Phillips
Announces Fifty
Are Better Than One
A Sale of Property from the Archives of Edition Schellmann, With
Proceeds to Benefit the ARS PUBLICATA Project
To
be Offered in London on 6 June 2019
LONDON
- 28 MARCH 2019 – Phillips will move its June Evening & Day Sales of
Editions to September, making way for a unique single-owner sale – Fifty Are Better Than One – featuring works
from the archives of Edition Schellmann. Striving for an art that is affordable
to all, Jörg Schellmann is a renowned German gallerist and publisher of limited
edition artworks through Schellmann Art. This auction will celebrate 50 years
of his dedication to and collaboration with artists including Joseph Beuys,
Andy Warhol, Christo, Thomas Ruff, and Donald Judd, all of whom he
enthusiastically encouraged to explore the creative possibilities of
edition-making. The sale comprises 181 works from Jörg Schellmann’s personal
archive and is expected to realise in the region of £2 million, including very
rare examples and unique colour variants ranging from £1,000 to £150,000. Proceeds
from the sale will benefit the Ars Publicata
project, an ambitious and selfless endeavour spearheaded by Jörg Schellmann to create
a global online directory of authentic information on artist editions and their
publishers.
Anne
Schneider-Wilson, Senior Specialist, Editions and Head of Sale, said: “We are proud and excited
to host the definitive European Contemporary editions publisher, with a
body of works spanning the past 50 years. The works capture the essence of what
Jörg Schellmann as a publisher is about: making artworks accessible in a
democratic way and pushing boundaries in terms of material and concept, thereby
continually redefining Editions and their relevancy in the Contemporary art
market. The synergy between Edition Schellmann and Phillips is what makes this
project so exciting as we strive together to elevate the status of Editions and
develop new ways to contextualize, display and sell these works. The conceptual
Wall Works series, which have never
been offered at auction before, particularly illustrate our embracing of
radical experimentation within edition-making and selling. This is a special
and unparalleled opportunity for the market to take a glimpse of what has been
achieved by Jörg Schellmann throughout his career to date.”
Jörg
Schellmann opened his first gallery in Munich in 1969 and began publishing
limited edition artworks by internationally renowned artists. His first
significant collaboration under Edition Schellmann (later Schellmann &
Klüser, then Schellmann Art) was with Joseph Beuys, resulting in a creative
relationship that lasted until the artist’s death in 1986. Throughout the
1970s, Schellmann published mainly European artists, but his attraction to Pop
Art and especially his fascination with the New York art scene drew him to New
York, where he published his first Warhol project in 1980: a portfolio of three
screenprints of his first artistic partner entitled, Joseph Beuys. Phillips are pleased to offer three unique trial
proofs from this moment of collaboration, along with several other unique
Warhol trial proofs including Details of
Renaissance Paintings (Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1482), 1984 and Neuschwanstein, 1987.
The sale is led by an impressive group of
multiples in wood, neon and steel by Keith Haring, Dan Flavin, and Donald Judd,
demonstrating immediately the versatility of Edition Schellmann’s publishing.
The top value lot, Keith Haring’s Dog,
1986, a unique trial proof of yellow screenprint on black paint (aside from the
edition of three colour variants), is one of the many unique pieces that have
been housed in Schellmann’s personal archive and are coming to auction for the
first time.
Alongside these iconic
works, Phillips will present one of the most extraordinary edition series ever
undertaken. Titled Wall Works this
series is made up of site-specific, and in many cases unique, wall
installations in which artists such as Donald Judd, Peter Halley, Michelangelo
Pistoletto and Kara Walker created a conceptual design executed on walls of
varying sizes and proportions. So far, fifty-one works have been realized,
twelve of which are being offered in Fifty
Are Better Than One.
The variety and originality of Edition
Schellmann’s output is unparalleled and some of the more eccentric and
idiosyncratic projects that Jörg Schellmann supported include a fibreglass
tree-trunk chair by Franz West, a handmade collage by Ellen Gallagher, and an
installation of bathroom cosmetics by Sylvie Fleury. Viewed alongside more
traditional printmaking techniques, this collection demonstrates the richness
of Jörg Schellmann’s contribution to edition making and publishing, and his
continual search for the unexpected and the innovative.
To celebrate the Fourtieth anniversary of Edition
Schellmann, a catalogue of their publications was produced, entitled Forty Are Better Than One, in reference
to the serial concept of editions and alluding to the Andy Warhol painting Thirty Are Better Than One, 1963, which
depicts a series of Mona Lisa reproductions: a tongue-in-cheek comment on the
worshipped aura of unique works of art versus the mass-production and global
distribution of images in our time. A decade on, Phillips is proud to continue
this heritage, presenting the single-owner auction: Fifty Are Better Than One, property from the archives of Edition
Schellmann to benefit the Ars Publicata
project.
Auction: Thursday,
6 June 2019, 4pm
Auction viewing: 31
May – 6 June
Location: 30
Berkeley Square, London
###
ABOUT PHILLIPS
Phillips
is a leading global platform for buying and selling 20th and 21st century art
and design. With dedicated expertise in the areas of 20th Century and
Contemporary Art, Design, Photographs, Editions, Watches, and Jewelry, Phillips
offers professional services and advice on all aspects of collecting. Auctions
and exhibitions are held at salerooms in New York, London, Geneva, and Hong
Kong, while clients are further served through representative offices based
throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. Phillips also offers an online
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opportunities through auction, Phillips brokers private sales and offers
assistance with appraisals, valuations, and other financial services.
*Estimates
do not include buyer’s premium; prices achieved include the hammer price plus
buyer’s premium.
PRESS CONTACTS:
LONDON - Katie Carder, Head of Press, Europe kcarder@phillips.com +44 20 7901 7938
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