Tony Agostini (1916-1990) - Chaise Verte

This colorful oil painting by Tony Agostini is a characteristic example of his intimate interior and flower still lifes, rooted in the tradition of the École de Paris.

- Artist: Tony Peter Agostini (1916-1990)
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 22 x 12 cm (frameless); 39 x 29 cm (framed)
- Period: +/- 1960
- Signed: lower right and on the back of the canvas
- Sold with frame

The work offered for sale is not a lithograph, but a unique, original, hand-painted signed oil painting. Still lifes with the boerenstoel (chaise rustique) belong to the most sought-after and iconic motifs in Agostini's oeuvre. This is not a 'study in-between,' but a full, representative key work.

At the center is a classic, rustic wooden chair with a wicker seat, upon which a glass vase with a lush, warm-toned bouquet of flowers is placed. Agostini creates a bold contrast by complementing the deep, vibrant turquoise and petrol blue hues of the chair with the warm honey- and terracotta-like colors of the wicker and the flowers. The background is built up from abstract, vertical bands in dark, melancholic tones, making the central composition spring forward powerfully and gaining a theatrical depth.

The flowers are applied with a thick, palpable paint texture (impasto). This gives the roses or peonies a sculptural, three-dimensional texture and a lively dynamism.

Biography

Tony Agostini (born Antoine Sylvestre Agostini) was a prominent French painter and lithographer belonging to the post-World War II French art movement of the École de Paris. He is known for his powerful still lifes and his ability to transform ordinary interiors into expressive, colorful compositions.

In the artistic district of Montmartre he met influential figures such as the painter Gen Paul and writers Francis Carco and Marcel Aymé. These encounters inspired him to devote his life entirely to art from 1946.

His vivid use of color was strongly influenced by his neighbor Gen Paul. For the sharp design and composition, he looked to the principles of Paul Cézanne, combined with cubist distortions.
In his early years he mainly painted the dynamics of crowds and the nocturnal Parisian city life with a dark palette. Later his work brightened and shifted focus to landscapes, studio interiors, and intimate still lifes.

From his first exhibitions in 1947 and 1948, he regularly exhibited at prominent galleries such as Galerie Visconti (1951-1952) and Galerie Charpentier (1957-1963) in Paris. From 1959 he attracted international attention with solo shows in New York and San Francisco. He was a familiar figure at leading annual Paris salons, including Salon des Peintres Témoins de leur Temps (from 1953), the influential School of Paris exhibitions at Galerie Charpentier, and the Salon des Tuileries (1957).

Works by Tony Agostini are included in several major national and international museum collections: Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Musée Fesch in Corsica, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, France, and the Musée Matisse in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France.