SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Luis Tomasello’s research focuses on the effects of reflected light: in his Atmosphères chromoplastiques, white cubes arranged on a white ground set the colours of shadow and light in play within three-dimensional compositions. An Argentine sculptor born in La Plata in 1915, he died in Paris in 2014.
From an Italian family, Tomasello first worked with his father as a mason, carpenter and painter. As a teenager, he took evening drawing classes, then studied in Buenos Aires at the Escuela de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón from 1932 to 1938, and at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Ernesto de la Cárcova until 1944. Settling permanently in Paris in 1957, he conducted kinetic experiments on the plane with Marino di Teana; the following year, he created his first reliefs incorporating the effects of colour reflection. In 1958, he joined the Galerie Denise René group.
Atmosphere Chromoplastique Jaune, dated 1967–1969, exemplifies this work in relief: a lot description identifies it as a work in acrylic on wood, measuring 36.4 × 36.4 × 7.5 cm, published by Denise René in Paris in an edition of fifty. In 1985, a retrospective devoted to the period 1957–1984 was presented at the Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo in Madrid. The Sicardi gallery notes that his works are held in collections including that of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and that his Chromoplastic Mural of 2011 is on view at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.
In Tomasello’s compositions, colour is revealed through the interplay of light and shadow rather than by a coloured background: in this way, the artist explores the optical possibilities of relief.
This profile brings together identity references for Luis Tomasello and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Lempertz · Sotheby’s
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.
Luis Tomasello 1915 - 2014 Atmosphère chromoplastique No. 65, 1980 Oil on wood and acrylic box Signed, titled and dated on the reverse 86.5 x 86.5 (framed)
Catalogue period : 2021-12-07 — 2021-12-14
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : 24000 – 28000 CHF
View the lot at the auction house ↗Luis Tomasello 1915 - 2014 Atmosphère chromoplastique No. 633, 1988 Acrylic on wood Signed, titled and dated on the reverse 86 x 86 cm (framed)
Catalogue period : 2021-12-07 — 2021-12-14
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : 20000 – 30000 CHF
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Acrylic on wood
Atmosphere Chromoplastique Jaune
Acryl auf Holz
Auction date : 2020-12-09
Published result : 5000 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 4000
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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