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187
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IANNONE Dorothy (1933-2022) Stool, 1975.
See original version (French)
187
-
IANNONE Dorothy (1933-2022) Stool, 1975.
See original version (French)
Estimate €8,000 - €12,000
Voluntary lot
Description
IANNONE Dorothy (1933-2022)
Stool, 1975.
Polychrome wood stool, coloured feathers and leather cushion.
(wear)
Height: 90 cm
Provenance: Private collection, Saint Jeannet (Alpes-Maritimes).
Note :
An artist born in 1933 in the United States, Dorothy Iannone regularly spent time on the Côte d'Azur around 1960-70 before settling in Berlin. Her art was characterised by a freedom of form and a protean aspect: paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings as well as videos and sound recordings. His works are animated by figures blending together against a colourful, ornamental background, with the characteristic of being presented naked and with the emphasis on their sexual organs. This led to several censures at exhibitions in Europe early in his career (notably in 1967 in Stuttgart and in 1969 in Bern). But at the exhibition devoted to the artist in Paris in 2019, the Centre Pompidou will recognise her as the "painter of the liberation of the female body".
Dorothy Iannone and the artists of the Côte d'Azur
In 1966, in Antibes, she met Robert Filliou (1926-1987), an artist and poet close to the Fluxus movement, at the home of the sculptor Albert Féraud (1921-2008), who specialised in working with stainless steel. It was there that she created the painting Cap d'Antibes (130 x 162 cm; private collection) and the song Antibes automatic. Filliou later introduced her to the conceptual artist George Brecht (1926-2008), Daniel Spoerri (1930-2024) and Ben Vautier (1935-2024), who were also present on the Côte d'Azur.
These artists were close to the Fluxus movement, and their interactions bear witness to the artistic effervescence that took place on the Côte d'Azur in the 1960s, demonstrating the importance of friendships that acted as emulators. Artists came together at the "Fluxus Festival" organised by Ben in Nice in 1963, following his meeting with George Maciunas (1931-1978), the movement's founder, and at the "Centre international de création permanente", also known as "La Cédille qui sourit", set up in Villefranche-sur-Mer by Robert Filliou and George Brecht between 1965 and 1968. Fluxus wanted to break away from traditional art forms by exploring freer, less elitist avenues in the form of performances.
Artistic emulation in the village of Saint Jeannet
In the early 1970s, Robert Filliou moved to the village of Saint Jeannet in the hills above Nice, where he founded "Territoire n°2 de la République géniale", a social utopia that placed art at the heart of everyday life. There he met up with Dorothy Iannone and George Brecht, and the group went on to contribute to the magazine arTitudes, edited by the art critic François Pluchart (1937-1988). Founded in 1971 in the village of Saint Jeannet, the magazine was published until 1977 and focused on body art by artists such as Michel Journiac (1935-1995) and Gina Pane (1939-1990).
It was in the double issue 30/31 of the magazine, published in Saint Jeannet in the first quarter of 1976, that Dorothy Ioannone explained the genesis of the work we are auctioning. In the interview "Le cul dans les plumes", the artist explains that George Brecht encouraged her to take the motifs in her paintings out of the frame, particularly the stool, which can be found both in compositions and in isolated drawings within a series dedicated to furniture. It was with the help of a local architect, Jean-Pierre Giovannelli, that the idea took shape in three dimensions in 1975: made from bent wood, the stool was then painted and embellished with feathers. Of course, this performance is reminiscent of Brecht's famous "Chair events", in which an everyday object is transformed into a veritable work of art.
As Dorothy Ianonne explains in the same interview, the production of her chairs required considerable technical prowess, which explains why so few copies were made - apparently only five or six. Few chairs made by the artist herself have been catalogued: one similar to ours is held in the collections of the Centre Pompidou (Stool, 1975, inventory no. AM 2015-375), while an armchair with the same base is held by the Air de Paris gallery, which represents the artist (Armchair, 1975).
Previously unseen furniture by Dorothy Iannone at auction in Saint Paul de Vence
The presentation at auction of furniture by Dorothy Iannone is an unprecedented event on the art market. The works we usually see are her engravings, such as the famous Lady Liberty or colourful erotic scenes, or her small sculptures from the "People" series, made of painted wood and featuring a whole series of characters, and more rarely paintings. None of this furniture had ever been presented at auction, and this discovery reveals a lesser-known side of this artist, who has been much in the spotlight in recent years.
Dorothy Ianonne was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Centre Pompidou entitled "Toujours de l'audace" in 2019, and again in 2022 at the Lousiana Museum in Copenhagen. In 2023, the artist was also part of the "Lady Dior Art" project, customising the fashion house's iconic handbag. And in 2026, she will be exhibiting her work at the Dos de Mayo art centre in Madrid.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Lot description modified on 05/22/2026 at 12:43 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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