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House of Cards: A sculptural response to Chardin

Christie's auctioneers is showing an international range of sculpture described as a response to 18th century painter Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin’s Boy Building a House of Cards, writes Sajid Rizvi.

The exhibition (26 May – 28 October, 2012), a part of which is available for sale, is taking place in the grounds of Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, the home of the Rothschild Collection and recent venue for some of Chardin's works, including Boy Building a House of Cards, part of its permanent collection.

Works in the show include recent and new sculptures by contemporary artists from the West and the East, including Ai Weiwei,  Anish Kapoor, Do Ho Suh, Urs Fischer, Dan Flavin, Anthony Gormley, Jeppe Hein, Damien Hirst, Donald Judd, Jeff Koons, Richard Serra, Tony Smith, Joana Vasconcelos and Xu Bing.

The exhibition is one of Christie’s Private Sales and runs to the end of October. There are 33 works in all.

The work of Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin (1699-1779), Boy Building a House of Cards, 1735, is now part of the Rothschild Collection and housed at Waddesdon Manor, one of the most visited of the National Trust properties.
 
The works were chosen by Christie’s as a contemporary response to an exhibition exploring Chardin’s painting, recently held at Waddesdon Manor. Apparently 16 nationalities are represented among the works, 24 of which are shown around the grounds of the Manor and the remainder indoors at the Stables. While a few of the works are on loan, the majority are for sale from GBP 60,000 to GBP 7.5 million ($100,000 to $12 million).

The works on show include:

• Ai Weiwei, Kui hua zi (Sunflower Seeds), 100 kilograms of handmade porcelain sumflower seeds. This work is from an edition of ten, each uniquely conceived. 13 ¼ x 34 5/8 in (35 x 88 x 88cm). Executed in 2010.
• Xu Bing (b1955), Stone Path, Stones, in seventy-four parts, Executed in 2008
• Do Ho Suh (b1962), Cause & Effect, acrylic, resin, aluminium disc, stainless steel frame, stainless steel, cable and monofilament, 118.1/8 x 64.5/8 x 64.5/8in. (300 x 164.1 x 164.1cm), Executed in 2007
• Tony Cragg (b1949), Wirbelsäule, Bronze, 70.1/8 x 33.1/8 x 34.3/8in. (178 x 84 x 87cm.), Executed in 1996.
• Richard Serra (b1939), House of Cards, steel, in four parts, 54.3/8  x 54.3/8 x 54.3/8in. (138 x 138 x 138cm), Executed in 1969-78
• Joana Vasconcelos (b1971), Pavillon de Thé, wrought iron, jasmine plants, soil, 141.3/8 x 200.3/8 x 135.3/4in. (359 x 509 x 345cm.), Executed in 2012, this work is from an edition of three plus one artist proof, each uniquely conceived.

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