JEAN ARP | Nid enchanteur

Sidney Janis Gallery, New York
McKee Gallery, New York (acquired by 1981)
Private Collection, California (acquired by 1982)
McKee Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above on February 24, 1994

Eduard Trier, Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach & François Arp, Jean Arp, Sculpture, His Last Ten Years, New York, 1968, no. 360A, illustration of another cast p. 130
Ionel Jianou, Jean Arp, Paris, 1973, no. 360A, illustration of another cast p. 84
Serge Fauchereau, Arp, Paris, 1988, illustration of another cast p. 100
Arie Hartog & Kai Fischer, Hans Arp, Sculptures, A Critical Survey, Bonn, 2012, no. 360A, illustration of another cast p. 396

The work is in very good condition. Golden brown patina. A couple of minor surface scratches mostly to the top of the bronze; otherwise, fine.
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.

Nid enchanteur embodies the fully mature biomorphic forms for which Arp had become so renowned by the 1960s. A well-balanced and curvaceous form is puncuated by negative space, in which a small abstracted figure rests in the protective shadow of the bulb. The title of the work, Nid enchanteur or "Enchanting Nest", suggests that it is a symbol of transformation through nurture, the large rounded element creating an environment for the growth of the form within, much like a mother's womb or the human imagination.  In Arp's own words: "Art is a fruit that grows in man, like a fruit on a plant, or a child in its mother's womb. But whereas the fruits of the plant, of the animal, of the mother's womb assume autonomous and natural forms, art, the spiritual fruit of man, usually resorts to forms that are ridiculously like other things. Only in our time has plastic art freed itself from reproducing mandolins, presidents in cutaway suits, battles or landscapes. I love nature, but not its substitutes. Naturalistic, illusionist art is a substitute" (Jean Arp quoted in Carola Giedion-Welcker, Jean Arp, Stuttgart, 1957, p. XXVII).