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AUTOMATON SCULPTURE FROM THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES. ZELL, SAM. 1941-2023. Automaton sculpture for Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, retitled "The Emperor Has No Clothes," image 1
AUTOMATON SCULPTURE FROM THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES. ZELL, SAM. 1941-2023. Automaton sculpture for Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, retitled "The Emperor Has No Clothes," image 2
AUTOMATON SCULPTURE FROM THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES. ZELL, SAM. 1941-2023. Automaton sculpture for Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, retitled "The Emperor Has No Clothes," image 3
Lot 12¤

AUTOMATON SCULPTURE FROM THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES.
ZELL, SAM. 1941-2023.
Automaton sculpture for Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, retitled "The Emperor Has No Clothes,"

21 – 29 April 2025, 12:00 EDT
Online, New York

Sold for US$409.60 inc. premium

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AUTOMATON SCULPTURE FROM THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES.

ZELL, SAM. 1941-2023. Automaton sculpture for Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, retitled "The Emperor Has No Clothes," a sculptured bronze music box, a naked "emperor" standing on a stack of Wall Street Journals, with a ticker tape featuring technology stocks, 14 x 7.5 x 7.75 in (356 x 190 x 197 mm), title plaque affixed to front, numbered 341/675, for New Years, 1999.

BILLIONAIRE SAM ZELL'S SATIRICAL TAKE ON THE TECH STOCK BUBBLE AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENIUM, created for 675 friends, family and clients. A bear-shaped lever at the back activates Zell's message, "This is Sam Zell, wishing you a happy, healthy prosperous millennium. This musical fable doesn't question technology, it just questions its valuation ... New technology will change our lives, but it will not change the basic laws of economics. The beginning of the future is tomorrow, not 10 years from tomorrow." And then launches a long parody set to Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover," crooning "There must be 50 ways to make a billion...." Zell was a billionaire real estate investor and businessman with a sense of humor and a penchant for salty language. A fun, interesting relic exhibiting the deep penetration of Andersen's fairy tales into the larger culture.

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