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Property from an Important Swiss Collection
Christie's is honored to present 26 lots from a Swiss collection, which offers a comprehensive look at some of the major figures in contemporary art of the last 25 years. The collection was assembled with passion, tempered only by the conscious desire to create a coherent and meaningful grouping.
A strong emphasis on photography was intended, in order to explore the range of languages afforded by the medium. Hence, Cindy Sherman is represented by four works spanning three decades, Thomas Ruff by the abstract and the figurative, and Hiroshi Sugimoto by six of his Architecture series.
Considerable thought was given by the collectors to the resonance between the works with which they lived. Hence, within the confines of the group, it is fascinating to observe Cindy Sherman quoting from the world of film and media, and then to see her work quoted, in turn, by her contemporaries Vic Muniz and Louise Lawler ( see lots.).
The concept of mutable truths as captured by the camera is investigated through the lens of Sophie Calle, whose "clients" are subjected to an scientific- seeming scrutiny which results in a fictionalized account. And the push-pull of attraction/repulsion is a common ingredient in the work of Fischli and Weiss as well as that of Gilbert and Georges.
The logic of the collection is expressed in the relationship between Jean Michel Basquiat cipher-like mask as iconic signifier Cindy Sherman's multiple chameleon like appearances, and Vik Muniz' reprise of Andy Warhol's Mao.
Jennifer Vorbach
Candida Höfer (b. 1944)
Scuola Grande Arcionfraternita di S. Rocco Venezia I
Details
Candida Höfer (b. 1944)
Scuola Grande Arcionfraternita di S. Rocco Venezia I
signed 'Candida Höfer' (on a paper label affixed to the backing)
color coupler print
image: 47 x 72 in. (119.4 x 182.9 cm.)
sheet: 60 x 85 in. (152.4 x 215.8 cm.)
Executed in 2003. This work is number two from an edition of six.
Scuola Grande Arcionfraternita di S. Rocco Venezia I
signed 'Candida Höfer' (on a paper label affixed to the backing)
color coupler print
image: 47 x 72 in. (119.4 x 182.9 cm.)
sheet: 60 x 85 in. (152.4 x 215.8 cm.)
Executed in 2003. This work is number two from an edition of six.
Provenance
Sonnabend Gallery, New York