SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Joe Downing, also known as Joseph Dudley Downing, was born in Kentucky in 1925 and settled in France in 1950 after studying at the Art Institute of Chicago. His painting explored relationships between space, rhythm and colour through proliferating forms. He also used unusual supports, including old doors, windows and leather, taking painting beyond its conventional frame. In his cut and stapled paper works, the gaps between fragments contribute to the composition as much as the elements themselves. This material investigation extended to theatre, with sets for works by Kurt Weill and Marguerite Duras, and later to ceramics at Sèvres. Retrospectives in France and the United States accompanied a career in which colour continually engaged with its support and surrounding space.
This profile brings together identity references for Joe Downing and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer · Piguet · Zofingen
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Watercolour on paper
Untitled
Aquarell auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2023-11-25
Published result : 240 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 300
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Oil on canvas
Abstrakte Komposition
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2023-06-21
Published result : 3942 CHF
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : CHF 3000–4000
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Oil on canvas
Composition sur fond vert
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2017-12-13
Published result : 1300 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 800–1200
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Gouache
Composition
gouache
Catalogue period : 2016-06-13
Published result : 200 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 250–350
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Oil on canvas
Composition en bleu vert,
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2013-10-02
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 1500–2500
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
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