Mark Rothko, Untitled (Yellow and Blue), $46.5 million
Regular readers of our site probably know that in 2012, a painting was sold at the auction house Christie’s No. 1 Royal Red and Blue (no. 1 Royal Red and Blue ) artist Mark Rothko (1903 - 1970) for an incredible $75.1 million! You can read about this fact, as well as other incredibly expensive paintings, in the article -. And here one of these days auction house Sotheby in New York has sold another painting by American artist Mark Rothko called Untitled (yellow and blue) (Untitled, (yellow and blue) ). The painting, which consists of two colors and looks like an inverted Ukrainian flag, was bought for $46.5 million!

Mark Rothko, painting "Untitled (yellow and blue)"

It was completed in 1954 and measures 2.42 by 1.86 meters. For a long time belonged to the American socialite Rachel Mellon (Rachel Mellon). Prior to the auction, Untitled (Yellow and Blue) was valued at $40 million. Rothko was one of the most successful and famous artists America, but for some unknown reason, he killed himself in 1970. Originally from Latvia, the artist is considered a leading representative of abstract expressionism and one of the creators of color field painting.

Rothko's work The Untitled (Yellow and Blue) was written by him in 1954, the period when the artist created his most famous canvases. The height of the painting reaches 8 feet (about 2.5 m). Like other works by Mark Rothko, it is made in the style of abstract expressionism. According to preliminary estimates, the canvas will leave the auction for 40-60 million dollars.

Another expected lot of the auction will be the painting “Le Alyscamps” (L’Allée des Alyscamps), owned by the great Vincent van Gogh. The picture was painted in 1888 during the "Arles" period. Arles is a small town in the south of France, where the "finest hour" of the artist came. He came to the south with a thirst for renewal - and he was not deceived.

“In the south, all our senses are sharpened, the hand becomes more mobile, the eye is sharper, the brain is more insightful,” Van Gogh said.

Vincent Van Gogh, L'Allée des Alyscamps

It is interesting that this canvas was painted in the company of another brilliant artist, Paul Gauguin. For 9 weeks they exchanged canvases and ideas, leaving an indelible mark on each other's work.

According to experts, the cost of L'Allée des Alyscamps painting at the auction could reach $40 million.

"There is nothing more concrete than a line, a color, a plane", these words of Piet Mondrian fully describe last period his creativity. "Geometric" paintings, the space of which is filled with ideal squares and rectangles of pure colors - the apogee of life and creativity Dutch artist. Mondrian, one of the founders of abstract art, evolved in his work along with the 20th century: from impressionistic "spots of light" through the sharp corners of cubism, he came to his own style at the very end of his life, continuing to create until the very last minute.

Saturday at Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val, as part of the cross-cultural year of Russia-Holland, the exhibition "Piet Mondrian. The Path to Abstraction" opens, which will present about 40 works by the artist from the collection of the Municipal Museum of The Hague, where the largest collection of his works is located. The exhibition, which will last until November 24, promises to become one of the most important cultural events of this autumn and the object of close attention of the citizens. Before joining the checkout line, the Weekend project invites readers to follow the evolution of Mondrian's work through the example of five of his iconic works.

"Mill in the Sunlight" (Mill in Sunlight). 1908

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian. "Mill in the Sunlight". 1908

The work, which is now in the collection of the Municipal Museum of The Hague, can be considered one of the most striking illustrations early period creativity of Mondrian and his short-term enthusiasm for impressionism. In this picture, the conflict in the artist’s work is already clearly visible, bright pigments, the influence of Fauvism and Van Gogh’s works are, as it were, opposed to the traditional Dutch motif, which was so often found in the works of his predecessors and contemporaries passionate about the classics. The yellow-blue background contrasts with the red-blue windmill, painted in deliberately rough strokes. Even in this work, a certain schematic and geometric composition is visible, to which the artist will come much later. It will not be possible to see this particular work of the artist at an exhibition in Moscow, but other works of this period will be presented in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Triptych "Evolution" (Evolution). 1911

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian. Triptych "Evolution". 1911

Since the mid-1900s, Mondrian became interested in the symbolism and theosophical currents of Rudolf Steiner and Helena Blavatsky. The influence of this hobby is noticeable, for example, in the work "Piety" of 1908, which can be seen at the exhibition. Muscovites will not see this time, unfortunately, the most important work of this period - the triptych "Evolution". A landmark work by the artist, in which "theosophical symbolism is combined with the rigidity of lines." The painting shows the "three stages of knowledge", which reflects the religious views and moral principles of Mondrian at that time.

"The Gray Tree" (The Gray Tree). 1912

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian. "Grey tree". 1912

In 1911, Mondrian left for Paris, where he lived until July 1914. This is the period of his passion for cubism, the works of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. During this period, he prefers graphic works, leaving color of secondary importance in defiance of the coloristic cubism of Fernand Léger and Robert Delaunay. During this period, Mondrian gradually abandons the three-dimensionality of the image, leaving only lines on the plane of the canvas. At the same time, the artist does not leave his old series of variations on the motif of the tree, some of these works can also be seen at the exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery. In the work of 1912, "The Gray Tree", one can already see how the curved lines are replaced by horizontals and verticals, still interrupted by oblique lines, which Mondrian will refuse only in 1914. This motif - the relationship of the vertical (male) and horizontal (female) - appeared in his work a little earlier, but in the future the artist continued to search for the perfect harmony between these two principles in his works.

"Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue and Black" (Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue and Black). 1921

provided by the public relations department of the State Tretyakov Gallery

Piet Mondrian. "Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue and Black". 1921

The most recognizable works of the artist are his late abstract works, the names of which differ mainly in numbering. His "geometric" painting - neo-plasticism, as the author himself called his painting system - in many respects turned the ideas of contemporaries and descendants about art. His most famous work in this direction is Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue and Black, written in 1921. It is this work that is remembered first of all when they talk about the "Mondrian style", and it can be seen at an exhibition in Moscow. In the 1960s, Yves Saint Laurent, inspired by the style of the artist (and the "Composition" of 1921 in particular), created a whole series of laconic dresses with abstract geometric patterns, which have now become one of the recognizable symbols of the fashion house.

"Victory Boogie Woogie" (Victory Boogie Woogie). 1942-1944

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian. Boogie Woogie Victory. 1942-1944

Mondrian finished this picture in 1943, shortly after his move to New York (in 1938 he fled to America from Europe covered by fascism). Art historians call this work the culmination of the artist's style and the principles of neoplasticism. Unlike early abstract works, the squares here are smaller and brighter, there is not a single black spot here, and cells of pure color only set off the white space of the canvas. The bustling sights and sounds of New York in the 1940s are reflected in this work. home distinguishing feature the paintings are its diamond shape, the canvas is rotated 45 degrees. The painting is now in the collection of the Guggenheim Museum in The Hague. it last work the artist he was working on before going to the hospital. Mondrian died of pneumonia on February 1, 1944 and was buried in Brooklyn.

You can learn more about the artist's work at the lecture "Piet Mondrian: Pioneer of Abstract Painting", which will be read by an expert on the artist's painting, the head of the museum contemporary art Paris Bridget Leal.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

In 2012, the world art market was really shocked by the incredibly high sale price of the painting "Card Players" by Paul Cezanne from private collection Greek shipowner George Embiricos. The most expensive painting in the world has gone to the East... Who is he, that mysterious buyer?

20th place. "Yellow, pink, purple" (1950) Mark Rothko - sold on May 15, 2007 at Sotheby's for $72.8 million He is called the father of American abstract art, a philosopher and intellectual. Rothko created a philosophy of "simple expression of a complex thought" and his own "brand" - colored rectangles with blurry edges, as if floating on an abstract background of a large rectangle. His work is a continuation of Malevich's "Black Square" and the magic of Byzantine mosaics. The canvases were painted huge to create an intimate atmosphere, completely immersing the viewer in the magic of color, opening the doors to other world, into the space. “The viewers who shed tears at my paintings are experiencing the same religious experiences that I experienced while creating them,” Rothko wrote in 1965.

19th place. “Darmstadt Madonna” (1526-1528) Hans Holbein the Younger– sold on 07/12/2011 at a private auction for $75 million Germany's most expensive piece of art sold relatively cheaply, as the owner didn't want the painting to leave the country. There is an opinion that from the face of the Madonna a light seems to emanate, invisible to the eyes, but felt by the soul. It was this feature of hers that caused the painting to be called “the northern sister of the Sistine Madonna”.

18th place. The Massacre of the Innocents (1611) by Peter Paul Rubens- sold 10.07.2002 at Sotheby's for $76.8 million The most brutal scene in biblical mythology, “the extermination of infants by King Herod,” caused a great stir at the auction. The owners who put the painting up for sale were sure that the author of the canvas was a student of Rubens and his follower, Jan van der Hooke. But unexpectedly for everyone, the examination proved the authorship of Rubens himself. With an initial cost of 9 million dollars, the painting was sold for a record price of $76.8 million. This fact once again proves that the value of a work of art directly depends on the name of the author.

17th place. “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette “ (reduced author's copy) (1876) Pierre Auguste Renoir- sold 05/17/1990 at Sotheby's auction $78.1 million French Impressionist Pierre Auguste Renoir is “the only great artist who did not write a single sad picture in his life, ”the writer Octave Mirbeau claimed in 1913. “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette” is the most striking example of the painter’s “sunny” art. Innovation and uniqueness of the painting “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette ” lies in the fact that no one before Renoir dared to depict a scene of such a significant size on a canvas Everyday life from real time. Criticism and hostile attacks fell upon the author, but time proved the value of such a brave act.

16th place. "Turquoise Marilyn" (1964) Andy Warhol– sold on May 20, 2007 privately for $80.0 million Such a high price is no coincidence. . "Turquoise Marilyn" is called an icon of pop art, and Andy Warhol is the founder of modern pop art for the masses. Starting as a designer of greeting cards, weather cards, and record sleeves, he found his silkscreen style reminiscent of bad newspaper reproduction. In this style, he painted a series of portraits of movie stars, including his favorite model, Marilyn. Like the Mona Lisa, now Andy Warhol's Marilyn smiles everywhere. There are five variants of Marilyn in different colors, but for some reason, “Turquoise Marilyn” has become the most expensive.

15th place. "False Start" (1959) Jasper Johns– sold on 10/12/2006 privately for $80.0 million It is the most expensive painting in the world by a living artist. American artist and sculptor Jasper Johns was born on May 30, 1930. His paintings are a mixture of abstract expressionism, pop art and neo-dadaism (I have no idea what it is). His work also addresses images mass culture objects of everyday life. For example, the most famous sculpture Jasper Johns - two bronze beer cans (indeed, the object of worship of modern society).

14th place. "Pond with water lilies" (1919) Claude Monet- sold in June 2008 at Sotheby's for $80.5 million Founder of Impressionism great painter the second half of the 19th century, he was also a born gardener, in love with flowers and wildlife. In his own pond in Giverny, Claude Monet grew water lilies from seeds specially brought from Japan. And in 1899 he began a series of 60 paintings "Waters", which he painted until his death (1840-1926). The artist's vision was rapidly deteriorating, he underwent two operations, but continued to paint his beloved pond. “It took me a while to figure out what my water lilies are. I planted and raised them just for fun, without any thought that I would paint pictures about them ... The perception of wildlife does not come to us immediately ”(Claude Monet).

13th place. “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” (1890) Vincent van Gogh- sold 05/15/1990 at Sotheby's for $82.5 million The portrait of his doctor Van Gogn wrote literally in recent months life. A true artist writes soy great canvases to the last breath and cannot do otherwise. From a letter from Vincent van Gogh to his brother:

“Monsieur Gachet, in my opinion, is as sick and nervous as I or you, besides, he is much older than us and lost his wife a few years ago; but he is a doctor to the marrow of his bones, so his profession and faith in it help him maintain balance. We are already friends with him. I am working on his portrait now: a head in a white cap, very light and bright hair; the hands are also light, blue jacket and cobalt background. He sits leaning on a red table, where lies a yellow book and a sprig of foxglove with purple flowers, with a sad expression on his face, so characteristic of our time ... "

12th place. "Triptych" (1976)Francis Bacon - sold in May 2008 at Sotheby's for $86.281 million Who would have thought that this asthmatic boy, rejected by his father and expelled from home at the age of 16 for a “shameful inclination”, a favorite of fortune and a roulette gambler, self-taught in painting, would live a long and fruitful life (1909-1992). Francis Bacon d gained recognition of his talent during his lifetime, but at the same time he did not consider drawing a job, but only a rest between constant revels, boys and gambling. His psychedelic paintings are the hysterical cry of the soul, locked in the by no means ideal, ugly body of a person who is mired in his carnal desires, forgetting about his unique higher destiny. Anyone who has ever thought about the meaning of his existence, experienced the same strong emotions as Francis Bacon, will understand his “terrible pictures”. By the way, they say that the “Triptych” at such a record price was bought by Roman Abramovich himself, who, for his expensive acquisitions in last years, named the most influential art collector.

11th place. "Orange, Red, Yellow" (1961) Mark Rothko- sold 08.05.2012 at Sotheby's auction 86.882.500 $. The picture belongs to the bright period of the work of the American expressionist. However, at the end of his life, when fame had already come to him, the artist falls into a deep depression. It's already solid gray on black in various options. Many years of misunderstanding and accusations, numerous litigation with offenders and poor health. Rothko sees no other way out and writes his last tragic picture of suicide. He was found naked in a huge pool of blood in his studio near the painting "Red on Red".

10th place. “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II” (1912) Gustav Klimt- sold 08.11.2006 at Sotheby's for $87.9 million The Austrian modernist Gustav Klimt led the Secession, an avant-garde community that opposed the "aesthetic conservatism and moralizing of the previous generation." His paintings dedicated to beauty and eroticism female body, shocked the audience with their exquisite spontaneity. But at the same time, Gustav Klimt was recognized and in demand, both in government circles and among the rich nobility. His canvases have always been a welcome decoration of the interior of the most luxurious houses at the beginning of the 20th century, and even now!

9th place. “Dora Maar with a cat” (1941) Pablo Picasso- sold 05/03/2006 at Sotheby's for $95.2 million The star of the Parisian artistic bohemia of the 30s and 40s, the extravagant female photographer Dora Maar was Picasso's muse and lover for seven years. During the entire period of this scandalous “lav story”, Picasso painted many portraits of her, graphic, classical and cubist, in a hat, with green nails and in the form of a chimera. The portrait “Dora Maar with a cat” was painted already at the end of their novel, so here Picasso very grotesquely and symbolically conveyed all the arrogance and exaltation of his muse. Russian-Georgian businessman Boris Ivanishvili appreciated and purchased this work.

8th place. "Eight Elvises" (1963) Andy Warhol– sold in October 2008 privately for $100.0 million A series of paintings dedicated to pop idols was the peak of Andy Warhol's creativity. As early as 1968, radical feminist and actress Valerie Solanas shot Warhol three times. As a result, he became practically disabled, but refused to give accusatory statements to the police. After this assassination, the works of Andy Warhol became more depressing. The King of Pop Art died in 1987 at the age of 58.

7th place.” Boy with a Pipe" (1905) Pablo Picasso– sold on May 4, 2004 at Sotheby’s for $104.1 million The picture belongs to the earliest and therefore the most expensive period of the master's work.

6th place. “Nude against the background of a bust and green leaves” (1932) Pablo Picasso- sold 05/05/2010 at Sotheby's for $106.5 million In the surrealistic period, the charming seventeen-year-old Marie-Therese Walter becomes a muse for Picasso's work. From it, he sculpts majestic female busts, paints sensual, erotic paintings. The cheerful and peaceful nature of Maria Theresa allowed her to come to terms with the role of a beautiful toy in the hands of a master. In 1935, she gave birth to a daughter, but Picasso still did not take her seriously. And in 1936, Picasso already met the extravagant Dora Maar and Marie-Therese faded into the background. But love for the master and admiration for him was so strong that 4 years after his death, Maria Teresa hanged herself in her garage. Such is the sad story of this unrequited love, forever captured in the canvases.

5th place. "Scream" (1932) Edvard Munch- sold 05/02/2012 at Sotheby's for $119 922 500 . One of the four versions of the Norwegian Expressionist artist made in the pastel technique (i.e. wax crayons). Created at the turn of the century, it has become an emblem of expressionism and a prelude to modernism in the 21st century. A desperate cry of loneliness, alienation and doom, like a harbinger of future wars, revolutions and environmental cataclysms of the coming century. For all its impersonality and primitiveness, the image of a screamer is so emotional that it has become an inspiration for films, parodies and art collages of contemporary art.
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4th place. “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” (1907) Gustav Klimt– sold on 18.06.2006 privately for $137.5 million She is called "Golden Adele" or " Austrian mona Lisa". Inspired by a trip to Italy, Byzantine mosaic, richly decorated with gold in 1903, Klimt starts work on a portrait of Adele. More than 100 sketches were made before the artist achieved the ideal position of the hands, body and look of the beautiful Adele.

3rd place. "Woman III" (1953) Willem de Kooning– sold on 14.08.2006 privately

per $137.5 million A series of paintings by an abstract expressionist called “Woman” caused a storm of discontent even among the admirers of the master. But real connoisseurs say that there is a striking contrast in the feeling when viewing the canvas at a distance and close. From a distance, these women seem like cruel Amazons, the embodiment of the power of nature and hardly seductive. Up close, the picture captures forms, colors and strokes in its dynamic space. The woman, as it were, is hiding in the surrounding space and it is already difficult to see her in the disorderly chaos of “smear-blows”. A truly psychological masterpiece of abstract expressionism, worthy of a Freudian analysis. The presented picture is the only one of the entire series that remains in a private collection.

2nd place. "No. 5" (1948) Jackson Pollock– sold 02.11.2006 privately for $140 million From 2006 to 2012, it remained the most expensive painting in the world, so it deserves special attention critics. Jackson Pollock – leader and ideologue of abstract expressionism, which emerged as a distinctive style in the 40s in New York. The most controversial assessments of his work only confirm his genius.
“My painting has nothing to do with the easel. I hardly ever stretched the canvas on a stretcher. I prefer to nail the canvas to the wall or floor. I must feel the resistance of a hard surface. It's easier on the floor. I feel closer to the painting, a part of it, I can walk around it, work from four sides and literally be inside it. I continue to move away from the usual tools of the artist, such as the easel, palette and brushes. I prefer sticks, shovels, knives and pouring paint or a mixture of paint with sand or broken glass or whatever. When I am inside a painting, I am not aware of what I am doing. Understanding comes later. I have no fear of changing or destroying the image, as the painting has a life of its own. I'm just helping her get outside. But if I lose contact with the painting, it's dirty and messy. If not, then it is pure harmony, the ease of how you take and give.” Jackson Pollock
Salvador Dali described him as follows in his Diary of a Genius: Pollock: The Marseillaise of the Abstract. A romantic of holidays and fireworks, like the first tashist-sensualist Monticelli. He's not as bad as Turner. After all, he is even more nothing».

I really want to rotate it horizontally, but I can’t ...

1 place. And finally, the most expensive painting in the world, sold in February 2012 from the private collection of the Greek shipowner George Embiricos, "Card Players"(3rd picture of the series , 1892-1893) Paul Cezanne. Incredible value $250 million exceeding the previous record by almost 2 times , stirred up the global art market and significantly raised the bar for subsequent transactions. What is remarkable about the most expensive painting in the world?
A series of 5 paintings “Card Players” refers to the late and most mature period of creativity of the French post-impressionist Paul Cezanne. A fanatical workaholic, suspicious and unsociable, Cezanne found inspiration and cure from phobias and contradictions of the surrounding world only in painting. His unique style is a kind of reconciliation of classics and modernity, the transition from impressionism to cubism. A few years ago, the painting “Card Players” No. 3 was named one of the best works in the world, which is in private hands. Probably, this is the reason for such a record transaction price in the world of the art market. Who is the buyer? The Royal Family Qatar purchased the painting for national museum. And again we are surprised by the Middle East!