Allen Jones - Contemporary Art Evening Sale London Wednesday, February 11, 2015 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Richard Feigen Gallery, New York
    Robert Fraser Gallery, London
    Private Collection

  • Exhibited

    New York, Richard Feigen Gallery, 1970
    Zurich, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, mid-1970's
    London, Royal Academy of Arts, Allen Jones, 13 November 2014 — 25 January 2015

  • Literature

    A. Jones, Allen Jones: Figures, Berlin, Galerie Mikro, 1969, p. 67 (illustrated)
    M. Livingstone, Allen Jones: Sheer Magic, New York, 1979, p. 101 (illustrated)
    exh. cat., Allen Jones, London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2015, p. 64 (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay


    ‘My subject matter is basically the human condition and identity – things that deal with that in a schematic way appeal to me … It is about human interaction – and, I suppose, about sex in a funny way – but really it is an attempt to make a personification of the human condition.’

    - ALLEN JONES, 2014


    Allen Jones’s unique fusion of eroticism, rhythm and sumptuous colour finds fantastic expression in Sin-Derella, a work whose sophisticated use of pun and metonym moves beyond the figurative to a shapely dance of music and sexuality. Steeped in theory but taking the street as his theatre, Jones looked to develop a unique language through which he could create his idealised figures. The stylised bodies of both men and women employ and exaggerate clichés as a way to arouse an emotional response in the viewer. While his work has earned adoration from fellow artists and viewers alike, he has also caused outcry through his seeming sexual objectification of women, most infamously in his chairs, hatstands and other pieces of furniture comprised of realistic life-size female forms. He avers that ‘The artist cannot worry about how someone might misconstrue the work. When you’re doing the work, your duty is to make the image within the language that the artistic frame of reference you are pursuing. If someone doesn’t like it, that’s tough.’ (Nicholas Wroe, ‘Allen Jones: “I think of myself as a feminist,”’ The Guardian, 31 October 2014).


    Jones has always been fascinated by the ‘amount of fakery and construction that goes into making something that looks normal,’ whether sexual, commercial or personal. His central London location, he says, provides endless opportunities ‘to watch a huge range of humanity from which some will just pop out of the crowd at you. It’s not because they are conventionally attractive or tall or blond, it is that they have made some effort to present themselves.’ (Nicholas Wroe, ‘Allen Jones: “I think of myself as a feminist,”’ The Guardian, 31 October 2014). Sin-Derella itself 'pops out' in a composition of colour and rhythm. The theatrical motion of the entwined and fragmented couple lit in a spotlight, tangled and fused into one, creates a gentle sensuality that radiates from the canvas - but their incomplete exposure amidst curtain-like darkness hints at the furtive gaze of voyeurism. A single form hovers like a belt above their doubled shape, suggestive of worship displaced from saints' haloes to waist height. The soft intimacy that exists between the two figures is juxtaposed against deeply saturated carnal hues of crimson, chartreuse, aureolin and cobalt. Jones' dynamic use of hue and line ignites suggestive movement, intensifying the viewer's pleasure and bringing the pageant of the artist's mind to darkly opulent fruition.

Ο14

Sin-Derella

1969
oil on canvas
213.4 x 183 cm (84 x 72 in.)
Signed, titled and dated 'Allen Jones: 69 "SINDERELLA"' on the overlap.

Estimate
£300,000 - 500,000 

Sold for £386,500

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