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Lot Essay
Lech Stangret has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Tadeusz Kantor was a painter, set designer, theatre director and founder of the avant-garde theatre Cricot 2. One of the most famous representatives of Polish post-war avant-garde, Kantor was inspired by Constructivism, Dada, Art Informel and Surrealism and is best known for his revolutionary theatrical performances; although his diverse and radical artistic practices were frequently considered to render his work beyond simple classification.
Around the time that these works were created, during the late 1950s and early 1960s, Kantor held several exhibitions in Paris with Galerie Le Gendre, as well as exhibiting at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Documenta 2 in Kasel, New York, Gšteborg and during XXX Venice Biennale in 1960.
In an essay published just prior to the execution of these works, Kantor wrote:
“We are on the threshold of being able to understand the enormous inspirational force that is contained in this one word. Matter – the element and impulsiveness, continuity and eternity, viscidity and slowness, fluidity and volatility, lightness and weightlessness. Burning matter, which is exploding, emitting light, lifeless and pacified. Congealed matter, in which all traces of life are imprinted. Bereft of any type of construction; only consistency and structure. A different kind of space – a different kind of movement. How is it possible to frame or conquer matter, which is life itself?”
– Tadeusz Kantor, December 1957 (from the essay “Abstraction is dead. Long Live Abstraction”)
This group of paintings come from the collection of Marc M. Spiegel who became a dedicated follower of Kantor’s work from their meetings in Paris. Spiegel was born in Russia in 1919 and moved to the U.S. with his family in early childhood. He graduated from Boston University in 1939 with an MA degree in Romance Languages and from Harvard University in 1940 with an MA degree in Linguistics. Spiegel had an illustrious wartime career, followed by distinguished career in the audiovisual industry with significant interest and expertise in Romance languages. He would become a generous philanthropist in his later life and in 2001, he founded his own activity for U.S. Education, ‘Academic Centers Abroad’ LLC, to develop study abroad programs for U.S. students. He established two centres in the heart of Florence with courses devoted to a wide range of the fine and liberal arts, supporting his view that every American student should have studied in a foreign country at least once during their education.
Tadeusz Kantor was a painter, set designer, theatre director and founder of the avant-garde theatre Cricot 2. One of the most famous representatives of Polish post-war avant-garde, Kantor was inspired by Constructivism, Dada, Art Informel and Surrealism and is best known for his revolutionary theatrical performances; although his diverse and radical artistic practices were frequently considered to render his work beyond simple classification.
Around the time that these works were created, during the late 1950s and early 1960s, Kantor held several exhibitions in Paris with Galerie Le Gendre, as well as exhibiting at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Documenta 2 in Kasel, New York, Gšteborg and during XXX Venice Biennale in 1960.
In an essay published just prior to the execution of these works, Kantor wrote:
“We are on the threshold of being able to understand the enormous inspirational force that is contained in this one word. Matter – the element and impulsiveness, continuity and eternity, viscidity and slowness, fluidity and volatility, lightness and weightlessness. Burning matter, which is exploding, emitting light, lifeless and pacified. Congealed matter, in which all traces of life are imprinted. Bereft of any type of construction; only consistency and structure. A different kind of space – a different kind of movement. How is it possible to frame or conquer matter, which is life itself?”
– Tadeusz Kantor, December 1957 (from the essay “Abstraction is dead. Long Live Abstraction”)
This group of paintings come from the collection of Marc M. Spiegel who became a dedicated follower of Kantor’s work from their meetings in Paris. Spiegel was born in Russia in 1919 and moved to the U.S. with his family in early childhood. He graduated from Boston University in 1939 with an MA degree in Romance Languages and from Harvard University in 1940 with an MA degree in Linguistics. Spiegel had an illustrious wartime career, followed by distinguished career in the audiovisual industry with significant interest and expertise in Romance languages. He would become a generous philanthropist in his later life and in 2001, he founded his own activity for U.S. Education, ‘Academic Centers Abroad’ LLC, to develop study abroad programs for U.S. students. He established two centres in the heart of Florence with courses devoted to a wide range of the fine and liberal arts, supporting his view that every American student should have studied in a foreign country at least once during their education.