Clown
Clown
Signed Print
George Condo
£5,000-£7,500 VALUE (EST.)
$9,500-$14,000 VALUE (EST.)
$8,500-$12,500 VALUE (EST.)
¥45,000-¥70,000 VALUE (EST.)
€6,000-€8,500 VALUE (EST.)
$50,000-$70,000 VALUE (EST.)
¥860,000-¥1,290,000 VALUE (EST.)
$6,000-$9,500 VALUE (EST.)
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
Etching, 1989
Signed Print Edition of 55
H 67cm x W 60cm
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | Sotheby's New York - United States | Clown - Signed Print | |||
| April 2021 | Phillips New York - United States | Clown - Signed Print | |||
| December 2020 | Sotheby's New York - United States | Clown - Signed Print | |||
| November 2012 | Swann Auction Galleries - United States | Clown - Signed Print |
Meaning & Analysis
George Condo’s Clown is an etching produced in 1989. It depicts a lone, yellow figure, standing frontally. They wear a red hat, have large eyes, a green nose, and a wide smile. On their elongated neck rests a necklace. The work is signed in the bottom right and numbered in the bottom left.
Clown, alongside George Condo’s two other works of the same year, Laughing Clown Composition and The Insane Clown, depicts a clown. In this work the figure has some resemblance to what the viewer might associate with a clown. Bright blue hair, a large nose, and an elaborate hat. However, even these tropes are subverted by Condo. One would typically expect a clown to don a red nose. In this instance the nose is green.
This work stands out in contrast to the two other clown works. Both Laughing Clown Composition and Insane Clown are monochrome etchings of densely busy compositions. The hatching in them creates this cluttered effect. Alternatively, in this work, Clown, the free space that is occupied by a hazy purple background is unsettling. The lone figure, looking plainly forward, creates an uneasy and eerie feeling. This is typical of Condo’s work that often seeks to unsettle. For instance, Clown might be compared to Condo’s painting Kanye West’s Big Mouth. Both depict the sitter frontally before a hazy single coloured background. Both appear to play on the ridiculous, unsettling the viewer.
