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GEORGE SEGAL | Gottliebs' Wishing Well
Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 EUR
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Description
- George Segal
- Gottliebs' Wishing Well
- 163 x 60 x 136 cm; 64 3/16 x 23 5/8 x 53 1/2 in. (pinball machine); 150 x 77 x 67 cm; 59 1/16 x 30 5/16 x 26 3/8 in. (sculpture)
plaster sculpture and pinball machineExecuted in 1963.
Provenance
Private Collection, Brussels
Acquired from the above by the present owners in 1987
Acquired from the above by the present owners in 1987
Exhibited
Paris, Galerie Beaubourg, Invasion Blanche, 13 October - 6 December 1990
Literature
Pierre Nahon, L'Histoire de la Galerie Beaubourg III 1994-2009, Paris, 2009, pp. 173, 290, illustrated in colour
Marianne et Pierre Nahon, Dictionnaire amoureux illustré de l'Art moderne et contemporain, Gründ, 2018, p. 302
Marianne et Pierre Nahon, Dictionnaire amoureux illustré de l'Art moderne et contemporain, Gründ, 2018, p. 302
Condition
The colours are fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration although the overall tonality is less white. Chips are visible in the paint of the pinball machine, which is no longer in working condition and is unstable as the right hand side table stand is slightly loose. The figure is slightly dirty. Under Ultra Violet Light inspection traces of carefully restored areas are visible on both hands. The work is in overall good original condition.
"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."
"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
"George Segal's reality is a tragedy in which men and objects are represented alone and lifeless, while a sort of inner will seem to doom them in that same state forever." This sentence by Allan Kaprow, inventor of the happening, perfectly captures the physical and psychological attitude of Segal's "living paintings", which have been compared to mummies or to the bodies of Pompeii inhabitants petrified in the Vesuvius ashes. Forever fixated in the most trivial postures, Segal's sculptures relate to us in spite of the distance conveyed by their plaster media. Their humanity undoubtedly comes from the fact that they were molded on real models.
We have known Ileana Sonnabend, the priestess of contemporary art, quite well: first in Paris, rue Mazarine, and in New York after 1968. Her husband Michael posed for George Segal. Together they made the only work created in France on the occasion of an exhibition held in Paris in 1963. We kept Gottlieb's wishing well in our living room rue du Temple. It was a sculpture by Segal of course, but also Michael, forever with us.
We have known Ileana Sonnabend, the priestess of contemporary art, quite well: first in Paris, rue Mazarine, and in New York after 1968. Her husband Michael posed for George Segal. Together they made the only work created in France on the occasion of an exhibition held in Paris in 1963. We kept Gottlieb's wishing well in our living room rue du Temple. It was a sculpture by Segal of course, but also Michael, forever with us.