Jean Tinguely

Galerie Denise René Hans Mayer, Krefeld
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1968

Paris, Galerie Denise René, Le Mouvement, 1955
Krefeld, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Sammlung Helga und Walther Lauffs - Amerikanische und europäische Kunst der sechziger und siebziger Jahre, 1983-84, p. 56, no. 376, illustrated 

Christina Bischofberger, Jean Tinguely: Catalogue Raisonné Sculptures and Reliefs 1954-1968, Küsnacht/Zürich 1982, p. 25, no. 19, illustrated

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is slightly softer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition and in good working order. There is wear to all four corners with associated paint loss. The paint to the upper two and bottom right corner tips are slightly chipped. There is a vertical crack with slightly raised edges to the lower left hand corner. There is a tiny media accretion towards the centre right edge. There is light wear to the three painted white elements, with a few tiny losses and cracking throughout. There is a tiny fly spot to the bottom of the longest white element, visible in the catalogue illustration. There are minor rub marks to the surface throughout. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light.
"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."

The present relief Meta-Malevich belongs to a series of 15 works which Tinguely produced in 1954 shortly after his arrival in Paris. There he created his first abstract spatial constructions, including moving mechanisms that could be set in motion by the viewer. These early machines, which Tinguely called meta-mechanical devices, were characterised by their use of movement as a central element in their construction. Some of them took the form of series paraphrasing the idioms of other artists, for example the Meta-Herbin series (1954) or the Meta-Kandinsky series (1955). The prefix »Meta« describes the progressive character of the works.

In the present work three rectangular forms are suspended on a surface. Tinguely draws formally on the paintings of the Russian father of Geometrical Abstraction Kasimir Malevich, while extending them through the dimension of time. Since the mechanism is located on the rear side and is invisible to the viewer, the lively character of the work only reveals itself once the electricity has been turned on. The movement of the various parts was based on a system of asynchronous gears, which resulted in each part moving at a different speed. The individual components of the picture assume constantly new positions and consequently produce ever-new combinations. What interested Tinguely was not just the movement itself but an image what was constantly modifying itself.

For Malevich every form was a world. The works of artists of his generation were an expression of their beliefs, of their respective metaphysical convictions. These pioneers of modern art had been able to work with a stable, self-contained immutable system and Tinguely realised that in the changed situation of the post-war years the work of art could only retain its model character for intellectual and emotional orientation by mobilising and releasing form. The present work Meta-Malevich is a brilliant example of how Tinguely translated these ideas in the mid 1950s.