Jean Arp

Estate of the artist

Brook Street Gallery, London

Mrs. & Mrs. Irving Cohen, Palm Beach

Murray A. Gribin, Los Angeles (1972)

Nathan & Marion Smooke, Los Angeles (acquired from the above in 1973 and sold: Phillips, New York, November 5, 2001, lot 39)

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Degas to Picasso, Modern Masters from the Smooke Collection, 1987, illustrated in color in the catalogue

New York, Gagosian Gallery, Marble, 2009

Herbert Read, The Art of Jean Arp, New York, 1968, no. 131 illustrated p. 106

Eduard Trier, Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach & François Arp, Jean Arp, Sculpture, His Last Ten Years, New York, 1968, no. 275, illustrated p. 72

Very good condition. The white marble is clean and displays a smooth polished finish. Amber veining and grey inclusions can be seen throughout the marble and are natural features of the stone. Pitting that is intrinsic to the stone was noted on the back of the vertical element that comes to a point on the side of the sculpture. The pitting, which is a subsurface irregularity in the stone, appears lighter in color and looks similar to a scratch. In the same area near the pitting there is a circular 1/4” diameter fracture in the stone that appears darker in color at the center. The fracture is stable and has no profile. Another 1/4” diameter subsurface irregularity in the marble was found on the tip of the pointed horizontal element. Overall, the sculpture is in very good condition.
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 expertly-carved Fruit préadamite embodies the transcendent physical beauty that came to be expected of Arp at the golden age of his career.   Arp's most successful sculptures are characterized by their unblemished surfaces and smooth curvilinear forms.  Since his involvement with Dada and Surrealism in the 1920s and 1930s and until the end of his life, the elegant beauty of Arp's sculpture was increasingly analyzed in terms of spirituality. Recognized throughout his career for his ability to transcend formal boundaries and create works of art that could be interpreted differently depending upon a given viewer's needs and expectations, Arp was labeled by one critic as "a well-rounded mystic" for his ability to appeal to a wide audience.  At the heart of Arp's success is the organic beauty of his sculptures, which seem to manifest from a vision unencumbered by any formal constraints. 

Fruit préadamite was carved in marble by Arp in 1962 and is an elargement of a form that the artist originally rendered in 1938.  Although four bronze casts of this enlarged version exist in an edition numbered 0/3 through 3/3, the present sculpture is the only marble of this size and remained in the artist's possession until his death in 1966.