Günther Uecker

McRoberts & Tunnard Gallery, London
Dame Miriam Rothschild (acquired from the above in the late 1960s)
Thence by family descent   

London, McRoberts & Tunnard Gallery, Uecker, June - July 1966, no. 9

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate although the overall tonality is slightly brighter and tends more towards a soft cream in the original. Condition: Please refer to the professional condition report attached or contact the Contemporary Department.
"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."

"As the front closed in [during WWII], I barricaded my house from within, which was only an illusion of safety, of course. But nevertheless, it definitely gave an emotional feeling of protection. And this is what the nails represent in my work: on the one hand a defence, like ruffled hair, like a hedgehog curling up into a ball, but on the other hand tenderness. These tactile perceptions can be quite fragile and poetically sustainable in their visual perception…The individual objects as transgressions, a flooding of the world with art. These everyday pieces of furniture suddenly become sacred objects.”
Günther Uecker 
‘Interview with Günther Uecker,’ exh. cat., New York, L&M Arts, Günther Uecker: The Early Years, 2011, p. 8-9

Attesting to her pioneering patronage of the artistic avant-garde, the following Property from the Collection of the Late Dame Miriam Rothschild provides a masterclass in the art of collecting. Neatly encompassing the key tenets of the Zero movement, this succinct set of significant twentieth century master works together express the visionary discernment of their first owner as embodied by their outstanding quality and charisma.

Born in 1908 in Ashton, Northamptonshire, The Hon Dame Miriam’s life was profoundly influenced by the entomological and conservation work of her father, the Hon Charles Rothschild, as well as by the zoological pursuits of her uncle Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild. Despite, (compared to her peers), a relative lack of formal education , The Hon Miriam was an intellectual gadfly and polymath, becoming a leading authority on parasitism and gaining several honorary doctorates and degrees from universities including both Cambridge and Oxford, where she was, during the 1960’s a member of the genetics school. Dr Rothschild’s interest in the links between art and science – promoting its therapeutic capacities for the treatment of mental illnesses – are also important. The Adamson Collection of artworks by patients living with major mental health issues was put on public display from 1983-1987 by the Hon Miriam at the Ashton Estate and her establishment in 1962, with the aid of munificence, especially from other members of the Rothschild family of the Rothschild Schizophrenia Research Fund has yielded useful scientific data on this dreadful affliction.

The soothing refractions of light and delicate play of undulating shadows put forth in these exemplary works by Heinz Mack and Günther Uecker epitomise Art as a focus for restorative contemplation. It thus comes as no surprise that the Zero movement’s key tenet of calming purity chimed with The Hon Miriam’s penchant for the curative function of art and thus garnered her patronage. The spirals, clouds, and circles as compositional elements in Uecker’s nail paintings strongly resonate with the collector’s affinity of Nature’s essential forms and shapes. Remarkably all of these works were acquired directly by her in the early 1960s, at Zero’s very foundations, and have remained un-exhibited in The Hon Miriam’s collection ever since. With renewed interest in this revolutionary movement, the emergence of such a set of powerful works from the height of the Zero moment is a significant event in itself.

Miriam Rothschild was a veritable whirlwind of energy and ideas: amongst her many other achievements was the foundation of the Foster Rothschild Human Rights Lecture, philanthropic endeavours in fields ranging from ecology to education to medicine and to Nature Conservation, and her pioneering efforts as a wildflower gardener.

The keen aesthetic eye of Dame Miriam has guided the coalescence of these important artworks, expressing a profound fascination in the enchanting beauty of the natural phenomena that construct our perception of the world.