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Lot Essay
"Speed limits space, slowness increases it." - Pol Bury
Belgian kinetic artist, painter and film-maker, Pol Bury created a magical body of work that used brilliant engineering and the simplicity of clear design to re-define the medium normally known for its solid density. After studying briefly at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Mons 1938-9, Bury frequented the circle of Surrealist poets at La Louvire and was influenced by the paintings of Magritte and Tanguy. The artist gained a wide recognition by representing his home country in the Exposition Internationale du Surralisme in Brussels in 1945 and a subsequent one-man exhibition in 1963 at Galerie Apollo in Brussels placed him among the most important artists in the Post-War era in Europe. It was not until 1957 that the artist started experimenting with various types of kinetic works and later introduced motors as a medium to his creations, resulting in some of the most enthralling sculptures of the European post-war period.
Created during a pivotal moment in the artist's career, 49 Boules Dans une Forme Courbe is one of the most important sculptures by the artist to come to auction. Bury manages to combine the spherical elegance and mechanical arrangement of slow motor movement into an object that radiates with aesthetic and technical virtuosity. With the expansive population of imperceptibly moving organic forms orbiting within an oval axis, 49 Boules Dans une Forme Courbe uniquely shows the movement Bury introduced into his sculptures with subtle effect.
Belgian kinetic artist, painter and film-maker, Pol Bury created a magical body of work that used brilliant engineering and the simplicity of clear design to re-define the medium normally known for its solid density. After studying briefly at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Mons 1938-9, Bury frequented the circle of Surrealist poets at La Louvire and was influenced by the paintings of Magritte and Tanguy. The artist gained a wide recognition by representing his home country in the Exposition Internationale du Surralisme in Brussels in 1945 and a subsequent one-man exhibition in 1963 at Galerie Apollo in Brussels placed him among the most important artists in the Post-War era in Europe. It was not until 1957 that the artist started experimenting with various types of kinetic works and later introduced motors as a medium to his creations, resulting in some of the most enthralling sculptures of the European post-war period.
Created during a pivotal moment in the artist's career, 49 Boules Dans une Forme Courbe is one of the most important sculptures by the artist to come to auction. Bury manages to combine the spherical elegance and mechanical arrangement of slow motor movement into an object that radiates with aesthetic and technical virtuosity. With the expansive population of imperceptibly moving organic forms orbiting within an oval axis, 49 Boules Dans une Forme Courbe uniquely shows the movement Bury introduced into his sculptures with subtle effect.