RICHARD SERRA | Study for Flat Rock

Blum Helman Gallery, New York
Collection of Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Vancouver Art Gallery; Calgary, The Nickle Arts Museum; New York, Seagram Building; Ontario, London Regional Art Gallery, Drawings by Sculptors: Two Decades of Non-Objective Art in the Seagram Collection, May 1984 - June 1985, p. 57, illustrated

Hans Janssen, Ed., Richard Serra Drawings 1969-1990/Catalogue Raisonné, Bern 1990, cat. no. 193, p. 232, illustrated

This work is in very good condition overall. The sheet is hinged intermittently on the reverse to the backing board and subtly undulates throughout. There are artist's pinholes in all four corners and a few along the perimeter. The tonal and textural irregularities to the applied paintstick medium are consistent with the artist's choice of medium and working method. There is evidence of pale time staining to the sheet particularly visible along the perimeter and a few minute unobtrusive pinpoint spots of foxing. There is evidence of minor dust accumulation and a few areas of stray medium to the sheet. Framed under Plexiglas.
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.

“My intention had been to forge a single two step shaped work, which would relate directly to an early drawing done in Peru of a flat rock. Once I began the process of forging I realized that to complete the work, a balanced structure of two elements would carry the idea of the ‘flat rock’ to its conclusion. Bilbao, made in the Basque Country, is the resultant sculpture.” 

Richard Serra

Richard Serra’s early and significant Study for Flat Rock unlocks the sculptural quality of drawing, communicating a surface and weight that exceeds the standard possibilities for a work on paper. Serra deftly employs textural and tonal modulation using a paintstick, rendering a form that takes on a dimensional surface and mass. The work has a presence that alters the space it inhabits with a deep black absorbing light, luring the eye with a gravitational pull. Despite its absorptive darkness, Study for Flat Rock is not domineering; Serra skillfully balances the black form with an almost equal amount of white negative space, creating a sense of equilibrium and refreshing lightness as contrast. While initially intended as a study for a never-realized sculpture that Serra envisioned, Study for Flat Rock eventually inspired Serra’s cor-ten steel sculpture, Bilbao, and his original drawing endures as a composition on paper that defies the limits of its medium.  In the words of Michelle White, drawings like Study for Flat Rock are “perceptual, experiential, and conceptual; [they are] a way to see, feel, and think” (Michelle White in” Drawing as Drawing” in Richard Serra Drawing: A Retrospective, The Menil Collection, Houston 2011, p. 13).