Provenance
Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zurich
Private Collection
Catalogue Essay
John M. Armleder is a Swiss artist who defies categorisation. Indeed curator Fabrice Stroun has commented that “Armleder’s art never looks quite like itself”. From his early affiliation with Fluxus and Dada, Armleder’s work combines critical appropriation with a light-hearted playfulness. Artworks are often presented within complete installations. From the Furniture Sculptures and skull murals to the alchemic Puddle Paintings, Armleder never allows us to become over-familiar, with every working and re-working a new development is presented.

In Alchemilla Vulgaris, the swathes of vertical colour in columns down the monumental canvas recall the paintings of American Abstract Expressionists Morris Louis and Larry Poons. Elements of chance and performance come into play as a scattering of glitter creates an effervescent theatricality across the surface. With Alchemilla Vulgaris,
the scientific name for a common garden plant, Armleder toys with our expectations of grandiose titles and allusions to Modernist heroism. With its subtle combination of Modernist cues and gentle playfulness, Alchemilla Vulgaris is a fine example of this artist’s work.

“I believe the work that is considered to be mine is someone else’s… anybody’s…the whole world. My work is a cultural event, an inevitable event. If all artists were to disappear, art would be produced by others with a different understanding, different means and different materials. As an individual, an artist simply fills a void. He is the means to an end, so that this arrangement, this accumulation of events can be organized.” (The artist in ‘Une sorte de salade russe sans oublier la mayonnaise: a conversation with Christian Bernard and Francois Ninghetto’, Semaine No. 01, 2006)

23

John Armleder

Alchemilla Vulgaris

2006
Mixed media on canvas.
260 x 140 cm (102 3/8 x 55 1/8 in).
Signed, titled and dated 'John Armleder 2006 Alchemilla Vulgaris' on the overlap.

Estimate
£40,000 - 60,000 ‡

Sold for £55,250

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

16 February 2012
London

1
This lot is no longer available.
2
Joe Bradley
Killroy
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000
Sold for £49,250
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3
Kelley Walker
Untitled
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000
Sold for £85,250
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4
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £169,250
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5
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £450,000 - 650,000 ‡♠
Sold for £505,250
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6
Marc Quinn
The Golden Column (Microcosmos)
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £289,250
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7
Cindy Sherman
Untitled #410
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £433,250
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8
Ugo Rondinone
VIERZEHNTEROKTOBERZWEITAUSENDUNDNULL
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £157,250
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9
Takashi Murakami
Troll’s Umbrella
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £385,250
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10
Thomas Schütte
Gelber Hund
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £241,250
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11
Isa Genzken
Dubai
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ♠
Sold for £61,250
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12
Andy Warhol
Mao
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡
Sold for £457,250
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13
This lot is no longer available.
14
George Condo
Woman in Blue Chair
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £205,250
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15
Damien Hirst
Wretched War
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 Ω♠
Sold for £325,250
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16
Andreas Gursky
Jumeirah Palm
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ♠
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17
Lucio Fontana
Concetto spaziale, Attese
Estimate £1,000,000 - 1,500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,049,250
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18
Roni Horn
When Dickinson Shut Her Eyes, no. 1259
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000
Sold for £121,250
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19
Richard Prince
My Funny Valentine
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000
Sold for £181,250
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20
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (HALF-EATEN)
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000
Sold for £181,250
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21
Ahmed Alsoudani
Untitled
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £229,250
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22
Walead Beshty
FedEx® Kraft Box© 2005: FedEx Standard Overnight Los Angeles–New York, trk# 8675 2590 1103; FedEx Standard Overnight New York–Washington, trk# 8631 3319 4523, date April 13–14 2009; FedEx Standard Overnight Washington–Miami, trk# 7950 0886 1541, date July 26–27 2011; International Priority Miami–London, trk # 8439 1188 5383, date January 11–13, 2012
Estimate £15,000 - 20,000 ‡♠
Sold for £58,850
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23
John Armleder
Alchemilla Vulgaris
Estimate £40,000 - 60,000 ‡
Sold for £55,250
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24
Damien Hirst
Sensation
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡♠
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25
Alex Katz
Ada on Green
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000
Sold for £229,250
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26
Olafur Eliasson
The Path Series
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000 ‡♠
Sold for £68,450
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27
Raymond Pettibon
Untitled (The view from beyond the breakers)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000
Sold for £157,250
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

16 February 2012 London

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

23

John Armleder

Alchemilla Vulgaris

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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16 February 2012
London