“Surfing describes a society, and the people in it. I’ve done a lot of large drawings and prints of that imagery. It has that epic nature, that sublime nature, that almost asks you to reproduce it full sized on the wall.”
—Raymond PettibonRaymond Pettibon grew up in Hermosa Beach, California, a location implicit to the wave and surfing images that have become his trademark motifs. With the text “Our Secret Spot.” written in a cloud in the sky, the present lot showcases Pettibon’s signature interplay between image and text, as well as his virtuosic graphic handling of water. As a small red surfer catches an immense wave, No Title (Our Secret Spot.) inspires awe and terror at once, conjuring the sublime of nature and man’s attempt to match it, freezing in time what may be an inevitable fate or a miraculous feat.
Katsushika Hokusai, The Great Wave at Kanagawa (from a Series of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji), circa 1930-1832. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 Looking at Pettibon's great wave, one is reminded of Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, part of a series of ukiyo-e prints representing Japan's national culture and spirit. The Great Wave features a breaking swell that is about to strike a trio of boats as if it were an enormous sea monster, symbolising the irresistible force of nature and the weakness of humans. The swell consumes the work’s surface, dwarfing both Mount Fuji and the boats to convey an overwhelming sense of tension and dominance. The insignificance of man in the face of nature is heavily explored by a multitude of different cultures across various eras, with sources as diverse as the aforementioned Hokusai, to Song dynasty art exploring human survival against natural elements, to the “great American novel” Moby-Dick, the latter of which Pettibon clearly had a penchant for, as he created a limited edition cover for the famous novel in 2020.
“Waves. To me, it’s natural,” Pettibon replied when asked about his favourite subject to draw. “It’s imagery that, for a lot of people around here anyway, is pornography… Each time I don’t know how it’s going to look, like it’s an ordeal or a challenge.” Multilayered meanings arise from the all-consuming force of waves, in which the inconsequence of humankind is pitted against the magnanimity of Mother Nature. Poignantly, Pettibon’s surfers, whilst they balance at the precipice of danger and exhilaration, never fall. Rather, they carry a sense of laid-back confidence and optimism—a nod to the artist's Southern Californian disposition.
78
No Title (Our Secret Spot.)
2022
Lithograph in colours, on BFK Rives paper, the full sheet.
S. 114 x 78 cm (44 7/8 x 30 3/4 in.)
Signed and numbered 6/35 in pencil (there were also 10 artist's proofs), published by Utopia Editions, New York, framed.
Estimate
£30,000 - 50,000 ‡
Sold for £48,260
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Evening & Day Editions
London Auction 17 - 18 January 2024
258
This lot is no longer available.
