Merda d' artista

Details

Piero Manzoni (1933-1963)
Merda d' artista
signed and numbered 'Piero Manzoni No. 54' (on the lid)
printed paper and tin can
2 x 2 ½in. (5 x 6.5cm.)
Executed in 1961, this work is number fifty-four from an edition of ninety

Provenance

Hans Liechti, Grenchen.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1969.

Literature

G. Celant, Piero Manzoni Catalogo generale, Milan 1975, no. 12 (another from the edition illustrated, pp. 53 and 212).
F. Battino and L. Palazzoli, Piero Manzoni Catalogue raisonné, Milan 1991, no. 1053/12 BM, (another from the edition illustrated, p. 472).
G. Celant, Piero Manzoni Catalogo generale, Tomo primo, Milan 2004 (another from the edition illustrated in colour, pp. 291-295).
G. Celant, Piero Manzoni Catalogo generale, Tomo secondo, Milan 2004, no. 12 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 525).

Exhibited

Savona, Galleria Pescetto, In Villeggiatura da Pescetto, 1961 (another from the edition exhibited).
Milan, Galleria Luca Scacchi Gracco, Piero Manzoni, 1961 (another from the edition exhibited).
Copenhagen, Galerie Köpcke, Kunstnerlort. Merda d'Artista. Künstlerscheisse. Merde d'Artist. Artist's Shit. Levende Kunstvrk. Opere Vive. Lebendes Kunstwerk. Oeuvres Vivantes. Living Works of Piero Manzoni, 1961 (another from the edition exhibited).
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Tentoonstelling Nul, 1962 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
Milan, Civico Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, Cinquant'anni & Dada. Dada in Italia. 1916-1966, 1966, no. 145 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 220).
Turin, Galleria Notizie, Opere scelte di Piero Manzoni, 1966 (another from the edition exhibited).
Eindhoven, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Piero Manzoni, 1969, no. 65-67 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 19).
Milan, Galleria Blu, Piero Manzoni, 1970, no. 26-28 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
Turin, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Conceptual Art Arte Povera Land Art, 1970 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Piero Manzoni, 1971, no. 85 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 85).
Milan, Galleria Blu, Arte e decultura una teoria sul kitsch, 1971 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
New York, Sonnabend Gallery, Piero Manzoni, 1972, no. 19 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 49).
Milan, Luca Palazzoli, Piero Manzoni, 1973 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
London, The Tate Gallery, Piero Manzoni. Paintings, Reliefs & Objects, 1974, no. 54 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 71).
Turin, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Arte in Italia 1960-1977. Dall'opera al coinvolgimento/L'Opera: simboli e immagini/La linea analitica, 1977 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 29).
Modena, Galleria d'Arte Fonte d'Abisso, Manzoni, 1978 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, Museums by Artists, 1983 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
Brussels, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Piero Manzoni. Soncino 1933-1963 Milano, 1987, no. 18-19 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Mythos Italien. Wintermärchen Deutschland. Die Italienische Moderne und ihr Dialog mit Deutschland, 1988, no. 141 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 233).
Milan, Galleria Blu, Piero Manzoni. Essere in tutti i Sensi, 1988 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
Tokyo, Contemporary Art Gallery, Piero Manzoni. Philosophy of Infinite Space, 1988, no. 17 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
London, Karsten Schubert Ltd., Piero Manzoni, 1989 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 10).
Columbus, Wexner Center for the Visual Arts, Art in Europe and America: The 1950s and 1960s, 1990 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 30).
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, La otra escultura: treinta años de escultura italiana, 1990 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 30).
Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Readymade Boomerang. Certain Relations in 20th Century Art. Art is easy, 1990, no. 279 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 246).
Venice, Ex granai della Repubblica alle Zitelle, Ubi Fluxus ibi motus 1990-1962, 1990 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
New York, Hirschl & Adler Modern, Piero Manzoni, 1990, no. 28 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 83).
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Memoria del futuro. Arte italiano desde las primeras vanguardias a la posguerra, 1990-1991 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, pp. 444 and 445).
Cologne, Galerie Karsten Greve, Piero Manzoni, 1991 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 77).
Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Piero Manzoni, 1991, no. 69 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, pp. 138, 139, 141-144, 146-147, and illustrated in colour, pp. 140 and 145). Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne Centre Georges Pompidou, Bernard Bazile. It's O.K. to say no!, 1993 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 9).
Salzburg, Schüttkasten - Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Utopia. Arte Italiana 1950-1993, 1993, no. 53 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 88).
New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Italian Metamorphosis 1943-1968, 1994-1995 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Cittè Natura, 1997 (another from the edition exhibited).
Berlin, Martin Gropius Bau, The Age of Art in Modernism. 20th Century, 1997 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 295).
Verona, Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Palazzo Forti, Dadaismo Dadaismi. Da Duchamp a Warhol. 300 capolavori, 1997, no. 275-277 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 297).
Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Arte italiana 1945-1995. Il visibile e l'invisibile, 1997-1998, no. 18 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 46).
London, Serpentine Gallery, Piero Manzoni, 1998, no. 201-205 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, pp. 36 and 274).
Rotterdam, Kunsthal, Botje bij botje. Menselijke resten in musea, 1998-1999 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 82).
Barcelona, Fundació Miró, Ironía, 2001 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 30).
Milan, Fonte d'Abisso Arte, Eventualità, 2002, no. 17 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 51).
Naples, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Piero Manzoni, 2007 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated in colour, pp. 37, 48, 51, 258 and 273-275).
New York, Gagosian Gallery, Piero Manzoni: A Retrospective, 2009 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated in colour, pp. 248 and 264-267).
Frankfurt am Main, Städel Museum, Piero Manzoni. When Bodies Became Art, 2013 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated in colour, pp. 196-199).
Milan, Palazzo Reale, Piero Manzoni, 2014, no. 82-84 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated in colour on the cover and pp. 119-121).

Special Notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Brought to you by

Alessandro Diotallevi

adiotallevi@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2954

Lot Essay

'…If collectors want something intimate, something truly personal from the artist, here is the artist's shit, something truly his'
(Manzoni quoted in G. Celant, Piero Manzoni: A Retrospective, exh. cat., New York, 2009, p. 247)

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