Provenance
Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
Thomas Amann Fine Art AG, Zurich
Spatium Gallery, Caracas
Catalogue Essay
No subject was too insignificant or absurd for the controversial and ironic effant terrible of German contemporary art, Martin Kippenberger. Whether it was a trip to the dentist, his own drunken antics or even an old sock, Kippenberger tackled all subjects in his art equally and always with his typical comic and absurd slant.
The present lot, entitled Badewanne (Bathtub), is a latex sculpture of the negative space of a bath tub from which a clenched fist defiantly emerges from the water. The clenched fist, a highly charged motif immediately recognizable as a symbol of protest in relation to racial injustice, is subverted by Kippenberger. Like Maurizio Cattelan, a fellow art world prankster who must have been influenced by the present lot when he created his acclaimed performance entitled Mother at the 1999 Venice Biennale (in which a Fakir was buried with only his hands emerging in prayer from the ground), Kippenberger adroitly comments on our modern society with undeniable humour and wit. Perhaps this fist can be seen as the artist's hand thrusting up from the jaws of death in a darkly humorous last rite of refusal. Whatever the meaning or intent, Badewanne powerfully conveys the depth of Kippenberger's struggle to come to terms with himself and compulsion to stage that battle as a communicative act.
"I am not a ‘real' painter, nor a ‘real' sculptor, I only look at all that from the outside and sometimes try my hand at it, trying to add my own particular spice. I'm not interested in provoking people, but only in trying to be consoling. I always think of the things I do, quite unambiguously, as truly living vehicles. Assuming roles is something that simply won't work for me, since I don't have a style. None at all. My style is where you the individual and where a personality is communicated through actions, decisions, single objects and facts, where the whole draws together to form a history."(M. Kippenberger, interviewed by Jutta Koehler, Flash Art, 1990)

21

Martin Kippenberger

Untitled

1990
wood, latex, cotton.
66.9 x 111.8 x 22.8 cm (26 1/3 x 44 x 9 in).
This work isunique andfrom a series of three differently coloured works.

Estimate
£200,000 - 300,000 ‡

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

17 Feb 2011
London

1
Wade Guyton
Untitled
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000
Sold for £213,650
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2
Mary Heilmann
Rude Boy
Estimate £70,000 - 90,000 ‡
Sold for £103,250
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3
Jim Lambie
Night Divides the Day
Estimate £40,000 - 60,000 ♠
Sold for £91,250
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4
Lucio Fontana
Concetto spaziale, Attesa
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000
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5
Günther Uecker
Mutation
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ♠
Sold for £223,250
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6
Robert Morris
Felt
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
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7
Georg Herold
Untitled
Estimate £40,000 - 60,000 ♠
Sold for £121,250
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8
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ♠
Sold for £361,250
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9
Peter Fischli and David Weiss
4 Hostessen (4 Stewardesses)
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ♠
Sold for £277,250
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10
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £350,000 - 550,000 ‡♠
Sold for £337,250
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11
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Overrun
Estimate £1,000,000 - 1,500,000 ‡
Sold for £1,127,650
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12
Raqib Shaw
Absence of God III... And His Tears of Blood Will Drown the Cities of Men II
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
Sold for £553,250
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13
Anselm Reyle
Harmony
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ♠
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14
Anselm Reyle
Untitled
Estimate £70,000 - 100,000 ♠
Sold for £79,250
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15
Subodh Gupta
No. 1
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ‡
Sold for £121,250
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16
Donald Judd
Untitled (89-30)
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡
Sold for £169,250
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17
Ilya Kabakov and Emilia Kabakov
The Painting on an Easel
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ♠
Sold for £361,250
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18
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Ritratto sigg. Lerre (Portrait of Mr. Lerre)
Estimate £70,000 - 90,000 ♠
Sold for £67,250
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19
Martin Kippenberger
Mirror for Hang-Over Bud
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000
Sold for £145,250
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20
Robert Rauschenberg
Address Unknown
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
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21
Martin Kippenberger
Untitled
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
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22
Albert Oehlen
Untitled
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £193,250
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23
Karel Appel
Birds Over the Red Sea
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £205,250
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24
Victor Vasarely
Cassiopée II NB
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £157,250
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25
Arnaldo Pomodoro
Disco con Sfera
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ♠
Sold for £61,250
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26
Bill Viola
Basin of Tears
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 Ω
Sold for £181,250
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27
Marlene Dumas
Equality
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ♠
Sold for £121,250
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28
Dan Colen
Wouldn't it be Nice
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 †
Sold for £85,250
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29
Martin Creed
Work no. 230 (Don’t Worry)
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000 ♠
Sold for £51,650
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

17 Feb 2011 London

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

21

Martin Kippenberger

Untitled

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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17 Feb 2011
London