Lot 18 PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF BETTY FREEMAN
Dan Flavin (1933-1996)
monument 4 for those who have been killed in ambush (to P.K. who reminded me about death)
Closed13 May 2009
Price Realised
USD 662,500
More Information
Specialist note
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.
Monument 4 those who have been killed in ambush (to P. K. who reminded me about death) is a rare and important work that Flavin first made for Primary Structures, the pioneering exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York in 1966. Originally entitled Corner monument 4 those who have been killed in ambush (for the Jewish Museum) (to P.K. who reminded me about death), this first version of the sculpture is an impressive, large-scale eight-foot corner-piece. Its central feature is a foreboding six-foot neon tube that juts straight out of the corner like an arrow strung in a bow. Its four-part structure simultaneously dissects and invigorates the corner of the room.
The title of the work memorialises those killed in the Vietnam War and the initials "P.K." refer to Paul Katz, a friend of Flavin's and a photographer at the Guggenheim Museum.
The red color of the neon tubes is unusual, because most fluorescent colors that Flavin used were emitted directly by a mixture of phosphorescent chemicals. The red here is produced by coating the inside of the light tube with a pigment that filters out wavelengths not specific to red. This has the effect of reducing the overall amount of light emitted from the lamp to produce an eerie glow.
Flavin himself commented in an interview in 1972 that this work was exceptional among his sculptures in this respect. To Flavin, form and choice of color was clearly bound up with its symbolic dedication. This aspect of the work was particularly evident when it was exhibited on its own in a darkened room at the 1994 Flavin exhibition in Washington D.C. Its original installation in the 1966 Primary Structures exhibit, by contrast, presented the work in the corner of a large open area filled with other works by other artists. After this exhibition, a version was also installed at the famous artist's bar and restaurant in New York at Max's Kansas City.
"I never get tired of Flavin. He's my favorite sculptor. My dream is to have one in every room."
Betty Freeman
Monument 4 those who have been killed in ambush (to P. K. who reminded me about death) is a rare and important work that Flavin first made for Primary Structures, the pioneering exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York in 1966. Originally entitled Corner monument 4 those who have been killed in ambush (for the Jewish Museum) (to P.K. who reminded me about death), this first version of the sculpture is an impressive, large-scale eight-foot corner-piece. Its central feature is a foreboding six-foot neon tube that juts straight out of the corner like an arrow strung in a bow. Its four-part structure simultaneously dissects and invigorates the corner of the room.
The title of the work memorialises those killed in the Vietnam War and the initials "P.K." refer to Paul Katz, a friend of Flavin's and a photographer at the Guggenheim Museum.
The red color of the neon tubes is unusual, because most fluorescent colors that Flavin used were emitted directly by a mixture of phosphorescent chemicals. The red here is produced by coating the inside of the light tube with a pigment that filters out wavelengths not specific to red. This has the effect of reducing the overall amount of light emitted from the lamp to produce an eerie glow.
Flavin himself commented in an interview in 1972 that this work was exceptional among his sculptures in this respect. To Flavin, form and choice of color was clearly bound up with its symbolic dedication. This aspect of the work was particularly evident when it was exhibited on its own in a darkened room at the 1994 Flavin exhibition in Washington D.C. Its original installation in the 1966 Primary Structures exhibit, by contrast, presented the work in the corner of a large open area filled with other works by other artists. After this exhibition, a version was also installed at the famous artist's bar and restaurant in New York at Max's Kansas City.
"I never get tired of Flavin. He's my favorite sculptor. My dream is to have one in every room."
Betty Freeman