Lot 3A
Robert Stivers (American, b. 1953). "Bees" gelatin silver print, taken in 2005 / hand-printed in 2016. Artist's Proof edition. Purportedly signed in pencil on verso. A stirring photograph, hand-printed in the darkroom by American fine-art photographer Robert Stivers depicting a swarm of bees in a hive. Depicted in tones of black, gray, and sepia, the buzzing insects scurry in varying directions, their striped bodies and translucent wings piled in dense layers over the geometric matrices of their honeycomb hive. Note the nebulous nature of the composition; in 1993 Stivers stepped away from printing clear photographs and began his unique signature process of using a sharply focused negative that is then manipulated in the darkroom to create intriguing, out-of-focus images. This effect causes intentional loss of clarity to achieve sensual, dream-like works akin to early Pictorialism at the turn of the twentieth century. Size of photo: 19" W x 23" H (48.3 cm x 58.4 cm); of frame: 27" W x 33" H (68.6 cm x 83.8 cm)
Stivers remarks that the photographs mirror his own process of self-transformation and re-creation. His distorting power reinvigorates classical tropes like nudes, sculpture, texture and architecture.
About the artist: "Robert Stivers received his B.A. at the University of California, Irvine (1975), his M.A. at New York University (1981), and has exhibited internationally since the early 1990s. He has five published monographs, starting with the eponymous Robert Stivers: Photographs (1997) and continuing on with Listening to Cement (2000), Sestina (2003), Sanctum (2006), and The Art of Ruin (2015). His work is in major collections such as the Bibliotheque nationale (Paris, France), the Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY), Museum Ludwig (Cologne, Germany), and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, United Kingdom)." (source: artist's website)
Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, New York, USA, February 4, 2016
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#191222
- Condition: Purportedly signed in pencil on verso. Set behind glass in custom matte and frame; has not been examined outside of glass. Some minor scuffs and abrasions to frame and small white mark in lower left of photo, but otherwise both seem to be in very good condition. Suspension wire on verso for display.
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