Private Collection (gifted by the artist, September 1988) Wright, Chicago, April 25, 2013, lot 153 Private Collection Acquired from the above by the present owner
Catalogue Essay
Untitled, 1988 is an intimate painting executed during Christopher Wool’s meteoric rise to prominence in the New York art scene in the late 1980s. In 1987, Wool hired a young college student as his studio assistant, and over the next six years they worked closely together developing the artist’s signature practice. A testament to their friendship, Wool gifted his assistant the present lot, dedicating the work “For George My Left Hand.”
Together, they constructed aluminum panels and experimented with the artist’s signature rolling technique, both of which would become important, defining characteristics of Wool’s distinctive practice. Untitled was executed in this very manner, in which Wool uses a pattern roller to achieve a repetitive motif of dots on painted aluminum. Wool does not strive for perfection in his works; rather, he invites irregularities – smudges, blemishes and inconsistencies – into his painterly process. Untitled is a unique and deeply personal gem within the artist’s oeuvre, foreshadowing Wool’s hallmark style as it would continue to develop over the following decade.
signed, dedicated and dated "WOOL 1988 FOR GEORGE MY LEFT HAND CHRISTOPHER 9/88" on the reverse alkyd and flashe on aluminum 12 x 12 in. (30.5 x 30.5 cm.) Executed in 1988.