Lot 160
  • 160

Willem de Kooning

Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Willem de Kooning
  • Head II
  • signed and numbered 5/7
  • bronze with brown patina
  • 14 1/4 by 13 1/2 by 4 1/4 in. 36.2 by 34.3 by 11.4 cm.
  • Executed in 1972.

Provenance

Xavier Fourcade, Inc., New York
Private Collection, Germany
Sotheby's, London, February 7, 2001, Lot 52
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

Exhibited

Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Willem de Kooning, October 1979 - January 1980, cat. no. 122, p. 139, illustrated in color
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Berlin, Akademie der Kunst; Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Willem de Kooning: Drawings, Paintings, Sculptures, December 1983 - September 1984, cat. no. 274, p. 258, illustrated
New York, Matthew Marks Gallery, Willem de Kooning, Sculpture, May - June 1996, cat. no. 20, p. 57, illustrated
New York, Matthew Marks Gallery; Mitchell-Innes & Nash, Willem de Kooning: Drawing and Sculpture, October - December 1998, p. 58, illustrated

Literature

Exh. Cat., Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, de Kooning, Drawings, Sculptures, 1974, no. 145

Condition

This work is in very good and sound condition overall. The patina is sound and has a wonderful brown luster. There are scattered and unobtrusive spots of oxidation and dust residue. Otherwise, there are no apparent condition problems with this work.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Thus, with merciless fingers - more cruel than any brushstroke or slash of a knife because more direct - de Kooning fondles and violates this mass of clay until all of it has been ripped open, ploughed through, broken up. Inanimate, apathetic matter is struck by life, exasperated by this tortured expression, retaining the markes of obsesing or obsessional thoughts, of an incessantly repeated practice - or quite simply - retaining painterly gestures."  Claire Stoulling