RICHARD SERRA | Rail Box Vertical Volume Two

Blum Helman Gallery, New York
Galerie Beyeler, Basel
Galerie Art et Public, Geneva (acquired in 1990)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1995

New York, Blum Helman Gallery, Johns, Kelly, Serra: New York, May - June 1982
The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Large-Scale Drawings by Sculptors, January - February 1985
Geneva, Galerie Pierre Huber, Carl Andre, Donald Judd, Richard Serra, January - February 1990
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Dans L'Oeil du critique. Bernard Lamarche-Vadel et les artistes, May - September 2009, illustrated 

Hans Janssen and Jacqueline Rapmund, Eds., Richard Serra: Drawings/Zeichnungen 1969-90: Catalogue Raisonné, Bern 1990, cat. no. 214, p. 146, illustrated

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of handling along the edges, including light surface soiling and fingerprints, some possibly from the time of execution. There are artist’s pinholes scattered along the edges. There is an undulation to the sheet, inherent to the artist’s chosen medium and working method, and light creasing to the unpainted area in the lower right corner. There is a small network of extremely faint hairline drying cracks located approximately 60-inches from the bottom edge and 15 inches from the right edge. Under raking light, faint adhesive residue is visible along the right edge. The sheet is mounted to paper along the edges. Framed.
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.

"The weight of a drawing derives not only from the number of layers of paintstick but mainly from the particular shape of the drawing. It is obvious—from Mantegna's Christ to Cézanne's apples—that shapes can imply weight, mass and volume...The black shapes, in functioning as weights in relation to a given architectural volume, create spaces and places within this volume...Black is a property, not a quality. In terms of weight, black is heavier, creates a larger volume, holds itself in a more compressed field. It is comparable to forging. Since place is the densest color material, it absorbs and dissipates light to a maximum and thereby changes the artificial as well as the natural light in a given room. A black shape can hold its space and place in relation to a larger volume and alter the mass of that volume readily." Richard Serra