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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  Fine Australian & International Art
• Sale Date:
  02 May 2016 ~ 6.30pm - Part 1 - Lots 1 - 47
  03 May 2016 ~ 2.30pm - Part 2 - Lots 48 - 320
• Lot #:
  20
• Lot Description:
  Robert Hunter
  (born 1947)
  Untitled No. 3 1993
  synthetic polymer paint on plywood
  122 x 244 cm
  initialled, numbered and dated verso: RH 3 93
• Provenance:
  Christies, Australian & International Paintings, Melbourne, 22/11/2005, Lot No. 67; Private collection, Melbourne
• Notes:
  Robert Hunter was one of Australia's leading abstract painters whose work has often been described as Minimalist - a descriptor applied to Hunter's work after he gained international recognition when his work was shown in New York in the 1974 MoMA exhibition Eight Contemporary Artists with Brice Marden, Jan Dibbets, Dorothea Rockburne, Vito Acconci, Hanne Darboven, Daniel Buren and Alighiero Boetti. At this time Hunter articulated that he had 'a philosophy of accepting what was there in a material sense, meaning paper after canvas, then walls'.1 While this simple statement is the crux of Hunter's approach, it underplays the complexity of his paintings from the late 1960s to 2014 all of which were based on a grid format. This included early grids made from paper and grids painted directly onto the wall, which by the mid-1970s had evolved into his major statement of an extended series of white paintings on same-sized rectangular panels. With this economy of means he created intricate paintings with a complex geometry that graduated from one painting to the next in a complex yet precise sequence. There was a sustained evolution in Hunter's work: from white on white paintings, then the introduction of tones of grey and silver (particularly with wall installations), next a return to white with warm and cool tones, and then the introduction of the primary tints of red, blue, yellow and green. He also experimented with imbedding fine primary-coloured cotton thread onto the surface, before returning once more to all-white paintings that, after his Artist-in-Residency at Melbourne University in 1988-89, incorporated different surface textures within the sequences of white tints. His impressive and consistent body of work thus represents a remarkable, sustained achievement. The essence of Hunter's work is that each painting requires careful viewing to enhance and reward the viewer's perception, so that the intricate patterns of lines, structures and colours, which constitute each composition unfold at a measured pace as the viewer's eyes adjust to the internal rhythms and patterns of the composition. The result is a sublime work of art that delivers untold pleasure with sustained and renewed viewing. A Hunter painting thus has the subtlety and complexity of a work that is truly contemplative and totally rewarding when viewed and appreciated for its 'maximalist' rather than 'minimalist' qualities.2 Frances Lindsay AM 1 Museum of Modern Art, New York, Eight Contemporary Artists, 1974, cited: https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/5188/releases/MOMA_1974_0119_101.pdf 2 Robert Hunter in conversation with the author frequently referred to his work as 'maximalist' rather than 'minimalist'
• Estimate:
  A$18,000 - 25,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.