Jeff Koons: “Balloon Monkey (Orange)” – high chromium stainless steel with transparent color coating 150 x 235 x 126 in. (381 x 596.9 x 320 cm.) Executed in 2006-2013. This work is one of 5 unique versions (blue, magenta, orange, red, yellow). Estimate: $20,000,000-30,000,000
Donald Judd (1928-1994): “Untitled (Bernstein 93-1)” brass and green Plexiglas ten elements – each: 9 x 40 x 31 in. (22.9 x 101.6 x 78.7 cm.) overall: 180 x 40 x 31 in. (457.2 x 101.6 x 78.7 cm.) Executed in 1993. Estimate: $7,000,000-9,000,000
Christie’s to sell great works by Koons and Donald Judd Christie’s will offer Jeff Koons’s ‘Balloon Monkey (Orange)’ and Donald Judd’s ‘Untitled (Bernstein 93-1)’ on its Post-War and Contemporary Art on Wednesday, November 12th, 2014.]]>
October 4, 2014, source: Christie’s
Jeff Koons: Balloon Monkey (Orange)
Seven years in the making, “Balloon Monkey (Orange)” marks a spectacular new chapter in Jeff Koons oeuvre. Looking at the miraculously smooth, highly polished surface of this monolithic balloon animal, one can appreciate how the artist has progressively attained ever-greater heights of perfection. He achieves this through careful planning, dogged determinism and an uncompromising commitment to his vision – outstripping even advanced industry in his technological ambition.
Koons subjected the idea for this sculpture to years of research, modeling, computer rendering, milling, polishing, lacquering and polishing again before the final form was released to the public in all its glory. His perseverance has resulted in an incredibly seductive, monochrome finish that grants stainless steel and the humble balloon monkey an apotheosis. Part of its magic lies in the paradoxical interplays between lightness and weight, solidity and suggested transparency, and imposing permanence combined with transient reflections. The sheer beauty of its materiality is designed to ensnare and captivate, while its form is endowed with the joyful associations of childhood, hope, innocence, and its connection to art history and human history.
Donald Judd: Untitled (Bernstein 93-1)
In scale, design, radiance, effect and simplicity, “Untitled (Bernstein 93-1)” is one of the most important works by the artist to be presented on the market and confirms Donald Judd’s position as a master of Minimalist art. “Untitled (Bernstein 93-1)” was executed a few months before the artist’s death; this magnificent sculpture, one of the artists large scale stack sculptures, has remained in the same collection since its creation in 1993.
Donald Judd’s “Untitled (Bernstein 93-1)”, is an icon of 20th century sculpture, and one of the artists most important and recognizable works. Judd’s approach to sculpture was truly revolutionary, using industrial materials and pared-down geometric forms that equally stressed the physical structure and the space around it. Resolutely anti-illusionistic, his sculpture used abstraction to explore issues of sensation and perception. “Untitled (Bernstein 93-1)” is a superb example of Judd’s seminal group of works known as stacks, which he began in 1965, this monumental work is composed of ten rectangular units of brass and colored Plexiglas.
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