Estimates do not reflect the final hammer price and do not include buyer's premium, any applicable taxes or artist's resale right. Please see the Conditions of Sale for full details.
Created in 2006, Kara Walker’s Untitled is a candid contemplation rendered in delicate watercolour and ink. Against the earthen tones of its eleven panels, Untitled continues Walker’s forceful exploration of sexuality and race by linking the black female body to the land. Although each scene is discrete and self-contained, formal motifs reoccur throughout to create continuous and poignant links: sinuous curves, brown hatch marks, flashes of blue. Walker’s works often take the form of murals, and she uses the linear format to narrate multicharacter epics of fused temporalities. Her practice is embedded within the long history of storytelling, and by rhythmically repeating figures and interweaving their stories, Untitled stages a visual chorus of colour and line. As the artist herself said, ‘There’s a place in contemporary American culture for African-American female truth telling. To tell it like it is or tell it like it isn’t or to tell it like you dreamed it up’ (K. Walker quoted in J. Belcove, ‘History Girl’, W, March 1, 2007). Post Lot Text This lot has been imported from outside the EU for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on the invoice. Please see Conditions of Sale for further information.
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Condition report
A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.
The condition of lots can vary widely and the nature of the lots sold means that they are unlikely to be in a perfect condition. Lots are sold in the condition they are in at the time of sale.
Not examined out of frame. The sheets appear to be hinged in places on the reverse to their underlying support. There is slight undulation to the sheets. It is our view that the work appears to be in generally very good condition.
Catalogue illustration: Fairly accurate.