Combien pour ce Chapeau?, 1987

Details

LOUISE LAWLER (B.1947)
Combien pour ce Chapeau?, 1987
sequence of 3 gelatin silver prints with printed overmatts
each signed, titled, dated and numbered '4/5' in pencil, credit stamp on verso
each image: 17 x 21 7/8in. (43.3 x 55.6cm.); each overmatt: 28 x 32in. (71.1 x 81.2cm.) (3)

Provenance

With Metro Pictures, New York.

Exhibited

Power: Its Myths and Mores in American Culture, 1961-1991, Indianapolis Museum of Art, 5 September--3 November 1991; Akron Art Museum, 18 January--22 March, 1992; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 11 May--12 July, 1992.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Lawler's conceptual practice often reflects upon the meaning of value, and how it shifts in different contexts, whether social, mercantile or artistic. This work, which uses printed captions to signify differences in interpretation, points to the range of values society can apply to the same object: devoid of context, it is just an old hat; in the shop, it takes on monetary value; and in the museum, it is transformed into a relic of historical importance.

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