Oil on canvas. Signed and dated in the lower right. Signed on the reverse of the canvas, as well as signed and titled on the stretcher. With a label of the Ernest Raboff Gallery, Los Angeles on the reverse of the canvas. 100.5 x 81.5 cm. . [CH]. According to the latest available findings, the painting is identical with the catalogue raisonné number 896 (Scheibler) titled “Grau und Ziegelrot” (with fragments of the original handwritten title on the reverse of the stretcher), see https://nay.aps-info.de/document/oel/10000902. - In terms of form and color, this work is a particular highlight within the seminal series of "Disk Paintings" (1954-1962). - In favor of a lighter, freer composition, Nay dissolves the disk into billowing clouds of color. - The painting encompasses the extensive chromatic spectrum of the "Disk Paintings": from light and dark tones to a warm palette of red and bright yellow. - Other works from this year are at the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and the Sprengel Museum in Hanover, among others. - Significant period of creation: E. W. Nay participated in documenta I-III in Kassel in 1955, 1959 and 1964. We are gratful to Dr. Brigitte Schlüter, Ernst Wilhelm Nay Foundation, Cologne, for her kind support in cataloging this lot. LITERATURE: Aurel Scheibler, Siegfried Gohr, Ernst Wilhelm Nay. Catalogue raisonné of oil paintings, vol. 2 (1952-1968), Cologne 1990, no. 902 (illustrated in color). - - Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer, Stuttgart, 35th auction, May 21, 1960, lot 422 ( illustrated on p. 62). Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, 9th auction, May 29, 1973, lot 1521 ( illustrated).
E. W. Nay, Kleemann Galleries, New York, November 1 - December 4, 1959, cat. no. 3. Interior Vision. European Abstract Expressionism 1945-1960, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, March 25 - May 18, 1972, cat. no. 32 (full-page illu. in black and white, erroneously dated "1956", exhib. label on the stretcher). 50 Jahre Galerie Günther Franke. Nay, Munich, October 20 - December 22, 1973, cat. no. 107 (illustrated on p. 103)
Kleemann Galleries, New York. Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer, Stuttgart (acquired from the above) Kleemann Galleries, New York (acquired from the above in 1960) Private collection, Los Angeles Galerie Günther Franke, Munich (acquired from the above in 1973, Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich) Private collection, Bremen/Ascona (acquired from the above in 1973) In family possession ever since
1954 saw the beginning of Ernst Wilhelm Nay's "Scheibenbilder" (1954-1962), probably his best-known series of works today, as well as the most sought-after on the international auction market, to which the present work also belongs. In the year this work was created, Nay gradually dissolved the disks and circular form, which began to appear in a few works from that year, among them “Akkord in Rot und Blau” (Hamburger Kunsthalle) and “Grau und dunkles Blau” (Kunstmuseum Bonn), “Abstraktes Bild in Rot, Blau und Gelb” (Sprengel Museum, Hanover) and “Blau und Rubin” (Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels): “Nay increasingly evolved his motif from a painterly gesture: with broad brushstrokes, he formed color into a compact cluster [.]”. (Karin Schick, Im Kreis der Zeichen. Scheibenbilder, Augenbilder und Späte Bilder, in: ex. cat. E. W. Nay. Retrospektive, Hamburger Kunsthalle, 2022, p. 185) In "Federgrau", the dissolution finally comes to an end, before the disks reemerged more distinctly in the following year 1959. In the present work, E. W. Nay contrasts the impact of the primary colors yellow and red with monochrome gray and black color fields. Individual contrasting color fields and streaks of bluish-light green mixed into light gray add a moment of tension and visual friction. The paint has been applied to the canvas free of formal rules or artistic schemes, allowing it to speak for itself. The free and unconstrained composition conveys a palpable sense of rhythm and movement, primarily through the less flat but rather gestural short, distinctive brushstrokes in light gray. Combined with the evocative title "Federgrau (Feather Gray)", the painting also conveys lightness that breaks through the density of the otherwise flat, colorful composition. The monochrome gray-black color soothes the overall impression, but the cheerfulness and intensity of the rich yellow, red, and orange-red color fields prevail. "Federgrau" occupies a unique position among the Disk Paintings. Nay breaks with the traditional circular form in favor of free color fields, once again demonstrating his mastery in creating open pictorial spaces with the help of indeterminate, intuitive forms and a carefree certainty in the selection and combination of intense and contrasting colors. With its sunny yellow and strong red tones that conquer the dark gray-black, the work offered here shows Nay's mastery in balancing color, form, and material, as well as in creating liveliness and an optimistic radiance in these works from what was his most important period of creation and a first peak in his long artistic career. [CH]
Condition report on request katalogisierung@kettererkunst.de
Lot Details
Oil on canvas. Signed and dated in the lower right. Signed on the reverse of the canvas, as well as signed and titled on the stretcher. With a label of the Ernest Raboff Gallery, Los Angeles on the reverse of the canvas. 100.5 x 81.5 cm. . [CH]. According to the latest available findings, the painting is identical with the catalogue raisonné number 896 (Scheibler) titled “Grau und Ziegelrot” (with fragments of the original handwritten title on the reverse of the stretcher), see https://nay.aps-info.de/document/oel/10000902. - In terms of form and color, this work is a particular highlight within the seminal series of "Disk Paintings" (1954-1962). - In favor of a lighter, freer composition, Nay dissolves the disk into billowing clouds of color. - The painting encompasses the extensive chromatic spectrum of the "Disk Paintings": from light and dark tones to a warm palette of red and bright yellow. - Other works from this year are at the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and the Sprengel Museum in Hanover, among others. - Significant period of creation: E. W. Nay participated in documenta I-III in Kassel in 1955, 1959 and 1964. We are gratful to Dr. Brigitte Schlüter, Ernst Wilhelm Nay Foundation, Cologne, for her kind support in cataloging this lot. LITERATURE: Aurel Scheibler, Siegfried Gohr, Ernst Wilhelm Nay. Catalogue raisonné of oil paintings, vol. 2 (1952-1968), Cologne 1990, no. 902 (illustrated in color). - - Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer, Stuttgart, 35th auction, May 21, 1960, lot 422 ( illustrated on p. 62). Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, 9th auction, May 29, 1973, lot 1521 ( illustrated).
E. W. Nay, Kleemann Galleries, New York, November 1 - December 4, 1959, cat. no. 3. Interior Vision. European Abstract Expressionism 1945-1960, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, March 25 - May 18, 1972, cat. no. 32 (full-page illu. in black and white, erroneously dated "1956", exhib. label on the stretcher). 50 Jahre Galerie Günther Franke. Nay, Munich, October 20 - December 22, 1973, cat. no. 107 (illustrated on p. 103)
Kleemann Galleries, New York. Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer, Stuttgart (acquired from the above) Kleemann Galleries, New York (acquired from the above in 1960) Private collection, Los Angeles Galerie Günther Franke, Munich (acquired from the above in 1973, Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich) Private collection, Bremen/Ascona (acquired from the above in 1973) In family possession ever since
1954 saw the beginning of Ernst Wilhelm Nay's "Scheibenbilder" (1954-1962), probably his best-known series of works today, as well as the most sought-after on the international auction market, to which the present work also belongs. In the year this work was created, Nay gradually dissolved the disks and circular form, which began to appear in a few works from that year, among them “Akkord in Rot und Blau” (Hamburger Kunsthalle) and “Grau und dunkles Blau” (Kunstmuseum Bonn), “Abstraktes Bild in Rot, Blau und Gelb” (Sprengel Museum, Hanover) and “Blau und Rubin” (Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels): “Nay increasingly evolved his motif from a painterly gesture: with broad brushstrokes, he formed color into a compact cluster [.]”. (Karin Schick, Im Kreis der Zeichen. Scheibenbilder, Augenbilder und Späte Bilder, in: ex. cat. E. W. Nay. Retrospektive, Hamburger Kunsthalle, 2022, p. 185) In "Federgrau", the dissolution finally comes to an end, before the disks reemerged more distinctly in the following year 1959. In the present work, E. W. Nay contrasts the impact of the primary colors yellow and red with monochrome gray and black color fields. Individual contrasting color fields and streaks of bluish-light green mixed into light gray add a moment of tension and visual friction. The paint has been applied to the canvas free of formal rules or artistic schemes, allowing it to speak for itself. The free and unconstrained composition conveys a palpable sense of rhythm and movement, primarily through the less flat but rather gestural short, distinctive brushstrokes in light gray. Combined with the evocative title "Federgrau (Feather Gray)", the painting also conveys lightness that breaks through the density of the otherwise flat, colorful composition. The monochrome gray-black color soothes the overall impression, but the cheerfulness and intensity of the rich yellow, red, and orange-red color fields prevail. "Federgrau" occupies a unique position among the Disk Paintings. Nay breaks with the traditional circular form in favor of free color fields, once again demonstrating his mastery in creating open pictorial spaces with the help of indeterminate, intuitive forms and a carefree certainty in the selection and combination of intense and contrasting colors. With its sunny yellow and strong red tones that conquer the dark gray-black, the work offered here shows Nay's mastery in balancing color, form, and material, as well as in creating liveliness and an optimistic radiance in these works from what was his most important period of creation and a first peak in his long artistic career. [CH]
Condition report on request katalogisierung@kettererkunst.de
Ernst Wilhelm Nay 
