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Lot Essay
We are most grateful to Mr. Michael Neff from the Estate of Günther Förg for the information he has kindly provided for the catalogue.
Ceci n'est pas une sculpture Teil II exhibition, 1992.
Photo: Wilfried Petzi, Munich. © Wilfried Petzi, Munich.
Erik Mosel and Andrea Tschechow.
Photo: Wilfried Petzi, Munich. © Wilfried Petzi, Munich.
Christie's is honoured to present a selection of artworks collected by the influential patron of Minimalist and Conceptualist art, Erik Mosel. From the 1960s, Mosel's revolutionary outlook defined the international contemporary art scene, not just through his keen sense of critical awareness but also in his mentorship of young promising artists.
In 1973 Erik Mosel, along with Dr. Michael Tacke, founded the Kunstraum München as a not-for-profit exhibition platform in Munich. In donating a space where artists could present their work to the public, an opportunity rarely offered, the Kunstraum enabled Minimalist and Conceptual artists to cultivate an audience reaching far beyond their domestic patrons, offering a launch pad of sorts for their careers to grow internationally. Within a few years, the Kunstraum had become one of the most exciting places to view new developments in contemporary art. The American artists Roni Horn, Robert Ryman, Fred Sandback, Richard Tuttle and Carl Andre, along with the late German visionary Günther Förg, were invited to the Kunstraum, often creating site-specific works and installations. For many, this was their first chance to exhibit in Europe; for all, it represented a definitive and pivotal moment in their early careers.
Through his passion, Mosel breathed life into these art movements which were only beginning to take root in their native countries. The artists he selected offered critical awareness and commentary on the current generation and the role art would play - questioning conventions of painting and sculpture and exploring the spatial relationships between art and reality. Friendships were born between Mosel and the artists for whom he fostered a collaborative environment and encouraged the back-and-forth free-flowing exchange of ideas that were to define the growing international purview of Minimalist and Conceptualist thought and practice.
The group offered by Christie's in London King Street, South Kensington and Amsterdam includes prominent early works that reflect the exhilarant critical momentum of this period. Acquiring key pieces by important artists in whom he recognised brilliance long before the art world took a concerted interest, Mosel assembled an unparalleled selection of works, informed by his intimate and personal knowledge of the movements and the artists that encompassed them.
Erik Mosel co-founded the internationally renowned publishing house Schirmer/Mosel in 1974 and later set up a gallery in partnership with Andrea Tschechow.
The fabric paintings are paradigmatic for Förg's artistic thinking: formally and thematically they document his absolute freedom in dealing with the idea of painting. The decision to use fabric was on the one hand a direct reference to Blinky Palermo's cloth paintings, but on the other hand also driven by the fascination for the 'matte and uniformly colored surfaces' which Förg, according to himself, 'would never have been able to achieve.' (see Günther Förg in: 'Ein schweres Bildobjekt in etwas Schwebendes verwandeln. Günther Förg im Gespräch mit Thomas Groetz' in: T. Groetz, Günther Förg, Bilder/Paintings 1973-1990, Berlin 2004, p. 51.)
Ceci n'est pas une sculpture Teil II exhibition, 1992.
Photo: Wilfried Petzi, Munich. © Wilfried Petzi, Munich.
Erik Mosel and Andrea Tschechow.
Photo: Wilfried Petzi, Munich. © Wilfried Petzi, Munich.
Christie's is honoured to present a selection of artworks collected by the influential patron of Minimalist and Conceptualist art, Erik Mosel. From the 1960s, Mosel's revolutionary outlook defined the international contemporary art scene, not just through his keen sense of critical awareness but also in his mentorship of young promising artists.
In 1973 Erik Mosel, along with Dr. Michael Tacke, founded the Kunstraum München as a not-for-profit exhibition platform in Munich. In donating a space where artists could present their work to the public, an opportunity rarely offered, the Kunstraum enabled Minimalist and Conceptual artists to cultivate an audience reaching far beyond their domestic patrons, offering a launch pad of sorts for their careers to grow internationally. Within a few years, the Kunstraum had become one of the most exciting places to view new developments in contemporary art. The American artists Roni Horn, Robert Ryman, Fred Sandback, Richard Tuttle and Carl Andre, along with the late German visionary Günther Förg, were invited to the Kunstraum, often creating site-specific works and installations. For many, this was their first chance to exhibit in Europe; for all, it represented a definitive and pivotal moment in their early careers.
Through his passion, Mosel breathed life into these art movements which were only beginning to take root in their native countries. The artists he selected offered critical awareness and commentary on the current generation and the role art would play - questioning conventions of painting and sculpture and exploring the spatial relationships between art and reality. Friendships were born between Mosel and the artists for whom he fostered a collaborative environment and encouraged the back-and-forth free-flowing exchange of ideas that were to define the growing international purview of Minimalist and Conceptualist thought and practice.
The group offered by Christie's in London King Street, South Kensington and Amsterdam includes prominent early works that reflect the exhilarant critical momentum of this period. Acquiring key pieces by important artists in whom he recognised brilliance long before the art world took a concerted interest, Mosel assembled an unparalleled selection of works, informed by his intimate and personal knowledge of the movements and the artists that encompassed them.
Erik Mosel co-founded the internationally renowned publishing house Schirmer/Mosel in 1974 and later set up a gallery in partnership with Andrea Tschechow.
The fabric paintings are paradigmatic for Förg's artistic thinking: formally and thematically they document his absolute freedom in dealing with the idea of painting. The decision to use fabric was on the one hand a direct reference to Blinky Palermo's cloth paintings, but on the other hand also driven by the fascination for the 'matte and uniformly colored surfaces' which Förg, according to himself, 'would never have been able to achieve.' (see Günther Förg in: 'Ein schweres Bildobjekt in etwas Schwebendes verwandeln. Günther Förg im Gespräch mit Thomas Groetz' in: T. Groetz, Günther Förg, Bilder/Paintings 1973-1990, Berlin 2004, p. 51.)