was the first British artist to respond to a city in this way.
Three A.M. A Corner by Madison Square at Night conjures up images of Fritz Langs’s 1927 masterpiece Metropolis and Nevinson was later to claim an influence on both the set design and the film poster. Bonhams Director of Prints and Multiples, Rupert Worrall, said, “Nevinson was anxious to get away from Europe after the horrors of the First World War and to move on artistically. His wartime experiences were not so easy to escape, however, as the stark angularity and suppressed menace of his New York series show.”
Nevison soon wearied of New York mainly because of the lukewarm reception for his 1920 exhibition. Back in Europe he spent a productive time in France and a number of images from this period also feature in the sale. A French Port (Bordeaux) – £20,000-30,000 is a complex and atmospheric depiction of the city and Quartier Latin (£3,000-4,000) and Pont Royale (£4,000-6,000) attest to his long term affection for the French capital. All these works were executed in 1922.
The earliest of the seven prints in the sale is set in the United Kingdom. Southwark (Limehouse), executed in 1918, is a rare mezzotint from the end of the war. Estimated at £20,000-30,000, the image shows two watermen on the river dwarfed by dark and brooding wharf buildings in a part of London barely changed since Dickens set Our Mutual Friend there in the mid 1860s.
By Andrea Foffi e Manuel Galvez
www.meridianae.com – info@meridianae.com
www.oredelmondo.com – info@oredelmondo.com
meridianae 