Beschreibung:

Pierre Soulages (b. Rodez 1919, d. Nimes 2022) Untitled, 1979. Signed Soulages on the passepartout. Indian ink and gouache on paper. Sheet size 29.5×31 cm. Literature: Ulla Strømberg (red): “Teater-malere. Nyere danske billedkunstneres arbejde på teateret. Morten Grunwalds produktion af kunstneriske plakater”, Teatermuseet i Hofteateret, Copenhagen, 2007. Exhibited: “Teater-malere”, Teatermuseet i Hofteateret. Copenhagen, 2007. Provenance: Gift from the artist to the Danish actor and theater director Morten Grunwald. When speaking of Danish film and theatre history, it is difficult not to highlight Morten Grunwald. As the happy-go-lucky Benny, a member of the comically criminal “Olsen-banden” in the Danish movie series of the same name, Grunwald chuckled and skipped straight into the hearts of a large and laughing audience. The popular actor, director and theatre director, however, also nurtured a huge passion for the visual arts in particular, which he brought with him into the theatre world. Grundwald founded the Bristol Music Centers Theater in 1971, where he served as theatre director until 1980. Here he managed to combine his two passions, using the poster as an artistic genre for the theatre. In 1975, art by Richard Mortensen could thus be seen on the facade of the Bristol on posters for several of the theatre's plays. It was the start of a major artistic poster production initiated by Grunwald, who in 2007 was honoured with an exhibition at the Theatre Museum in Hofteater. The link between the theatre and the visual artists continued when he subsequently became theatre director of the Betty Nansen Teatret and later Østre Gasværk, which spanned a period of more than 25 years. Here, he impressively got a number of some of the leading Danish artists of the time to create theatre posters such as Per Kirkeby Richard Mortensen Poul Gernes and Bjørn Nørgaard as well as the Belgian Alechinsky and French artist icon Pierre Soulages Many of the great names in art history – national as well as international – have throughout the years tried their hand at the theatre as production designers, costume designers or choreographers, but the theatre poster has a special status, as it is here that the audience comes into contact with a new production for the first time – and often the poster is the only remaining physical evidence after the play has closed and removed from the programme. The small work on paper offered at this auction is a draft for the poster for Moliere's comedy “Tartuffe”, which premiered in March 1979 with actors such as Frits Helmuth, Ove Sprogøe, Lily Weiding and Kurt Ravn. Pierre Soulages has achieved great international accolades – especially in recent years – but he has had a special bond with Denmark and the Danish art audience from the start of his career. The reason for this is, among other things, his friendship with Mogens Andersen, repeated exhibitions at Galerie Birch and participation in the exhibition “Levende Farver” (Living Colours) at Charlottenborg, at the invitation of the art historian Haavard Rostrup: ”Abstract art was being attacked from all sides. A great many people in artistic circles were openly hostile to abstraction as practiced by myself and a number of other painters …. It is true it was the Germans, the Americans, and the Danes who first took an interest in my work“ (Bernard Ceysson: ”Soulages", Bonfini Press, 1980, p. 69) Thus, this work on paper represents a small artistic piece of evidence; it is the amalgamation of Grunwald's international outlook, Soulages' connection to Denmark and the bridge that was built between art and theatre. At the same time, this is a fine work of art in its own right and made with Soulages' usual broad black, vibrating brush. This lot is subject to Artist's Royalty. Artist’s Royalty In accordance with Danish copyright law, an additional royalty fee is to be paid for the purchase of works by contemporary Danish artist and some international artists who
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