- 2887
Qiu Mai (Michael Cherney)
Estimate
50,000 - 80,000 HKD
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Description
- Qiu Mai (Michael Cherney)
- Wordless Stele
- photograph on xuan-style rag paper, hanging scroll
executed in 2007
edition 2/9
marked with one seal of the artist
This work is accompanied by a wutong wood box and a certificate of authenticity issued and signed by the artist.
edition 2/9
marked with one seal of the artist
This work is accompanied by a wutong wood box and a certificate of authenticity issued and signed by the artist.
Exhibited
Shadow Lands, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, 2013 (alternate edition exhibited)
Stone and Mist, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, 2014 (alternate edition exhibited)
Stone and Mist, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, 2014 (alternate edition exhibited)
Condition
Overall in good 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."
"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
Wordless Stele captures the eroded stone surface of the monument that stands at Qianling, the mausoleum of the Tang dynasty Emperor Gaozong (r. 649 - 683 AD), in Shaanxi province. Unlike other steles in the complex that commemorate various members of the royal family, this stele was curiously uninscribed. It was erected upon the death of Wu Zetian (625 - 705 AD), the wife of Emperor Gaozong and a contentious figure in China's history who assumed the throne subsequent to her husband as China's first female governing emperor. She ruthlessly eliminated her political rivals in order to proclaim herself as emperor and establish her own Zhou dynasty, which she ruled until death. The lack of precedent for commemorating female emperors and, undoubtedly, the discontent for her conquest, rendered her epitaph to be left blank. In subsequent dynasties, visitors have left inscriptions, including the now archaic Khitan small script—now faintly visible as textured vertical striations—but most are illegible, erased by time and the elements.
Qiu Mai deliberately selects the degree of film grain that from a certain distance gives the impression of legibility, yet in actuality is illegible, even upon close inspection. In considering the history of this monument—of words never written and those erased by time—he optimizes the use of the photographic medium to return the stele to its original 'wordless' state, as conceived upon the empress's death.
Qiu Mai deliberately selects the degree of film grain that from a certain distance gives the impression of legibility, yet in actuality is illegible, even upon close inspection. In considering the history of this monument—of words never written and those erased by time—he optimizes the use of the photographic medium to return the stele to its original 'wordless' state, as conceived upon the empress's death.