Tuymans, Luc - photo 1
Tuymans, Luc - photo 2
Tuymans, Luc - photo 1

Tuymans, Luc

Lot 491
10.06.2020 14:00UTC +01:00
Classic
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€ 143 750
AuctioneerVAN HAM Kunstauktionen GmbH
Event locationGermany, Köln
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ID 336825
Lot 491 | Tuymans, Luc
Estimate value
€ 120 000 – 180 000
TUYMANS, LUC
1958 Mortsel/Belgium

Title: Insomnia.
Date: 1988.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Measurement: 44 x 53cm.
Notation: Signed verso: Tuymans.

Provenance:
- Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp
- Private collection South Germany

Exhibitions:
- Kunsthalle Bern 1992 (label), cat. p. 27, ill. p. 42
- Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld 1993 (label)
- Art Gallery of York University 1994, cat. p. 32, no ill.
- Tate Modern, London 2004 (label), cat. no. 58
- K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf 2004/05 (label), cat. no. 58, ill. p. 20 and 100
- Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus/San Francisco Museum of Modern Art/Dallas Museum of Art/Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago/Center of Fine Arts, Brussels 2010/11, p. 84f. ill (tab. 8)

Literature:
- Ulrich Loock (ed.): Luc Tumans, Bern 1992, cat. p. 27, ill. p. 42
- Salzmann, Gregory: Intoxicating void, in: Exhibition catalogue Luc Tuymann, 1994 - 1995, Art Gallery of York University/Renaissance Society, University of Chicago/The Institute of Contemporary Arts, London/Goldie Paley Gallery, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia 1994/95, p. 32 no ill.
- Dexter, Emma/Heynen, Julian (eds.): Luc Tuymans, Ostfildern-Rluit 2004, cat. no. 58, ill. p. 20 and 100
- Grynsztejn, Marlene/Molesworth, Helen (eds.): Luc Tuymans, New York 2010, p. 84f. with ill. (tab. 8)

Luc Tuymans is one of the most influential artists of his generation. In his painting style, which is characterized by an understatement and seems to be based on dilettantism, the artist skilfully transfers a determining severity. He diffuses the reality. The present work "Insomnia" is one of the few strongly abstract paintings in the artist's oeuvre. It also stems from a very personal memory of the painter, which the artist recounts as follows: "Insomnia goes back to stains that I saw on the floor on a not quite uniform ground, and one of these stains had another stain under it, hiding it. This gave me an idea of a space like between waking and dreaming, the idea of insomnia, the idea of a state in which the body has become emotionless, in which all matter loses its normal objectivity and floats in space like in a state of weightlessness. The space opens downwards, the things have got rid of all their surroundings. You can think of a mirror, where the representational is reflected by the non-representational. The image deceives the viewer. He has the possibility to enter his space and imagine himself in motion, whose meaning he himself forms." (The artist in: Cat. Luc Tuymans, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern 1992, p. 27) A few stains on a canvas, a pictorial theme that seems to be unimportant and meaningless, but which couldn't have been more perfect as an illustration of the unrepresentable insomnia. In this state, in which body and mind have become inseparable in order to reach a state of calm, every person can find an examination of their own ego. Thus, this pictorial representation is a basis for further reflection. The "true" own image captures the eye and shows a vulnerability towards oneself. Moments like these, which embody an unavoidable situation, are among the most personally formative and often present the own vulnerability. One understands one's imperfection. Thus the bridge between artist, artwork and viewer is nevertheless lively and not, as the title suggests, restless. The work "Insomnia" has often been presented in important retrospective overview shows of the artist. In one of his largest retrospectives to date, in 2004 at the Tate Modern, Tuymans even dedicated a single room to the work. In his presentations, often hung a-chronologically, the artist addresses his viewers in a very intimate way. He brings together the works, which often transfer personal memories or images, from all creative phases and forms a documentary cosmos. Thus his painting is in a constant confrontation with the self and a "never ending story", as the artist calls it, is created. The viewer is immersed in these stories and brings his own memories with him. At the Tate Modern, every visitor could now calmly face the reflection of himself. Based on "Insomnia", a self-portrait of each viewer was created. It seems existential .
Auction house category:Modern and Contemporary art
Address of auction VAN HAM Kunstauktionen GmbH
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