Jean ARP (1886-1966) - Lot 257

Jean ARP (1886-1966) Crucifixion Charcoal, shading and cross-cut on paper, signed at bottom circa 1950-1953 46 x 32.5 cm on view Fold and small cuts Provenance: Sale François Arp collection Ruth Tillard-Arp Sucession, June 12, 2003, Calmels Cohen lot 76 "This unique work seems never to have been exhibited or divulged, and to have remained in François Arp's private collection for all eternity. Nothing in Arp's known biography allows us to comment on the realization of this work at this time, although we know that, around 1948, he had read the texts of the great mystics, and was still in shock over the disappearance of Sophie Taeuber. The fragile image and extreme thinness of the crucified figure are also reminiscent of other events. Lastly, it may have been a work for private use, given the religious nature of Arp's niece Ruth Tillard and her husband, the painter Lucien Billy (to whom Arp dedicated a text during his exhibition at the Fürstenberg Gallery in 1963). In 1951, however, Arp suffered his first heart attacks, which were to take his life in June 1966. The same year, 1951, Arp intervened on behalf of Ellsworth Kelly before the jury of the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. In 1952, he travels to Italy and Greece." Extract from the sale catalog: Vente aux enchères de la collection François Arp, succession Ruth Tillard-Arp,12 juin 2003, Calmels Cohen, Paris, 2003, p. 184.