Giuseppe Penone

Marie-Christine Gennart Contemporary Art, Brussels
Private Collection (acquired from the above in April 2006)

This work is in excellent condition overall. The two panels are separate from one another. The upper panel consists of silk mounted on stretched linen. All of the affixed thorns are well intact. There are a few, unobtrusive faint scattered accretions on the silk visible only upon close inspection. The lower marble panel has a varied surface and the edges are slightly rough, due to the artist's intention and working method.
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.

"While human beings may touch the world’s eye and, in return, the world imprints itself on human eyes, skin is the real boundary, confining us to our own bodies.  Prisoners of our personal islands, our skin contains us, we grow inside it…[We] feel the world through the medium of the fine membrane that contains the body; through it we sense the air and the surface of things and our environment; through it we touch other parts of the world.

The drawings made with acacia thorns representing the labyrinth of the epidermis create a hostile relief of surface sensitivity…Skin shivers in the works of Giuseppe Penone, even when it is reversed like a glove, the great glove of the body turned inside out and put on."

(Daniela Lancioni, Giuseppe Penone: Forty Years of Creation, Brussels, 2012, p. 135)