Lot 48: - Ilhan Koman , 1921-1986 Untitled iron with wooden base

iron with wooden base

measurements note 64 by 29 by 21.2cm.; 25 1/8 by 11 3/8 by 8 3/8 in.

Istanbul, Galeri Nev, Bir Ilhan Koman Heykeli, 1997-98

Ali Artun and Haldun Dostoglu, Muzekitap: 1950-2000 Turkiye'de Cagdas Sanat, Istanbul 1999, p. 344, illustrated in colour

Abidin Dino, Paris
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1994

Executed in 1961-1962.
Throughout his career, Ilhan Koman experimented with numerous media, styles and techniques in which he created sculptures that are figurative and nonfigurative, static and kinetic, purely aesthetic and purely practical. Koman's art took him on a continuous search for new shapes, geometric innovations and tangible solutions to problems that he faced early in his career. His treatment of iron, as seen in the present work, can be interpreted as a personal take on sculpture's foremost metallurgical challenge: bringing metal to life. It was in the early 60s, shortly after his arrival in Scandinavia, that Koman forged some of his most remarkable masterpieces. This period, which the artist dubbed his 'Iron Age', marked an important turning point in his budding international career. In 1961, art critic Pierre Guéguen praised Koman's metalwork in the Parisian avant-garde publication Aujourd'hui: Art et Architecture. Guéguen made particular allusion to the artist's distinctive technique, describing his rugged iron abstractions as being "eminently expressive" (Pierre Guéguen, 'Ilhan Koman ou la sculpture abstraite pathétique', Aujourd'hui: Art et Architecture, No. 31, May 1961, in Exhibition Catalogue, Istanbul, Galeri Nev, Ilhan Koman, 2006, p. 7). Ilhan Koman's frenetic creative process was fuelled by a desire not only to craft beautiful sculpture, but also to portray the unique quality of iron, namely its malleability. Although at first glance it appears to be the result of a chaotic struggle between metal, welding torch and hammer, Koman's forging is incredibly precise, as can be observed in the fine details of his work. These, most evident in areas where the iron is bent and welded onto the composition, are the artist's implicit signature. The present piece embodies Koman's dramatic expressionism. The metal--moulded, cut and soldered--has been shaped into a dynamic structure reminiscent of man mid-stride. Yet the figurative aspect of the composition is infinitely subtle and bordering on the abstract. The challenge to Ilhan Koman was in creating a sculpture that can reflect both its subject matter and the process through which its static iron medium is transformed.