Rudolf Stingel

Private Collection
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Rivara, Castello di Rivara, Equinozio d’Autunno, 1987

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate although there are fewer magenta undertones in the original. The catalogue illustration also fails to fully convey the metallic quality and the texture visible in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Very close inspection reveals a few extremely thin and unobtrusive hairline cracks towards the centre of the upper right quadrant and the centre of the lower right quadrant of the right facing panel. Further very close inspection reveals a short and unobtrusive hairline crack towards the centre of the lower right quadrant of the left facing panel. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light.
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Simultaneously minimalist and magnificently baroque in its shimmering appearance, Rudolf Stingel’s Untitled encapsulates the achievements of one of the artist’s most iconic bodies of work. With its subtly textured surface and shrouded blue hues, the seductive surface of the painting creates a captivating optical effect and is the perfect embodiment of the artist’s formal and conceptual explorations.

Created in 1987, Untitled is one of the earliest silver paintings by the artist, executed two years prior to the publication of his well-known Instructions. In this DIY-like manual, Stingel explained how to create one of his signature silver paintings through the layering of paint, tulle netting, and metallic silver paint. Removing the netting after the final layer had been applied, the painting would take on the textured appearance of the tulle, resulting in the characteristic aesthetic of the artist’s early work.

By sharing this idiosyncratic production process, the artist abruptly shifted the discussions around his paintings from a formal to a conceptual practice, questioning the notion of authorship and originality. Indeed, as one of the earliest works in which such concerns were expressly at stake, Untitled also occupies an art-historically important position, and suggests the direction in which Stingel’s work was to evolve. Over the following years, the artist would explore the possibilities of painting in the face of its often-declared death, and extended the process from a studio-based practice to installations and works in which the spectator became an integral part of its fabrication.

By reimagining the possibilities of painting, both in its physical and conceptual dimensions, Rudolf Stingel has defined himself as one of the most innovative artists working in the medium over the past few decades. Standing as a powerful testament to both his formal and conceptual concerns, and as one of the earliest expressions of this idiosyncratic synthesis, Untitled is a crucially significant example from the artist’s celebrated oeuvre. The sheer visual power of the painting wields a formidable attraction, in Amanda Coulson’s words, performing a “balancing act between baroque sumptuousness and Zen simplicity, jest and consequence, between making fun of various art movements and playing along” (Amanda Coulson, "Rudolf Stingel", Frieze, October 2004, online resource).