Harold Porcher’s Specialist Picks: Five “Small Gems” to Watch in the May 22 Modern & Post-War Auction

We humans are adaptable. In conceiving creations, the artist must consider the space where the artwork will exist. Scale is an important factor in art, both in its creation and presentation, from artist Hannah Wilke, who created bold statements about the perception of womanhood in her chewing gum sculptures, to Constantin Brâncuși’s Endless Column. Below Harold Porcher shares a few works featured in our Modern & Post-War Art auction that deal with scale in meaningful and practical ways. 

Gwen John, A Vase of Mauve Colored Flowers.

Gwen John’s works on paper are intimate. Often quite small, the scenes depicted range from a vase of flowers bathed in warm light (as seen above in A Vase of Mauve Colored Flowers) to a solitary cat napping near a window as sunlight rakes across the interior of the room. 

Mark Tobey, Florentine Shadows, 1954.

Lot 78: Mark Tobey, Florentine Shadows, tempera on board, 1954. Estimate $15,000 to $25,000.

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The post-war era of artists in the United States ushered in the Abstract Expressionist generation. Jackson Pollock, the quintessential Action Painter, created paintings on a human scale employing the physicality of a dancer. Though his is the art that most often comes to mind, other Abstract Expressionist painters chose a smaller support to produce more contemplative statements. Mark Tobey’s Florentine Shadows contains no less dynamic energy than a Pollock and does so in just over six-by-two inches of space.

Works by Joe Brainard

Artists like Jackson Pollock, with his large drip paintings, and Allan Kaprow, with his works on the gallery floor and the sidewalk beyond, opened the possibilities of scale beyond the canvas. Eventually Kaprow expanded to the chicken farm in South Brunswick, New Jersey owned by his friend and fellow artist, George Segal, where Kaprow and his contemporaries created Happenings. These Happenings, or performance art expressions, branched out into other realms—among them Mail Art.

Joe Brainard was an artist that often created his whimsical brand of art on postcards.  

Jamini Roy, Untitled (Christ), tempera on card, circa 1944.

Though the concept of Mail Art was most probably not conceived in the mind of Jamini Roy, he most certainly considered scale in relation to transporting his works. Roy earned a formal degree in art from the Government Art School in Calcutta, but chose a path for his artistic expression more aligned with traditional imagery in Bengali street art. Though championed at home, much of his works sold to people who were traveling through the area. Untitled, (Christ) was collected by Warren Nardin who served in the U.S. Army, Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. Nardin shipped this work, along with other keepsakes, to the United States where it remained in his and his family’s possession until consigned to Swann.  

Vi Cao Dam, Untitled, terracotta.

Vietnamese artist Vu Cao Dam lived and worked in France through the German occupation in WWII, during which casting sculptures in bronze became challenging. He turned to terracotta as a material that could be easily acquired. This medium when wet gave the malleability desired and when dried could be the fully realized product. This smaller-than-life head of a woman, standing at nine inches high, holds the somber energy of one practicing deep contemplation. The balance of symmetry sooths the viewer as we drink in its beauty. 

The vastness of our art world has so much to offer. With variants in scale, medium, and subject matter, there is certainly art out there to confirm or enhance your passions, no matter how small your third-floor walkup might be.