André Dubreuil - The Betty Lee and Aaron Stern Collection New York Tuesday, December 17, 2013 | Phillips

Create your first list.

Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.

  • Provenance

    Galerie Mougin, Paris
    Acquired from the above, 1999

  • Literature

    Claire Downey, Neo Furniture, London, 1992, p. 62 for a similar example

  • Catalogue Essay

    André Dubreuil refers to his own work as “Super Classical,” a label
    borne out in his own uniquely personal brand of postmodernism, a
    playful approach to form which embraces multiple reference points,
    among them the Baroque. Dubreuil’s work emphasizes the visual over
    the functional, a typical postmodern rejection of modernist ideals. He
    turns a cold shoulder on that seminal movement of the 20th century:
    “…why make simple when you can make complicated,” he asks.

    The present group of unique and limited edition works by Dubreuil
    form the core of Betty Lee and Aaron Stern’s design collection and
    represent the fullest expression of the designer’s anti-modernist ideas
    on manufacture and aesthetics. For Dubreuil, form follows form; his
    work flows from a direct, “organic process” of working freehand in
    metal. Dubreuil’s rejection of mechanized manufacturing processes is a
    further retort to modernism: “I like the perfection of the hand because
    it’s made by man for man.” This artistic method has been fundamental
    to Dubreuil’s practice since he began as an assistant to designer Tom
    Dixon, who in 1985 taught him to weld—a revelation. “I loved it. I threw
    my paint brush away and bought a welder,” he stated. Dubreuil’s first
    chair, the unique “Throne” of that same year, was a gift to the London
    fashion designer Georgina Godley. The following year, energized by this
    new direction, Dubreuil designed the “Spine” chair (Lot 52), perhaps
    his most recognizable work, an example of which is in the permanent
    collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Produced
    from flat steel rods the front legs have a cabriole form which can be
    considered part of his “Super Classical” practice.

    *All citations Gareth Williams and Nick Wright, Cut and Shut: The
    History of Creative Salvage
    , London, 2012, p. 120

15

Unique clock

circa 1990
Gold-painted and enameled copper, steel, clear convex glass.
28 1/2 x 17 3/4 x 7 3/8 in. (72.4 x 45.1 x 18.7 cm)

Estimate
$30,000 - 40,000 

Contact Specialist
Ben Williams
Senior Specialist, Head of Sale
bwilliams@phillips.com
+ 44 207 318 4027

The Betty Lee and Aaron Stern Collection

New York 17 December 2013 10am