Anish Kapoor

Acquired by the present owner from the artist

This work is in excellent condition. Very close inspection reveals an extremely thin line where the reflective gold surface appears very slightly more matt at the extreme outer edge of the rim at 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock, which appears inherent to the nature of the work's execution. There are a very small number of minute hairline rubmarks to the extreme reverse edge of the rim.
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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Untitled is a magnificent example of Anish Kapoor’s iconic series of wall mounted mirror sculptures: a stunning installation that brilliantly captures the genius of one of the most important and acclaimed sculptors working at an international level today. Hovering mysteriously above the ground, Untitled greets the viewer with a gleaming mirror of shimmering gold, curved gently inwards so that the space of the immediate surroundings appears subtly distorted. This alteration of perspective encourages the onlooker to view the world around them afresh, imbuing the everyday with a sense of the marvelous and fantastical. The manipulation of space has been one of Kapoor’s primary concerns throughout his career to date, and the artist has sought to investigate the non-material possibilities of emptiness and the potential of the void through his diverse body of work. In a recent interview Kapoor spoke of his desire to reconcile interior and exterior form: “Space is often perceived as an external phenomenon, something outside the body… For every concrete object there is an equal non-object, a dark and mysterious one. The space at the back of the cave.” (cited in an interview with Donna De Salvo in David Anfam, ed., Anish Kapoor, London, 2010, p. 403) Untitled appears to perfectly epitomize this concept: through the concave curve of the mirror, the presence of space is asserted as an integral part of the work and made tangible.

The dazzling gold of the reflective surface is reminiscent of the sun at the zenith of its orbit, endowing Untitled with connotations of warmth, light and strength. The orb appears to glow, irradiating the spaces around it with a powerfully luminous quality. As a supporter of life the sun has traditionally been worshipped for thousands of years throughout the globe, being venerated as a deity by ancient civilizations within Egypt, China and Mexico. Depictions of these ‘sun gods’ were frequently accompanied by a golden circle that signified the all-encompassing source of their authority. Similarly, Western painting of the Medieval and Renaissance eras employed a circle of gold to signify sanctity and holiness in the form of a halo above the head, frequently created through the liberal application of gold leaf to the surface of the image. Through the visually striking conjunction of bright gold within a circular format, Untitled can arguably be viewed as a contemporary manifestation of these manifold ancient cultural, social and philosophical associations.

Untitled also invites connections to Kapoor's abiding fascination with the ideal of the Sublime, the theory popularized through the writings of Edmund Burke in the eighteenth century that advocated the contemplation of natural wonders and awe-inducing phenomena as a source of creative inspiration. The shimmering surfaces and the curved space of the wall mounted mirror installations induce a corresponding sense of the magnificent within the viewer as a modern appreciation of the Sublime. As Kapoor has declared: “It seemed it was not a mirrored object but an object full of mirroredness. The spatial questions it seemed to ask were not about deep space but about present space, which I began to think about as a new sublime. If the traditional sublime is in deep space, then this is proposing that the contemporary sublime is in front of the picture plane, not beyond it. I continue to make these works because I feel this is a whole new spatial adventure.” (cited in Exh. Cat., Boston, Institute of Contemporary Art, Anish Kapoor, 2008, p. 52) As an object of immense beauty and commanding authority, Untitled is a masterful encapsulation of Kapoor’s utterly unique creative language.