Sigmar Polke - Contemporary Art Part II New York Friday, November 17, 2006 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist; Collection Armin Hundertmark, Cologne

  • Catalogue Essay

    In his essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of its (Al)Chemical Transmutability: Rethinking Painting and Photography after Polke,” Charles W. Haxthausen discusses Polke’s work – specifically painting and photography – in relation to Walter Benjamin’s classic essay from 1936, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” As Hazthausen summarizes Benjamin’s argument concerning the loss of authority or uniqueness in art with the introduction of photography and other reproducible mediums, we see a dialogue begin to emerge between this very issue and Polke’s work as his photographic oeuvre begins to develop. “At the beginning of the 1970s, Polke began to produce unique photographic printes by experimenting with and – in terms of orthodox practice – misusing the chemistry of the photographic process” (Haxthausen, p. 193). The present lot, dated 1968, is a wonderful example of, and important precursor, to Polke’s foray into these issues of reproduction and uniqueness. The manipulated Polaroid, like the examples seen here, became just one of his many answers as to how a unique work can be created from a reproducible medium, (F. Elliot, C. Plaas and J.S. Southad, eds., Sigmar Polke: Three Lies of Painting, Ostfildern-Ruit, 1997, pp. 195-193).

405

Untitled

1968
15 Polaroids.
3 x 4 in. (7.6 x 10.2 cm) each; 11 3/8 x 78 3/8 in. (28.9 x 199.1 cm) overall.
Signed and dedicated "for Armin Hundertmark Sigmar Polke" on the reverse of one.

Estimate
$60,000 - 80,000 

Sold for $72,000

Contemporary Art Part II

17 Nov 2006, 10am & 2pm
New York