James Rosenquist (American, born 1933)
Calyx Krater Trash Can, 1976
titled, inscribed, numbered, signed and dated 'V/VII / James / Rosenquist / 1976' (on the underside)
eighteen karat gold with black patina
4 x 3 x 3in (10.2 x 7.7 x 7.7cm)
titled, inscribed, numbered, signed and dated 'V/VII / James / Rosenquist / 1976' (on the underside)
eighteen karat gold with black patina
4 x 3 x 3in (10.2 x 7.7 x 7.7cm)
Sold for
US$ 19,520
inc. premium
Footnotes
- PROVENANCE:
Acquired from the artist by the present owner
James Rosenquist created this series of gold trash cans after learning of some deaccessions the Metropolitan Museum in New York made from their permanent collection in order to purchase an ancient Greek vase by Euphronios, called the Calyx Krater, for one million dollars. Rosenquist's message on the absurdity of the action was heightened when the vase was returned to the Italian government in 2008 after it was discovered that it had been looted from a necropolis near Rome.
"The ridiculousness of the idea of selling a Modigliani and a Soutine weighed on my mind, and while I was brooding about it, my friend Ronnie Westerfield took some peyote and had a dream about Greek drawings on a garbage can. I thought, I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to make miniature Calyx Kraters as garbage cans and make them out of solid gold."
James Rosenquist, Painting Below Zero: Notes on a Life in Art, New York, 2009 (p. 245-246)
Category: Fine Art / Contemporary Art
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