Selected objects

For more than half a century, the Axel Vervoordt Company’s relationship with art and antiques has been a way to share our experiences of the world. We believe the best way to full inhabit a space is by being surrounded by architecture, furniture, art, and objects that are represented by the honesty of their materials and the purity of intent in their creation.

Shiraga’s abstract action paintings were born out of struggle. He began the process by placing a mass of paint on top of a canvas on the floor, suspending himself from ropes attached to the ceiling beams, and he proceeded to spread the paint around actively - even violently - with his feet. The opponents in the creative battle were his bare flesh and the material. The tension and strength arose from the struggle between the unconscious power of the body that threatens to jump off the canvas and the conscious power that creates a structure to bring it back inside.

Although fragmentary in nature, the exceptional quality of this colossal head's remaining features, as well as the luxurious red Aswan granite in which it is sculpted, indicate that it is the work of a master. The particular headdress and false beard allow the subject to be identified as a god rather than a royal figure.

Born on the southern coast of Bahia, in a town called Belmonte, José Zanine Caldas moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1938, to start a workshop producing architectural scale models. Through his work he met a number of iconic Brazilian architects such as Oscar Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa.

Selected objects

"Funkei", Kazuo Shiraga (Amagasaki, 1924 - 2008)

Head of a God

Sculptured side table by José Zanine Caldas (Belmonte, 1918 - Victoria, 2001)