Rudolf Stingel

Galleria Massimo de Carlo, Milan
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although it fails to fully convey the shimmering quality of the surface. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Extremely close inspection reveals very light wear to all four corner tips. All other surface irregularities are in keeping with the artist's working process. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light.
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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 the 1980's Rudolf Stingel first began to gain recognition for a series of monochromatic paintings, of which Untitled is a mesmerising example.  Here, the dramatic qualities of the paint are exposed through a standardised technical process. Through this unique union of seemingly disparate artistic principles, Stingel explores both the physical and symbolic limits of painting, challenging the very essence of the artistic act. His work incorporates a range of unorthodox methods, textures and materials, disrupting the traditional assumptions of artistic processes and media and thereby creating new paradigms of thinking about the medium itself. An aspiration, which recalls Sol Lewitt’s statement from the 1960’s, where the artist claimed: “The conventions of art are altered by works of art. … Successful art changes our understanding of the conventions by altering our perceptions.” (Francesco Bonami, Rudolf Stingel, Chicago 2007, p. 10)

This work’s delicate red mesh pattern shimmering out from under the fine, uneven layer of silver surface creates a seductively tactile quality. Employing formal methods, such as colour and composition, the artist creates a lattice-like permeation of line and colour which seems to draw the viewer in by what could be described as a sublime artistic creation. Stingel confronts this traditional notion of artistic greatness with his mechanised painterly process, outlined in step-by-step detail in his 1989 artist-book Instructions. These instructions, however, are essentially misleading; his book cannot teach you to produce a replica of a “Rudolf Stingel” work, instead it is intended to empower the viewer to create their own unique painting. Challenging the common perception of the artist as master craftsman the instructions embody Stingel’s belief in the democratisation of art. 

Highlighting Stingel’s pioneering artistic and philosophical commitments by exemplifying the artist’s distinctive technical approach to colour, surface and medium the present work gives a riveting insight into what proved to be a seminal series within Stingel’s oeuvre.