Lucas Samaras, 
Greek/American b.1936 - 

Chair Transformation #22, 1969-70; 

mirror on wood, H102.5 x W52.3 x L52.1 cm 

Provenance: 
The Pace Gallery, New York, no. 2564 (according to the label affixed to the bottom); 
Saatchi & Saatchi, London 

Exhibited:
The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 'Chair Transformations 1969-70', 1972-73 

Literature: 
Kim Levin, 'Lucas Samaras', New York, Harry N. Abrahams, Inc., 1975, no.238 (illus.); 
Pace Wildenstein, Pace/MacGill Gallery, 'Lucas Samaras: NYC Chairs', New York, 2008, unpaginated (illus.) 

Note: 
Samaras has returned to the image and form of the chair repeatedly in his career, viewing it as 'a solid shadow of a person or the residue of a person's existence'. The artist delights in taking such an ordinary or 'everyday' object, recreating it in surprising material, brilliantly shown here in the reflective surface of the mirrors. The mirror recasts the viewing back into the object, the artist once again playing with notions of self and identity.

This work belongs to a series of twenty-five chairs made from 1969-70, with other works in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, Washington (#20B); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (#7 and #17A); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (#6 and #16); and Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis (#1). These chair sculptures were heavily featured in the artist's exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art which ran from 1972-73. More recently, the artist made a series of photos of chairs from a 2008 exhibition at Pace Gallery, New York, 'NYC Chairs'. 

Samaras immersive 'Room No.2' (1966), also known as Mirrored Room, which includes a chair similar to the current lot, is in the permanent collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York. It was the first installation of Samaras' to be acquired by a museum.