Post War and Contemporary Art

Provenance:

CK Contemporary, San Francisco

Purchased from the above by the present owner in 2013

Lot Note:

José Basso was born in Vina del Mar, Chile in 1949. He stumbled upon a passion for art at a young age, ultimately pursuing art at the Vina del Mar School of Fine Arts, and then at the University of Chile in Valparaisio. Basso’s career has since flourished, and he has become one of Chile’s most prized contemporary artists. Having earned various awards and scholarships, there is no doubt that his work is imbued with a unique, widely recognized appeal. He has honored both public and private commissions throughout his career, including those by Spanish royalty. 

Despite the prestige that his work holds, Basso’s priorities remain sweet and simple: “for some time now, I feel the need to use art as a means to rescue and reflect only what is good.” Across his series of stylized landscapes, Basso plays with different color palettes but keeps his subject more or less constant: a flat horizon neatly distinguishing between field and sky, distantly adorned with trees, houses, and other accessories. He at once streamlines the landscape, reducing it to its essential qualities, and elevates it through his joyful application of color. In doing so, he manages to render the simple, the familiar, novel.  

In Noche de Luz Turqueza, Basso invites the viewer to meditate before the scene and absorb its quiet liminality. Viewers might seek retreat in its stillness, peace in its seclusion, or comfort in its company: you cannot help but consider the dwellers who sleep so soundly in the house on the horizon, wondering what their lives may look like beyond this ideal. The green distance that spans between the viewer and the house allows a romance, perhaps even a mystery, to settle. 

Bib: 

ckcontemporary.com

galerie-dorsay.com