The late 1960s were a fertile time of weird experimentation in all sorts of ways, and Sigmar Polke was clearly enjoying himself when, in 1969, he produced Apparatus Whereby One Potato Can Orbit Another. For clarity, in case the pictures aren’t doing it justice, that’s a wooden stool with a motorised potato circling over another (stationary) potato. Beats the hell out of compiling spreadsheets for a living though, don’t you think?
The news that the German’s peculiar sculpture is for sale will delight art collectors and potato experimentalists alike, and that’s not the only item from Polke’s archive that’s on the market. Auction house Phillips is holding a selling exhibition of works, composed mainly of the artist’s celebrated prints, at its London and Berlin showrooms. Among the highlights of the collection is a series of three lithographs, translated from Polke’s own photographs of the model Mariette Althaus taken over a weekend in the early ’70s. There are also a number of examples of work in which Polke used heavily rasterised print photographs as the source material – a practice he continued to explore in his later career. Sigmar Polke: A Selling Exhibition from an Important American Collection 1967 – 2000 is being held at Phillips’ Berkeley Square headquarters until 13 March, when it will move to Kurfürstendamm 193 in Berlin from 20 April to 14 May.
Installation of Sigmar Polke Selling Exhibition
at Phillips, 30 Berkeley Square
Image courtesy of Phillips
Sigmar Polke
Freistilübung/Freestyle Exercise, 1998
Screenprint in colors, on Schoellershammer board, the full sheet,
S. 49.2 x 69.9 cm (19 3/8 x 27 1/2 in.)
signed, dated `98′ and numbered in pencil
(the edition was 70, 20 in Roman numerals and some artist’s proofs),
published by Edition Staeck, Heidelberg, unframed.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Sigmar Polke
Apparat, mit dem eine Kartoffel eine andere umkreisen kann/
Apparatus Whereby One Potato Can Orbit Another, 1969
Sculpture comprised of wooden frame, battery-driven electric motor,
rubber band, wire, and 2 (replaceable) potatoes,
30 3/4 x 16 1/8 x 16 1/8 in. (78.1 x 41 x 41 cm)
signed, dated `69′ and numbered in pencil (the edition was 30),
published by Edition Staeck (Edition Tangente), Heidelberg.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Sigmar Polke
Zeughaus/Arsenal, 1976
Offset lithograph in colors, on board, with full margins,
I. 71.8 x 50.2 cm (28 1/4 x 19 3/4 in.)
S. 85.4 x 58.7 cm (33 5/8 x 23 1/8 in.)
signed in black ink, from the edition of 200,
published by Freunde de Kölnischen Stadtmuseums e.V., Cologne, unframed.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Sigmar Polke
Freundinnen I/Girlfriends I, 1967
Offset lithograph, on board, with full margins,
I. 18 1/16 x 23 1/8 in. (45.9 x 58.7 cm)
S. 18 3/4 x 23 7/8 in. (47.6 x 60.6 cm)
signed, dated `67′ and numbered in pencil (the edition was 150),
published by Galerie h (August Haseke), Hanover, unframed.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Installation of Sigmar Polke Selling Exhibition
at Phillips, 30 Berkeley Square
Image courtesy of Phillips
Sigmar Polke
Betriebsfest/Firm’s Party, 1998
Screenprint in colors, on Schoellershammer board, the full sheet,
S. 69.9 x 49.2 cm (27 1/2 x 19 3/8 in.)
signed, dated `98′ and numbered in pencil
(the edition was 70, 20 in Roman numerals and some artist’s proofs),
published by Edition Staeck, Heidelberg, unframed.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Sigmar Polke
Mu nieltnam netorrprup, 1975
Offset lithograph in colors, on board, with full margins,
S. 69.7 x 49.5 cm (27 7/16 x 19 1/2 in.)
signed in blue ink (the edition was 75 some artist’s proofs),
published by Schleswig-Holsteinischer Kunstverein, Kiel, unframed.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Sigmar Polke
Oase/Oasis, 1998
Screenprint in colors, on Schoellershammer board, the full sheet,
S. 27 3/8 x 19 3/8 in. (69.5 x 49.2 cm)
signed, dated `98′ and numbered in pencil
(the edition was 70, 20 in Roman numerals and some artist’s proofs),
published by Edition Staeck, Heidelberg, unframed.
Image courtesy of Phillips
