Technique: Signed Oil Painting on Canvas laid on Board
Size: 46 x 61 cm. / 18.1 x 24 in.
Additional Information: The painting is hand signed in the lower right part (traces of signature). It is also inscribed with the artist’s name, verso.
Provenance: Briest, Paris, 15th March 1999, lot 36, illustrated. Private collection, France.
Condition: Good condition. Minor loss of paint along the lower margin.
HENRYK BERLEWI 1894-1964
Warsaw 1894 – 1964 Paris (Polish/French)
Title: Posing Model, 1917
Technique: Original Signed and Dated Colour-Pencil Drawing on paper
Work size: 29.4 x 22.6 cm / 11.6 x 8.9 in
Additional Information: This original drawing is hand signed and dated in pencil by the artist “H. Berlewi 1917 ” at the lower right bottom.
Provenance: Mandel Mann Collection, Paris.
Acquired directly from the artist in France.
Condition: Good condition. Surface dirt. Upper right corner missing. Small hole in the right part. Small tear in the right edge (3 mm). One crease on the top and one in the left bottom. Tiny fold in the lower right corner.
HENRYK BERLEWI 1894-1964
Warsaw 1894 – 1964 Paris (Polish/French)
Title: Sleeping Man, 1919
Technique: Original Signed and Dated Pencil Drawing on paper
Work size: 23 x 12 cm / 9.1 x 4.7 in
Additional Information: The drawing is hand signed and dated in pencil by the artist “H. Berlewi 1919” in the lower right part.
Provenance: Mandel Mann Collection, Paris.
Acquired directly from the artist in France.
Condition: Very good condition. Light surface dirt. A few stains.
HENRYK BERLEWI 1894-1964
Warsaw 1894 – 1964 Paris (Polish/French)
Title: The Miller, 1917
Technique: Original Signed and Titled Colour-Pencil Drawing on paper
Work size: 17.8 x 19.8 cm / 7 x 7.8 in
Additional Information: This drawing is hand signed and dated by the artist “H. Berlewi 1917” (Henryk Berlewi 1917) in the lower right part.
Additionally, it is titled ´Mlynarz “Bak”´ (= Miller “Bak”).
Provenance: Mandel Mann Collection, Paris.
Acquired directly from the artist in France.
Condition: Good condition. Very light foxing. Very light surface dirt.
HENRYK BERLEWI 1894-1964
Warsaw 1894 – 1964 Paris (Polish/French)
Title: Man with Hat, 1921
Technique: Original Signed Pencil drawing on paper, laid on card
Paper size: 9.8 x 9.8 cm / 3.9 x 3.9
Card size: 27.2 x 23.9 cm / 10.7 x 9.4 in
Additional Information: This drawing is hand signed and dated by the artist “H. B. 21” (Henryk Berlewi 1921) in the central left part.
Provenance: Mandel Mann Collection, Paris.
Acquired directly from the artist in France.
Condition: Very good condition. Very light surface dirt.
HENRYK BERLEWI 1894-1964
Warsaw 1894 – 1964 Paris (Polish/French)
Title: Portrait of a Man with Glasses – Putti
Technique: Original Signed Double-Sided Drawing in Pencil on paper in a card folder
Card size: 39.8 x 30.1 cm / 15.7 x 11.9
Work size: 14.8 x 20 cm / 5.8 x 7.9 in
Additional Information: This double-sided drawing is inscribed in pencil “BER 3” and verso inscribed in pencil “BER 2”
Provenance: Mandel Mann Collection, Paris.
Acquired directly from the artist in France.
Condition: Very good condition. Light surface dirt and a few tiny stains. A few light creases. Six small pinholes in the paper.
HENRYK BERLEWI 1894-1964
Warsaw 1894 – 1964 Paris (Polish/French)
Title: Profile of a Man – Figure of a Woman, 1927
Technique: Original Signed Pencil Double-Sided Drawing on paper
Work size: 32.7 x 25 cm / 12.9 x 9.8 in
Additional Information: This drawing is signed and dated in pencil by the artist “H. Berlewi 1927” in the central right part.
Provenance: Mandel Mann Collection, Paris.
Acquired directly from the artist in France.
Condition: Very good condition. Light surface dirt and a few tiny stains. A few light creases.
HENRYK BERLEWI 1894-1964
Warsaw 1894 – 1964 Paris (Polish/French)
Title: Naked Woman – Profile of Five Men
Technique: Original Signed and Inscribed Double-Sided Pencil and Ink Drawing on paper
Work size: 17.2 x 12.3 cm / 6.8 x 4.8 in
Additional Information: This is a double-sided drawing in pencil and ink on paper.
The “Naked Woman” is drawn in pencil and it is signed in pencil by the artist “H. Berlewi” in the lower right corner.
“Profile of Five Men” is drawn in ink and inscribed:
1 character silny i zly (= strong and angry character)
2 glupota i slaba wola i tchorzostwo (= stupidity and poor will and cowardice)
3 inteligencja wyrachowanie (= intelligence self-serving)
4 zwierzycosc grube obyczaje (= beastly coarse manners)
5 subtelnosc (= subtlety)
Provenance: Mandel Mann Collection, Paris.
Acquired directly from the artist in France.
Condition: Good condition. Light surface dirt and light foxing. Light discolouration of the paper. Small tears on the lower edge.
HENRYK BERLEWI 1894-1964
Warsaw 1894 – 1964 Paris (Polish/French)
Title: Two Male Portraits
Technique: Two Original Pencil Drawings on paper
Work size: 30.4 x 21.3 cm / 12 x 18.4 in
Additional Information: This lot includes two drawings which are drawn on one sheet of folded paper.
Provenance: Mandel Mann Collection, Paris.
Acquired directly from the artist in France.
Condition: Good condition. Surface dirt and a few stains in the upper edge. One little fold on the lower right corner.
Henryk Berlewi: Born in 1894 in Warsaw, died in Paris in 1967. Painter, designer, critic and art theorist, who worked in Warsaw, Berlin and Paris. He was one of the main representatives of the Avant-Garde movement of the 1920’s. Between 1904-1909, Henryk Berlewi studied at the “Ecole des Beaux-Arts” in Warsaw. Following this he studies a year (1909-1910) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he continued his studies and finally, he went to Paris in 1911-1912, to complete his training at the E”cole des Beaux-Arts” and “Ecole des Arts Decoratifs”. After returning to Poland in 1913 he continued studying under Professor Jan Kuzik. Between 1918–1919, Berlewi was active in the Jewish circle of artists together with Aleksander Wat and Anatol Stern and was focusing on the iconography of the modern Jewish nation which is apparent in his paintings and graphic works of that period. The year 1921 represents a milestone in the artistic path of Berlewi: Artistic research led him to Purist art, freed of any ideology. This change can be credited to El Lissitzky, who Berlewi met and led him to Suprematism and Constructivism. In the years 1922-1923, Berlewi joined the circle of international artists in Berlin, there he met Theo van Doesburg, Viking Eggeling, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Hans Richter, Mies van der Rohe, and other artists of the avant-garde. He took part in the Congress of Progressive Artists, in Düsseldorf, where he established relationships with Stanislaw Kubicki and Jankel Adler. In 1923 Berlewi wrote the innovative theory of Mecanofacture which was inspired by the Russian Constructivism, the Dutch Neoplastic and the Dadaist work of Kurt Schwitters,. By the use of mechanization means of expression, and a new artistic language based on abstract forms, Berlewi attempted to give a visual representation of the contemporary world, its constant metamorphosis and the accelerating pace of life. In 1924 the theory was published as a brochure titled Mécano-Facture and in the then the ´Der Sturm´ magazine. In 1928, Berlewi moved to Paris, and abandoned the Avant-Garde aesthetic, for a return to the figurative mainly painting Nudes and Portraits. In 1954 However, Berlewi once again stood in the Avant-Garde forefront using his mécanofacture ideas this time as a pioneer of the Op-Art Movement.
Henryk Berlewi: Born in 1894 in Warsaw, died in Paris in 1967. Painter, designer, critic and art theorist, who worked in Warsaw, Berlin and Paris. He was one of the main representatives of the Avant-Garde movement of the 1920’s. Between 1904-1909, Henryk Berlewi studied at the “Ecole des Beaux-Arts” in Warsaw. Following this he studies a year (1909-1910) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he continued his studies and finally, he went to Paris in 1911-1912, to complete his training at the E”cole des Beaux-Arts” and “Ecole des Arts Decoratifs”. After returning to Poland in 1913 he continued studying under Professor Jan Kuzik. Between 1918–1919, Berlewi was active in the Jewish circle of artists together with Aleksander Wat and Anatol Stern and was focusing on the iconography of the modern Jewish nation which is apparent in his paintings and graphic works of that period. The year 1921 represents a milestone in the artistic path of Berlewi: Artistic research led him to Purist art, freed of any ideology. This change can be credited to El Lissitzky, who Berlewi met and led him to Suprematism and Constructivism. In the years 1922-1923, Berlewi joined the circle of international artists in Berlin, there he met Theo van Doesburg, Viking Eggeling, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Hans Richter, Mies van der Rohe, and other artists of the avant-garde. He took part in the Congress of Progressive Artists, in Düsseldorf, where he established relationships with Stanislaw Kubicki and Jankel Adler. In 1923 Berlewi wrote the innovative theory of Mecanofacture which was inspired by the Russian Constructivism, the Dutch Neoplastic and the Dadaist work of Kurt Schwitters,. By the use of mechanization means of expression, and a new artistic language based on abstract forms, Berlewi attempted to give a visual representation of the contemporary world, its constant metamorphosis and the accelerating pace of life. In 1924 the theory was published as a brochure titled Mécano-Facture and in the then the ´Der Sturm´ magazine. In 1928, Berlewi moved to Paris, and abandoned the Avant-Garde aesthetic, for a return to the figurative mainly painting Nudes and Portraits. In 1954 However, Berlewi once again stood in the Avant-Garde forefront using his mécanofacture ideas this time as a pioneer of the Op-Art Movement.