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Acrylic on canvas. Signed "CPLY" and dated lower right. 162.5 x 130.5 cm. [AR]. - William N. Copley's gaudy and surreal world of objects: still lifes from the "Nouns" and "Mail Order" series. - He stages the baby carriage in bright colors and his typical black outlines like a royal throne. - Skillfully balanced between Surrealism and Pop Art, between a descriptive still life and excessive ornamentation. - In the year of its creation, William N. Copley took part in the important documenta 5 in Kassel under the directorship of Harald Szeemann. This work is registered with the William N. Copley Estate, New York. We would like to thank Mr Anthony Atlas for his kind expert advice. LITERATURE: Klaus Gerrit Friese (ed.), William N. Copley. Unter uns, Ostfildern 2009, p. 55 (illustrated in color).
CPLY, Galleria d'Arte Il Fauno, Turin, 1973 (illustrated). William N. Copley, Kunsthalle Bern, October 4 - November 9, 1980; Musée national d'art moderne Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, November 26, 1980 - January 11, 1981; Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, January 24 - February 18, 1981, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, March 24 - May 10, 1981, cat. no. 83. Copley, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, February 18 - June 10, 2012; Max Ernst Museum Brühl of the LVR, Brühl, June 24 - November 4, 2012; Foundation Ahlers Pro Arte / Kestner Pro Arte, Hanover, November 16, 2012 - April 1, 2013 (illustrated on p. 137)
Estate William N. Copley. David Nolan Gallery, New York. Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart. Private collection, Southern Germany
William N. Copley's world of surreal pop objects In the early 1970s, William N. Copley's work focused on the representation of objects. In his characteristic style, he created a surreal world, which, in a crossover between narrative still life and exuberant ornamentation, is centered on everyday objects, using stylistic devices from Pop Art and Surrealism. He isolates small objects such as pipes, tools, or kitchen utensils, but also large objects like pieces of furniture, bells, or, as is the case here, a stroller, from their natural environment and presents them in a striking close-up, with the typical black outlines of Pop Art, in front of colorful surfaces. The isolation and flat representation, known, among others, from Surrealists like René Magritte, lends the objects a peculiar aura of stillness. However, the human presence is still somehow tangible. The original use of the objects remains visible in the mind's eye. The ringing bells, the clattering of glass and dishes, the blows of a hammer, children crying in a stroller: Copley's objects form a backdrop for associations, memories, and imaginations, or as Siegfried Gohr describes it: “What at first appears to be naive, proves to be the strategy of a powerful evocation of things.” (Siegfried Gohr, Copley und die Lust an den Dingen, in: Galerie Fred Jahn, William N. Copley. Nouns, Munich 1999, p. 7). This is also true of Copley's present work, “Baby Carriage,” from 1972, which was created the year his daughter Theodora was born. He staged the stroller as a kind of throne in front of a bright pink background, adorned with an exuberant, baroque-like decor equipped with soft pillows and a pink sunshade. The work appears extraordinarily playful and full of ironic elements that pique our curiosity about the quiet dialogues in Copley's world of things, which is never innocent. As models for his still lifes from the “Nouns” and “Mail Order” series, he often uses images from the mail-order catalogs of the American department store chain “Sears, Roebuck & Co.” from the period around 1900, breathing new life, as it were, into objects that appear old-fashioned today. The American artist's pictorial work is rooted in Surrealism. However, Copley is also considered a forerunner of pop art. This is expressed more clearly in the way he stages objects, a skillful balancing act that combines two fundamentally different art movements as a matter of course, without completely committing to either style. [AR]
Colorful work in good condition. With small, unobtrusive rubbings along the edges of the image, possibly from an old frame. A very small, barely noticeable nick in the upper left margin. The condition report was compiled in daylight with the help of a UV light source and to the best of our knowledge and belief.
Lot Details
Acrylic on canvas. Signed "CPLY" and dated lower right. 162.5 x 130.5 cm. [AR]. - William N. Copley's gaudy and surreal world of objects: still lifes from the "Nouns" and "Mail Order" series. - He stages the baby carriage in bright colors and his typical black outlines like a royal throne. - Skillfully balanced between Surrealism and Pop Art, between a descriptive still life and excessive ornamentation. - In the year of its creation, William N. Copley took part in the important documenta 5 in Kassel under the directorship of Harald Szeemann. This work is registered with the William N. Copley Estate, New York. We would like to thank Mr Anthony Atlas for his kind expert advice. LITERATURE: Klaus Gerrit Friese (ed.), William N. Copley. Unter uns, Ostfildern 2009, p. 55 (illustrated in color).
CPLY, Galleria d'Arte Il Fauno, Turin, 1973 (illustrated). William N. Copley, Kunsthalle Bern, October 4 - November 9, 1980; Musée national d'art moderne Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, November 26, 1980 - January 11, 1981; Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, January 24 - February 18, 1981, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, March 24 - May 10, 1981, cat. no. 83. Copley, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, February 18 - June 10, 2012; Max Ernst Museum Brühl of the LVR, Brühl, June 24 - November 4, 2012; Foundation Ahlers Pro Arte / Kestner Pro Arte, Hanover, November 16, 2012 - April 1, 2013 (illustrated on p. 137)
Estate William N. Copley. David Nolan Gallery, New York. Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart. Private collection, Southern Germany
William N. Copley's world of surreal pop objects In the early 1970s, William N. Copley's work focused on the representation of objects. In his characteristic style, he created a surreal world, which, in a crossover between narrative still life and exuberant ornamentation, is centered on everyday objects, using stylistic devices from Pop Art and Surrealism. He isolates small objects such as pipes, tools, or kitchen utensils, but also large objects like pieces of furniture, bells, or, as is the case here, a stroller, from their natural environment and presents them in a striking close-up, with the typical black outlines of Pop Art, in front of colorful surfaces. The isolation and flat representation, known, among others, from Surrealists like René Magritte, lends the objects a peculiar aura of stillness. However, the human presence is still somehow tangible. The original use of the objects remains visible in the mind's eye. The ringing bells, the clattering of glass and dishes, the blows of a hammer, children crying in a stroller: Copley's objects form a backdrop for associations, memories, and imaginations, or as Siegfried Gohr describes it: “What at first appears to be naive, proves to be the strategy of a powerful evocation of things.” (Siegfried Gohr, Copley und die Lust an den Dingen, in: Galerie Fred Jahn, William N. Copley. Nouns, Munich 1999, p. 7). This is also true of Copley's present work, “Baby Carriage,” from 1972, which was created the year his daughter Theodora was born. He staged the stroller as a kind of throne in front of a bright pink background, adorned with an exuberant, baroque-like decor equipped with soft pillows and a pink sunshade. The work appears extraordinarily playful and full of ironic elements that pique our curiosity about the quiet dialogues in Copley's world of things, which is never innocent. As models for his still lifes from the “Nouns” and “Mail Order” series, he often uses images from the mail-order catalogs of the American department store chain “Sears, Roebuck & Co.” from the period around 1900, breathing new life, as it were, into objects that appear old-fashioned today. The American artist's pictorial work is rooted in Surrealism. However, Copley is also considered a forerunner of pop art. This is expressed more clearly in the way he stages objects, a skillful balancing act that combines two fundamentally different art movements as a matter of course, without completely committing to either style. [AR]
Colorful work in good condition. With small, unobtrusive rubbings along the edges of the image, possibly from an old frame. A very small, barely noticeable nick in the upper left margin. The condition report was compiled in daylight with the help of a UV light source and to the best of our knowledge and belief.
William Nelson Copley 
