- 38
Juan Muñoz
Estimate
300,000 - 400,000 GBP
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Description
- Juan Muñoz
- Hanging Figure
- resin and cable
- 160 by 85.1 by 69.9cm.
- 63 by 33 1/2 by 27 1/2 in.
- Executed in 1997, this work is unique.
Provenance
Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner
Exhibited
Washington, D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution; Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art; Chicago, The Art Institute; Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum, Juan Muñoz, 2002-03, p. 139, no. 55, illustrated in colour
Condition
Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate.
Condition: This work is in very good condition. Close inspection reveals a very minor superficial crack to the resin on the hanging rope, and another very minute superficial crack between the feet. There is a spot of slight discolouration in the resin on the figures right leg.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Both enigmatic and theatrical, the immediate power of Juan Muñoz’s Hanging Figure, 1997, instantly engages the viewer with its arresting presence and captures those nuances of gesture that so perfectly reveal human nature in his sculptures.
Muñoz came to international prominence in the mid-1980s when he turned his focus toward the human body; his sculptural installations place the figures and objects in carefully staged formations that hint at unnerving and ambiguous settings within an architectural environment. The way that the viewer encounters a work of art was important to Muñoz. He was fascinated by the tension between the illusory and the real, using tricks of scale and perspective to choreograph the viewer’s experience.
The present works references Edgar Degas’ Mlle La La at the Circus Fernando that famously depicts a circus acrobat hanging by her teeth whilst suspended by a wire. Through his exploration of sculpture Muñoz’s figure, clothed in grey contemporary clothes, cuts an ambiguous presence that is a departure from the circus atmospherics of Degas’ artiste, and concentrates the viewer to the visual interplay between the figure and its environment. At first glance, the dark silhouette of Hanging Figure cuts an unsettling presence evocative of Francisco de Goya’s hanging figures of wartime victims. Yet the figure is caught in a circle of upward pulling and downward hanging momentum hovering, mid-air exuding a sense of ethereal weightlessness, with its arm extended downwards fingers splayed as if it were an angel ascending to heaven.
Muñoz came to international prominence in the mid-1980s when he turned his focus toward the human body; his sculptural installations place the figures and objects in carefully staged formations that hint at unnerving and ambiguous settings within an architectural environment. The way that the viewer encounters a work of art was important to Muñoz. He was fascinated by the tension between the illusory and the real, using tricks of scale and perspective to choreograph the viewer’s experience.
The present works references Edgar Degas’ Mlle La La at the Circus Fernando that famously depicts a circus acrobat hanging by her teeth whilst suspended by a wire. Through his exploration of sculpture Muñoz’s figure, clothed in grey contemporary clothes, cuts an ambiguous presence that is a departure from the circus atmospherics of Degas’ artiste, and concentrates the viewer to the visual interplay between the figure and its environment. At first glance, the dark silhouette of Hanging Figure cuts an unsettling presence evocative of Francisco de Goya’s hanging figures of wartime victims. Yet the figure is caught in a circle of upward pulling and downward hanging momentum hovering, mid-air exuding a sense of ethereal weightlessness, with its arm extended downwards fingers splayed as if it were an angel ascending to heaven.