Peter SAUL [American] (b. 1934) - Lot 102

Peter SAUL [American] (b. 1934) Composition (Washing Machine series), 1959 Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. 110 x 90 cm Provenance : Private collection, Paris. The work is listed and illustrated in a diary kept by Peter Saul between June 1956 and 1964. Opposite the photograph of the work, he writes: "Wanted to 'find' the outline of the machine in the act of painting because so many people said the box-shape was 'arbitrary' or not arrived at in terms of painting-hence the de Kooning loopy edge in top right. Sevres green with lots of white was the excitement to begin. I found an orange background was no good, switched to white. A la Beckett again. Not bad, it improves as the paint dries. It doesn't look like a washing machine, even to me, nor does it really work spontaneously - but in terms of colour and technique it expresses the slush, slush, slush of cold shirts and [...] dirty water. Very OXYDOL, TIDE."