Art Basel 2023
LGDR, Booth E10

LGDR is pleased to announce its 2023 presentation for Art Basel: a vibrant exhibition that highlights the harmonious intersections of the gallery partners’ distinct perspectives and their in-depth artist focuses. The carefully curated selection includes institutionally exhibited masterworks as well as rarely seen paintings and sculptures of exceptional provenances.

At the heart of the booth are striking midcentury sculptures that explore the human form, spanning surrealism of Brazilian influence (Maria Martins, Comme une liane, 1946); fantastical hybridization of human and animal qualities (Germaine Richier, L’eau, 1953-54); and exaggeration of anatomy echoing ancient and pagan influences (Henry Moore, Three Standing Figures, 1953). They are engaged in thought-provoking dialogue with two examples of Eduardo Chillida’s magical materialization of space: Idea para un monumento I, 1994) and Lurra M-35, Homenaje a Bach, 1996.

Also of note is an outstanding canvas by Pierre Soulages from 1961, first shown that same year in one of his solo exhibitions at the Samuel Kootz gallery in New York. Placed among several contemporaneous works from the circa-1960 New York gallery zeitgeist (John Chamberlain’s Untitled, 1961 and Sam Francis’ From Disappearance, 1957, among others), the Soulages painting anticipates a major exhibition dedicated to the artist, which will open this September at LGDR’s global flagship in New York.

Paintings by Soulages’ peers, including the large-scale Two Reds by Pat Steir from 2013; Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild, 1997; Carmen Herrera’s Untitled, 2013; and Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Nets (WHSST), 2007, will be complimented by contemporary works that use figuration and abstraction to interrogate layered social themes, such as Simone Leigh’s Bessie, 2015, and Albert Oehlen’s Das Privileg/M III, 2000. Additionally, offering a glimpse of LGDR’s upcoming early-Pop presentation for Art Basel Miami Beach are foundational examples of the movement, including a Robert Indiana diptych, LOVE, 1967, which remained in the artist’s own collection until his passing in 2018, and later Pop works such as an ink on paper by Keith Haring, Untitled, 1984.

Exemplifying the booth’s breadth of depth of figurative and material diversity, as well as LGDR partner Dominique Levy’s lifelong passion for sculpture, is the central physical placement of the Richier and Martins in concert with Il Guerriero, a glazed and painted terracotta warrior by Lucio Fontana from 1949. This dynamic explosion of form and color is joined by two of the artist’s Concetto spaziale canvasses: a mesmerizing red oil-and-pastel from 1958, and the extraordinary large-scale gold painting from 1961, one of the very few works from his acclaimed 22-work Venezia series that still does not belong to an institutional collection.

Other highlights on view include the quintessential Weimar portrait by Christian Schad, Porträt Eva von Arnheim, 1930; an early Jean Dubuffet canvas, Arabe à l’oeillet, 1948, inspired by the artist’s travels in Sahara; and, in later Postwar European figuration, Georg Baselitz’ 1. Kopf, 1966, a powerful example of the expressive 1960s portraiture for which the artist first rose to fame.

The presentation exemplifies each of the LGDR partners’ refined taste, as well as their united vision and commitment to sourcing an eclectic range of historically important and contemporary works across all media and exhibiting them in fresh and unexpected ways.

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More information is in the above-linked press release, and a preview of works on view is below. Copyright information varies between artworks; image reuse must be in coordination with relevant licensing authorities.