Contemporary Art

Mel Bochner

Either/If/Or/Both (And)

Lot Closed

March 18, 04:33 PM GMT

Estimate

50,000 - 70,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Mel Bochner

b.1940

Either/If/Or/Both (And)

i. titled and numbered #1 of 14 on the stretcher

ii. titled and numbered #2 of 14 on the stretcher

iii. titled and numbered #3 of 14 on the stretcher

iv. titled and numbered #4 of 14 on the stretcher

v. titled and numbered #5 of 14 on the stretcher

vi. titled and numbered #6 of 14 on the stretcher; signed, titled, and dated 1999 on the reverse

vii. titled and numbered #7 of 14 on the stretcher

viii. titled and numbered #8 of 14 on the stretcher

ix. titled and numbered #9 of 14 on the stretcher

x. titled and numbered #10 of 14 on the stretcher

xi. titled and numbered #11 of 14 on the stretcher

xii. titled and numbered #12 of 14 on the stretcher

xiii. titled and numbered #13 of 14 on the stretcher

xiv. titled and numbered #14 of 14 on the stretcher

oil and acrylic on canvas, in fourteen parts

Overall: 108 by 134 in. (274.3 by 340.3)

Peter Freeman, Inc., New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in January 2006

“From Aristotle, who thought of colour as a drug, to Derrida, who thought of it as a poison, colour has always represented excess and danger. It creates a surplus meaning, one independent of my intentions, which survives the reading of the text and continues to engage viewers long after they get the idea”

(Mel Bochner cited in: Jeremy Sigler, ‘Mel Bochner’s Torah: Paintings that tell us to eff off while showing us the way in’, Tablet, 15 December 2017, online).