Ken Price

James Kelly Gallery, Santa Fe 
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2007

This work is in excellent and sound condition overall. The colors are bright, fresh and clean.
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.

"His svelte yet pneumatic forms could suggest cartoonish hands, abbreviated Loch Ness monsters or salacious tongues. Others conjured up jellyfish or rogue ocean waves, which Mr. Price, a surfer, knew well...The announcement card for his 1961 show at Ferus featured a photograph of him on a surfboard, his arms extended exultantly skyward. The critic Lucy R. Lippard identified Mr. Price as 'something of a Surrealist, something of a purist, something of an expressionist, something of a naturalist.' Mr. Price himself remarked on the associational richness in his work in a letter to a friend in 1959. Referring to one of his mound-shaped sculptures—which preceded the Eggs and would form his 1960 Ferus debut—he wrote that making it kindled 'fond memories of mountain peaks, breasts, eggs, worms, worm trails, the damp undersides of things, intestines, veins and the like.'"

Roberta Smith, "Ken Price, Sculptor Whose Artworks Helped Elevate Ceramics, Dies at 77," The New York Times, 24 February 2012