Aaron Anderson
Associate Specialist
The Male Form / Pierre et Gilles (born 1950; 1953) Vive la France, 2006 (This work is unique.)
Lot 72
Pierre et Gilles
(born 1950; 1953)
Vive la France, 2006
7 June 2022, 10:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$48,255 inc. premium
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Pierre et Gilles (born 1950; 1953)
Vive la France, 2006
signed, titled, inscribed and dated 'VIVE LA FRANCE Serge, Moussa, Roberto 2006 pierre ♥ gilles' (on the reverse)
pigment print on canvas in artists' frame
57 3/8 x 49 3/8 in. (145.9 x 125.5 cm.)
This work is unique.
signed, titled, inscribed and dated 'VIVE LA FRANCE Serge, Moussa, Roberto 2006 pierre ♥ gilles' (on the reverse)
pigment print on canvas in artists' frame
57 3/8 x 49 3/8 in. (145.9 x 125.5 cm.)
This work is unique.
Footnotes
Provenance
Galerie Jerome de Noirmont, Paris.
Acquired from the above by the previous owner.
By descent from the above to the present owner.
Exhibited
Paris, Galerie Jerome de Noirmont, Pierre et Gilles - Un monde parfait, November 10, 2006-January 10, 2007.
Paris, Jeu de Paume, double je 1976-2007, June 26-September 23, 2007.
Vienna, Leopold Museum, Nackte Männer: von 1800 bis Heute, October 19, 2012–March 4, 2013.
Paris, Musée d'Orsay, Masculin/Masculin. L'homme nu dans l'art de 1800 à nos jours, September 24, 2013–January 12, 2014.
Le Havre, Musée d'art moderne André Malraux, Pierre et Gilles: Claire-Obscur, May 27-August 20, 2017 (this exhibition also traveled to Brussels, Musée d'Ixelles, 2017).
When featured on posters promoting the Leopold Museum's 2012 exhibition on the male nude, this unique work provoked huge controversy. After receiving numerous complaints, and even threats of desecrating the original, the museum censored the posters with a red band covering the footballers' penises.
A spokesman for the museum remarked that "you always hope that we have made progress, that we are now in the 21st century" (Reuters, 'Vienna museum to cover nude male posters after outcry', October 17, 2012) and added that an image of a nude female Egyptian figure advertising Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum drew no such complaints. "It has something to do with our becoming accustomed to the images of naked women," said director Tobias Natter (Deutsche Welle, 'Penis problem: A Vienna museum covers up', October 19, 2012).
In Vive la France, the artistic duo Pierre and Gilles celebrate the multicultural society of France, a fraternité that comes in different colors and shapes and yet still has the power to shock.