Provenance
Circus Gallery, Berlin
Catalogue Essay
'Just wait till the painting has been exposed to a couple of showers, been gashed a little by some sharp nails and so forth … It only needs few flaws in order to become really good.'

- EDVARD MUNCH

Through a play of subjectivities, Frederik Værslev investigates the relationship between abstraction, representation and decoration, in a vein similar to that first explored by the New York school of Expressionists in the 1950s. Building on this art historical foundation, Værslev’s works are a composition of abstract form and the suggestion of ornamentation. By exposing the freshly primed canvases to the elements outside his studio, Værslev embraces chance and variance as a way to create false histories of past wear. The additional use of solvents in the exposure stage prematurely ages the appearance of his paintings, rendering them reminiscent of the materials by which they were inspired and creating an acute sense of representation.

Part of the Canopy series, the present lot uses simple form to suggest a banal material most commonly associated with recreational vehicles and outdoor leisure, resulting in a collision of high and low culture on canvas. Værslev uses visual patterns of the everyday in conjunction with traditional processes to further drive these dichotomies. Stylistically evoking the zips of Barnett Newman, Untitled (Canopy Painting: Blue and Orange V) is a study of the way abstraction can fade in and out of figuration and vice versa: in his careful composition of line, colour and patina, Værslev renders representation of form to abstraction and decorative design to representation.

There is a romanticism associated with Værslev’s process that turns the method of allowing the environment to shape the painting into a painting of the environment itself. While the process of production in this series is mechanical – the initial priming, the stripes in various colours – exposure to the elements leaves the canvases open to chance, creating a complex, meditative interplay of design and deviation.

4

Fredrik Værslev

Untitled (Canopy Painting: Blue and Orange V)

2012
primer, house paint, white spirit on canvas
196 x 131 cm (77 1/8 x 51 5/8 in.)
Signed and dated 'Fredrik Vaerslev 2012' on the overlap.

Estimate
£80,000 - 120,000 ♠

Sold for £68,500

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 ♠
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Auction 12 February 2015 7pm

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

4

Fredrik Værslev

Untitled (Canopy Painting: Blue and Orange V)

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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