On Kawara

Koji Ogura Gallery, Magoya

Private Collection, Japan

Private Collection, Japan

Sotheby's, London, Contemporary Art Day Sale, 22 June 2006, Lot 399

Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colour in the catalogue illustration is fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is slightly warmer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. 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."

From an entire generation of artists who formulated a conceptual blue-print that would guide them throughout their career, few have succeeded with the unrivalled theoretical rigour with which On Kawara has pursued his fifty-year long fascination with time. The artist’s iconic Today series is without doubt the most recognisable body of work from this generation, a generation characterised by a newfound understanding of art as idea, a priori to material execution.

Having formulated his unique artistic thesis in the 1960s, the artist spent the remainder of his life, and the majority of his prolific career, painting the day’s date on canvas, always according to local formatting and with white text on an almost exclusively black background. Accompanied by a hand-made box in which the painting was stored together with a local newspaper clipping of the same day, the date paintings constitute an intriguing, personal record of the passing of time. As an indexical trace of the artist’s specific location, his activity and the local events at any given day within the series, On Kawara’s Today paintings repudiate the seemingly dry foundations of conceptual art in favour of a more imaginative, personal narrative.

Although On Kawara was exceptionally determined with his ambition to follow through with the date paintings over the course of five decades, more than his concept it is the shifting semantic possibilities that have continually sparked the imagination of viewers. As an outstanding work from one of the most significant bodies of conceptual art, Mar. 31, 1975 embodies the spirit of a generation of intellectually-minded artists with a plenitude of narratives and imaginative potential.