- 140
Joel Shapiro
Description
- Joel Shapiro
- Untitled
- incised with the artist's signature, dated 80 and numbered AP on the underside
- painted bronze
- 21.5 by 33 by 16cm.; 8 1/2 by 13 by 6 3/8 in.
- This work is the artist's proof, aside from the edition of 3.
Provenance
Literature
Condition
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."
Catalogue Note
Shapiro took considerable influence from his twentieth-century sculptural peers. Carl Andre and Donald Judd gave him the confidence to take his art off the walls and off the pediment, onto the floor and into the gallery space. Meanwhile, Sir Anthony Caro, who also earned repute for his bold large-scale metal sculptures, could have provided precedent for the seemingly precarious compositions that Shapiro tended towards, with blocks appearing to tumble and crash at any moment. Richard Serra was also owed an artistic debt. From him, Shapiro inherited that sense of enormous balanced stasis, of immutable driving weight, here compressed and condensed into a minute monolith.
The present work is bold in its cubic simplicity yet nuanced in treatment: the angular surface has been cast and painted to capture a wood grain pattern, a sculptural treatment that somewhat disguises the work’s industrial metallic composition. Indeed, this piece is an archetypal example of Shapiro’s ability to imbue his work with energy through a sculptural manipulation of geometry. Maintaining a sense of simplicity and limiting his own visual language was one of Shapiro’s stated artistic goals. To this end, Untitled is a resolute success: “I’m not going to invent some new shape. I’ve not been terribly interested in the repositioning of found objects. I am only interested in the repositioning of relatively known, simple forms” (Joel Shapiro in conversation with Michèle Gerber Klein, in: Bomb – Artists in Conversation, October 2009, online resource).