Richard Tuttle

Robert A. Rowan, Los Angeles (acquired directly from the artist)
Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles
Saatchi Collection, London
Sotheby's New York, May 1, 1991, Lot 113
Acquired by the present owner from the above

San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Art, A New York Collector Selects...The Seventh Selection of the Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art, 1965
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Los Angeles, Otis Art Institute Gallery of Los Angeles County, Richard Tuttle, September 1975 - February 1976, p. 87, illustrated (titled Silver Abstraction) (Los Angeles only)
Tokyo, Sezon Museum of Art, Richard Tuttle: Selected Works 1964-1994, 1995
San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Des Moines, Des Moines Art Center; Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art; Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, The Art of Richard Tuttle, July 2005 - June 2007, fig. 44, illustrated in color

Peter Schjeldahl, Art of Our Time: The Saatchi Collection, Vol. 1, London, 1984, pl. 120, illustrated in color
Kenneth Baker, Minimalism: Art of Circumstance, New York, 1988, p. 75, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. The piece is hollow and constructed of 4 long pieces of wood and 2 rectangular wood pieces at the ends, all joined by small nails. Some very slight gaps between the individual pieces of wood have developed over time, with some attendant minor cracking to the paint. These minor cracks are primarily at the back and bottom edges of the left end, the bottom of the right end, and extending along the top edge, primarily at the curve. There are a few soft scratches scattered throughout, primarily ---two parallel 3 in. scratches located 48 ½ in. from the left end ---a few on the underside, located 30 and 32 in. from the left end and 20 ½ and 24 in. from the right end ----a 1 inch scratch located 35 in. from the left end Under ultraviolet light, there appears to be inpainting in a scattered grouping of linear areas that appear related to the wood grain, primarily located on the front face 12 ½ - 16 ¼ in. and 20 – 26 in. from the left end. There is a spot of accretion located on the front face 19 ½ in. from the left end and a black scuff located 24 ¾ - 25 in. from the left on the underside. The unpainted reverse has some small splinter losses located at each far corner and scattered 6 ½ - 9 in. from the right proper end (as viewed in the catalogue). The metallic paint exhibits soft handling marks overall that are more evident in raking light.
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.

"Some of the qualities in Tuttle's work that first provoked my attention, and which have held it since, are personal; there is a purity and an integrity to these pieces that places them, at least in the immediate sense, outside comparison with work being done by other artists at present.  They are curiously poetic, childlike and tender.  They are unequivocal yet adaptable, unpretentious yet commanding.  On the other hand, the formal aspects of Tuttle's work are equally fascinating; the work resists categorization, being neither painting nor sculpture.  It is intellectually as provocative as it is elusive, as conceptually strong as it is materially self-sufficient.  Tuttle makes work which is direct, simple, physically unassuming, yet peculiarly moving."
-Marcia Tucker reflecting on the 1975 exhibition she curated of Tuttle's work (Exh. Cat., New York, Whitney Museum of American Art (and travelling), Richard Tuttle, 1975, pp. 21-22)