L12025

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Lot 152
  • 152

Jan Schoonhoven

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
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Description

  • Jan Schoonhoven
  • Untitled Relief (170 Squares)
  • painted papier-mâché on wood
  • 75 by 47cm.; 29 1/2 by 18 1/2 in.
  • Executed circa 1965.

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner circa 1965

Condition

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is cooler in the original. Condition: Please refer to the department for an external condition report.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Untitled Relief (170 Squares) is an arresting example of Jan Schoonhoven’s contemplative grid constructions, a recurring and seminal motif within his oeuvre. The meditative repetition of the papier-mâché squares induces a sense of calm and serenity within the viewer, the endlessly repeating quadrangles conveying a unique form of mathematical beauty. The current lot distils into a concentrated singularity the ideals and concerns that remained consistent for Schoonhoven throughout his career; as a founder member of Nul, the Dutch counterpart of the internationally renowned Zero group, Schoonhoven shared common artistic aims with Piero Manzoni, Otto Piene, Lucio Fontana and Yves Klein. Nul and Zero strove to pare art back to the bare minimum, seeking to find the artistic possibilities beyond nothingness and to create artworks uncluttered by the detritus of everyday associations: ‘Zero is the incommensurable zone in which the old state turns into the new.’ (Otto Piene, ‘Die Entstehung der Gruppe ‘Zero,’’ The Times Literary Supplement, 3 September 1964). Schoonhoven’s works operate in a world beyond abstraction; all extraneous connotations are abandoned in an attempt to return to the pure state of beginning, a white canvas or structure conversely imbued with a myriad of possibilities.