Mixed media abstract painting on canvas by Gilles Rieu, titled “St Valentin in St Augustine” as noted on verso. Dark, heavily textured composition featuring layered black, white, and red elements with a central cross motif, gestural figures, and script-like markings. Signed by the artist on the reverse with a small sketch.
Unframed, stretched canvas. Work shows visible wear consistent with handling, including edge wear, surface scuffs, and minor imperfections to the canvas and stretcher. This item is in pre-owned, previously displayed condition with wear and surface markings. Please reference all photos for full details.
Art: 20" x 16" x 1 1/4". Weight: 1.8 lbs
This item is originally from the collection of liquor icon Michel Roux. One of Mr. Roux’s signature spirits at Crillon was absinthe, the anise-flavored spirit known for its popularity among 19th-century artists like van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec. It was banned by the United States in 1912 amid concerns that wormwood, one of its ingredients, which contained thujone, caused hallucinations. In 2000, Mr. Roux introduced a legal absinthe, Absente, which used a sister botanical, Southern wormwood, with only trace amounts of thujone.
Share this lot:
