Čís. položky 173


Mel Ramos


Mel Ramos - Současné umění I

(Sacramento/California 1935–2018 Oakland/California)
Unfinished Painting #2, signed, dated on the reverse MelRamos 91, oil on canvas, 177.5 x 126.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Rochelle Leininger, Mel Ramos´s daughter, for the kind assistance.

Provenance:
Mel Ramos Studio, Oakland, California (label
Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York (label)
LEVY Galerie, Hamburg
Private Collection, North Germany - acquired from the above

Literature:
Thomas Levy (ed.), Mel Ramos, Catalogue Raisonné der Bilder, Bielefeld/Berlin 2016, no. 91–2, page 223 (color ill.)
Donald Kuspit, Louis K. Meisel, Mel Ramos Pop Art Fantasies,
The Complete Paintings, New York 2004, p. 176 (ill.)

Exhibited:
New York, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, November 2004
Hamburg, LEVY Galerie, Mel Ramos, Retrospektive 1961–2007, November 2007

Like many of his pop colleagues, Mel Ramos, born in Sacramento in 1935, came to the visual arts through advertising graphics. Female nudes have remained his trademark for over five decades: the suntanned Californian beauties, products of American consumerism, become part of various products or, as in our two works, part of art historical set pieces.
In the “Unfinished Paintings” from 1990 onwards, “nude drawing and ‘real’ women (or their visual representations) are no longer juxtaposed, but are linked to one another, they find themselves on the brink of a transformation that could go either way. According to Ramos, the series ‘asks the question of when something becomes art’... The Unfinished Paintings once again embody the power of the feminine image, an image that transcends time, medium and style. Ramos is able to transpose the contemporary ideal almost seamlessly. In these paintings we see almost mythological figures, figures that are half Ramos, half Picasso, half a top model, half one of Picasso’s Demoiselles d‘Avignon and half cover girls ... The Unfinished Paintings show the female figure between sketch and incarnation, between possibility and - artistically generated - reality ...” (p. 23f)
Ramos likes to satirize the nudes of classical masters, replacing their originally subtle eroticism with the direct sex appeal of his striking pin-ups. It makes no difference to him whether he takes his role models from art history or the media. A certain irony is undoubtedly inherent in the works but his admiration for the female figure always remains paramount.

Thomas Levy (ed.), Mel Ramos, Catalogue Raisonné der Bilder, Bielefeld/Berlin 2016

“All my art is a tribute to women”

Mel Ramos

Expert: Dr. Petra Maria Schäpers Dr. Petra Maria Schäpers

petra.schaepers@dorotheum.de

24.06.2020 - 16:00

Odhadní cena:
EUR 180.000,- do EUR 220.000,-

Mel Ramos


(Sacramento/California 1935–2018 Oakland/California)
Unfinished Painting #2, signed, dated on the reverse MelRamos 91, oil on canvas, 177.5 x 126.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Rochelle Leininger, Mel Ramos´s daughter, for the kind assistance.

Provenance:
Mel Ramos Studio, Oakland, California (label
Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York (label)
LEVY Galerie, Hamburg
Private Collection, North Germany - acquired from the above

Literature:
Thomas Levy (ed.), Mel Ramos, Catalogue Raisonné der Bilder, Bielefeld/Berlin 2016, no. 91–2, page 223 (color ill.)
Donald Kuspit, Louis K. Meisel, Mel Ramos Pop Art Fantasies,
The Complete Paintings, New York 2004, p. 176 (ill.)

Exhibited:
New York, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, November 2004
Hamburg, LEVY Galerie, Mel Ramos, Retrospektive 1961–2007, November 2007

Like many of his pop colleagues, Mel Ramos, born in Sacramento in 1935, came to the visual arts through advertising graphics. Female nudes have remained his trademark for over five decades: the suntanned Californian beauties, products of American consumerism, become part of various products or, as in our two works, part of art historical set pieces.
In the “Unfinished Paintings” from 1990 onwards, “nude drawing and ‘real’ women (or their visual representations) are no longer juxtaposed, but are linked to one another, they find themselves on the brink of a transformation that could go either way. According to Ramos, the series ‘asks the question of when something becomes art’... The Unfinished Paintings once again embody the power of the feminine image, an image that transcends time, medium and style. Ramos is able to transpose the contemporary ideal almost seamlessly. In these paintings we see almost mythological figures, figures that are half Ramos, half Picasso, half a top model, half one of Picasso’s Demoiselles d‘Avignon and half cover girls ... The Unfinished Paintings show the female figure between sketch and incarnation, between possibility and - artistically generated - reality ...” (p. 23f)
Ramos likes to satirize the nudes of classical masters, replacing their originally subtle eroticism with the direct sex appeal of his striking pin-ups. It makes no difference to him whether he takes his role models from art history or the media. A certain irony is undoubtedly inherent in the works but his admiration for the female figure always remains paramount.

Thomas Levy (ed.), Mel Ramos, Catalogue Raisonné der Bilder, Bielefeld/Berlin 2016

“All my art is a tribute to women”

Mel Ramos

Expert: Dr. Petra Maria Schäpers Dr. Petra Maria Schäpers

petra.schaepers@dorotheum.de


Horká linka kupujících Po-Pá: 10.00 - 17.00
kundendienst@dorotheum.at

+43 1 515 60 200
Aukce: Současné umění I
Typ aukce: Salónní aukce
Datum: 24.06.2020 - 16:00
Místo konání aukce: Wien | Palais Dorotheum
Prohlídka: 18.06. - 24.06.2020