Lot Essay
In 1972, Jannis Kounellis completed three Note paintings, each in a different colour: green, pink and brown. Each work was presented along with a ballet performance, accompanied by cello and cello bass. Music has played a significant role throughout the oeuvre of the Greek artist, especially in those works where one at least expects to find it. In fact, Kounellis made a practice of singing as part of the creative process while painting his letter, number and note pictures: "Around 1958-59 I began to paint my letter pictures. Soon after, the number paintings followed. Many of these were also conceived to be sung... . All this, the act of painting, took place while singing. I sang my paintings. This was, if you will, my contribution to the overcoming of Informel, and it also was, at the same time, my first performance." (Quoted in: Jannis Kounellis, Galerie Art in Progress, Munich & Düsseldorf, 1976, p. 4).
Conceived in response to the "meaningless" of Art Informel and Abstract Expressionism, the note paintings demonstrate that even "all-over compositions" can have symbolic meaning. "Important for both myself and my works is the confrontation with other people, the political events of my time, the social context in which I live. Everything which I have tackled from 1959-60 to the present day could be characterised as a critical dialogue between the concepts of structure and sensibility." (Ibid.) Just as the current and historical events altered the artist's intentions throughout his work, the present painting is symbolic for the period of the number and note paintings. As a myth of finiteness, the notes sink into the unconsciousness to become transformed into the archaic energy of the artist's creativity. The personal, biographical aspect, as well as the social aspect, is always expressed in the art of Kounellis without losing track of the artist's purpose of transforming his creative intentions into the powerful sensuality of the visual. Thus, the present work is less about his interest in music in a conventional sense than it is about his creative, pictorial ideas.
Nevertheless, numerous national and international music events, including the Euromusicale in Munich in 1993 and the Flemish Opera in Gent and Antwerp, have illustrated this painting in their respective programs as a symbol of the cross-cultural aspect of European music, as well as of the bond between the visual, acoustic and performing arts.
Conceived in response to the "meaningless" of Art Informel and Abstract Expressionism, the note paintings demonstrate that even "all-over compositions" can have symbolic meaning. "Important for both myself and my works is the confrontation with other people, the political events of my time, the social context in which I live. Everything which I have tackled from 1959-60 to the present day could be characterised as a critical dialogue between the concepts of structure and sensibility." (Ibid.) Just as the current and historical events altered the artist's intentions throughout his work, the present painting is symbolic for the period of the number and note paintings. As a myth of finiteness, the notes sink into the unconsciousness to become transformed into the archaic energy of the artist's creativity. The personal, biographical aspect, as well as the social aspect, is always expressed in the art of Kounellis without losing track of the artist's purpose of transforming his creative intentions into the powerful sensuality of the visual. Thus, the present work is less about his interest in music in a conventional sense than it is about his creative, pictorial ideas.
Nevertheless, numerous national and international music events, including the Euromusicale in Munich in 1993 and the Flemish Opera in Gent and Antwerp, have illustrated this painting in their respective programs as a symbol of the cross-cultural aspect of European music, as well as of the bond between the visual, acoustic and performing arts.