Nov 16, 2023 - Sale 2653

Sale 2653 - Lot 98

Price Realized: $ 3,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 5,000
STEPHEN ANTONAKOS
Untitled.

Sewlage with fabric, wood and oil on canvas, 1961. 765x615 mm; 30x24 inches. Signed and dated in oil, verso.

Provenance: Gift from the artist to the current owners, private collection, New York.

Sewlage was the term given by Antonakos (1926-2013) to describe his sewn and stretched fabric collages. During the early 1950s, Antonakos frequented New York's art museums, where he became inspired by Alberto Burri (1915-1995), especially the artist's fabric Sacchi works. In 1956, Antonakos had given up painting in favor of creating constructions and collages with found objects. In 1958, Antonakos had his first solo exhibition, "Collages," at Avant-Garde Gallery, New York featuring these works. Unlike Burri's Sacchi, which had first inspired the Sewlages, Antonakos used an array of colorful fabrics and textures, sourced from used clothing and scraps of materials, including furniture and cork letters, close to his studio in New York's garment district.