Provenance
Marisa Del Re Gallery, New York
Private Collection, London
Christie's, New York, 11 November 2004, lot 335
Private Collection
Sotheby's, New York, 12 November 2014, lot 510
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Exhibited
Paris, Galerie Nikki Diana Marquardt, Dan Flavin: Hommage à Leo Castelli, 1957-1987, May - June 1987 (another example exhibited)
Musée d'Art Contemporain de Lyon, Collection Panza: Dan Flavin, June - September 1989 (another example exhibited)
Cologne, Galerie Tanit, Dan Flavin: eine Auswahl neuerer Arbeiten, November 1989 - January 1990 (another example exhibited)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Un Choix d'art minimal dans la collection Panza, July - November 1990, pp. 48-49, illustrated in colour (another example exhibited)
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Dan Flavin, September 1995 - January 1996 (another example exhibited)
Osaka, Gallery Yamagucki, Untitled (to Don Judd, colorist), October - November 1996 (another example exhibited)
North Adams, Museum of Contemporary Art, Test Site, May 1999 - April 2000 (another example exhibited)
London, Serpentine Gallery, Dan Flavin, August - September 2001, pp. 16-17, illustrated in colour (another example exhibited)
New York, Home Alone 2 Gallery, Jimmy Desana and Dan Flavin, September – October 2013
St Ives, Tate St Ives, Artist Rooms: Dan Flavin, 23 May - 27 September 2015 (another example exhibited)
Literature
Catherine Francblin, "Dan Flavin", Art Press, no. 116, July - August 1987, p. 80
Maiten Bouisset, "L'Espace au neon de Dan Flavin", Beaux Arts, no. 90, May 1991, p. 73 (another example illustrated)
Dan Flavin: The Architecture of Light, exh. cat.,Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1999, pp. 82-83 (another example illustrated)
"Fluorescent Light Being Installed", Independent, London, 23 August 2001, p. 1 (another example illustrated)
Frank Whitford, "New Lamps for Old," Sunday Times, London, 2 September 2001, Sec. 9, pp. 14-15 (another example illustrated)
Catherine Croft, "Floor Show," World of Interiors, February 2004, p. 79 (another example illustrated)
Michael Govan and Tiffany Bell, Dan Flavin The Complete Lights 1961-1996, New York, 2004, no. 487, p. 363 (illustrated diagram)
Catalogue Essay
Untitled (to Don Judd colorist) 5 is a mesmeric light sculpture that perfectly encapsulates Dan Flavin’s practice. Created in 1987, it is also a touching dedication to his long-time friend and fellow Minimalist progenitor Donald Judd. Flavin exclusively used fluorescent lighting as a medium in his mature works, echoing the propensity for industrial, mass produced materials that characterised the influential sculptures and writings of preeminent artists such as Carl Andre, Sol LeWitt and of course Judd.

By using fluorescent bulbs, Flavin extended the scope of his media beyond that of his contemporaries - light transcends the material constraints of physical substances, becoming an immaterial yet prevailing medium in itself that could saturate its environment and illuminate its audiences. This sculpture is liberated it from the materiality, gestures, symbols and allusions that demarcated the Abstract Expressionist and Surrealist movements of previous generations. Any wall on which Untitled (to Don Judd colorist) 5 is installed immediately dissolves into the effulgent aura of pink and green that emanates from the beaming light fittings, causing the work’s setting and substance to fuse as one. As the viewer approaches, they too become enveloped by the work’s lambent atmosphere, entering into it as both spectator and component. The bulbs themselves are arranged in a manner that introduces a rigid geometry to the composition, with the vertical green bars and cruciform pink atop them. However, the way that the light bleeds from one colour to the other between these forms disrupts this rigidity, as does the involvement of the viewer, blurring the boundaries of the artwork itself.

In Untitled (to Don Judd colorist) 5, Flavin has used near-opposing pink and green; from these, he has also conjured a range of other colours, which occupy the in-between zones. The title indicates that colour was clearly on Flavin’s mind at the time, as it had been on Judd’s during this period. Throughout the 1980s, Judd had paid an increasing attention to the use of colour in his sculptures; indeed, one posthumous monograph was even entitled Donald Judd: Colorist. Here, Flavin appears to be referencing and responding to this shift in his friend’s works. ‘Color, like material, is what art is made from,’ Judd said. ‘It alone is not art’ (D. Judd, `Some Aspects of Color in General and Red and Black in Particular’ 1993, in D. Elger (ed.), Donald Judd: Colorist, exh.cat., Ostfildern-Ruit, 2000, pp. 110-14). In Untitled (to Don Judd colorist) 5, Flavin has demonstrated his own parallel perspective on the use of colour.
Artist Biography
Dan Flavin
American • 1933 - 1996
Dan Flavin employed commercially-sold fluorescent light tubes in order to produce what he liked to call "situations" or installations. His minimalist approach transcended simplicity through his use of neon colors and thoughtful compositions. With straight-edged light beams, Flavin would often create dynamic arrangements reminiscent of Fred Sandback's work with yarn.
View More Works

30

Dan Flavin

Untitled (to Don Judd colorist) 5

pink and green flourescent tubes, metal fittings
133 x 122.9 x 10.2 cm (52 3/8 x 48 3/8 x 4 in.)
Executed in 1987, this work is number 2 from an intended edition of 5 of which only 3 were fabricated and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Estimate
£80,000 - 120,000 †

Sold for £118,750

Contact Specialist
Peter Sumner
Head of Contemporary Art, London
+44 207 318 4063

Henry Highley
Head of Sale
+ 44 20 7318 4061

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Auction 5 October 2016

1
Thomas Schütte
Kleiner Geist (Little Spirit) (Yellow)
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ♠
Sold for £125,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
2
Michaël Borremans
The Shirt
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡♠
Sold for £173,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
3
Ugo Rondinone
SUNRISE. east. march
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
4
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £1,500,000 - 2,000,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,805,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
5
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (White Butterfly Hawaiian Lapis)
Estimate £1,000,000 - 1,500,000 ‡
Sold for £1,265,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
6
Mark Bradford
Rat Catcher of Hamelin III
Estimate £1,500,000 - 2,000,000 ‡
Sold for £3,733,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
7
Mark Bradford
Click
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡
Sold for £665,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
8
Sean Scully
Grey Red
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £665,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
9
Andy Warhol
20 Pink Mao's
Estimate £4,000,000 - 6,000,000 ‡
Sold for £4,741,000
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 £300,000 - 400,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
11
Andy Warhol
Dollar Sign
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.
12
This lot is no longer available.
13
Gerhard Richter
Abstraktes Bild (767-2)
Estimate £800,000 - 1,200,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,085,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
14
Albert Oehlen
Amber
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £269,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
15
Günther Förg
Untitled
Estimate £90,000 - 120,000 ‡♠
Sold for £149,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
16
Anselm Kiefer
Odi Navali
Estimate £600,000 - 900,000 ‡♠
Sold for £605,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
17
Antony Gormley
Mountain and Sea
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £401,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
18
Antony Gormley
Field II
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ‡♠
Sold for £221,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
19
Damien Hirst
Figures in a Landscape
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠†
Sold for £305,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
20
Damien Hirst
Untitled #2 (Spot Painting)
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £509,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
21
Bridget Riley
KA 2
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £293,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
22
Emilio Vedova
Presenza N7V
Estimate £120,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £185,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
23
Joe Bradley
Egyptian Freek
Estimate £90,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £125,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
24
Sterling Ruby
SP33
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000
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
Gary Hume
Rose
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡♠
Sold for £62,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
27
Tim Noble and Sue Webster
$
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 Ω♠
Sold for £87,500
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
28
Andy Warhol
Electric Chair
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 †
Sold for £143,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
29
Ai Weiwei
Colour Jar
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 †
Sold for £137,000
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
30
Dan Flavin
Untitled (to Don Judd colorist) 5
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 †
Sold for £118,750
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 5 October 2016

Create your first list.

Provenance

Exhibited

Literature

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Dan Flavin

30

Dan Flavin

Untitled (to Don Judd colorist) 5

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.