Catalogue Essay
The concept is quite simple: a buried treasure on the remote Isla del Coco, the literary inspiration for Robert Lewis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and an encoded map. The highest bidder wins the latter and the right to hunt down the former. Of course, the actuality is far more complex and, accordingly, the treasure all that more valuable and desirable.

Treasure of Lima: A Buried Exhibition is a radical new model of philanthropy: a unique and enticing conceptual project that will give its future owner sole access to a treasure trove of contemporary art. Commissioned by Francesca von Habsburg’s Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Academy (TBA21-ACADEMY), Treasure of Lima is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a real live treasure map that leads to a secreted chest containing a veritable pirate’s booty of 40 artworks by some of the most desired and respected names in contemporary visual culture.

Proceeds from this sale will support new and important research and protection for the pelagic species found in the rich waters proximate to Isla del Coco in the Pacific Ocean, roughly 500 kilometers west of Costa Rica – especially the overly stressed population of scalloped hammerhead sharks that encircle, and some would argue, protect it. Isla del Coco is a UNESCO world heritage site and a Costa Rican national park, home to numerous endemic species of animals above and below water. It is on this beautiful and remote island where the treasure itself has been hidden and can be found – though it may require the selfsame intellectual fortitude and physical determination of Stevenson’s original adventurers. Isla del Coco is remote, uninhabited, legally protected and treacherous, and that is to say nothing of the map itself - which is no simple “x-marks the spot” affair.

For the present lot, famed design duo Aranda\Lasch have created a beautiful functional sculpture, Chest, 2014, which has been cast in two editions each of which is vacuum sealed to contain its particular precious cargo, submergible up to 6.7 kilometers and virtually unbreakable. The first Chest embodies the present lot, and contains the map vital to discovering the second edition, which is itself filled to the brim with unique works of art—made especially for this endeavor by some of the most notable contemporary artists of our time—and hidden deep within Isla del Coco. In keeping with a project of such sophistication and dynamism, the map encapsulated within the first Chest is no mere Cartesian representation, but is itself an artwork. Chest contains Dutch artist Constant Dullaart’s Map, a 2014 collaboration with a leading German security analyst, applying state of the art encryption that hides information as best as technically possible in these times of obsolete cryptographic standards. Utilizing 3D-laser sintering technology a stainless steel cylinder was printed, rendering the algorithmically derived code endless. Only readable when mechanically reproduced, the character string elucidates the exact position of the treasure’s location on Isla del Coco.Conceiving a radical, yet elegant, contemporary interpretation of the ancient cylinder seal. The map itself is a beautifully designed and executed object in its own right and within the Chest comprises the first half of the incredible experiment that is the Treasure of Lima: A Buried Exhibition. A conflation of mathematics, design, and, above all, mystery, Map, the two editions of Chest and the artworks contained therein represent an ambitious new type of interactive exhibition and artwork. A unique conversation piece, a real life treasure, as well as a symbol for oceanic conservation.

48

Various Artists

Treasure of Lima: Chest & Map

2014
stainless steel, Vitrovex Glass Deep Ocean Sphere, 3D printed stainless steel, encrypted GPS coordinates
closed 26 3/8 x 29 1/8 x 30 3/4 in. (67 x 74 x 78 cm)
open 25 x 47 5/8 x 30 3/4 in. (63.5 x 121 x 78 cm)
Chest designed by Aranda/Lasch, Map by Constant Dullaart.
Commissioned by Francesca von Habsburg / TBA21-ACADEMY.

Including works by Marina Abramović, Doug Aitken, Darren Almond, Aranda\Lasch, Julius von Bismarck, Angela Bulloch, Los Carpinteros, Julian Charrière, Phil Collins, Constant Dullaart, Olafur Eliasson, Michael Esposito, Oscar Figueroa, John Gerrard, Kai Grehn, Noemie Goudal, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Alex Hoda, Pierre Huyghe, Antti Laitinen, Sharon Lockhart, Lucia Madriz, Carsten Nicolai, Olaf Nicolai, Raymond Pettibon, Finnbogi Petursson, Lari Pittman, Jon Rafman, Andrew Ranville, Matthew Ritchie, Ed Ruscha, Hans Schabus, Chicks on Speed, Daniel Steegmann, Ryan Trecartin, Suzanne Treister, Janaina Tschäpe, Chris Watson, Lawrence Weiner, Jana Winderen. Curated by Nadim Samman.

Sold to benefit Pelagic Research and Conservation Project for Isla del Coco, initiated by TBA21-ACADEMY in collaboration with Costa Rican partners FAICO and Misión Tiburón.

Estimate
$150,000 - 200,000

Sold for $185,000

Contact Specialist
Amanda Stoffel
Head of Evening Sale
New York
+ 1 212 940 1261

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

New York Auction 13 November 2014 7pm

1
Fredrik Værslev
Untitled (Canopy)
Estimate $150,000 - 250,000
Sold for $317,000
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2
R.H. Quaytman
Chapter 12: Iamb (An American Place)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $245,000
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3
Danh Vo
We the People (detail)
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $629,000
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4
Ai Weiwei
Coca Cola Vase
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $665,000
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5
Alex Israel
Untitled (Flat)
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $341,000
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6
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $785,000
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7
Tauba Auerbach
Untitled (Fold)
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $2,285,000
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8
Wade Guyton
Untitled
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,645,000
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9
Julie Mehretu
Stadia Excerpt (a small resurgence)
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,205,000
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10
Martin Kippenberger
Untitled
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $2,345,000
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11
Richard Prince
Untitled (Cowboy)
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,805,000
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12
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $1,061,000
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13
Richard Prince
Joke
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $1,565,000
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14
Andreas Gursky
James Bond Island I
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $725,000
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15
Nate Lowman
Pink Escalade
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $545,000
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16
Tauba Auerbach
Ray I
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $545,000
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17
Dan Flavin
Untitled (to Barnett Newman) one
Estimate $400,000 - 500,000
Sold for $461,000
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18
Frank Stella
Concentric Square
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $3,973,000
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19
Donald Judd
Untitled (Bernstein 81-4)
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,445,000
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20
Robert Ryman
Hour
Estimate $5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for $5,205,000
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21
Willem de Kooning
Untitled XVIII
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,869,000
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22
Mark Rothko
Untitled
Estimate $3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for $4,085,000
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23
Hans Hofmann
Orchestral Dominance in Green
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,405,000
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24
Arshile Gorky
Study for Sochi
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
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25
Andy Warhol
Happy Rockefeller
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
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26
Tom Wesselmann
Preliminary Painting for Tit and Telephone
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $965,000
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27
Robert Mangold
Red/Gray Zone Painting I
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
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28
Andy Warhol
Diamond Dust Shoes
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $3,301,000
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29
Robert Indiana
LOVE
Estimate $1,047,000 - 1,500,000
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30
Andy Warhol
The Witch (from Myths)
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $725,000
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31
Robert Indiana
Marilyn Marilyn II
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $485,000
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32
George Condo
Interspersion
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $605,000
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33
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Bird as Buddha
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
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34
Yoshitomo Nara
Itchy and Scratchy
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $1,025,000
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35
Yayoi Kusama
Fear of Death
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $605,000
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36
This lot is no longer available.
37
Wade Guyton
Untitled
Estimate $900,000 - 1,200,000
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38
Sturtevant
Stella Tomlinson Court Park (First Version) (Study)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $557,000
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39
Cindy Sherman
Untitled Film Still #60
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $305,000
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40
Nate Lowman
Outdoor Sculpture (Bullethole #1)
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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41
Wyatt Kahn
Late Nite
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $185,000
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42
Oscar Murillo
Dark Americano
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $245,000
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43
Ugo Rondinone
DRITTERJUNIZWEITAUSENDUNDELF (3. June, 2011)
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $149,000
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44
Lucien Smith
When a Man Loves a Woman
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $100,000
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45
David Ostrowski
F (It's not easy being a Supermodel)
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $118,750
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46
Christian Rosa
Run Run Hide Hide
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $161,000
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47
Rashid Johnson
Born by the River
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $197,000
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48
Various Artists
Treasure of Lima: Chest & Map
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $185,000
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

New York Auction 13 November 2014 7pm

Create your first list.

Catalogue Essay

48

Various Artists

Treasure of Lima: Chest & Map

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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