LOT DETAILS
Materials:
oil on canvas; in the artist’s painted frame
Size Notes:
canvas: (30.2 x 30.5 cm.)
Markings:
stencilled with the artist’s name and title ‘THÉO VAN DOESBURG COMPOSITION ELEMENTAIRE’ (on the reverse of the frame)
Exhibited:
Paris, Palais des Expositions, Premier Salon d’Art Français Indépendant, February – March 1929, no. 263 (titled ‘Composition élémentaire’).Barcelona, Galerías Dalmau, Exposición de arte modern nacional y extranjero, October – November 1929, no. 13, p. 14 (titled 'Composition élémentaire’).Paris, Parc des expositions de la porte de Versailles, ‘1940’, Deuxième exposition, Rétrospective Van Doesburg, January – February 1932, no. 55, p. 5 (titled ‘Composition élémentaire’).Basel, Kunsthalle, Konstruktivisten, January - February 1937.Zurich, Helmhaus, Konkrete Kunst. 50 Jahre Entwicklung, June – August 1960, no. 32, p. 21 (titled ‘Composition élémentaire’ and dated '1924').Eindhoven, Stedelijk van Abbe-Museum, Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931), December 1968 - January 1969, no. A33. Otterlo, Kröller-Müller Museum, Theo van Doesburg, Architect, Schilder, Dichter, March - June 2000.Munich, Museum Villa Stuck, Theo van Doesburg, Maler-Architekt, October 2000 - January 2001. Leiden, Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Van Doesburg & the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World, October 2009 –January 2010, no. 167, p. 204 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to London, Tate Modern.
Literature:
E. Hoek, ed., Theo van Doesburg, Oeuvre catalogue, Utrecht, 2000, no. 808, p. 487 (illustrated).S. Polano, ed., Theo van Doesburg, Scritti di arte e di architettura, Rome, 1979, no. PITT 186, p. 535 (titled ‘Contro-composizione XX. Composizione elementare’).
Provenance:
Otto Carlsund, Sweden, by whom acquired directly from the artist before 23 January 1930 and returned to the artist before 15 March 1930.Nelly van Doesburg, Paris, by descent from the artist. Private collection, Zurich, by whom acquired from the above between 1932 and 1937, and thence by descent to the present owners.