Dan Flavin

Jared Sable Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto (acquired from the above in 1974)
Sotheby's, New York, October 3, 1991, Lot 99
Acquired by the present owner from the above

New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Morris, November - December 1975 (another example)

Michael Govan and Tiffany Bell, Dan Flavin: the Complete Lights, 1961-1996, New Haven and London, 2004, cat. no. 33, p. 225, illustrated in color (artist's diagram)

This sculpture is in very good condition overall. There are a few minor soft rubs, nicks and faint scratches to the metal armature, particulary at the bottom left and top left on the front (as viewed in the catalogue) as is to be expected for the artist's metal light fixtures. There is also a small loss in a slight dent located 14 in. from the right on the lower section as viewed in the catalogue. There is scattered dust and soiling over the metal armatures. The plastic brackets that hold the bulbs are all intact and in good working order. This work is wired for US electrical current.
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.

The moment Dan Flavin liberated his artistic practice from the confines of tradition - a fluorescent light was placed radically and solely against the wall - he experienced the "ecstasy" of artistic breakthrough. His work was henceforth transformed, having assumed an inherent commitment to the striking simplicity and the powerful potential of an isolated light source. The present work, four red horizontals (to Sonja), is of exceptional prominence, as it was executed in 1963, the year Flavin abandoned conventional art-making techniques in the name of creative revelation.

A primary articulation of Flavin's unique artistic language, therefore, the present work concisely communicates the complexity of readymade art: neatly stacked in uniform arrangement, the industrial red lamps challenge their object status by emitting an unbounded, splendid luminosity.  Fittingly, both the space the work occupies, as well as its beholder are inescapably encompassed and transformed.

Following suit with his other titles, the present work bares the name of an objective description counterbalanced by a sentimental dedication; in this case, the dedication is extended to Flavin's first wife, Sonja Severdija. Of Flavin's noteworthy titles, art historian Barbara Rose has written, "Dan's titles always referred to what he was thinking about at the time," and for Rose, Flavin's 1963 composition the nominal three (to William of Ockham) was particularly telling. Flavin's reduction to essentials and readymades - epitomized by both four red horizontals and the nominal three - constituted an assertive defiance of the era's dominating Abstraction Expressionist camp.

Referring to Flavin's Catholic upbringing, Rose insightfully remarks, "[Flavin] was aware that William of Ockham was imprisoned for heresy for contradicting the pope and insisting that sanctity was only achieved through poverty and simplicity. Dan's work was also about challenging authority, and I guess at that time Clement Greenberg was the pope." (Exh. Cat., New York, Zwirner & Wirth, Dan Flavin: The 1964 Green Gallery Exhibition, 2008, p. 18).