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Georges Simonka (1916-2001) Vers Tarragone (Village near Tarragona), c. 1960's
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Details
Signed ‘Simonka’ (lower right); titled ‘Vers Tarragon’ and signed ‘G. Simonka’ on the reverse.
Sizes:
Frame: 72 × 63 cm | 28.3 × 24.8 in
Artwork: 46 × 55 cm | 18.1 × 21.7 in
A horse and cart with its driver crosses a sunlit square below the ochre walls of a Romanesque church, a tower with a pointed red roof rising behind it; two women stand in the shade of an arch to the left, and the sky is a deep slate grey that makes the stone glow. The paint is laid on with the knife and the brush in thick, scumbled layers, the yellows and pinks of the walls set against the dark sky and the blue-black shadow of the arch.
Georges Simonka (1916–2001), born in Budapest and trained at its school of applied arts, settled in Paris after the war and exhibited at the Salon d’Automne; he painted still lifes and townscapes in a firm, constructed manner with a rich surface. The reverse carries his own title, ‘Vers Tarragon’, the road to Tarragona, in Catalonia.
Provenance
Acquired in France.
Private Collection, Spain.
Condition Report
Oil on canvas, unlined, on its original stretcher (French 10F format). The paint layer is stable and clean, with no losses observed. Presented in a wide dark frame with a gilt slip. Please contact us to request a detailed Condition Report.
Shipping
Packed as size L (up to 100 × 80 cm) · 72 × 63 cm framed
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- Made-to-measure wooden crate (works over 20,000 €)
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€ (the low estimate to start)
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We coordinate packing and shipping on your behalf, with insurance available if you’d like it — or you’re welcome to arrange your own. Please see our Shipping Information page for full details before completing your purchase.
Authenticity & Buyer Information
This lot is catalogued under the artist’s name without qualification. Provenance, dating and condition are described to the best of our knowledge; the sale is governed by our Conditions of Sale.
Buyers should review the catalogue carefully and raise any questions before bidding; additional information is not ordinarily provided after the auction.
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What it costs
Bidding on this site, the buyer’s premium is 25%, Spanish IVA included. There is no VAT on the hammer price and no card fee.
| Starting price | Low estimate | High estimate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hammer price | €300 | €300 | €500 |
| Buyer’s premium 25% (IVA included) | €75 | €75 | €125 |
| Total on auroraathena.com | €375 | €375 | €625 |
| Total through a bidding platform (30%) | €390 | €390 | €650 |
Through LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Drouot or Bidspirit the premium is 30%: the same hammer of €500 costs €650 there against €625 here. Shipping and insurance are quoted separately; the estimator below gives the figure for your country. Buyers outside the EU pay no Spanish tax on the lot; the destination’s import rules apply (United States: original paintings and drawings enter duty-free; United Kingdom: 5% import VAT on art). Card payments are accepted up to €10,000; larger amounts by bank transfer.
Questions about this lot
How does the estimate compare with the artist’s recent auction results?
The estimate of €300–€500 is our opinion of the range this work should reach; the starting price of €300 is the lowest bid we accept. We have not published comparable results for this lot; ask us before the sale and we will send the results we based the estimate on.
What will this lot cost in total?
Bidding on this site, the buyer’s premium is 25%, Spanish IVA included, and there is no VAT on the hammer price and no card fee: at the starting price of €300 the total is €375; at the low estimate of €300 the total is €375; at the high estimate of €500 the total is €625.
Through LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Drouot or Bidspirit the premium is 30%, so the same hammer of €500 costs €650 there. Shipping and insurance are quoted separately; the estimator on this page gives the figure for your country. Buyers outside the EU pay no Spanish tax on the lot; the destination’s import rules apply (United States: original paintings and drawings enter duty-free; United Kingdom: 5% import VAT on art). Card payments are accepted up to €10,000; larger amounts by bank transfer.
How is this lot catalogued?
Under the artist’s name without qualification. Provenance, dating, condition and value are described to the best of our knowledge; the sale is governed by the Conditions of Sale.
Can I see the condition report, more photographs or the work itself?
A condition report with ultraviolet photographs is prepared on request, normally within two working days; the condition summary on this page is examined in-house and is not a conservator’s report. Further photographs of any detail, the reverse or the frame are sent on request. The work can be examined in our Barcelona showroom by appointment before the sale, and you are welcome to send your own conservator or specialist.
How does bidding work, and can a maximum bid make me overpay?
You can leave a maximum bid before the sale (the sale is on Saturday, November 28th - 17:00 (CET)) or bid live in our online room. A maximum bid is executed by the auctioneer only as much as is needed to stay ahead of other bidders, in the sale’s increments, never above your maximum.
Where a reserve exists it never exceeds the low estimate; a lot without a reserve sells to the highest bid at or above the starting price of €300.
Is there a limit on how much I can bid?
Every account is approved for bidding as soon as the e-mail address is confirmed, with a limit of €5,000 per bid until the identity is verified. The limit applies everywhere: in the live room, on the lot page and to maximum bids. To bid without a limit, verify your identity in your account on this site: it takes about three minutes on a phone, is done once, and the limit is lifted automatically as soon as the check is complete. Please do it at least an hour before the sale.
Georges Simonka
Georges Simonka was born in Budapest in 1916 and studied at the city’s school of applied arts. He held his first exhibition in Budapest in 1943 and after the war settled in Paris, where he joined the large colony of Hungarian painters of the École de Paris and showed regularly at the Salon d’Automne and the Salon Comparaisons.
He painted still lifes, figures and townscapes in a firm, constructed manner, building his pictures from planes of thick, scumbled colour laid on with the knife and the brush, with a dark line holding the forms together.
His travels took him to Spain and the Mediterranean, whose villages, churches and carts he painted under heavy skies, and in later years he also worked in mixed media and collage. A member of several French artists’ associations and listed in the Bénézit dictionary, he exhibited across Europe; the Musée Jean Moulin in Paris holds his portrait of General Leclerc, and his work is recorded in public collections in France and Austria. He died in Paris in 2001.
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