Roman Opalka

Galerie Bruno Bischoberger, Zürich
The Fer Collection, Ulm
Sale: Phillips de Pury & Co., New York, Contemporary Art, 14 May 2004, Lot 254
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Each sheet is hinged to a backing mount in the top two corners on the reverse.
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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."

"Time as we live it and as we create it embodies our progressive disappearance; we are at the same time alive and in the face of death–that is the mystery of all living beings. The consciousness of this inevitable disappearance broadens our experiences without diminishing our joy."

Roman Opalka, Rencontre par la séparation, AFAA, Paris, 1987

1965, the year in which the present lot was created, marks the inception of the single artistic project that was to occupy Roman Opalka for over four decades, concluding, as intended, with the artist's death. From 1965 onwards, the artist dedicated his life to visualizing the irreversible continuum of time, writing numbers in careful succession from one to as close to infinity the artist could get within a lifetime. Of this fascinating and awe-inspiring endeavor, which today is preserved in international collections across the globe, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, The National Gallery, Berlin, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris and Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Japan, the five works in the present lot offers the rare opportunity to obtain details from one of the most coherent conceptual works of the Twentieth Century.

Conceived as a single work, from the number 1 painted in 1965, Opalka has continued painting consecutive numbers recorded in horizontal lines starting in the top left and ending at the bottom right of the canvas or paper on which he is working, creating a continuous narration of his life.  The poetic repetition of numbers create an austere elegance across the paper's surface while also reaffirming the physical act of existence as he diligently marks his time. So dedicated was he to this quixotic task, Oplaka rarely travelled in order to remain directly engaged with his lifelong project. Only when a journey was unavoidable would he consider breaking his routine, and on these infrequent occasions he would continue his meditative process on what he called cartes de voyage. By writing his numbers with ink on paper approximately the size of A4, he ensured no period of his life was discounted from his work.

The fascination with numbers and the recording and documentation of time has interested luminary modern artists from Jasper Johns, to Joseph Beuys, On Kawara and Mario Mertz. However, none have exposed our temporal limitations with such intensity as Opalka by becoming the very embodiment of a project that is ostensibly infinite yet constrained by the limitations of morality. The profundity of Opalka's monumental exploration in the pictorial possibilities of time, and the metaphysical expression of infinity, will forever hold testimony to the importance of this artist within the art historical tradition.