- 437
Rudolf Stingel
Estimate
800,000 - 1,200,000 USD
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Description
- Rudolf Stingel
- Untitled
- signed and dated 2013 on the reverse
- oil and enamel on linen
- 95 by 76 in. 241.3 by 193 cm.
Provenance
Galleria Massimo De Carlo, Milan
Private Collection, New York (acquired from the above in 2014)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Private Collection, New York (acquired from the above in 2014)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Condition
This work is in excellent condition overall. There is evidence of minor wear and handling to the corners of the canvas. The surface texture and pigment variations are inherent to the artist's working method. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. Unframed.
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.
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.
Catalogue Note
"By disrupting painting's assumption of material, process, and placement, Stingel not only bursts open the conventions of painting, but creates unique ways of thinking about the medium and its reception." Francesco Bonami in Exh. Cat., Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rudolf Stingel, 2007, p. 10 A sublime and poetic meditation on the nature of painting, Untitled is a luminous example of the conceptual and aesthetic concerns that have directed Rudolf Stingel throughout his career. Executed in 2013, the present work evokes the rosy glow of sunrise seen through a hazy mist, as soft washes of pigment shimmer across the surface. Fascinated by the mesmeric materiality of painting, Stingel developed a unique applicative process that imbues the surface with an elusive complexity. His technique involves the layering of thickly applied oil paint, tulle netting, and enamel. When the netting is peeled away after the final layer has been applied, the surface takes on the textured appearance of the tulle. This distinctive method of mark-making blurs the direct gesture of the artist’s hand in a challenge to conventional notions of painting, and acts as a continuation of Stingel’s Instruction series, critiquing notions of expression and authenticity through process and material use. It is characteristic of Stingel that even as he critiques the medium, he simultaneously celebrates its visual pleasures. Untitled is thus emblematic of a body of work that is both pioneering and visually breathtaking.
Stingel’s work is complex, in that it refers to many art-historical legacies, often with disparate aims and ideologies. Emerging in the New York art world in 1987, Stingel began his work in a moment dominated by a dichotomy of aesthetic movements: Neo-Expressionism, which emphasized the presence of the artist’s hand in the creation of the work, and Minimalism, which stressed the removal of any evidence of the artist’s hand in the creative process. While he eschewed siding with any one school, the artist incorporated elements of both into his work. In Untitled, Stingel integrates the reproductive quality of Warhol’s Factory with a textural exploration and emphasis on gesture more akin to that of the Abstract Expressionists. The work further draws allegiance to the painting of Gerhard Richter, especially his Abstrakte Bilder, through Stingel’s focus on contingent mark making and the inherent qualities of paint. That Stingel’s oeuvre is suggestive of such titans in the art-historical canon is indicative of the intellectual and conceptual virtuosity of his work.
Untitled is a striking example in Stingel’s body of work, in that its soft, billowy texture evokes a sense of the sublime. Creamy rose and coral tones undulate across the upper half of the work’s surface, both atmospheric and painterly. This implied romanticism is undermined, however, by the conspicuously ordered pattern that abruptly emerges from the lower half of the work. Created by applying paint through a fine, detailed stencil, the imprint reveals Stingel’s industrialized process by providing a trace of the predetermined referent. Comparable to his famous carpet paintings, the present work plays in the gap between individual craftsmanship and inherent repeatability. The resulting tension between illusion and materiality distinguish Untitled as a hallmark of the artist’s desire to push the boundaries of painting. As Roberta Smith observes, “For nearly twenty years Rudolf Stingel has made work that seduces the eye whilst also upending most notions of what, exactly, constitutes a painting, how it should be made and by whom” (Roberta Smith, "Making Their Mark," The New York Times, 13 October 2007, online).
Stingel’s work is complex, in that it refers to many art-historical legacies, often with disparate aims and ideologies. Emerging in the New York art world in 1987, Stingel began his work in a moment dominated by a dichotomy of aesthetic movements: Neo-Expressionism, which emphasized the presence of the artist’s hand in the creation of the work, and Minimalism, which stressed the removal of any evidence of the artist’s hand in the creative process. While he eschewed siding with any one school, the artist incorporated elements of both into his work. In Untitled, Stingel integrates the reproductive quality of Warhol’s Factory with a textural exploration and emphasis on gesture more akin to that of the Abstract Expressionists. The work further draws allegiance to the painting of Gerhard Richter, especially his Abstrakte Bilder, through Stingel’s focus on contingent mark making and the inherent qualities of paint. That Stingel’s oeuvre is suggestive of such titans in the art-historical canon is indicative of the intellectual and conceptual virtuosity of his work.
Untitled is a striking example in Stingel’s body of work, in that its soft, billowy texture evokes a sense of the sublime. Creamy rose and coral tones undulate across the upper half of the work’s surface, both atmospheric and painterly. This implied romanticism is undermined, however, by the conspicuously ordered pattern that abruptly emerges from the lower half of the work. Created by applying paint through a fine, detailed stencil, the imprint reveals Stingel’s industrialized process by providing a trace of the predetermined referent. Comparable to his famous carpet paintings, the present work plays in the gap between individual craftsmanship and inherent repeatability. The resulting tension between illusion and materiality distinguish Untitled as a hallmark of the artist’s desire to push the boundaries of painting. As Roberta Smith observes, “For nearly twenty years Rudolf Stingel has made work that seduces the eye whilst also upending most notions of what, exactly, constitutes a painting, how it should be made and by whom” (Roberta Smith, "Making Their Mark," The New York Times, 13 October 2007, online).