John Chamberlain

Mrs. Leon Kraushaar, Lawrence, New York
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Julie Sylvester, John Chamberlain: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Sculptures 1954 - 1985, New York, 1986, cat. no. 339, p. 108, illustrated

This sculpture is in very good condition. The surface is slightly dusty overall from airborne dust. The rivets joining the galvanized steel portions, as well as the vinyl sections, are secure. The vinyl appears as a sheet in the center portion of the work, as well as a folded configuration set within the underside of the galvanized steel. There are restorations to cracks in the folded vinyl in the underside which have been filled with epoxy and inpainted to color match the blue surface. These restorations are located as follows: a 1 ½ inch arch which was a crack associated with a rivet attaching a corner of the folded vinyl to the steel – and a 4 inch meandering line extending in from a bend in the folded vinyl. On the end corner of this same folded vinyl sheet, there is a triangular loss at the edge which measures ½ inch wide, with an approximately 3 inch crack extending from the tip of the triangle, as well as a ¾ inch crack in from the edge nearby to the triangle.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In sculptures such as Slow Christmas, Chamberlain balances steel's solid physical presence with its ability to take on form through manipulation, even in spontaneous gestures that create movement through space. With his predisposition to raw materials and the investigation of void versus object, Chamberlain created mature work from the late 1950s through the 1960s that were sympathetic in spirit to the verve of New York School painters such as Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. Works such as the present one completely reinvent the sculptural lexicon of modeling and volume.  The blossoming volume of Slow Christmas and its fluctuating, bruised and dented profile, immediately engages the viewer's space, as does the seemingly casual randomness of fit and form. The overall sense of his work is one of self-containment and self-realization, as the form is dictated by the process. Chamberlain ignored the concept of premeditated form, reflecting his statement about "the idea of the squeeze, the compression and the fit".

Slow Christmas is one of Chamberlain's sculptures constructed of galvanized steel rather than the colorful painted car parts familiar to us in the rest of his oeuvre. By eliminating color, Chamberlain focused on the crumpled panels, showcasing the folded edges and open gaps that are apparent when the work is viewed in the round. Just as significant as the space around the sculpture are the voids within and beneath.  As his friend and fellow artist Donald Judd has commented, "Chamberlain's welters of voluminous forms swell and furl, bend and fold, in and around a hollow spatial core, limning, demarcating, and ordering it contingently rather than absolutely, provisionally rather than fixedly.'' (cited in Exh. Cat., New York, Pace Gallery, John Chamberlain: New Sculpture, 1989, p. III).