No 447, Maurice Estève ”Noirjaune” (detail).

With clarity of color

Modern Art + Design. Viewing: 17–21 May. Open: Mon–Fri 11–18, Sat–Sun kl 11–17. Sale: 22 May start 12.00 CEST.
Address: Bukowskis, Berzelii Park 1 in Stockholm. Read more about the auction here >

Estève was one of the leading representatives of the first generation of European non-figurative painters. From the 1930s onwards, his art developed into a colourful, dedicated abstraction with semi-geometric shapes in which figures and objects could be identified to an ever-decreasing extent. His colours became warmer and more harmonious. From 1947 the artist’s earlier lithe figures lose all direct connection with the shapes and motifs of reality, merging into a pattern with a rhythm, clarity and purity all of its own. His production is not limited to painting; his oeuvre also encompassed collage, textile works, church windows and murals.

In the 1950s Estève was a central representative of the French branch of “tachisme” (from the French tache, meaning spot or smear). The movement emerged in post-war Paris at about the same time that abstract expressionism and action painting were gaining a foothold in the US.

Estève became known to a Swedish audience when he was invited to exhibit at Stockholm’s Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet in 1937. He then exhibited regularly in Scandinavia, including at the National Gallery of Denmark in 1956; Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm, 1956; the National Gallery of Denmark, 1961 and Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, 1961.

The painting auctioned was exhibited at the first retrospective exhibition in 1961 at Kunsthalle Basel (catalogue by A. Rüdlinger and J.E. Muller). This was a touring exhibition and was also shown in Düsseldorf, Copenhagen and Oslo.

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