Provenance
Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Sale: Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, Contemporary Art: Part I, May 15, 2008, lot 105; Acquired from the above by the present owner
Exhibited
New York, Anton Kern Gallery, Mark Grotjahn, October 9 - November 15, 2003
Literature
J. Saltz, "The Parallax View," Artnet Magazine, October 24, 2006 (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
It takes but the gentlest beating of their wings for the Butterflies to pull us into perspectival depths. A sharp cut down the middle reminds us that even this painted or drawn illusion of space unfolds on a plane, radiating from a center, line by line. Mark Grotjahn’s metaphoric butterflies in his subtitles describe not only a filigree, near-symmetrically constructed shape, but also the movement of flight: fitfully fluttering at abruptly changing altitudes, taking off in different directions, and coming to a sudden halt. In Grotjahn’s drawing and paintings this unmistakable rhythm continues across several works.

(H. Rudolf Reust, “Splitting Impacts the Eye,” Parkett 80, 2007, p. 144)

“Grotjahn's practice, however tangible or abstract, remains at its core a conceptual endeavor, one that plays with opacity in a manner quite in keeping with Roland Barthes's mythology of the striptease: that the barely revealed is much more alluring than the out-and-out” (J. Burton, “Mark Grotjahn: Anton Kern”, ArtForum, December 2003).

Untitled (Pink Butterfly Green mg03) dazzles the viewer with its soft jewellike tones. Lightly varied, soft pink monochromatic wedges of color radiate from a central stripe, forming an abstract butterfly-wing design. This simple yet elegant composition brings to mind the fundamental elements of Renaissance perspective, a technique in which all lines converge into one or two vanishing points along the painting’s horizon in order to create the impression of three-dimensional space.
As the present work illustrates, Grotjahn’s Butterfly paintings often rotate and skew this traditional Renaissance composition, transforming a technique originally intended to mimic reality into a composition that becomes almost entirely abstracted. He creates a subtle asymmetry by offsetting the two “vanishing points”—evoking a sense of tension between the two sides of the painting, as they appear to dynamically push against each other, creating a mesmerizing depth. Grotjahn uses his vocabulary of extremely precise geometric forms to create an intriguing optical effect.
The precision of Grotjahn’s hand in his Butterfly paintings lends them a graphic sensibility, which is bolstered by the opacity of the paint and the sleekness of the triangular shapes. The concept of the butterfly is nearly entirely subjugated to the network of angles and lines, transforming it into a sort of deliberate vortex of planes, which overtake the creature’s organic form. Grotjahn’s mastery lies in the subtle color variation he lends his linear butterfly wings—the design elevating them beyond their basic geometry. The starkness typical of modern painting takes on a softer character in Grotjahn’s butterflies, with the faint rosy tint of the present work rendering the canvas’s triangles delicate as opposed to harsh. There is grace and purity in the faceted color blocking of the canvas, reminiscent of a jewel shimmering in the light. The crisp, light shades of pink seem weightless and luminous. As such, the pale slivers of color can be likened to beams of light themselves, radiating from a central source. The angular divisions of the painting seem simultaneously mathematical and unstudied—products of both geometric precision and nature. The lush beauty and play of light in his work evoke the California sensibility, exemplified by Wayne Thiebaud’s levity, that subtly pervades the works of so many West Coast artists.
Mark Grotjahn’s paintings, gorgeous in their own right, also engage with the work of the modernists, namely Barnett Newman’s vertical stripes or “zips” in which the canvas almost appears to oscillate. Grotjahn’s paintings align themselves with these masters while adding his own flair for juxtaposing carefully calibrated elements with more organic ones. His Butterfly paintings appear deceptively straightforward at first glance, but are impossible to look away from, drawing the viewer in as they call forth surprisingly beautiful and complex imagery.

PROPERTY FROM THE HALSEY MINOR COLLECTION

8

Mark Grotjahn

Untitled (Pink Butterfly Green mg03)

2003
Oil on linen.
36 x 28 in. (91.4 x 71.1 cm).
Initialed and dated “mg 03” lower right.

Estimate
$300,000 - 400,000

Sold for $434,500

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

4 March 2011
New York

1
Kelley Walker and Wade Guyton
Paint Cans (from Dear Ketel One drinker hello again)
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $27,500
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2
Wolfgang Tillmans
Freischwimmer 20
Estimate $30,000 - 40,000
Sold for $50,000
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3
Urs Fischer
Ohne Titel (Geige)
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $146,500
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4
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $194,500
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5
Cady Noland
No Title
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $230,500
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6
This lot is no longer available.
7
Albert Oehlen
Das Gewicht der Ladung
Estimate $70,000 - 100,000
Sold for $230,500
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8
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Pink Butterfly Green mg03)
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $434,500
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9
Jim Hodges
Once Together / Apart
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
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10
Michaël Borremans
The Veils
Estimate $150,000 - 250,000
Sold for $170,500
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11
Thomas Ruff
Zycles 3041
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $98,500
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12
Piotr Uklański
Untitled (Eagle, American)
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $242,500
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13
Jack Pierson
Some fucked up notion of a dream
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $116,500
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14
Raymond Pettibon
No Title (Measuring Up)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
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15
Andy Warhol
Detail of the Last Supper / Be a Somebody with a Body
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $602,500
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16
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled (After Sam)
Estimate $700,000 - 900,000
Sold for $902,500
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17
Steven Parrino
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $68,500
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18
Richard Prince
Untitled (Tire Planter, black)
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $80,500
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19
Jack Goldstein
Untitled
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $98,500
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20
Andy Warhol
Vesuvius
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
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21
Tom Sachs
Chanel Fountain
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $62,500
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22
Ross Bleckner
Pausing and inhaling
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
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23
Raoul De Keyser
Untitled
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $50,000
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24
Keith Haring
Untitled
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $386,500
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25
Donald Judd
Untitled 1978 (7.78 Judd)
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $68,500
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26
Agnes Martin
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $104,500
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27
Ugo Rondinone
Sunrise, august, west
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $182,500
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28
Gregor Hildebrandt
Wenn ich mir was Wünschen dürfte [M.D. auf Omas Tapete]
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $40,000
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29
Banks Violette
Black noise (Ampeg BA - 115) for S.P.
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
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30
Adel Abdessemed
Le mythe de Sisyphe
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31
Richard Phillips
NEW MUSEUM
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $158,500
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

4 March 2011 New York

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Provenance

Exhibited

Literature

Catalogue Essay

8

Mark Grotjahn

Untitled (Pink Butterfly Green mg03)

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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4 March 2011
New York