Jeff Wall

mural-sized, with collaged photograph, framed, 1997, no. one in an edition of 2 plus one artist's proof

Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, 1998

Frankfurt am Main, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Jeff Wall: Figures & Places, September 2001 - March 2002

New York, Guggenheim Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection, June - September 2004

New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Jeff Wall, February - May 2007, and traveling thereafter to:

The Art Institute of Chicago, June - September 2007

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, October 2007 - January 2008

New York, Guggenheim Museum, Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance, March - September 2010

New York, David Zwirner Gallery, The House without the Door, July - August 2011

Jennifer Blessing, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Guggenheim Foundation, 2004), pp. 146-7 and 252 (this print)

Jeff Wall: Figures & Places, Selected Works from 1978-2000 (Munich, 2001), pl. 21 (this print)

Peter Galassi, Jeff Wall (The Museum of Modern Art, 2007), p. 118-19 (this print)

Heidi Naef and Theodora Vischer, eds., Jeff Wall: Catalogue Raisonné, 1978-2004 (Guttingen, Switzerland, 2005), no. 76

This dramatically large photograph is printed on matte-surface gelatin-silver paper and appears to be in excellent condition. The print is highly detailed, and delivers a great deal of information about its subject. The textures, volumes, and gradations of tone within the scene are all conveyed with a great deal of clarity. It is remarkable for a photograph of this size to convey such nuance. The illustration in Sotheby's printed and on-line catalogues cannot reproduce the presence that the piece has when viewed in person. As is customary for Wall's large-scale works in this medium and format, the image is composed of two separate prints meticulously mounted together. The seam where the two prints meet runs horizontally across the image, and is visible upon close examination. The inset image, of the hands accepting a small object from the hole in the door, is a separate print mounted by Wall onto the image. The work is in its original frame, and has not been examined out of the frame. It is glazed with high-quality exhibition glass. The frame shows a very slight separation at the joint in the lower left corner – this has not undermined the structural stability of the frame, and is only visible upon very close examination. The overall framed dimensions of the piece are 97 inches by 143 inches. The frame is 3 inches thick. The piece is housed in a custom-built wooden crate that measures 110 inches by 156 inches by 20 inches. The artist's studio has recently confirmed that the title is '...304 E. 25 Ave.,...,' as printed in the catalogue raisonné for Jeff Wall.
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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