3418 - UGO RONDINONE

UGO RONDINONE (Brunnen 1962–lives and works, among other places, in New York City) small green white pink mountain. 2014. Acrylic on stones, threaded rod. Titled, monogrammed and dated on the underside: small green white pink mountain u.r. 2014. 26 × 16 × 11 cm. Provenance: - Artist’s studio. - Private collection, Switzerland, received directly from the artist in 2014. - Private collection, Switzerland, by inheritance. This work is registered at Studio Ugo Rondinone, New York City, under no. RONDI41282. We thank Galerie Eva Presenhuber for their kind assistance, Zurich, 16 October 2026. Archaic stone forms meet deliberately artificial, luminous colours in Ugo Rondinone’s ‘mountain’ sculptures. This visual language gained international recognition through the installation ‘seven magic mountains’, realised in the Nevada desert in 2016. Seven towers of stacked boulders, painted in fluorescent colours and reaching heights of up to ten metres, form a striking contrast to the barren landscape. The installation draws on the tradition of American Land Art, combining its engagement with nature and landscape with a colour aesthetic more reminiscent of Pop Art than of natural phenomena. The sculpture ‘small green white pink mountain’, created in 2014, explores the same ideas on an intimate scale. Three stacked stones form a 26-centimetre-high composition whose irregular shapes and seemingly fragile balance recall prehistoric stone arrangements. The intense polychromy contrasts with the natural character of the material: while the stone evokes geological ages, the paint gives it an unmistakably artificial appearance. Unlike the monumental works, whose impact derives largely from their relationship to the surrounding landscape, ‘small green white pink mountain’ invites closer contemplation. The principle of layering, the interplay of weight and balance and the contrast between natural form and colour remain defining elements. Seen at close quarters, the sculptural quality of the simple arrangement of three stones becomes apparent, uniting archaic character and contemporary visual language.