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HAROLD ANCART (b. 1980)

$395,000

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<div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div> <div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div> <div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div> <div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div> <div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div> <div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div> <div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div> <div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div> <div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div> <div>Harold Ancart’s <em>Untitled </em>(2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting. </div>
UntitledExecuted in 2015112 x 80 in.(284.48 x 203.2 cm) oilstick and pencil on canvas mounted on wood, in artist's chosen frame
Provenance
CLEARING, New York
Private Collection, acquired from the above, 2015
Sotheby's, New York, October 12, 2023, lot 14
Private collection, acquired at the above sale
Harold Ancart’s Untitled (2015) reflects the artist’s poetic engagement with landscape and memory, created in the wake of his transformative 2014 cross-country road trip across the United States. During this journey, Ancart converted his car into a mobile studio, stopping spontaneously to sketch and record fleeting impressions of the natural environment. These observations informed a new body of work that magnified and abstracted ephemeral moments in the landscape, ultimately inspiring his first major institutional solo exhibition at The Menil Collection in Houston in 2016.


 


In this painting, a luminous, stylized plant rises against a deep black ground, its elongated leaves rendered in radiant greens, yellows, and reds that appear to glow against the darkness. The composition balances graphic clarity with expressive spontaneity—gestural marks and splashes of color orbit the central form like fragments of light or drifting pollen. By isolating and enlarging a single botanical subject, Ancart transforms a fleeting natural encounter into a monumental image that feels both intimate and cosmic.


 


Plant imagery has remained a recurring motif throughout Ancart’s practice, reappearing in later exhibitions including his 2022–2023 presentation at Gagosian. Trained in Belgium and later influenced by the legacy of American abstraction after relocating to New York in 2007, Ancart’s work merges a European sensibility with the expressive freedom of postwar American painting.
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