Relief no. 12B

1936

César Domela
Dutch, 1900-1992

Among César Domela’s most ambitious “neoplastic reliefs,” Relief no. 12B is notable not only for its large size but also for its complex construction from overlapping hollow and solid disks. One of the youngest members of the Dutch art movement De Stijl, Domela made his first relief in 1929, using wood, metallic paint, and metal rods to create three-dimensional rectangular compositions that resemble geometric paintings yet extend into the space of the viewer by projecting off the wall. When Plexiglas was invented in 1933, Domela became one of the first artists to embrace it as a material, using it and other plastics to enhance the play of light within his works, and generate new physical and optical textures and patterns.

Status: On View, Gallery 393
Department: Modern Art

Artist: César Domela
Title: Relief no. 12B
Place: Amsterdam (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1936
Medium: Masonite, wood, cellulose acetate rods, plastic sheet, metal, brass, paint
Dimensions: 106.6 × 15.2 cm (42 × 6 in.)
Credit Line: Promised gift of Lisa Goldberg
Reference Number: Obj: 261219

Kunsthalle Basel, Konstruktivisten, exh. cat. (Basel: Kunsthalle Basel, 1937), 18, cat. 118, 120, 121, or 122.
Musée du jeu de paume, Origines et développement de l’art international indépendant, exh. cat. (Paris: Le Musée, 1937), n.p., cat. 168 (as Bas–relief polychrome rond).
Pierre Guéguen, Tableaux-objets de Cesar Domela, exh. cat. (Paris: Galerie Pierre, 1939), n.p. (ill.), as Composition sur fond rond).
Peggy Guggenheim, ed., Art of This Century: Objects, Drawings, Photographs, Paintings, Sculpture, Collages, 1910 to 1942 (New York: Art of This Century, 1942), 92 (ill.), (as Composition on a Round Base).
H.L.C. Jaffé, Domela: Paintings, Constructions, Tableaux-Objects, 1924–1960, exh. cat. (New York: Galerie Chalette, 1961), n.p., cat. 14, as Construction
Hyde Park Art Center, The World of Pure Painting, exh. brochure (Chicago: Hyde Park Art Center, 1964), n.p., (as Untitled).
Hélène Seckel-Klein, Daniel Abadie, and Alfred Pacquement, Paris–New York, exh. cat. (Paris: Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou, 1977), 493 (ill)., (as Composition on a round base).
Alain Clairet, Domela: Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre de César Domela-Nieuwenhis, peintures, reliefs, sculptures (Paris: C. Martinez, 1978), 94, cat. 47 (ill.).
Marie-Odile Briot, Domela: 65 ans d’abstraction, exh. cat. (Paris: Paris-Musées, 1987), 20, fig. 11 (ill.), 31, fig. 53 (ill.); 122, cat. 76 (ill.).
Stedelijk Museum, Domela: 65 ans d’abstraction, exh. checklist (Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum, 1987), n.p., cat. 17.
Karole Vail and Luca Patocchi, Il Ritrovo Degli Artisti: A Brief History in Images of Peggy Guggenheim’s Collection, exh. cat. (Lugano: Fondazione Galleria Gottardo, 2001), 36, 37 (ill.).
Doris Wintgens, Peggy Nelly: Peggy Guggenheim and Nelly Van Doesburg Advocates of De Stijl (Rotterdam: Nai010 Publishers, 2017), 52, 54, fig. 34 (ill.), (as Composition on a Round Base).

Kunsthalle Basel, Konstruktivisten, Jan. 16–Feb. 14, 1937, cat. 118, 120, 121, or 122.
Paris, Musée du jeu de paume, Origines et développement de l’art international indépendant, July 30–Oct. 31, 1937, cat. 168 (as Bas–relief polychrome rond).
Paris, Galerie Pierre, Tableaux-objets de César Domela, Feb. 2–Mar. 1, 1939, no cat. no. (as Composition sur fond rond, 1936).
New York, Leo Castelli, Pioneers: 1910-1950, Apr. 29-May 31, 1958, no cat.
New York, Galerie Chalette, Domela: Paintings, Constructions, Tableaux-Objects, 1924–1960, Feb. 15–March 31, cat. 14, as Construction
Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, The World of Pure Painting, May 13–17, 1964, cat. 8 (as Untitled).
Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris–New York, June 1–Sept. 19, 1977, no cat. no. (as Composition on a round base).
Paris, Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Domela: 65 ans d’abstraction, Mar. 4–May 10, 1987, cat. 76; Musée de Grenoble, June 4–Sept. 2, 1987; Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Oct. 30–Dec. 12, 1987, cat. 17.

The artist; Peggy Guggenheim (1898–1979), Paris and later New York, by fall 1940 until at least 1942 [Clairet 1978, 241; Wintgens 2017, 52n16; Guggenheim 1942, 92]. Sold through B.C. Holland Gallery, Chicago, to Lillian Florsheim (1896–1988), Chicago, Oct. 24, 1963 [receipt, copy in curatorial object file]; by descent to Lisa Goldberg, New York; promised as a gift to the Art Institute of Chicago, Nov. 9, 2021.

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