LONDON.- Bonhams is to display lost masterpieces from a private collection by Gutai and ZERO groups for the first time since the 1960s. It offers an opportunity to reassess these ground-breaking art movements, both of which have recently been in the spotlight in exhibitions such as Zero: Countdown to Tomorrow at The Guggenheim, New York. Writing about the groups for Bonhams Magazine, Serpentine Co-Director, Hans Ulrich Obrist described the emergence of these artists as “one of the great moments of the avant garde in the post-war era.”

GUTAI AT BONHAMS
The exhibition to be held at Bonhams in October will show the two groups together – a collaboration that the movements themselves embraced. They first exhibited alongside each other at the 1965 Stedelijk Museum’s Nul exhibition, and went on to work on a number of influential European exhibitions together. Since the dissolution of Gutai in 1972, shows of the two groups’ work in tandem have been rare.

Bonhams is leading the way in the reappraisal of these artists’ reputations. The auction house currently holds the world record for one of the major figures of ZERO, Adolf Luther, and has sold key examples of his work in the past 18 months. Bonhams Post-War and Contemporary Sale is emerging the most significant player in this area, achieving excellent results for works in February and July.

Alongside the two avant garde groups, important works from close contemporary Yayoi Kusama’s ground-breaking 1965 debut European exhibition will also be on display at Bonhams, including her astonishing Macaroni Shirt.

Bonhams Head of Contemporary Art, Ralph Taylor, says, “To have the opportunity to host this museum-quality collection at Bonhams is a rare and wonderful privilege. It is exactly where Bonhams excels; demonstrating connoisseurship and using the profile of an auction house to rediscover forgotten masterpieces and to champion the very best in Post-War & Contemporary art.”

Among the works on view in Bonhams headquarters on New Bond Street are:

• Three works from Yayoi Kusama’s first solo European show in 1965: Macaroni Shirt, Red Dots and Phallic Bottle Tray

• Kazuo Shiraga’s Red Fan

• A suite of four early and delicate works by Jan Schoonhoven

• A large piece by Günther Uecker from 1967