Provenance
Private Collection
Catalogue Essay
‘We shall not have succeeded in demolishing everything unless we demolish the ruins as well.’

- ALFRED JARRY, 1899

Ancient vases are smothered in cheap, brightly coloured household paint. Where do we draw a line between art and vandalism? Ai Weiwei aims to address this question, problematising issues of history, cultural value, and authenticity. These themes have been central to his work for over twenty years: in 1994, he painted a 2000 year old Han Dynasty urn with the Coca Cola logo, and an iconic photograph from 1995 shows him dropping another to smash on the floor (famed collector Uli Sigg, who purchased the Coca Cola urn, was photographed in 2012 dropping his own in homage). The 2009 series Dust to Dust comprises more Neolithic pottery from 3,000 - 5,000 BC, crushed to powder and placed in glass vessels.

These vases have scandalised many, for varying reasons. Last year one of a group on display in Miami’s Pérez Art Museum was smashed by local artist Maximo Caminero in protest against the gallery’s focus on international artists; news reports screamed that he was to be sued for $1 million US (a vastly inflated figure), serving to highlight how Ai Weiwei’s perceived desecration of the artefact had ironically only heightened its monetary value. Other cultural critics have lamented his gaudy obliteration of irreplaceable pieces of ancient craft.

In this controversial process, however, the artist examines a particularly Chinese dialogue with cultural ownership. Ai Weiwei purchased the vases from antique dealers, so is legally free to do as he wishes with them, much as Uli Sigg was free to smash the urn in his collection. During the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese government itself encouraged the destruction of ancient artefacts; modern China's mass-produced fixation on western values compounds this loss of selfhood. China is confronted with the iconoclasm and trauma of its own past. This is a provocative and potentially nihilistic gesture, but creates a new work of art: in their bold treatment of history, politics and tradition, Ai Weiwei’s urns enact the vital role that destruction plays in the redefining and renewal of culture.

27

Ai Weiwei

Coloured vases (in 3 parts)

2010
industrial paint on Neolithic vases, in 3 parts
(i) 29.2 x 27.9 x 27.9 cm (11 1/2 x 11 x 11 in.)
(ii) 26.7 x 22.9 x 22.9 cm (10 1/2 x 9 x 9 in.)
(iii) 34.3 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm (13 1/2 x 10 x 10 in.)
Signed and dated 'Weiwei 2010 12-3' on the underside of the third vase.

Estimate
£100,000 - 150,000 ‡

Sold for £182,500

Contact Specialist
Peter Sumner
Head of Contemporary Art, London
psumner@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4063

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Auction 12 February 2015 7pm

1
Rashid Johnson
We Real Cool
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £116,500
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2
Nate Lowman
Six Shooter
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡
Sold for £110,500
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3
Kelley Walker
Untitled
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000
Sold for £242,500
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4
Fredrik Værslev
Untitled (Canopy Painting: Blue and Orange V)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ♠
Sold for £68,500
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5
Danh Vo
We The People (detail), Element #L1
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ‡♠
Sold for £158,500
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6
Alex Israel
Sky Backdrop
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £506,500
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7
Tauba Auerbach
Untitled (Fold) X
Estimate £1,000,000 - 1,500,000 ‡
Sold for £1,202,500
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8
Ai Weiwei
Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads
Estimate £2,000,000 - 3,000,000 ‡
Sold for £2,882,500
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9
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,426,500
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10
Urs Fischer
Bad Timing, Lamb Chop!
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
Sold for £506,500
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11
Mark Bradford
Biting the Book
Estimate £1,000,000 - 1,500,000 ‡
Sold for £2,546,500
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12
Anish Kapoor
Untitled
Estimate £450,000 - 650,000 ♠
Sold for £452,500
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13
Andy Warhol
Diamond Dust Shoes
Estimate £1,500,000 - 2,500,000 ‡
Sold for £2,322,500
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14
Allen Jones
Sin-Derella
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ♠
Sold for £386,500
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15
Nate Lowman
Trash Landing Marilyn #12
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £422,500
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16
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Dinosaur)
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £242,500
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17
Cecily Brown
Park
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
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18
Albert Oehlen
Greifen
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ♠†
Sold for £398,500
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19
Anselm Kiefer
Die Argonauten
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £662,500
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20
Antony Gormley
Settlement
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡♠
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21
Julie Mehretu
Invisible Sun (algorithm 2)
Estimate £700,000 - 900,000 ‡
Sold for £902,500
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22
Cy Twombly
Untitled
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡
Sold for £482,500
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23
Anish Kapoor
Untitled
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £362,500
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24
Banksy
Angel
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ♠
Sold for £206,500
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25
Barry Flanagan RA
Hare on Pyramid
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
Sold for £482,500
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26
Julian Schnabel
Sonanbul
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £122,500
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27
Ai Weiwei
Coloured vases (in 3 parts)
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £182,500
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28
Mark Flood
Another Hole in the Ground
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ‡
Sold for £42,500
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29
Brent Wadden
Alignment #22
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ‡
Sold for £43,750
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30
Oscar Murillo
Bingo
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ♠
Sold for £206,500
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Auction 12 February 2015 7pm

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

27

Ai Weiwei

Coloured vases (in 3 parts)

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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