Paul McCarthy

Private Collection, USA
Private Collection, Switzerland

This work is in very good and sound condition overall. The silicone figure shows dust accumulation to the surface, as well as minor scattered surface abrasions. The crate has scattered surface abrasions, scuffs and soiling which is inherent to the work.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Paul McCarthy is best known for his controversial, witty, provocative, eye-popping and often shocking works that take aim at American pop culture and the entertainment industry. The present work is a faithful reproduction of Dopey seen in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Last year, the artist made headline news when he, in his most ambitious project to date, built an entire life-sized forest at the Park Avenue Armory and filled it with images, paraphernalia—all reworked to be offensive and debaucherous—as well as performers, all dressed-up in costumes of the main characters, from Snow White. Executed in 2000, Dwarf Head is a precursor to McCarthy’s Snow White project from 2013. While the sculpture at hand is a model of a jolly Disney idol easily recognized through its facial features, there exists a disturbing and ominous quality about Dopey’s head—bodiless, somber—perched on its travelling crate turned pedestal. The unease that such otherwise ebullient subject can arouse is purely the intention of Paul McCarthy and the crux that renders his works challenging and mystifying.

“McCarthy’s topsy-turvy art stands our familiar models on their heads. Throughout his oeuvre, he has mixed cliché and convention to break down our social architecture of stereotypes... Indeed, all along McCarthy’s depraved patriarchal figures have implicitly insisted that the Father’s laws—his taboos and taxonomies—are not the neutral mechanism of a transcendent authority, but are tainted and besmirched with irrational desires.” (Ralph Rugoff, in “Survey,” Paul McCarthy, London, 1996, p. 84)