SALEROOMS
Price of violence
SOUREN MELIKIAN
The three latest sales of Modern Masters in Paris focus attention on what I believe to be a far-reaching shift of values, aesthetic as well as financial: surrealism, expressionism, anything that has an element of violence in it or a strong bend towards the bizarre has been rising steadily in recent weeks.
On Friday 19 March, the surrealist col- lection of Sophie Babet was auctioned along with other modern masters belonging to Emile Synek, a well-known figure in the modern art world, and 'various owners', a phrase which normally applies to dealers on this side of the Channel. In other words, a great many pictures came from the trade where they presumably had remained unsold. Yet tfiis Galliera sale went extremely well. The French record for a Max Ernst—two writhing figures, dancing or possibly wrestling with a mysterious bird looming in the lower corner, dated 1926—was broken at Fr. 397,000; and some masters of lesser repute sold remarkably well too: Wilfredo Lam, who has never at- tracted much attention at auction, rose to an unexpected Fr. 50,560. A rather indifferent work by lean-Michel Atlan, Peinture Berbere, made Fr. 41,760. All of these had in common an eerie appearance, bold outlines, and a sharply contrasted colour scheme.
The surrealist auction in turn throws light on the apparently ambiguous outcome of another sale of modern masters, held two days before at Galliera. While some of the prices fetched were unusually high, other pictures sold below their usual level and a number of lots had to be bought in. The big- gest success was a watercolour by Gustave Moreau (1826-1898), a fantastic scene of an oriental odalisque of sorts soaring into the air on the wings of a dragon. Only • 12-1- inches high, it broke a world record at Fr. 204,560. Compared with this score, a very fine landscape painted by Bazille about 1865 was very inexpensive at Fr. 263,956.
Now the essential difference between the two artists is that Moreau may be con- sidered a forerunner of the surrealists while Bazille was one of the pioneers of im- pressionism. Moreau's work was painted in strident colours and had that dig"' king quality which characterises the best of sur- realism. Bazille's landscape was all in sub- dued shades, reflecting a kind of quiet glee.
The most striking example of this trend is provided by the sale of pre-Columbian terra- cottas on 25 March at the Hotel Drouot.
Pre-Columbian art doesn't sell easily in Paris, but this time prices were consistently high. The auction started off with a fine burnished brown earthenware pot belonging to the Chavin culture, therefore considered to date back to the 1200-600 BC period. The pedantic catalogue entry ('a vase of bi-trun- cated shape with "stirrup" handle') hardly did justice to the bold lines and fine-grained material. But the buyers did—up to the crazy price of Fr. 4,640. An Italian collector was the last bidder, but his courageous efforts - were frustrated for the object was pre- empted by the Musee de l'Homme according to a French 'law dhich allows national museums to step in and substitute themselves as the last bidder if they wish to do so. From there on, the pace was set. The highest bids went to human-shaped pots with powerful distorted features, expressing pain, violence or mockery—e.g. a fine Mochica vase sold for Fr. 3,550, or a later Nazca vase moulded as a human faced-otter putting out its tongue at some unseen foe (Fr. 2,000).
That the same criteria should be followed by buyers of such different categories as modern masters and Peruvian pottery clearly means that a drastic change in aesthetic perception has taken place. Other examples could illustrate this new attitude and the effect it is having in many fields—prints, Japanese masks, primitive art from the South Seas. This may be explained by many fac- tors: the influence of art critics and interior decorators, the corrosive effect that the street scenery (the glittering glass and steel con- structions, the glaring colours with no in- termediary shades) is having on our vision. Whatever the reason, the outcome is ob- vious. Violence was the talk on university campuses. It now sells at auction.
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