Ellsworth Kelly (b. 1923)

This exquisite collage executed in 1958 by Ellsworth Kelly was gifted to his friend and contemporary Edgar Negret, one of the most prominent Colombian sculptors of the 20th century. Both artists share a visual language that was autonomous and devoid of expressionist tendencies and worked toward objects of humility and self-sufficiency. In the 1950s Negret worked in a sculptural style reminiscent of the constructivists while Kelly was synthesizing Mondrian, Arp, and Brancusi; against the backdrop of Abstract Expressionism their works stood out as both radical and fresh.

The present lot sings with a low hum producing a contagious intimacy. Kelly hits every note with the shaping of the paper, its application and the choice of the sandy colored paper elements, proving the mantra of modern virtue--that less is indeed more.