León Ferrari - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session New York Tuesday, May 16, 2023 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Private Collection
    Phillips Private Sales, New York
    Acquired from the above by the present owner in May 2012

  • 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.

    View More Works

231

Untitled

incised with the artist's signature and date "LEON FERRARI 1983" on a metal plate affixed to the sculpture
welded steel
15 3/8 x 8 x 8 in. (39.1 x 20.3 x 20.3 cm)
Executed in 1983, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Julieta Adriana Zamorano.

Estimate
$30,000 - 40,000 

Sold for $31,750

Contact Specialist

Annie Dolan

Specialist, Head of Sale, Morning Session
+1 212 940 1288
adolan@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session

New York Auction 16 May 2023