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Artist or Maker: Jean Tinguely (1925-1991)

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Description: Métamorphe III
wood panel with eight shaped metal elements, wood pulleys, rubber belt, metal fixtures and electric motor
24 3/8 x 28 3/8in. (62 x 72cm.)
Executed in 1956

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Provenance: Galerie Denise René, Paris.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in April 1989.

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Exhibited: Paris, Galerie Denise René, Tinguely, Peintures cinétiques, October-November 1956, no. 8.
Paris, Société d'Art Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Edouard Loeb et Denise René, Tinguely, Peintures cinétiques, June 1957.
Paris, Galerie Denise René, Le mouvement The Movement Paris 1955, April 1975 (illustrated, p. 37).

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Published: C. Bischofberger, Jean Tinguely. Catalogue raisonné. Sculptures and Reliefs, 1954-1968, vol. I, Zurich 1982, no. 75 (illustrated, p. 63).

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Notes: The Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely is best known for his kinetic work in which machine-like objects paint, emit sounds, or move randomly. Responding to the problematic relationship between man and technological progress in a post-industrial society, Tinguely chose to apply irony to technology. In the 1950s he turned his attention to the creation of 'anti-machines' whose lyrical and anarchic qualities deliberately ran counter to the functionality normally associated with mechanics. These works which are both humorous and meticulous, fantasy machines with pre-programmed elements of chance, were often made from found objects. Métamorphe III is part of this important series of reliefs, executed between 1956 and 1958, which portray a geometrical form broken up into parts, each part moving independently and at different speeds. This series, titled Métamorphe, highlights Tinguely's interest in the concept of abstraction. These works see the disappearance of a recognisable form in favour of a constantly changing new reality. Tinguely seeks to impart his works with a sense of relativity, illustrating the constant metamorphosis of all things.

This fine and rare early example of his mechanical reliefs, which incorporates a motor element to ensure continued flux and movement, is diametrically opposed to ideas of traditional classic, static sculpture. Tinguely's machine-like works, with their wit and irony, reflect the new direction of post-war contemporary art.

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