JOHN LATHAM | UNTITLED

Acquired directly from the Artist by Charles H. Carpenter Jr, and thence by descent to the previous owner

Acquired by the present owner in 2014

The present work was completed during the three months Latham spent in New York in the early 1960s. During this time he stayed at the historic Chelsea Hotel, infamous as a hotspot of the artistic world, hosting (amongst many others) the likes of Bob Dylan, Stanley Kubrick, Edie Sedgwick, Janis Joplin, Allen Ginsberg, and Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey while a resident. Latham became acquainted with other important artists of the day while staying at the hotel, such as Robert Rauschenberg, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol and the renowned American art critic Clement Greenberg, who was to become an incredibly significant figure in Latham’s work in the following decade. Latham was highly stimulated by the diversity and energy of New York, and the artistic bubble of the Chelsea Hotel. He held an informal exhibition and produced a considerable quantity of works whilst staying there, many of which have subsequently gone missing.