Antiquaire

This elegant male torso represents an unidentified (Hindu) deity. The head, arms and feet are missing. There is a notable difference in weathering and patina between the front and back of the figure, with the front being slightly more eroded, particularly on the abdomen. On the shoulder(s), sides, back and legs of the figure, where the original surface polish is preserved, a difference can be observed between these surfaces - representing naked skin - and the clothing, which has been left deliberately unpolished to provide a tantalizing contrast of textures.

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Shiraga’s abstract action paintings were born out of struggle. He began the process by placing a mass of paint on top of a canvas on the floor, suspending himself from ropes attached to the ceiling beams, and he proceeded to spread the paint around actively — even violently — with his feet. The opponents in the creative battle were his bare flesh and the material. The tension and strength arose from the struggle between the unconscious power of the body that threatens to jump off the canvas and the conscious power that creates a structure to bring it back inside.

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This fragmentary red granite head in all likelihood depicts either a royal figure or a deity. The archaizing features of the triangular face are delicately sculpted, featuring a broad nose, prominent cheekbones and a rounded chin. The fleshy lips are pursed into a serene smile, further accentuated by the indented corners of the mouth.

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The Judge’s Desk was constructed from large pieces of Indian-teak plywood, not just because it is resistant to rot and termites but also because Le Corbusier disliked wood with knots and favoured ‘new’ composites such as veneered plywood. The veneer of the desk had an unusually wide figure, emphasizing the significance of the piece. Similarly, the 2.6-metre-long beam that provides structural support and also acts as a footrest was lavishly crafted from solid teak.

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Anish Kapoor explains: “The idea is to make an object which is not an object, to make a hole in the space, to make something which actually does not exist. Even more, the extraordinary appearance, loved and feared, of a piece of void, at once finite and infinite, reactivates the symbolic contact between inside and outside, earth and heaven, male and female, active and passive, conceptual and physical, thus renewing the process of knowing.”

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“I have felt spatiality through magnetic fields. That is my instinct. I am an instinctive savant. But Pythagoras spoke before I did. Energy is everywhere. Energy floats, it is circular, it spirals, it surrounds us. And with my work I wish to vitalize spaces with energy.” - Takis

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In the early fifties Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret set out for an urban planning project in Chandigarh, India, designing and producing low cost buildings for the community. Le Corbusier left the project mid-way and Jeanneret became the Chief Architect and Urban Planning Designer. He stayed in Chandigarh for fifteen years and the city evolved into a landmark of modern architecture.

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After the horrors of the Second World War, where the Slovenian artist Zoran Mušič was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp, he married the Venetian artist Ida Cadorin-Barbarigo in 1945. Both artists subsequently went in search of solitude, stillness, for their art. When they moved to Paris, they even lived apart from each other, but met daily. Mušič also met regularly with Alberto Giacometti – when they saw each other, they often shared time in silence.

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