Description:

Fritz Bultman (American/New Orleans, 1919-1985), "Interior - Game", 1952, oil on canvas, monogrammed "FB" lower right, signed, dated "Aug 1952" and titled en verso, 30 in. x 38 in., framed. Provenance: Gift of the Artist, c. 1950s; Private Collection, Uruguay. Exh.: Kootz Gallery, New York, Sept. 15 - Oct. 4, 1952, no. 11. Note: Among the leading artists of the Abstract Expressionist generation, Fritz Bultman joined the “Irascibles” in 1950, signing a letter to the heads of the Metropolitan Museum of Art protesting the conservative nature of their exhibitions. However, Bultman missed the Life magazine famous photograph of the group in 1951, as he was studying sculpture in Italy at the time. By 1952, Bultman and his wife returned to New York City, where he became increasingly involved in the city’s vibrant art scene and taught at Pratt Institute until 1959. By the time of “Interior – Game” offered here from 1952, Bultman had transitioned from his earlier works based on mythological themes such as that of Actaeon, although hints of these myths may subtly remain in the aggressive nature of the elements vying within the composition. The bold color palette of reds and yellows are pitted against a network of black lines, hinting at the struggle between structure and chaos and the influences of gestural painting. Bultman’s upbringing in New Orleans remains within his works, with fire and heat represented by the color red a common element. The artist recalled the burning of the swamps in Louisiana as a boy: “What appears to be a sheet of water will be burning with very high flames against a blue sky – I don’t know anything else that seems to me as beautiful as that…It’s fire and water. You very seldom see them together in such close juxtaposition as you do when they are burning a swamp.” In addition to the use of color, a similar combination of circles and cruciform configurations to those seen in this painting appear throughout his work from the period, including one similarly titled “Interior Rain” of 1953. These meticulously crafted compositions bridge nature and personal narrative and set Bultman apart from his contemporaries. Bultman’s work was described by a critic in 1950 as having a “blood on the moon fierceness that strikes at the heart,” and the painting offered here is no exception. Ref.: Andrew, Jason. “Blood on the Moon Fierceness: Fritz Bultman’s Paintings and Collages.” Hyperallergic. Apr. 29, 2013. www.hyperallerigc.com. Accessed Dec. 17, 2017. Gruber, J. Richard. "Fritz Bultman." Encyclopedia of Louisiana. Sept. 12, 2012. www.knowlouisiana.org. Accessed Dec. 17, 2017. Kingsley, April and Fritz Bultman. Fritz Bultman: A Retrospective. New Orleans: New Orleans Museum of Art, 1993.

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January 26, 2019 10:00 AM CST
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