Richard Pettibone

Acquired by the present owner directly from the artist, 1970

This work is in very good condition overall. There are minor areas of raised elements most likely due to the artist's working method. Framed in artist's wood frame.
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.
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The following group of works by Richard Pettibone is from a remarkable Private European Collection of Contemporary Art. 

The consignor recalls meeting the artist in February, 1969 in the Leo Castelli Gallery, while he was working in New York after graduating from university in Basel.  Pettibone's paintings were being exhibited alongside those of David Diao and Peter Young; they got into a long conversation about Pettibone's work, which ended with an invitation to his studio.

On his first visit, Pettibone explained that he was making a living copying paintings on commission from collectors who wanted duplicates or miniatures of the works in their collections; the utility value of the miniatures was that they could be grouped together in a small space, to form a miniature exhibition.  Pettibone also showed the young collector some ideas he was working on, 'inventing' miniature versions of contemporary masters such as Warhol and Stella.  He made one purchase on that visit, and the rest during later visits.

At the time, Pettibone was developing his 'combine' pictures which feature two or more overlapping paintings by different artists; in some cases the combination stems from an obvious visual relationship, or pun, between an abstract painting or a pop motif: a Jasper Johns Flag painting juxtaposed with a Frank Stella Stripe painting, for instance.  The example in this collection, a Warhol 'Most-Wanted' silkscreen painting combined with a Stella, elucidates the contrasting trends in contemporary art to be found in New York at the time.

Our collector returned to Switzerland in 1970, where the success of his business enabled him to form an important collection, including 'real' works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Stella and Johns.  In 1999 he purchased a pied-à-terre in Paris.  It was a small, 'romantic place' comprising two rooms four flights up; the Pettibones seemed perfectly suited to its modest scale, so this is where they were hung, all together.

In 2008 a fire broke out in the apartment building and though there was no damage to his apartment, it needed repainting, so the Pettibones were taken down, wrapped up and put away.  When they were taken out again, one work – a miniature of a Claes Oldenburg soft light switch – was missing.  Feeling a little despondent that the Pettibone 'collection' was now incomplete, the collector has decided to sell the rest of the pictures, which are now being publicly exhibited and offered for sale for the first time.