León Ferrari - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session New York Wednesday, November 14, 2018 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

  • Exhibited

    Miami, Pan American Art Projects, León Ferrari & Oscar Bony, December 9, 2006 - January 6, 2007 (illustrated, cover)

  • Catalogue Essay

    “Art will be neither beauty nor novelty; art will be efficacy and disturbance.” – León Ferrari

  • Artist Biography

    León Ferrari

    Argentinian • 1920 - 2013

    León Ferrari was a defining figure in Argentine conceptual art. He was awarded the Golden Lion at the 2007 Venice Biennale, among other prestigious awards. During his youth, Ferrari began creating artworks while studying Engineering in Rome. Returning to Buenos Aires, he began to create art that dealt with heavy subjects such as inequality, power and discrimination, championing a sense of urgency to understand the destructive and poetic potential of these societal issues.

    One particularly controversial work, La Civilización Occidental y Cristiana (Western Christian Civilization), was exhibited in 1965 and promptly censured by the Catholic Church, as the sculpture features a store-bought Jesus figure crucified to a U.S. fighter jet. However, Ferrari is probably best known for his "written drawings" that feature compositions of abstracted handwriting created in various mediums, conveying emotion and visual poetry.

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245

Esfera (Sphere)

stainless steel
diameter 55 in. (139.7 cm.)
Executed in 2006, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Estimate
$140,000 - 180,000 

Sold for $137,500

Contact Specialist
John McCord
Head of Day Sale, Morning Session
New York
+1 212 940 1261
jmccord@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session

New York Auction 14 November 2018