Katharina Fritsch | Apple (for Parkett 87)

Katharina Fritsch

Apple (for Parkett 87)

Zurich, Switzerland: Parkett, 2009/2010

13 x 13 cm.

Edition of 48

A cast resin and paint apple, sold with a certificate of authenticity. 

The work is long sold-out and has a current value of upwards of $8000.00. 

"Their extraordinary autonomy from their surroundings strikes me as ultra-contemporary: rather than appearing like refugees from a recreation of a dance macabre or a German medieval fable, their true home seems closer to commercialized popular culture and to the disarming visual effects of film."

- Jessica Morgan, Parkett No. 87

Kasper König’s collection

Works from the collection of Kasper König - who died in August at the age of 80 - took in around $6.5 million at auction last week. 

Among the four hundred or so works sold were pieces by artists including Richard Artschwager, Thomas Bayrle, William Copley, Nicole Eiseman, Katharina Fritsch, On Kawara, Paul McCarthy, Claes Oldenburg, Sigmar Polke, and Thomas Schütte. The top went to a work by Kawara, whose work May 7, 1967 fetched roughly $878,000. According to the auction house, Van Ham, this set a new record for On Kawara's date paintings.

Before his death, König donated around fifty works from his collection to Museum Ludwig, including pieces by Pawel Althamer, Maria Eichhorn, Isa Genzken, Dan Graham, Thomas Hirschhorn, Jenny Holzer, Richard Long and Jeremy Deller.

Above are some relevant (to this site) works from the auction. 

Katharina Fritsch | Muhle/Krankenwagen/Unken

Katharina Fritsch

Muhle/Krankenwagen/Unken

Zurich, Switzerland: Parkett Verlag, 1990

Three 7" vinyl singles housed in a cardboard box

Edition of 2000 unnumbered copies

Produced for the 25th issue of Parkett magazine, these single sound audio works (from installations of the same name, also in 1990) translate to Mill, Ambulance and Toads. The work is housed in many important collections, such as MoMA, the Southbank Centre, Bard College, and the Walker Art Centre.

Yesterday it was announced that Fritsch was awarded the Venice Biennale’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. For the first time since 2013, the prize was awarded to two artists, the other being Chilean activist, poet, and artist Cecilia Vicuña. 

Fritsch is participating in “The Milk of Dreams”, the Biennale’s central exhibition, which opens April 23rd and runs through November 27th.

Katharina Fritsch | Madonna

Katharina Fritsch
Madonnenfigur (Madonna Figure)
Düsseldorf, Germany: Self-published, 1982
30 x 8 x 6 cm.
Unlimited edition

A painted plaster edition, originally unlimited but no longer being produced. The work was also produced as a larger (not quite lifesize) sculptural work as part of a series titled Figurengruppe  (or Group of Figures) from 2006-2008. Alongside Madonna was Torso, Vas, Skeleton Feet, St. Michael, Giant, St. Katharina, St. Nicolas and Snake (below).

“First, the Madonna is just a plaster figure, not Mary herself. To that extent the plaster figure is just as much a thing as a vase is. Of course the plaster figure symbolizes something, even something unique. The uniqueness disappears in my work, but essentially it disappears long before, in every souvenir shop. And the strange thing now is that every individual plaster figure does retain a certain aura, even in quantity.”

- Katharina Fritsch

Katharina Fritsch

Geld (Money)
1988
One hundred anodized aluminum disks
20 x 3.5 x 3.5 cm
Unlimited edition

Grünes Seidentuch (Green Silk Scarf)
1982/1989
Printed silk
80 x 80 cm
Unlimited edition

Katze (Cat)
1981/1989
Synthetic material
17 x 17 x 6 cm
Doubles as a shoe-scraper.
Unlimited edition

Gehirn (Brain)
1987/1989
Plaster of Paris and paint
11.5 x 15 x 13 cm
Unlimited edition

Madonnenfigur (Madonna Figure)
1982
Plaster of Paris and paint
30 x 8 x 6 cm
Cast from a small plaster statuette found in a tourist shop in Lourdes, a French city to which pilgrims come in hopes of witnessing a miracle.
Unlimited edition

Vase mit Schiff (Vase with Ship)
1987/1988
Screenprint on plastic
30.5 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm
A plastic vase based on those used to decorate graves in German cemeteries.
Unlimited edition