JINDŘICH ŠTYRSKÝ: THE TRAUMA OF BIRTH

The Paris Art Contemporain Evening Sale at Sotheby’s is scheduled to take place on December 6, 2023. The auction will feature rare masterworks by artists such as Jean Dubuffet, ranging from the mid 20th to the 21st century. Among these important works is Jindřich Štyrský’s The Trauma of Birth. The painting, which is renowned not only because of its format and size, resembles a blackboard and was owned for over forty years by the artist Toyen after Štyrský’s death in 1942. The expert Karel Srp has called the work the most significant piece of Czech interwar Surrealism, and it is clear that each object depicted in the painting was of deep importance to the artist and his personal experiences. The Trauma of Birth is estimated to sell for over 120 million Czech crowns, or up to 5 million Euros, possibly making it the most expensive work by Štyrský to date. Further information about the work can be found here or in the article by Forbes here.

JINDŘICH ŠTYRSKÝ: <i>THE TRAUMA OF BIRTH</i>

IT IS A PAINFUL THING TO BE ALONE: WE ARE BUT ONE AT DOX CENTRE, PRAGUE

Ubu Gallery is pleased to take part in a new exhibition at DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague. It Is a Painful Thing to Be Alone: We Are But One is the first major European exhibition to feature the work of artist, musician, occultist, and writer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge since their death in 2020. Along with supplemental works by artists such as Hans Bellmer and Pierre Molinier, the exhibition focuses on the Pandrogyne Project, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge’s examination of love, gender, and consciousness. Further information about the exhibition can be found here.

Pierre Molinier
Ossipago se cache
[“Ossipago Hides”] ca. 1968–1970
Vintage gelatin silver print (photomontage)
7 3/8 x 6 1/2 inches (18.7 x 16.5 cm)
(MOLI 60)

<i>IT IS A PAINFUL THING TO BE ALONE: WE ARE BUT ONE</i> AT DOX CENTRE, PRAGUE

JUDY CHICAGO: HERSTORY AT THE NEW MUSEUM

Ubu Gallery is pleased to take part in a new exhibition at the New Museum. Judy Chicago: Herstory is dedicated to and spans the 60-year career of the artist, whose work includes painting, sculpture, glass work, and even needlepoint. Chicago’s feminist methodology is present through the lens of each art movement she has participated in, and the “exhibition within an exhibition” will feature works from over 80 other female artists, such as Frida Kahlo and Unica Zürn. The exhibition is slated to continue until January 14, 2024, and more information can be found here.

Unica Zürn
La Serpenta
[“The Serpent”] Paris, 1957
Oil on panel
19 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches (49.8 x 49.8 cm) – image
25 x 24 3/8 inches (63.5 x 61.9 cm) – mount
Signed & dated on recto
(ZURN 121)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description A work with a pink background showing multiple patterned serpent or tentacle like shapes in colors of yellow, green, and orange. A light green one eyed creature appears in the lower right corner.

UNE SEMAINE DE BONTÉ: MEER ONLINE MAGAZINE

Ubu Gallery is pleased to appear in the Arts section of online magazine Meer. The gallery’s current exhibition on Max Ernst’s collages for Une semaine de bonté is featured here alongside several installation images.

Max Ernst
Le Lion de Belfort 13
Photograph for Une Semaine de bonté [“A Week of Kindness”]
1934
Photograph of a collage
5 5/8 x 4 1/2 inches (14.3 x 11.4 cm)
(MERN 75.11)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. A black and white image of a kneeling lion figure, who is holding a woman by her forearm. The woman is sitting with one arm propping her up, with her legs bent. There are multiple figures in the background, appearing as if fighting.

PIERRE MOLINIER: APRIL 13, 1900 – MARCH 3, 1976

Pierre Molinier was a French photographer, painter, and “maker of objects.” He is known for his elaborate and provocative self-portraits, often posing with fetish objects and wearing lingerie. He would manipulate parts of photographs in order to produce new seamless “unreal” realities, which reflected his fetish obsession with legs, stockings and hermaphroditism. His work was supported by André Breton, who championed Molinier’s daring and even staged his first Paris exhibition in the 1950s. Molinier continued making his photographs until his death in 1976, after which his influence can be seen and felt in the work of many performance and body artists.

Pierre Molinier
Untitled (self-portrait)
1969
Vintage gelatin silver print
6 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches (17.1 x 11.4 cm)
“Hanel Koeck Collection” stamp & notations (some in artist’s hand) on verso
(MOLI 29)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. An image that a man standing in a corset, black sleeves, and black thigh high stockings. The subject stands with his left hand on a waist high stool, and the background shows a patterned room divider. The subject is smiling, and wears a mask like object over their eyes.

MARCH TWENTY-FIRST

On this date, March 21st, in 1934 the formation of the Group of Surrealists in Czechoslovakia (Skupina Surrealistů v Československu) was officially announced in the manifesto “Surrealism in the Czechoslovak Republic” (Surrealismus in ČSR). It was the first Surrealist group to be established outside of France.

March 21st also marks the date when one of the core members of this group, Jindřich Štyrský, died at age 42. He was known as a painter, photographer, graphic designer, editor and author. His well-known works include the erotic collages for Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream. These collages were created 90 years ago in the Spring of 1933 and first appeared in print in May of that year.

Jindřich Štyrský
Surrealismus
Vítězslav Nezval, ed. Prague, 1935
Paperbound volume
11 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches (29.2 x 21 cm)
(STYR 96)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. A photograph of a cover of a publication, with the title along the top edge. The authors are listed below, and a collage can be seen below that. In the black and white collage, a woman in a ballerina tutu stands next to a figure with a visible ribs and other body parts. A child stands next to the woman, gripping her skirt. A man in a monocle and wearing a tuxedo appears on the left side, holding a door ajar and looking at the woman.

MOLINIER ROSE SAUMON: NOUS SOMMES TOUS DES MENTEURS

A new exhibition is set to open at the Le Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA. The art center, located in Bordeaux, will present Molinier rose saumon (nous sommes tous des menteurs) beginning on March 31, 2023. This exhibition also marks the 40th anniversary of the Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA, whose collection started with about 30 of Pierre Molinier’s works. In addition to exploring archives, Molinier’s inspirations, and the enduring importance of this work, the exhibition will also showcase the various collaborations with other artists, such as Hans Bellmer. Further information can be found here or in Art Critique article here.

Pierre Molinier
Toi, moi
[“You, me”] From Le Chaman et ses créatures, 1968
Vintage gelatin silver print (photomontage)
8 5/8 x 6 3/4 inches (21.9 x 17.1 cm)
Initialed & dated in hand other than artist’s on verso
(MOLI 52)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. An image that shows multiple overlaid faces and legs. The legs and faces are arranged in a diamond pattern, made to appear as if people are gripping the legs by the ankles.

MAN RAY: AUGUST 27, 1890 – NOVEMBER 18, 1976

Man Ray (August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976), born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who is known for his innovation and experimentation in photography. The artist created his first photograms in 1922, shortly after arriving in Paris where he would spend most of his career. He dubbed this works “rayographs,” and created them by using material, models’ body parts, and other objects to cover photosensitive paper and then exposing it to light. Man Ray’s other works, which include drawings, paintings, and even a chess set, are considered major contributions to both Dada and Surrealism.

Paul Éluard & Man Ray
Facile [“Easy”]
Paris, GML, 1935
Original paperbound book
9 5/8 x 7 1/4 inches (24.4 x 18.4cm)
(RAY 129 )

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. A dark gray book cover showing the title and authors in a bold print which resembles stamping blocks.

UNICA ZÜRN: JULY 6, 1916 – OCTOBER 19, 1970

Ubu Gallery would like to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the death of Unica Zürn. She is remembered for her dense, otherworldly drawings of fantastical creatures meticulously constructed out of finely rendered, obsessively repetitive shapes and lines. She produced the bulk of her body of work in the 1950s and 1960s, by which time she had already become an author. While involved with the German Surrealist, Hans Bellmer, Zürn began to experiment with “automatic” drawings and anagrams, natural extensions of her established interest in hidden meanings and coincidences.

Unica Zürn
La Serpenta
[“The Serpent”] Paris, 1957
Oil on panel
19 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches (49.8 x 49.8 cm) – image
25 x 24 3/8 inches (63.5 x 61.9 cm) – mount
Signed & dated on recto
(ZURN 121)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description A work with a pink background showing multiple patterned serpent or tentacle like shapes in colors of yellow, green, and orange. A light green one eyed creature appears in the lower right corner.

AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: MORRIS HIRSHFIELD REDISCOVERED

Ubu Gallery is pleased to be taking part in a new exhibition at the American Folk Art Museum. Morris Hirshfield Rediscovered solely focuses on works by the self-taught artist, who was active in the 1930s-1940s and recognized by important figures in the international art world like Marcel Duchamp and Peggy Guggenheim. Hirshfield also took part in the 1942 First Papers of Surrealism exhibition, which was organized by Duchamp. Originally a tailor and then a shoe designer, Hirshfield created his body of work after his retirement and therefore had a brief but influential career. More information about the exhibition can be found here. Hirshfield’s works can be viewed until January 29, 2023.

Marcel Duchamp
First Papers of Surrealism
1942
Printed matter
10 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches (26.7 x 18.4 cm)
(DUCH 28)

This is a work of art. Please note that as it is impossible to know the intent of the artist, the work is subject to interpretation. Each visitor may view and choose to understand the work differently. All effort has been made to provide a purely visual description. A photograph of printed matter, with the title in ornate font and a textured background. The background appears to be cheese with holes in it.