Richard Artschwager

Gagosian is pleased to announce Approximate Objects, an exhibition of sculptural multiples by Richard Artschwager (1923–2013). On view from March 18 to May 16, the presentation surveys sixteen editioned works created between 1969 and 2012. Installed on the ground and upper floors of the gallery’s space at Burlington Arcade, Approximate Objects is accompanied by a selection of the artist’s publications and prints in the lower-level reading room.

With accessibility of his work in mind, Artschwager produced editioned multiples throughout his career, complementing his unique paintings and sculptures. Most of these editioned works were produced in the artist’s studio and released by various publishers, including Brooke Alexander, Carolina Nitsch, Multiples Inc., and Castelli Graphics. The works on view include several artist’s proofs and prototypes.

Following service in military intelligence during World War II, Artschwager studied with Parisian modernist Amédée Ozenfant in New York, but subsequently turned to furniture making to support his family. A fire that devastated his workshop in 1958 prompted him to return to fine art with paintings and sculptures that refer to the forms and materials of furniture and other quotidian objects. In terms of functionality, such works may be described as “almost furniture,” as art historian and curator Germano Celant put it, or as approximate objects.