Lot Details
Lot 244
Andy Warhol An original Silver Cloud, circa 1966.
An original permapack mylar inflatable silver cloud, circa 1966. Deflated 50 x 70 inches (127 x 177 cm), inflates to about 3 x 4 feet; housed folded in a custom cloth clamshell case. Some minor wear from use but a very well preserved example overall.
A scarce original Warhol Silver Cloud, first displayed in 1966 at the Leo Castelli Gallery, this example one of just three retained by the Swedish Bell Labs electronical engineer Billy Klüver who assisted Warhol in their design. Also described as 'pillows,' Warhol displayed the helium filled clouds in April 1966 (they also contained some air to keep them from clinging to the ceiling). At the time, Warhol declared he had stopped painting. He said, "I thought that the way to finish off painting for me would be to have a painting that floats, so I invented the floating silver rectangles that you fill up with helium and let out of your windows." The clouds may also have been a reaction to the criticisms and stainless-steel vertical 'stacks' created by Donald Judd, exhibited at Castelli just weeks before. Warhol suggested the clouds were also an antidote to collectors who felt burdened by the physical nature of their collections, and he remarked on television: "You open a window and let them float away and that's one less object."
As with many art objects made by Warhol in multiples, the desire to play with them (or in this case release them from the roof) proved too tantalizing for his audiences and original Silver Clouds, oft reproduced, are scarce.
C
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