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In Praise of Shadows by Hiroshi Sugimoto

Artwork by Hiroshi Sugimoto, In Praise of Shadows

Hiroshi Sugimoto
In Praise of Shadows

lithograph printed on hand-cut japanese torinoko paper
signed and numbered 185/225 lower right; titled and dated 2003 on a certificate from Serpentine Gallery on the reverse
18 x 11.25 in ( 45.7 x 28.6 cm ) ( sheet )

Auction Estimate: $1,500.00$1,000.00 - $1,500.00

Price Realized $1,200.00
Sale date: March 25th 2025

Provenance:
Estate of Robert Noakes
With the aid of a camera obscura, or pin-hole camera Hiroshi Sugimoto sought to capture “the life of a candle” in his installation titled "In Praise of Shadows" that was on view at the Serpentine Gallery from 2003-2004. The title of the work references Jun' ichirō Tanizaki's book of 1933 where the writer in his stream of conscious style casts light on the heightening of the fleeting beauty of the everyday.
The artist constructed a dark room at the centre of the gallery, with a single candle in the middle casting a flickering shadow through a photographic transparency of the candle on the wall behind. Produced on the occasion of this exhibition the artist, concerned with the essence of photography and the passing of time recorded by the action of light, has captured in the lithograph a layering of image making techniques.

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Hiroshi Sugimoto
(1948-)

HighlightsWatch Artist

Hiroshi Sugimoto is a Japanese artist known best for his stylized photographic series. He also experiments in sculpture, performance art, and architecture. Sugimoto graduated from Saint Paul’s University in Tokyo before attending the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Following graduation, he moved to New York to begin his professional career. Perhaps his most iconic series from 1978, Theaters, includes long-exposure shots of old movie theatres around the world. Some of his other well-known series include Seascapes, Lightning Fields, and Optiks. His works are currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tokyo, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Tate Gallery in London.