Philip Taaffe Asplenium Dicompositum 1997 oil pigment on canvas 55 x 64 1/2 in. (139.7 x 163.8 cm) Signed, titled and dated “Asplenium Dicompositum, P. Taaffe, 1997-98” on the reverse.
Provenance Gagosian Gallery, New York Private collection, Texas Catalogue Essay Philip Taaffe explores and revises vast historical and cultural aesthetics of ornamentation to achieve multi-faceted abstracted compositions. Drawing from numerous decades and artistic movements, notably the 1970s Pattern and Decoration and the 1980s practices of appropriation and layering, Taaffe materializes pictures which combine these decorative motifs with the process of painting. Additionally, his travels throughout the Middle East exposed him to artistic and ornamental forms like the Mandala, evident in the intricate labyrinth background of the present lot. By implementing a system of layering with the application of brilliant color, Taaffe infuses his works with an otherworldly rhythm. Asplenium Dicompositum, 1997, is inundated with floral and botanical motifs in various styles and techniques. The multifaceted surface, rendered in vibrant greens, deep indigos, and brilliant oranges, has a psychedelic effect as the shapes and colors dance beyond the flatness of the picture plane. The multifaceted layers, while varying in style and hue, are brilliantly balanced in a grid, alluding to the ordered disorder of nature itself. In analyzing the title, the etymology reveals the present lot to be a portrait of the delicate and fascinating process of decomposition. Asplenium is a genus of about 700 species of ferns. Dicompositum translates from the original Latin as “decomposed.” Through this translation the present lot paints a representation of the cyclical life of Asplenium. The fern is illustrated in its fullest and most vibrant at the forefront of the picture. The fronds are luscious and effervescent, their scalloped edges meticulously rendered. Beneath this foremost layer lies a darker imprint, a shadow presaging the decomposition. And finally in the deepest layer lies a bed of ornamental shapes, almost thistle-like, as if magnified details of the fronds themselves. “What do I want my art to accomplish? What do I expect it to be like as a physical encounter? I think the best thing one can hope for is to be able to enter another world.” (P. Taaffe, Statement for Confluence, University of California at San Diego, 2001). Read More
Philip Taaffe Asplenium Dicompositum 1997 oil pigment on canvas 55 x 64 1/2 in. (139.7 x 163.8 cm) Signed, titled and dated “Asplenium Dicompositum, P. Taaffe, 1997-98” on the reverse.
Provenance Gagosian Gallery, New York Private collection, Texas Catalogue Essay Philip Taaffe explores and revises vast historical and cultural aesthetics of ornamentation to achieve multi-faceted abstracted compositions. Drawing from numerous decades and artistic movements, notably the 1970s Pattern and Decoration and the 1980s practices of appropriation and layering, Taaffe materializes pictures which combine these decorative motifs with the process of painting. Additionally, his travels throughout the Middle East exposed him to artistic and ornamental forms like the Mandala, evident in the intricate labyrinth background of the present lot. By implementing a system of layering with the application of brilliant color, Taaffe infuses his works with an otherworldly rhythm. Asplenium Dicompositum, 1997, is inundated with floral and botanical motifs in various styles and techniques. The multifaceted surface, rendered in vibrant greens, deep indigos, and brilliant oranges, has a psychedelic effect as the shapes and colors dance beyond the flatness of the picture plane. The multifaceted layers, while varying in style and hue, are brilliantly balanced in a grid, alluding to the ordered disorder of nature itself. In analyzing the title, the etymology reveals the present lot to be a portrait of the delicate and fascinating process of decomposition. Asplenium is a genus of about 700 species of ferns. Dicompositum translates from the original Latin as “decomposed.” Through this translation the present lot paints a representation of the cyclical life of Asplenium. The fern is illustrated in its fullest and most vibrant at the forefront of the picture. The fronds are luscious and effervescent, their scalloped edges meticulously rendered. Beneath this foremost layer lies a darker imprint, a shadow presaging the decomposition. And finally in the deepest layer lies a bed of ornamental shapes, almost thistle-like, as if magnified details of the fronds themselves. “What do I want my art to accomplish? What do I expect it to be like as a physical encounter? I think the best thing one can hope for is to be able to enter another world.” (P. Taaffe, Statement for Confluence, University of California at San Diego, 2001). Read More
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