Let’s Trade: 6 Artworks Exchanged for Goods or Services

1. Marcel Duchamp: Tzanck Check (1919) in exchange for dental work.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Los Angeles artist Mark Grotjahn will be able to ski for free in Aspen all season long in exchange for designing special chairlift tickets, as part of an ongoing series hosted by the Aspen Art Museum.

Such bartered arrangements have a rich history. There are stories of Picasso and Matisse trading artworks to cover bar and cafe tabs in New York, Dalí paying for dinners with a quick sketch and a signature.

In the slide show above, we take a look at six of our favorite trades, including stories with Kienholz, Kippenberger, Duchamp, Hirst, Warhol and Emin, making deals for everything from a fur coat to dental work.

No doubt we have left out many of your personal favorites. Please do share them in the comments section below.

6. Damien Hirst: a spot painting, a medicine cabinet and other work in exchange for dental work.

Back in 1990, early in his career, Damien Hirst needed some work done on his teeth and went to go see a dentist named Adrian Mullish. "When I went to see Adrian I had to have some dental treatment which was really expensive," Mr. Hirst recalled in an interview. "So he just said, 'Look, I know you haven't got any money and you're an artist. If you give me some art...'" Mr. Mullish got a number of prime early works and even landed on Art Review's annual Power 100 list in 2003. Here, a number of medicine cabinets are shown at L&M Arts, New York.

4. Andy Warhol: a work showing Marilyn Monroe in exchange for a $200 credit on a bar tab at Max's Kansas City

The storied Union Square-area bar, restaurant and music venue Max's Kansas City was filled with works that artists gave in exchange for credit at the bar. Warhol, a regular at the place (the Factory was only a few blocks away), made trades a handful of times, including once exchanging a work that records describe as "Marilyn Monroe," for a $200 credit on a $774.73 bar tab.

3. Ed Kienholz: Watercolors in exchange for a variety of goods

For a 1969 show at Eugenia Butler Gallery in Los Angeles, Kienholz brushed a few washes of watercolor over pieces of paper and wrote out on each one what he wanted to trade for the given work. Four examples: a Timex Electric Watch, a fur foat, $313, 10 screwdrivers. Not only is the artwork bartered in this case, its subject is barter itself. (A tip of the hat to Observer colleague Sarah Douglas for highlighting this work.)

2. Martin Kippenberger: One of You, a German in Florence (1976-77) in exchange for free food and drink for himself and a guest at Berlin's Paris Bar

In the mid 1970s, Kippenberger moved to Florence to become an actor. That plan--like so many that the artist embarked on--didn't quite pan out, but he used his time there to paint a massive suite of 55 black and white paintings from photos. Stacked on top of one another, they almost equaled his height. He later gave them to Michel Würthle, the owner of one of his favorite haunts, the Paris Bar, in exchange for a lifetime of dining at the French bistro for himself and his friend.

Comments

Coming out and moving on | Equipment Dental says:

March 11, 2012 at 11:16 pm

[...] below. 6 . Damien Hirst : a spot painting , a medicine cabinet and other work in. Read more on GalleristNY This entry was posted in Dental Cabinet and tagged Coming, moving. Bookmark the permalink. [...]

Gallerist NY

Let’s Trade: 6 Artworks Exchanged for Goods or Services

6. Damien Hirst: a spot painting, a medicine cabinet and other work in exchange for dental work.

5. Tracey Emin: Super Loving Cat, 2007, in exchange for 30 hours of French lessons.

4. Andy Warhol: a work showing Marilyn Monroe in exchange for a $200 credit on a bar tab at Max's Kansas City

3. Ed Kienholz: Watercolors in exchange for a variety of goods

2. Martin Kippenberger: One of You, a German in Florence (1976-77) in exchange for free food and drink for himself and a guest at Berlin's Paris Bar

1. Marcel Duchamp: Tzanck Check (1919) in exchange for dental work.

Comments

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