136 - JIRI GEORG DOKOUPIL (CZECH/GERMAN, B. 1954)

JIRI GEORG DOKOUPIL (CZECH/GERMAN, B. 1954) Two-Hundred and Nine Pears, 1990 pear juice on canvas 97.8 x 118.3 cm (38 1/2 x 46 5/8 in.) signed Dokoupil and dated 1990 (on the reverse) PROVENANCE Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York (label verso) Collection of Richard B. and Dr. Noel S. Frackman, New York thence by descent to the previous owner, 2008 Sotheby’s, New York, Contemporary Art, 17 December 2021, Lot 318 Private Collection, Connecticut Dokoupil was born in 1954 in Krnov, Czechoslovakia, and his family fled to Germany in the late 1960s. He emerged as one of the leading figures of the German Junge Wilde movement of the late 1970s, and showed early at the 40th Venice Biennale and documenta 7. Rather than settling on a signature style, he has worked through more than 100 different styles and techniques, chosen systematically to strip away personal expression, painting with materials ranging from breast milk to fruit juice. In the present work, pears were pressed directly onto the canvas row after row, printing in their own juice. Related early-1990s fruit prints can be read as an ironic response to Pop art, advertising, and mechanical reproduction, with the fruit itself acting as both subject and printing block. His work is held by the Centre Pompidou, Reina Sofía, Van Abbemuseum and Groninger Museum, among others. Keywords: Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Junge Wilde, Neue Wilde, Pear Juice Painting, Paul Kasmin Gallery, Czech German Contemporary Art N.B. Condition reports are available upon request. All lots are sold in as-is condition at the time of sale. Please note that any condition statement regarding works of art is given as a courtesy to our clients in order to assist them in assessing the condition. The report is a genuine opinion held by Shapiro Auctions & Appraisals LLC and should not be treated as a statement of fact. The absence of a condition report or a photograph does not preclude the absence of defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Shapiro Auctions & Appraisals, LLC., including its consultants and agents, shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.