Lot 3696 - A209 Prints & Multiples - Thursday, 20. June 2024, 10.00 AM
RICHARD SERRA
(San Francisco 1939–2024 New York)
T.E. Siegen. 1999.
Etching. 29/40. Signed and dated in pencil lower right: R. Serra 99. Sheet size 151,1 × 121 cm on Sommerset Satin tan paper. Published by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles (with the blindstamp). Printed by Matthew Jackson and Carmen Schilaci.
Provenance:
Private collection, Switzerland.
Catalogue raisonné:
Berswordt-Wallrabe, Nr. CR 131.
"Black is a characteristic, not a property. Understood as a weight, black is heavier, creates a larger volume and can be compressed onto the surface of a field. It is comparable to forging. [...] The use of black is the clearest method of making a mark against a white surface." Richard Serra
"T.E. Siegen" by Richard Serra is the fruit of a powerful accumulation of material that lends the forms a tangible presence and a perceptible sense of weight and mass through its numerous layers of oil crayon. This expressive work is an excellent example of Serra's experimental approach to printmaking, with a process that strikingly combines traditional and contemporary etching techniques. Through the use of waxy oil crayons, paint sticks, precise photography, screen printing processes, advanced transfer methods, selective etching and the use of the so-called sugar lift process, Serra creates a work of art that is captivating in its rich texture and sculptural qualities.
For the work offered here, from 1999, Serra either pours liquid wax from melted paint sticks at random onto a copper plate, or rubs the solid oil crayons – often using his feet – through an aluminium silkscreen grid. In order to preserve the unique nature of Serra's technique for the printing process, the textured sculptural images are meticulously photographed and transferred to the printing plate in several steps and using various techniques: on the cleaned and lacquer-sealed plate, for example, the highest points of the image are given a water-soluble sugar-coating using screen printing techniques. After a further coating of glaze/varnish/lacquer, a warm water bath and a carefully monitored etching process, the etching is finally printed.
Berswordt-Wallrabe, Nr. CR 131.
"Black is a characteristic, not a property. Understood as a weight, black is heavier, creates a larger volume and can be compressed onto the surface of a field. It is comparable to forging. [...] The use of black is the clearest method of making a mark against a white surface." Richard Serra
"T.E. Siegen" by Richard Serra is the fruit of a powerful accumulation of material that lends the forms a tangible presence and a perceptible sense of weight and mass through its numerous layers of oil crayon. This expressive work is an excellent example of Serra's experimental approach to printmaking, with a process that strikingly combines traditional and contemporary etching techniques. Through the use of waxy oil crayons, paint sticks, precise photography, screen printing processes, advanced transfer methods, selective etching and the use of the so-called sugar lift process, Serra creates a work of art that is captivating in its rich texture and sculptural qualities.
For the work offered here, from 1999, Serra either pours liquid wax from melted paint sticks at random onto a copper plate, or rubs the solid oil crayons – often using his feet – through an aluminium silkscreen grid. In order to preserve the unique nature of Serra's technique for the printing process, the textured sculptural images are meticulously photographed and transferred to the printing plate in several steps and using various techniques: on the cleaned and lacquer-sealed plate, for example, the highest points of the image are given a water-soluble sugar-coating using screen printing techniques. After a further coating of glaze/varnish/lacquer, a warm water bath and a carefully monitored etching process, the etching is finally printed.
CHF 18 000 / 28 000 | (€ 18 560 / 28 870)
Sold for CHF 67 500 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.