Provenance
Lisson Gallery, London; Private Collection, New York
Exhibited
London, Lisson Gallery, Tony Cragg, 17 May–24 June 2006; Tony Cragg, Das Potential der Dinge: Berlin, Akademie der Künste, 16 September–29 October 2006; Duisburg, Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum – Zentrum Internationale Skulptur, 18 January–15 April 2007
Literature
Tony Cragg, Christoph Brockhaus and Robert Kudielka, Tony Cragg: In and Out of Material, exh. cat., Cologne: Walther König, 2007, p. 250 (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
“As the poet uses the words on the page and the painter the colour on the palette to extend themselves to search for new forms and meanings, the sculptor uses materials as an extension of himself.” Tony Cragg Executed in 2006, The Fanatics is a characteristic example of Tony Cragg’s sculpture, which is deeply rooted in the British modernist sculpture tradition brought to its heights by Henry Moore. Like Moore, Cragg’s work is about form, material and the world at large. In The Fanatics, Cragg creates a powerful visual experience through the use of highly abstract, expressive forms that are full of energy and are reminiscent of a tornado. The reflective nature of steel along with swirling shapes, that in places reveal the outlines of human faces, creates the sense of movement, explosiveness and engages the viewer with its fullness of life. The sculpture is striking with its monumentality that adds another emotional, dramatic aspect to it. Cragg creates objects that exist outside of the familiar utilitarian world that we live in, that live in our dreams, our sub-consciousness that anyone can somehow relate to. These forms are opened for interpretation, which makes them highly engaging and interesting. They open up the dialogue between the work and the viewer on different levels: visually – through the reflective surface of the sculpture, and mentally – through evoking references to one’s personal inner world, their dreams. In the artist’s own words: “There are thousands and thousands of other forms that don’t yet exist. These could also be valuable, and they are valuable, because they still could provide meaning, they could still be used as metaphors, they could still be used as language, and they could still be used in thoughts and fantasies and dreams, and so on … and those freedoms that they represent are basically still in our head, and the best way to use our head is to have a great language to work in. And so I think that to improve the visual language that you are working with is what sculptors want to do.” Cragg represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1988 and was awarded the Turner Prize in the same year. In 2008, the artist opened Waldfrieden, the major sculptural foundation and a 30-acre outdoor sculpture park in Wuppertal, Germany. He has lived in Germany since 1977 where contemporary art played an important role in reviving post-war society. It became a place where Cragg could fully express himself artistically and was able to transform his favourite medium – sculpture. According to the artist, “we have gone beyond the stage where we can just represent things in sculpture. We have to find new means of expression, a new visual language.” (Sources: Tony Cragg, interviewed by Jon Wood in T. Cragg, C. Brockhaus, R. Kudielka, C. Schneegass, Tony Cragg: In and Out of Material, Köln: Walther König, 2007; Tony Cragg in R. Conway Morris, ‘Inventing a “new visual language”’, International Herald Tribune, 14 October 2010, p. 12)

10

Tony Cragg

The Fanatics

2006
High-polished cast stainless steel.
337.8 × 80 × 80 cm (133 × 31 1/2 × 31 1/2 in).
Stamped with the artist’s initials, date ‘T.C. 2006’ and the foundry mark ‘KAYSER DÜSSELDORF’ on the base. This work is from an edition of 5.

Estimate
£300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

27 June
London

1
Urs Fischer
Oh, Sad, I See
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000
Sold for £145,250
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2
Jacob Kassay
Untitled
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000
Sold for £145,250
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3
Glenn Ligon
Stranger in the Village #8
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000
Sold for £253,250
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4
Ugo Rondinone
Get up girl a sun is running the world
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Sold for £541,250
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5
This lot is no longer available.
6
Urs Fischer
Thank You Fuck You
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
Sold for £657,250
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7
Wade Guyton
Untitled
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £205,250
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8
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Self-Portrait
Estimate £2,000,000 - 3,000,000 ‡
Sold for £2,057,250
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9
Beatriz Milhazes
O Moderno
Estimate £650,000 - 750,000 ♠
Sold for £713,250
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10
Tony Cragg
The Fanatics
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
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11
Kelley Walker
Untitled
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000
Sold for £145,250
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12
Sean Scully
Small Horizontal Robe
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡♠
Sold for £253,250
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13
Ilya Kabakov
A Solemn Painting
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £241,250
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14
Cecily Brown
I Will Not Paint Any More Boring Leaves (2)
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡♠
Sold for £529,250
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15
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £577,250
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16
Andy Warhol
Mao
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000
Sold for £373,250
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17
Alighiero Boetti
Untitled
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £193,250
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18
Rosemarie Trockel
Untitled (Vogelköpfe)
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ♠
Sold for £241,250
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19
Beatriz Milhazes
O Conflicto
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ♠
Sold for £181,250
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20
Damien Hirst
Confession
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ♠
Sold for £690,850
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21
Mark Tansey
Library (of Babylon)
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,161,250
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22
Ugo Rondinone
11.September 2008
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £121,250
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23
Peter Fischli and David Weiss
Brush Pot
Estimate £30,000 - 50,000
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24
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
Sold for £97,250
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25
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ♠
Sold for £657,250
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26
Victor Vasarely
Binaire FF
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡
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27
Andreas Gursky
Heidelberg Ost
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ♠
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28
Heinz Mack
Untitled
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £109,250
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29
Marino Marini
Cavallo
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £421,250
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30
Thomas Struth
Pergamon Museum IV, Berlin
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ♠
Sold for £109,250
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31
Andy Warhol
Muhammad Ali
Estimate £180,000 - 220,000
Sold for £217,250
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32
George Condo
Don Diego
Estimate £180,000 - 220,000
Sold for £205,250
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

27 June London

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Provenance

Exhibited

Literature

Catalogue Essay

10

Tony Cragg

The Fanatics

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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27 June
London