Erró

Rückseitig signiert, und datiert '66-'67 und april '67
Öl auf Leinwand
115 x 171.5 cm

Collection Semiha Huber, Zürich (acquis directement auprès de l'artiste)
Collection Juliana Huber, Zürich (par descendance)

Paris, Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Erró, 27 octobre 1999 - 2 janvier 2000; catalogue, p. 117, illustré en couleurs

Gudmundur Gudmunsson, Erró, Paris, 1968, n.p., illustré
Erró, Catalogue General, Milan, 1976, p. 128, illustré

The colours are fairly accurate in the catalogue illustration. The work is executed on its original canvas and is not relined. The left edge presents some faint wear marks, likely coherent with a former frame. There is a light discoloration under the O of POP. Under Ultra Violet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. This work is in very 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."

The English translation of this note follows the French

Notice de catalogue
"J’ignore si le peintre Errό eut une telle révélation durant son premier séjour à New York en 1962, c’est-à-dire si quelqu’un – par exemple Rosenquist ou Oldenburg – attira son attention sur le fait que, s’il devenait un artiste pop, il serait capable de transformer n’importe quoi en art. Quoi qu’il en soit, il n’y a guère de doute qu’ Errό découvrit dans le Pop Art un moyen qui lui permettait de transformer les surfaces opulentes et grouillantes de la vie ordinaire en un art qui comblait instantanément le fossé entre la peinture moderne et la conscience de n’importe quel membre de la culture vernaculaire commune. Il convient cependant d’apporter une restriction à cette affirmation. Ce qui intéressait Errό, ce n’était pas tant la réalité en tant que telle, mais les images qui la représentent généralement. Pour lui, la promesse du Pop résidait dans le fait qu’il lui permettait de transposer dans le domaine artistique l’aura d’excitation visuelle entourant les images les plus banales de la vie quotidienne des gens ordinaires. Il s’agissait d’images qui, à l’opposé peut-être de celles du grand art, étaient directement agissantes, puisqu’elles véhiculaient les significations à travers lesquelles les êtres humains définissaient spontanément leurs vies. Depuis sa conversion au Pop, Errό n’a cessé d’être un phénoménologue de l’imagerie, collectionnant des images de toutes sortes et provenant de toutes les sources imaginales. Les images sont devenues la substance et le vocabulaire de son œuvre picturale si singulière.

Dans Pop’s History , les bulles qui flottent au-dessus de la tête des joueurs renferment chacune une image pop devenue familière : Un hamburger d’Oldenburg, une Marilyn de Warhol, un nu de Wesselmann, une Fille-à-l’air-angoissé de Lichtenstein, un égouttoir surchargé de vaisselle bon marché de James Rosenquist. En 1962, ces images étaient immédiatement compréhensibles en tant qu’images par quiconque appartenait à la culture américaine. Ce qui ne l’était pas, en revanche, c’était le fait que ces images avaient été transformées en un art qui en tirait son énergie."

Catalogue note
“I do not know if the painter Erro had such a revelation during his first trip to New York in 1962, that is to say if someone – for example Rosenquist or Oldenburg – drew his attention to the fact that, if he became a pop artist, he would be capable of transforming everything into art. Whatever the case, there is scarcely any doubt that Erro discovered in Pop Art a means that allowed him to transform the opulent and teeming spaces of ordinary life into an art that instantly filled the gap between modern painting and the consciousness of any member of common vernacular culture. A restriction needs to be placed on this statement however. What interested Erro, was not so much reality as such, but the images that generally represent it. For him, the promise of Pop lay in the fact that it allowed him to transpose into the artistic domain the aura of visual excitement surrounding the most banal images of the everyday life of ordinary people. It was about images that, contrary perhaps to those of great art, were directly active as they vehiculed meanings through which human beings spontaneously defined their lives. Since his conversion to Pop, Erro has never ceased being a phenomenologue of imagery, collecting images of all kinds and from all image sources. The images have become the substance and the vocabulary of his singular pictorial work.

In Pop’s History, the bubbles floating above the head of the players each enclose a familiar pop image; an Oldenburg hamburger , a Marilyn by Warhol, and a Nude by Wesselmann, an anxious girl by Lichtenstein, a draining board overflowing with cheap crockery by James Rosenquist. In 1962, these images were immediately understandable as images by anyone belonging to American culture. What wasn’t however, was that these images had been transformed into an art which drew its energy from them.”

Arthur Coleman Danto, Erro, exhibition catalogue of the galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, October 27 1999 – January 2 2000, p.20-23

 

COMP

Carte postale d'Erró à Juliana Huber demandant le prêt de Pop's History (c) D.R.

COMP 2

Erró à Cuba en 1967 (c) D.R. (c) Korda