Video
Anish Kapoor, 'Blade', Lot 14
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, 13 February
Provenance
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2004
Exhibited
New York, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, Anish Kapoor: WHITEOUT, 8 May - 25 June 2004, p. 65 (exhibited and illustrated, pp. 4, 25, 26-27, 34, 73)
Literature
David Anfam, ed., Anish Kapoor, London, 2009, plate c, pp. 502-503 (another example illustrated)
Stephanie Dieckvoss, Rosalind Furness and Melissa Larner, eds., Anish Kapoor: Turning the World Upside Down in Kensington Gardens, exh. cat., Serpentine Gallery, London, 2011, p. 140 (illustrated, pp. 135 and 139)
Catalogue Essay
Spiralling from the ground upwards, Blade, 2004, forms part of Anish Kapoor’s body of mirrored works that the artist began creating in the mid-1990s, and more broadly falls within his integral and iconic sculptural language of the 'non-object' that he continues to explore. The sculpture was first exhibited alongside other intimately scaled works at the exhibition WHITEOUT, at Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, just before the summer of 2004. Simultaneously, Kapoor was working on his monumental public sculpture Cloud Gate, 2004, which now gracefully occupies Chicago’s Millennium Park. From soft and undulating to ascending and sharp, these enigmatic, smaller sculptures continued the artist’s investigation of space and geometry as malleable terrains devoid of formulaic constrictions. Here, it is Blade’s ever-fluctuating form and reflective quality that upturns the viewers’ traditional perception of their surroundings and themselves.

The uncanny sense of limitlessness produced by Blade’s reflection recalls Kapoor’s interest in the analogy between the idea of the sublime in artistic tradition and the cosmic concept of a parallel universe. ‘The spatial questions [the mirrored object] seemed to ask were not about deep space but about present space, which I began to think about as a new sublime. If the traditional sublime is in deep space, then this is proposing that the contemporary sublime is in front of the picture plane, not beyond it’, Kapoor explained (Anish Kapoor, quoted in Anish Kapoor: Past Present Future, exh. cat., The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 2008, p. 52). When the viewer peers into its dazzling surface, Blade subsumes the material body into an illusion of immateriality. Ceaselessly distorting the viewer’s perception of their environments, Kapoor articulates materiality in a way that allows a simultaneous enaction of motion and staticity, form and void – demonstrating his capacity to activate negative space, and spur an ‘experience that is outside of material concern’ (Anish Kapoor, quoted in Germano Celant, Anish Kapoor, Milan 1998, n.p.).

In its compellingly simple appearance, Blade calls to mind the visual language of Minimalism, the diminished form of abstraction, and the phenomenological qualities of experiential arts. One may think more specifically of Robert Morris’ daring Untitled, 1965/1971, similarly exploring the intersection between Minimalism and anti-form. Morris’ sculpture, consisting of four mirrored boxes maintained just far enough from one another to enable walking, similarly captures reflections of the outside world into its multiple surfaces, thereby producing complex interactions with the environment in which they are placed. With its immaculate reflective surface and its intriguing, amorphous constitution, Blade also transforms notions of space and self-perception; it asks the viewer to constantly re-evaluate its contours, sides and angles, to fully complete Kapoor’s phenomenological intent.

Striving to complicate conventional notions of the art object, Kapoor allows for the world around his reflective sculptures to become part of the work itself. Kapoor’s mirrored surfaces do not just reflect the world; rather, they explore the constant flux of reality. Blade invites the viewer to enter a liminal space of continuous becoming – powerfully suspending our experience of the quotidian as the realms of finite and the infinite, inside and outside, depth and surface poetically dissolve.

14

Anish Kapoor

Blade

stainless steel
55 x 106 x 106 cm (21 5/8 x 41 3/4 x 41 3/4 in.)
Executed in 2004, this work is number 1 from an edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof.

Estimate
£120,000 - 180,000 ‡♠

Contact Specialist

Olivia Thornton
Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Europe
+44 20 7318 4099
OThornton@phillips.com

Rosanna Widén
Senior Specialist, Head of Evening Sale
+44 20 7318 4060
rwiden@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Auction 13 February 2020

1
Amoako Boafo
The Lemon Bathing Suit
Estimate £30,000 - 50,000 ‡
Sold for £675,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
2
Julie Curtiss
Four Buns
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡♠
Sold for £137,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
3
Tschabalala Self
Princess
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000
Sold for £435,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
4
Eddie Martinez
Neanderthal Jeans
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Sold for £375,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
5
Katharina Grosse
Untitled
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡♠
Sold for £137,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
6
Yayoi Kusama
INFINITY-NETS (KSUZL)
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
Sold for £525,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
7
El Anatsui
Affirmation
Estimate £700,000 - 900,000 ‡
Sold for £915,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
8
Jia Aili
The Young
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £855,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
9
Ed Ruscha
God Knows Where
Estimate £2,500,000 - 3,500,000 ‡
Sold for £3,375,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
10
Keith Haring
Untitled
Estimate £3,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for £3,206,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
11
A.R. Penck
AUFSTAND DER SPIELER
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ♠
Sold for £200,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
12
Günther Förg
Untitled
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
Sold for £411,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
13
This lot is no longer available.
14
Anish Kapoor
Blade
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡♠
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
15
Michael Craig-Martin
Full
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ♠
Sold for £162,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
16
Damien Hirst
Antipyrylazo III
Estimate £900,000 - 1,200,000 ♠
Sold for £1,275,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
17
Damien Hirst
Bodies
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ♠
Sold for £1,368,600
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
18
Gilbert & George
CITY FAIRIES
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ♠
Sold for £156,250
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
19
Damien Hirst
Summer Breeze
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £435,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
20
Damien Hirst
Beautiful tropical, jungle painting (with pink snot)
Estimate £270,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £350,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
21
Gary Hume
Magnolia Door One
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ♠
Sold for £40,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
22
Peter Doig
Camp Forestia
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ♠
Sold for £800,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
23
Cecily Brown
Girl Eating Turtle Dove
Estimate £550,000 - 750,000 ‡♠
Sold for £615,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
24
Sean Scully
Robe Green Gold
Estimate £700,000 - 1,000,000 ‡♠
Sold for £987,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
25
This lot is no longer available.
26
Alex Katz
Gray Bow
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
27
Tom Wesselmann
Reverse Drawing: Bedroom Blonde with Irises
Estimate £320,000 - 420,000 ‡
Sold for £375,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
28
Michaël Borremans
Untitled
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £350,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
29
Adrian Ghenie
Pie Fight Study 4
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ♠
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
30
Marlene Dumas
Chained to the Bed for 15 Years
Estimate £300,000 - 400,000 ‡♠
Sold for £325,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
31
Takashi Murakami
Cosmic Power
Estimate £300,000 - 400,000 ‡
Sold for £375,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
32
KAWS
FAR AWAY FRIENDS
Estimate £800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for £900,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
33
Takashi Murakami
Dragon Heads - Gold
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £495,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
34
This lot is no longer available.
35
Anish Kapoor
Sky Mirror
Estimate £800,000 - 1,200,000 ‡♠
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
36
Raoul De Keyser
Hellepoort
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £131,250
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
37
Marcel Broodthaers
Moules
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ♠
Sold for £168,750
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
38
Carol Rama
Pornografia due
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ♠
Sold for £150,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
39
This lot is no longer available.
40
Roman Opałka
OPAŁKA 1965/1 – ∞ DETAIL 4514079 – 4536373
Estimate £250,000 - 300,000 ♠
Sold for £471,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
41
KAWS
ON TIME
Estimate £300,000 - 400,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Auction 13 February 2020

Create your first list.

Video

Provenance

Exhibited

Literature

Catalogue Essay

14

Anish Kapoor

Blade

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.

Create your first list.