Sold for $5,750

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Lot Description

Vance Kirkland (American, 1904-1981)
Red, Black and Gold, 1957, oil on canvas, signed Kirkland and dated (lower left)
24 x 20 inches

I find this painting fascinating. It is a pure abstraction by Kirkland and an example of how he was constantly developing and experimenting in his career. Kirkland began abstraction in 1947 after reluctantly beginning to give up his unique Surrealism. His imagination and unerring sense of composition, as he manipulates the thinned paint with a splash of gold, gives us a typical bright, rhythmic Kirkland abstraction.

Furthermore, this painting is one of the five earliest that I know of, where Kirkland uses gold. He decided he liked gold, and silver too, for their reflective qualities and went on to employ gold in various paintings throughout the rest of his career. Therefore, this painting foreshadows Kirkland’s extensive use of gold, particularly in the early 1960s.

- Hugh Grant, Executor of Vance Kirkland Estate; Founding Director and Curator, Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Denver, Colorado.

Condition Report

Overall good condition.

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