Lot 30: Gordon Walters 1919-1995-Airborne c. 1955 Gouache

Gordon Walters 1919-1995-Airborne c. 1955 Gouache on paper 22.0x30.0 Signed & inscribed PROVENANCE Private Collection, New York In 1950, Gordon Walters travelled to Europe, eventually basing himself in London It was during this time that he viewed works by leading European artists such as Capogrossi, Taeuber-Arp, Vasarley and Herbin He also had the opportunity to see exhibitions of American art, as well as works by Mondrian and artists of the Bauhaus The collective works of these artists had a considerable effect on Walters and were formative to his stylistic development On his return to New Zealand in 1953, Walters began to produce his first abstract works, mainly on paper, completely devoid of figurative representation He remained very aware of developments in international art through magazine publications such as Art d'Aujourd Hui, while continuing to apply modernist principles to his work Walters was responsible for paving the way for Modernism in this country During the 1950s, the majori y of artists were concentrating largely on painting nationalist landscapes It was not until the 1970s that many of his works from the 1950s were finally shown to the public As discussed by Walters; They were not shown at the time I did them because I considered the climate to be unsympathetic, if not downright hostile to abstraction Gordon Walters quote p 31 Parallel Lines: Gordon Walters in context, William McAloon, Auckland City Art Gallery 1994 When viewed in this context, its apparent that Airborne was extremely progressive for its time It was completed just prior to the first of Walter's Koru Paintings from 1956 We begin to see Walters working within a defined set of formal aspects, those being colour, shape and composition, in order to achieve a visually harmonious balance The reduced palette is typical of his gouaches, while simple geometric forms are restricted mainly to variations of the square, circle and rectangle