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Artist: Bridget Riley (b.1931) British Title: Untitled (1972) Signature: signed and dated 'Bridget Riley '72' lower right Medium: gouache and pencil on paper Size: 73½ x 73½cm (28.9 x 28.9in) Framed Size: 79 x 79cm (31.1 x 31.1in) Provenance: A gift from the artist to Lord Goodman, Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain (1965-1972); Private Collection, UK; Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 30th September 2015, lot 108, where purchased by the present owner a#morebtn { color: #de1d01; } a#morebtn:hover { cursor: pointer;} Composed of three triangles, set against a plain white background, this painting encapsulates the essence of Bridget Riley's art. The triangles can be seen as both completely flat abstract patterns, and also objects floating in space. Each triangle consists of several interlocking triangles, interlo... Read more Bridget Riley Lot 34 - 'Untitled (1972)' Estimate: €60,000 - €90,000 Composed of three triangles, set against a plain white background, this painting encapsulates the essence of Bridget Riley's art. The triangles can be seen as both completely flat abstract patterns, and also objects floating in space. Each triangle consists of several interlocking triangles, interlocked in a similar pattern. The top left triangle is monochrome, black and white, but the top right one has been coloured red, green and blue. They represent the development of the idea, which is brought to fruition in the main triangle, the largest, in the centre of the page, with the painting becoming an essay in Euclidian geometries, with acute and obtuse angles. Bridget Riley shot to fame in the 1960s for her densely-patterned, optically dizzying black-and-white paintings. They were abstract but rooted in the intense emotion of personal life, rather than being Op Art per se. And they tapped into the cultural moment with their apparent connection to psychedelia and Pop. The connection was apparent to the extent that Riley was not and had no interest in being a Pop Artist. Rather she is a classical painter who has instinctive gravitated towards patterned abstraction. Those 1960s black-and-whites were a prelude to one of the most brilliant and individualistic lines of development in 20th century painting. Over the decades she has created several major series of paintings, prints and site-specific installations, all employing a careful, precise repertoire of colour, line and pattern. That repertoire has evolved over time, but has always been rigorously controlled and devised through experiment and reflection. One characteristic palette, for example, was drawn from the example of classical Egyptian painting. Riley's larger paintings and prints are usually made by her assistants, under her supervision and working to scale from her own preparatory drawings or paintings. These working drawings are the beating heart of her work. Everything is calculated, evaluated and settled in the course of their making: composition, colour, tone, visual rhythm. An extensive collection of them is reproduced in a handsome Thames & Hudson publication. This beautiful gouache is one of those drawings, made at a time when the artist was moving on from her 1960s' paintings and exploring a new world of colour and form. Aidan Dunne, March 2023