Oil on canvas
130 × 81 cm. 51 1/8 × 31 7/8 in.
Signed in French on bottom right; titled and signed in French and dated on the reverse stretcher
LITERATURE
2012, Salvador Dalí & André Brasilier, Opera Gallery, Hong Kong, p. 75
2015, André Brasilier: On Idle Shores, Opera Gallery, Hong Kong, p. 10
EXHIBITED
10 – 28 Jan 2012, The Salvador Dalí Treasures & The Universe of André Brasilier, Opera Gallery, Hong Kong
7 – 31 May 2015, On Idle Shores, Opera Gallery, Hong Kong
PROVENANCE
Opera Gallery, Hong Kong
Acquired directly by present private Asian collector from the above
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Commission Brasilier, Monaco and a certificate of authenticity issued by Opera Gallery, Hong Kong
As the Horses Race Towards the Rose Horizon
André Brasilier's Artistry and Poetic Aesthetics
André Brasilier was born in 1929 into a family of artists in Saumur, northwestern France. In 1949, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the age of 23, he won the French National Art Scholarship ‘Rome Award' and was sponsored to travel to Rome the following year. During his time in Rome, he resided in the villa Medicis where he lived and created art for 3 years. As one of the few local Parisians, Brasilier draws inspiration for his creations from the local natural landscapes and purses self-expression from the imageries. The knights, horses, and natural environments in his paintings are filled with freedom and accentuated by the elegant, surreal landscape, which is widely recognized. In 1980, he became the first French artist to be invited to exhibit their work at the Château de Chenonceau, where he had his first retrospective. In 1988, he held another at the Picasso Museum, which was then followed by other retrospectives exhibited at the Winter Palace in Russia and the Museum Ludwig in Germany, in 2005 and 2007 respectively. These retrospectives showcased his brilliance and allowed people all over the world to witness his distinguished achievements as a French leader of contemporary art. Brasilier's works have been widely collected by people all over the world, such as the French municipal government, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum, and more.
The Poetic Habitat of the Free Soul
Born in Saumur, the countryside of French horsemanship and wine, among the river valleys and ancient castles, Brasilier lived in a rural manor throughout his childhood. During his childhood, riders would often ride past his windows, leaving a deep impression in Brasilier's heart. After the 1980s, inspired by his friend Japanese painter Higashiyama Kali's blue landscapes and the Chinese writer François Cheng's philosophical discussions regarding the breath of natural life, Brasilier began to use dreamlike colors, fine brushstrokes, and broad natural horizons to present the charm of freedom and the spirituality of poetry.
In this auction, ‘Les cavaliers du soir' represents the artist's overarching theme for this series of works: ‘Mighty Steeds'. The painting divides the boundaries of the sky, sea, forest, and mountains with soft hues of pink, amber, sapphire blue, and brown, illustrating a paradise-like scene. Towards the middle of the painting, 3 horses stand in a circle, admiring the magnificent sunset. Compared to scenes capture in the 1980s to 1990s where horses are running in a line, Brasilier's post-2000s work gradually expanded his vision and delved deeper into the relationships between the horses, their riders, and nature. In addition to his composition, Brasilier's works broke through the commonly used color schemes used in earlier years, such as blacks, oranges, and reds. Instead, he creates a sense of fantasy and surrealism using blues and pinks, demonstrating soulful characteristics.
This piece was completed in 2011 and presented in a rare, narrow, and tight composition. The composition pushes the horses and their riders further up in the foreground, creating an illusion of the scenery behind, such as the mountains and the sky, being much closer. The framing also allows us to look at the sunset and haze from the perspective of the main rider. The grey jacketed leader riding the white horse could be seen as the artist's way of reminiscing about the white horse riders from his homeland. The hazy freehand painting style with flowing pink clouds frame the riders in a romantic image far beyond reality. The horses are depicted in more symbolic colors as if they were born from nature. Together, the souls of the horses and those of the riders' meld into one, as their yearning hearts go the distance. It was that moment when Brasilier watched the sunset as he was riding back to Chenonceau, the landscape before him sublimated from nature to an image in his mind, where it found its free soul in poetry.
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