Jeff Koons Self-Portrait 1991 Marble. 37 1/2 x 20 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (95.3 x 52.1 x 36.8 cm). This work is from an edition of three plus one artist’s proof.
Provenance Sonnabend Gallery, New York Exhibited New York, Sonnabend Gallery and Cologne, Max Hetzler Galerie, Made in Heaven, November 15 –December 14, 1991; San Francisco Museum of Art, Jeff Koons December 10, 1992– February 7, 1993; Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, Jeff Koons July 10 – October 3, 1993; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, November 28, 1992 – January 3, 1993, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, January 22 – February 28, 1993; and Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, March 12 – April 18, 1993 Jeff Koons Retrospektiv; Berlin, Martin Gropius Bau, The Age of Modernism – Art in the 20th Century, May 7-July 27, 1997; Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen, Self-Portraits, 1998; Aspen Art Museum, Warhol, Koons, Hirst: Cult and Culture, August 3 – September 30, 2001; Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Jeff Koons June 9 – September 15, 2003 Literature R. Rosenblum, ed., The Jeff Koons Handbook, London/NewYork, 1992, pp.121 and cover (illustrated) and p. 164; A. Muthesius, ed., Jeff Koons Cologne, 1992, p. 155 (illustrated); San Francisco Museum of Art andWalker Art Center, eds., Jeff Koons New York, 1992, pl. 52 and back cover (illustrated);V. Andersen, J. Koons, and A. Kold, Jeff Koons Aarhus, 1993, p.72 (illustrated); D. Sobel, D. Ebony, and K. Logan, Warhol/Koons/Hirst: Cult and Culture, Aspen, 2001, pl. 19 (illustrated); M. Grynsztejn, ed., Supernova: Art of the 1990s from the Logan Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2003, p. 21 (illustrated); K. Logan and D. Sobel, Post Modern Portraiture, Vail, 2005, pl. 12 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay Jeff Koon’s series Made in Heaven was a sensation when exhibited at the Sonnabend Gallery in 1991, drawing more attention than the work of any artist since Andy Warhol’s pop works of the 1960s. A presentation of self-glorifying artworks, Jeff Koons was always a part of his art in an abstract way, but in Made in Heaven and in particular the present lot, Self-Portrait, he entered into his art completely by obliterating the line between artist and artwork by offering an idealized likeness of himself in a sublime marble sculpture. The work became an astonishing fusion of art and life, of fantasy and reality. Self-Portrait offers an idealized likeness of the artist in the form of a traditional art-historical marble bust. The artist continues to deftly mix the high culture signatories of classical art with the low brow aesthetics of pornography in this work, a quintessential piece from the Made in Heaven series. Koons co-opts the bust-length portrait, for use in his over-the-top kitsch way, referencing a long history of portraiture generally reserved for gods, emperors, kings and saints, to display the artist as a god-like figure. From the beginning of his artistic career Koons has employed the sexuality latent in inanimate objects.The works often resonated with sexual symbolism and achieved much of their power from sexual signals. Made in Heaven pushed this fusion of sex and art to its peak, where all structures are bursting with visual signifiers of sexual power. Made in Heaven consists of photographic and sculptural works that represent Koon’s desire to use self-portraiture as a medium for physical and spiritual transcendence. No artist had ever fused fantasy and reality so completely and no artist had ever created and entered into an artistic world to the extent that Koons did at this time. In preparation for this series, Koons began a rigorous program of self transformation where he worked on his own body as if it were a sculpture. He hired a personal trainer who had formerly trained America’s top body builders and embarked on a strict diet. Koons spent nearly half the day working out for two years and was soon ready to participate in his art as a human readymade. Additionally, Koons found an aesthetic counterpart for Made in Heaven in Cicciolina, the self-created media identity of Ilona Staller, a famous European porn star and one-time member of the Italian parliament. Koons constructed a fan
Jeff Koons Self-Portrait 1991 Marble. 37 1/2 x 20 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (95.3 x 52.1 x 36.8 cm). This work is from an edition of three plus one artist’s proof.
Provenance Sonnabend Gallery, New York Exhibited New York, Sonnabend Gallery and Cologne, Max Hetzler Galerie, Made in Heaven, November 15 –December 14, 1991; San Francisco Museum of Art, Jeff Koons December 10, 1992– February 7, 1993; Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, Jeff Koons July 10 – October 3, 1993; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, November 28, 1992 – January 3, 1993, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, January 22 – February 28, 1993; and Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, March 12 – April 18, 1993 Jeff Koons Retrospektiv; Berlin, Martin Gropius Bau, The Age of Modernism – Art in the 20th Century, May 7-July 27, 1997; Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen, Self-Portraits, 1998; Aspen Art Museum, Warhol, Koons, Hirst: Cult and Culture, August 3 – September 30, 2001; Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Jeff Koons June 9 – September 15, 2003 Literature R. Rosenblum, ed., The Jeff Koons Handbook, London/NewYork, 1992, pp.121 and cover (illustrated) and p. 164; A. Muthesius, ed., Jeff Koons Cologne, 1992, p. 155 (illustrated); San Francisco Museum of Art andWalker Art Center, eds., Jeff Koons New York, 1992, pl. 52 and back cover (illustrated);V. Andersen, J. Koons, and A. Kold, Jeff Koons Aarhus, 1993, p.72 (illustrated); D. Sobel, D. Ebony, and K. Logan, Warhol/Koons/Hirst: Cult and Culture, Aspen, 2001, pl. 19 (illustrated); M. Grynsztejn, ed., Supernova: Art of the 1990s from the Logan Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2003, p. 21 (illustrated); K. Logan and D. Sobel, Post Modern Portraiture, Vail, 2005, pl. 12 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay Jeff Koon’s series Made in Heaven was a sensation when exhibited at the Sonnabend Gallery in 1991, drawing more attention than the work of any artist since Andy Warhol’s pop works of the 1960s. A presentation of self-glorifying artworks, Jeff Koons was always a part of his art in an abstract way, but in Made in Heaven and in particular the present lot, Self-Portrait, he entered into his art completely by obliterating the line between artist and artwork by offering an idealized likeness of himself in a sublime marble sculpture. The work became an astonishing fusion of art and life, of fantasy and reality. Self-Portrait offers an idealized likeness of the artist in the form of a traditional art-historical marble bust. The artist continues to deftly mix the high culture signatories of classical art with the low brow aesthetics of pornography in this work, a quintessential piece from the Made in Heaven series. Koons co-opts the bust-length portrait, for use in his over-the-top kitsch way, referencing a long history of portraiture generally reserved for gods, emperors, kings and saints, to display the artist as a god-like figure. From the beginning of his artistic career Koons has employed the sexuality latent in inanimate objects.The works often resonated with sexual symbolism and achieved much of their power from sexual signals. Made in Heaven pushed this fusion of sex and art to its peak, where all structures are bursting with visual signifiers of sexual power. Made in Heaven consists of photographic and sculptural works that represent Koon’s desire to use self-portraiture as a medium for physical and spiritual transcendence. No artist had ever fused fantasy and reality so completely and no artist had ever created and entered into an artistic world to the extent that Koons did at this time. In preparation for this series, Koons began a rigorous program of self transformation where he worked on his own body as if it were a sculpture. He hired a personal trainer who had formerly trained America’s top body builders and embarked on a strict diet. Koons spent nearly half the day working out for two years and was soon ready to participate in his art as a human readymade. Additionally, Koons found an aesthetic counterpart for Made in Heaven in Cicciolina, the self-created media identity of Ilona Staller, a famous European porn star and one-time member of the Italian parliament. Koons constructed a fan
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