Provenance
Galleria Santo Ficara Arte, Florence
Sprüth Magers, Berlin
Private Collection, Milan
Private Collection, Switzerland
McCabe Fine Art
Exhibited
Stockholm, McCabe Fine Art, Alighiero Boetti: Selected Works, 3 April-21 May 2014
Catalogue Essay
Division, duplicity and fragmentation lie at the core of Alighiero Boetti’s art as much as it characterises the artist himself. Famously inserting an ‘e’ (and) between his surname and first name, Boetti embodied the notions that consumed him. Portraying his own split personality in this way, he furthered these notions in many of his works. Most famously his Mappa series (1971-92) brought to fore the nationalistic divides that define and split people across the globe. Alternandosi e Dividendosi draws distinct parallels with that project. As the title suggests, this embroidered tapestry finds structure in an alternating pattern between Western lettering and Arabic characters. Consequently, the compartmentalised boxes divide the two quite jarringly, using vibrant colour contrasts to emphasise their differences.

Alighiero Boetti became one of the most renowned Italian artists of the twentieth century whose role as a key proponent of the Arte Povera movement was to provide the basis of his successful artistic career. However, the works that brought him most recognition were those that he produced upon leaving the group and travelling from Italy to Afghanistan.
In 1971, Boetti made his first voyage to Afghanistan which was to finally allow him to dwell on his enduring fascination with non-Western cultures. It was here that he began to develop his cross-cultural dialogue that was to define his mature works. Working closely with local craftswomen to create embroidery works, Boetti found great inspiration in their craft as well as their traditions and language. In this context, Alternandosi e Dividendosi is the ultimate summation of this cultural exchange. Seen either as a commemoration of the coming together of two disparate cultures united in jovial colourful celebration, or as a fragmented manifestation of the divides that fracture multicultural relations, Alternandosi e Dividendosi remains open to interpretation. The political history of Afghanistan perhaps makes it more difficult to assume the latter reading as the country has succumbed to many military campaigns. In this way, Boetti uses his art to create a platform for discourse.

Alternandosi e Dividendosi, like most of Boetti’s mature works, searches for the inherent patterns and systems that give structure to everything around us. Here, two languages are broken up into their lowest common denominators. Just like the American Neo-Dada artist Jasper Johns who painted Alphabet works and number sequences, Boetti too by extracting individual letters takes them out of a context and in this manner denies them their ability to convey meaning or information. Thus, he imbues them with a new importance, demonstrating what they represent more broadly or exposing their inherent graphic forms for aesthetic scrutiny. For these reasons, Alternandosi e Dividendosi is fundamentally a visually striking and beautiful work of art whose powerful presence is only heightened through its scale and vivacity.

Property from the Estate of Dr. Fredric S. Brandt, Miami

Ο◆18

Alighiero Boetti

Alternandosi e Dividendosi

1989
embroidery
104 x 105 cm (40 7/8 x 41 3/8 in.)
Signed 'Alighiero Boetti ' on the overlap. Further stamped with gallery label along the overlap. Registered with the Archivo Alighiero Boetti, Rome, under number 1713, dated 20 December 2002. This work is accompanied by a certificate authenticity.

Estimate
£250,000 - 350,000 ‡♠

Sold for £302,500

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

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London 14 October 2015 7pm

1
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Blue Eyes Brown Hanging Perforated Mark M3.d)
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £116,500
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2
Rosemarie Trockel
Study for Old Friend
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡♠
Sold for £200,500
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3
Peter Doig
Bird House
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £242,500
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4
Richard Prince
Untitled (Cowboy)
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡
Sold for £602,500
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5
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Three-Tiered Perspective)
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ‡
Sold for £842,500
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6
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate £1,500,000 - 2,500,000 ‡
Sold for £2,266,500
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7
Christopher Wool
Untitled (Jazz death)
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,314,500
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8
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,930,500
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9
Yoshitomo Nara
Missing in Action
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ‡
Sold for £1,986,500
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10
Anish Kapoor
Untitled
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
Sold for £458,500
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11
Keith Haring
Untitled
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £218,500
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12
Keith Haring
Untitled (Head Stand)
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £482,500
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13
John Baldessari
Two Dogs and Two Aliens
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £266,500
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14
Ed Ruscha
Pneumatic Muscles Hydraulic Smiles
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡
Sold for £386,500
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15
George Condo
Stranger on a Plane
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £194,500
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16
Albert Oehlen
Omegasachen-35
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡♠
Sold for £302,500
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17
Damien Hirst
Aminobenzoyl Hydrazide
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £362,500
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18
Alighiero Boetti
Alternandosi e Dividendosi
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡♠
Sold for £302,500
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19
Lucio Fontana
Concetto Spaziale, Attese
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ♠
Sold for £1,314,500
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20
Cy Twombly
Untitled
Estimate £8,000,000 - 12,000,000 ‡
Sold for £7,922,500
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21
Mark Bradford
Constitution IV
Estimate £2,000,000 - 3,000,000 ‡
Sold for £3,778,500
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22
Tauba Auerbach
Untitled (Fold)
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,426,500
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23
Danh Vo
VJ Star
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡♠
Sold for £602,500
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24
Richard Prince
Untitled (Couples)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
Sold for £152,500
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25
Urs Fischer
Horse Fraud
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
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26
Cory Arcangel
Photoshop CS: 110 by 72 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient "Russell's Rainbow" (turn transparency off), mousedown y=25300 x=17600, mouse up y=4300 x=17600
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £158,500
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27
Yayoi Kusama
Infinity-Nets (OPARHJ)
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
Sold for £530,500
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28
Sterling Ruby
SP60
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000
Sold for £482,500
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29
Josef Albers
Homage to the Square: Wide Sight (study)
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
Sold for £338,500
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30
Neo Rauch
Die Lage
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £866,500
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31
Anselm Kiefer
The Secret Life of Plants
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £362,500
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32
Anselm Kiefer
Paete non Dolet
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £218,500
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33
Antony Gormley
Domain XV
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡♠
Sold for £218,500
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34
This lot is no longer available.
35
Jonas Wood
D.J.
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000
Sold for £62,500
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36
Richard Prince
Untitled (portrait)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
Sold for £98,500
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37
KAWS
Snoopy: Red Baron
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
Sold for £128,500
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London 14 October 2015 7pm

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Provenance

Exhibited

Catalogue Essay

Ο◆18

Alighiero Boetti

Alternandosi e Dividendosi

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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