Lot 133
  • 133

LEE BONTECOU | Do

Estimate
300,000 - 400,000 USD
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Description

  • Lee Bontecou
  • Do
  • welded steel, ceramic, silk, wire and copper
  • 23 by 22 by 23 in. 58.4 by 55.9 by 58.4 cm.
  • Executed in 1985.

Provenance

Collection of Dora G. Flash, Ithaca (acquired directly from the artist in November 2000)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Exhibited

Los Angeles, Hammer Museum; Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art; New York, Museum of Modern Art, Lee Bontecou: A Retrospective, October 2003 - September 2004, pl. 112, pp. 120, 168 and 230, illustrated in color

Condition

This work is in very good and sound condition overall. The work moves smoothly and freely. There is evidence of light surface soiling and scattered pinpoint spots of discoloration on the central sphere. Under close inspection, there are minor and unobtrusive perforations to the netted elements. There is an approximately 1/8-inch loss to the center of the largest element.
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

"Her work is always a synthesis, whether the general feeling is organic, that is the existence of living things; the enormity of space, its countless other planets and stars; our comparatively recent mechanical inventions; or the future. The qualities of these enormous subjects are distilled in Lee's work, then evoked strongly in the spectator.  Specific situations, of our existence, sex and violence, for example, the two that spring readily to my postwar mind, are always there, but only as part of the general mystery of things. Her art is finally and irreducibly mysterious." 
Tony Towle quoted in Lee Bontecou: A Retrospective, New York 2004, p. 170