Editions & Works on Paper 
3 April 2025
Editions & Works on Paper 
229

Pierre Soulages 1919–2022

Eau-forte VIII

1957
etching and aquatint in colors on BFK Rives 30 h × 22¼ w in (76 × 57 cm)
estimate: $15,000–25,000
result: $21,590
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Signed and numbered to lower edge ‘28/100 Soulages’. This work is number 28 from the edition of 100 published by Berggruen, Paris.
provenance: Estate of Flora Gursky, Great Falls, Virginia
literature: Rivière VII

This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.

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When I was 16, I saw a reproduction of a prehistoric cave painting of a bison from the Altamira cave in Spain. I read that this painting dated back 18,000 years...at 16, I decided to do something brave: I went on a prehistoric dig. That’s how I started thinking about art. It’s fascinating to think that as soon as man came into existence, he started painting. I’ve always loved black, and I realized that, from the beginning, man went into completely dark caves to paint. They painted with black too. They could have painted with white because there were white stones all over the ground, but no, they chose to paint with black in the dark. It’s incredible, isn’t it? —Pierre Soulages

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