YOKO ONO, 20 postcards – Drawing from Franklin Summer, 1995
16 x 23,3 cm
ink stamped envelope with 20 postcards, each 17,5 x 11,4 cm
signed in print ’94
vintage; 1st print
published by Carte d’Arte, Messina, Italy in 1995 rare in this condition: cards mint, envelope in excellent shape
€ 195,- plus € 18,- Track & Trace registered EU mail
inv.YOno 87-pr
History of price:
UnoriginalSins, UK February 2024 GBP 140.-
Idea Nowonline, September 2022 GBP 95.-
JAMES LEE BYARS, The Perfect Question, 1981
10 x 11 cm
newspaper snippet, De Volkskrant, 24 December
published by De Appel, Amsterdam
€ 120,- plus € 12,- Track & Trace registered EU mail
inv.JLBy 72-pr
JAMES LEE BYARS, invitation card, 1981
10,4 x 14,7 cm
offset
published by Galerie Helen van der Meij, Amsterdam
€ 450,- plus € 12,- Track & Trace EU mail
inv.JLBy 71-pr
James Lee Byars was quite interested in making paper works and printed matter. The motif of the ephemeral was never far away. Here his name is printed in extremely tiny capital letters on the front of the card.
JAMES LEE BYARS, The Palace of Good Luck, 1989
11,4 x 16 x 0,3 cm
3 parts: gold printed envelope, card, red plastic mini ball
published by Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli, Italy extremely rare
€ 950,- plus € 12,- Track & Trace registered EU mail
inv.JLBy 70-pr
On behalf of the inauguration of solo exhibition ‘The Palace of Good Luck’ of James Lee Byars a gold printed envelope including a white card with a very small red ball was sent to a selected group of people. The empty card and mini marble should be considered a part of this edition, also the gold envelope is an important part of the artist’s vocabulary; hence this multiple consists of three parts.
Additional information
Castello di Rivoli has archived its own published Byars’ golden printed invitation card, shown on its website recto and verso. Apparently the museum is not aware of the content of the envelope that is an important part of the invite. On the first photo in the right lower corner one may see an unevenness most likely caused by the tiny red ball inside.
Ref. Castello di Rivoli Collection Invite James Lee Byars.
MARTIN CREED, ‘I Can’t Move’ CD, 1999
each 10.8 x 14 cm, invite + order form
published by Art Metropole, Toronto, Canada
Collection K. van Gelder, Amsterdam
inv.MCre 38-pr
This invitation came with an order form on very thin paper to buy a released CD at Art Metropole in Toronto. On Thursday September 9th Martin Creed performed songs from his CD during the launch.
MARINA ABRAMOVIC, Clean The House!, 1994
Out of series; “I Am You”
61,6 x 83,6 cm
screen print on thick paper
signed, dated, numbered
edition 300, here nr 70/100
mint condition extremely rare as numbered and dated
€ 850,- plus € 24,- Track & Trace registered EU mail
inv.MAbr 000-pr
From one of her performances “Clean The House!” a photo was taken and used for this print on behalf of campaign and group exhibition “I AM YOU” against xenophobia and violence.
In 1997 Marina Abramovic showed “Balkan Baroque” in the MoMA, in New York, for which she made a performance setting including a huge heap of cow bones, soap, brush, dress stained with blood and 3-channel video. Marina Abramovic said about this performance-installation: ‘When the war started in Bosnia, it was so difficult time for me. I was not there. I was living since long time outside of the country. And I remember so many artists immediately react and make the work and protests on the horrors of that war. And I remember that I could not do anything. It was too close to me.’
‘The whole idea that by washing bones and trying to scrub the blood, is impossible. You can’t wash the blood from your hands as you can’t wash the shame from the war. But also, it was important to transcend it, that can be used, this image, for any war, anywhere in the world. So, to become from personal there can be universal.’
The publisher of this screen print is unknown. A signed and numbered copy is in the collection of SMAK, Antwerp in Belgium.
History of price:
Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK October 2023 GBP 1,500.- (not dated, not numbered)
SIGURDUR GUDMUNDSSON, Situations, 2000
15 x 10,5 cm
9 postcards, vintage
in cellophane envelope
edition 250
mint condition
€ 25,- plus € 8,- Track & Trace NL registered mail
CARSTEN HÖLLER, Zukunft ist wichtiger als Freizeit., 1989
each 5,4 x 4,9 x 0,6 cm
28 match books, with vintage cardboard box (5,5 x 20,5 x 11,5 cm)
edition 5000
published by the artist
match books in mint condition, discoloured box with some small tears
published by the artist unique with authentic cardboard box
€ 800,- plus € 15,- Track & Trace EU registered mail
inv.CHoe 1179-pr
This cardboard box was part of a group exhibition at Galerie van Gelder in 1990. Following the instructions of Carsten Höller these match books were offered in a metal bowl given by him for presenting them to the public. Visitors were allowed to take a match book while leaving the gallery.
Carsten Höller told me that he was flabbergasted by Helmut Kohl’s speech at the Deutschen Ingenieurtag on 26th of May 1987 given in Munich, Germany: “…Wer über die Zukunft unserer Gesellschaft mitentscheiden will, tut gut daran, dies nicht nur in der unbeständigen Aufgeregtheit des Zeitgeistes zu tun, sondern mit Nachdenklichkeit und Besonnenheit.” and “…Einer Gesellschaft, in der für viele die Freizeit immer mehr zum wichtigsten Wert wird, ist schwer verständlich zu machen, dass Zukunft wichtiger ist als Freizeit und dass Zukunft ohne Anstrengungen nicht gesichert werden kann.”
The idea that a future with efforts or even hard labour, i.e. ‘Anstrengungen’, is more important than leasure time made the artist decide to appropriate the slogan of German politician Helmut Kohl.
The originally presented aluminum bowl had a diameter of 20 cm. KvG
DIETER ROTH, Bastel-Novelle, 1992
30 x 21 x 2 cm
offset
4 magazines, stapled, 2 yellow stickers on plastic bag signed and dated: Basel, Juni 1992 with felt pen on plastic bag
edition only ca 10-15 plastic bags
Inside “Bastel Novelle 3”: also signed on couver in pencil: D.R. 78
published by Dieter Roth Verlag and issued as package with 4 booklets on behalf of Basel Art Fair 1992
mint condition, although light seepage of glue to front of the yellow stickers rare
Private collection, Amsterdam – Margin scheme
inv.DRot 526-pr
Originally these four publications were issued by Hans Jörg Mayer in 1974-1978. In 1991 a second run as reprints issued by Dieter Roth Verlag were included in Volume 35 being part of ‘Dieter Roth Gesammelte Werke’.
Bastel-Novelle number 1 printed in an edition of 250.
Bastel-Novelle number 2 printed in a numbered edition of 300.
Bastel-Novelle number 3 printed in an edition of 1000, dated and signed with initials.
There is signed copy is in the collection of the Getty Museum.
History of prices:
Derringer Books, Avon, CT, USA December 2021 US$ 500.- Number 1, unsigned
Tim Byers Art Books, Richmond, UK December 2021 US$ 207.- Number 1, unsigned
Zwiggelaar Auctions, Amsterdam 9 December 2021 € 170,- Number 3, signed (hammer price)