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Callum Innes
EXPOSED PAINTING
Lot 41
Price Realised:
€16,500
Estimate:
€12,000 - €16,000
Callum Innes, b.1962
EXPOSED PAINTING
Oil on linen,34 ½" x 32 ½" (87.5 x 82.5cm), signed verso.
Provenance: Frith Street Gallery, London; Private Collection, Northern Ireland.
Literature: Callum Innes, 'From Memory' (illus p.173)
Callum In... Read more
Lot 41
Callum Innes
EXPOSED PAINTING
EXPOSED PAINTING
Oil on linen,34 ½" x 32 ½" (87.5 x 82.5cm), signed verso.
Provenance: Frith Street Gallery, London; Private Collection, Northern Ireland.
Literature: Callum Innes, 'From Memory' (illus p.173)
Callum In... Read more
Lot 41
Callum Innes
EXPOSED PAINTING
Estimate:
€12,000 - €16,000
Callum Innes, b.1962
EXPOSED PAINTING
Oil on linen,34 ½" x 32 ½" (87.5 x 82.5cm), signed verso.
Provenance: Frith Street Gallery, London; Private Collection, Northern Ireland.
Literature: Callum Innes, 'From Memory' (illus p.173)
Callum Innes' Exposed Paintings are at the core of his artistic enterprise and they are also the most elegantly succinct statement of his method. That method crucially involves subtraction as much, and perhaps more conspicuously than, addition. Left to its own devices, one of Innes's pre-exposed paintings would consist of a single block of colour but, having created this colour field, the artist sets about selectively dissolving half of it with washes of turpentine. It is a tricky process, he has admitted, and it runs the risk of going wrong. In fact, a notably self-critical painter, he is known to abandon more paintings than he keeps.
One important aspect of the method is that it doesn't just do away completely with an area of paint. Rather it is as if it unlocks the colour. Innes has observed that he does not know what he is going to encounter as the colour comes apart, and is often surprised at the tonal complexities that unfold.
His aim is not to get rid of part of the paint he's applied but to point up the absence of what was there. Born in Edinburgh, he studied in Aberdeen and then back in Edinburgh. He was at that stage making figurative paintings but was dissatisfied with them. When he was offered a residency in Amsterdam he saw it as a chance to reconsider his approach.
His time in Amsterdam provided exactly that, leading to a breakthrough. How do you convey a presence in painting without being drawn into making a conventional image? That was implicitly the question he seemed to ask himself. The physical substance of the paint itself seemed like a promising way of doing so. One potential recourse was to emphasise the physicality of pigment, perhaps by using it in thick masses. Several fine artists have followed that line of thought, but Innes chose to take an almost opposite direction.
He conveyed presence by drawing our attention to absence, to what we figure out had been there, but was dissolved and dispersed. The glittering residue of dismantled colour is a quiet reminder, an echo. As a pictorial strategy, it is extremely effective. Innes's paintings have a subtle but persuasive power, and he has produced a body of work that ranks with that of such major figures as Rothko, earning great acclaim along the way.
Aidan Dunne, November, 2020
EXPOSED PAINTING
Oil on linen,34 ½" x 32 ½" (87.5 x 82.5cm), signed verso.
Provenance: Frith Street Gallery, London; Private Collection, Northern Ireland.
Literature: Callum Innes, 'From Memory' (illus p.173)
Callum Innes' Exposed Paintings are at the core of his artistic enterprise and they are also the most elegantly succinct statement of his method. That method crucially involves subtraction as much, and perhaps more conspicuously than, addition. Left to its own devices, one of Innes's pre-exposed paintings would consist of a single block of colour but, having created this colour field, the artist sets about selectively dissolving half of it with washes of turpentine. It is a tricky process, he has admitted, and it runs the risk of going wrong. In fact, a notably self-critical painter, he is known to abandon more paintings than he keeps.
One important aspect of the method is that it doesn't just do away completely with an area of paint. Rather it is as if it unlocks the colour. Innes has observed that he does not know what he is going to encounter as the colour comes apart, and is often surprised at the tonal complexities that unfold.
His aim is not to get rid of part of the paint he's applied but to point up the absence of what was there. Born in Edinburgh, he studied in Aberdeen and then back in Edinburgh. He was at that stage making figurative paintings but was dissatisfied with them. When he was offered a residency in Amsterdam he saw it as a chance to reconsider his approach.
His time in Amsterdam provided exactly that, leading to a breakthrough. How do you convey a presence in painting without being drawn into making a conventional image? That was implicitly the question he seemed to ask himself. The physical substance of the paint itself seemed like a promising way of doing so. One potential recourse was to emphasise the physicality of pigment, perhaps by using it in thick masses. Several fine artists have followed that line of thought, but Innes chose to take an almost opposite direction.
He conveyed presence by drawing our attention to absence, to what we figure out had been there, but was dissolved and dispersed. The glittering residue of dismantled colour is a quiet reminder, an echo. As a pictorial strategy, it is extremely effective. Innes's paintings have a subtle but persuasive power, and he has produced a body of work that ranks with that of such major figures as Rothko, earning great acclaim along the way.
Aidan Dunne, November, 2020
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In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
PLEASE BID EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.
In order to allow rival bidders the opportunity to respond to a late bid the following extensions will apply:
IF A BID IS RECEIVED WITHIN THE FINAL 45 SECONDS OF THE COUNTDOWN THE CLOCK WILL RESET TO 60 SECONDS.
At any point you can leave a maximum bid, representing the highest price you are prepared to pay for a particular lot. Bidding only advances when there is competition from a rival bidder. In that case the system bids on your behalf, only up to the maximum if required. All bids are relayed to you be email, along with notification if you have been outbid.
All maximum bids are confidential and not disclosed. The system will endeavor to purchase the lot for you for the least price. Bids are subject to buyer’s premium of 25% (incl vat), with no additional charges.
In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
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