VIENNA.- Ib Geertsen (1940 2009), a leading Danish representative of Concrete Art, chose mobiles up to three meters in height as one of the many expressions of his diverse oeuvre. For him they were aerial drawings. Four particularly prominent examples of these, all of them unique, will be available at
Dorotheums Design Online Auction on 7 October 2020.
Originally from the private collection of the artist and subsequently from a Belgian private collection, the 1.5 by 1.1 metre early piece Cirkelmobile is a unique item. Attached to the ceiling or a branch, this 1954 mobile made of black and blue lacquered iron looks like a three-dimensional moving drawing that constantly changes playfully and poetically as a result of drafts or wind (estimate 30,000 36,000).
Finer, more energetic lines characterise the Mobile from 1967, which is painted in red and light blue and is 2.5 metres long at its largest point ( 12,000 18,000). Two other works by Ib Geertsen are intended as mobiles, and are designed in wide, red and blue aluminium loops. Tegn I and Tegn IV (1958-62), meaning sign in English, might look like different characters from an unknown alphabet, or like notes. In fact, some interpreters have called Ib Geertsens mobile his atmospheric chamber music ( 8,000 12,000, 8,000 15,000).
The term mobile goes back to Marcel Duchamp, who used it from the 1930s onwards when describing Alexander Calders early works.
Geertsen, who was in favour of an open style transcending genre boundaries, mainly created colourful abstract paintings, often with his signature drop shape, and decorated many of Denmarks public buildings and parks with paintings and (walk-in) sculptures. He was a founding member of the Linien II group, which between 1949 and 1952 combined Danish and international Concrete Art.
From 1900 until today
The main focus of the design auction is on mid-century and contemporary design, beginning with turn-of-the century bentwood furniture and continuing through the Bauhaus. The sale includes an ensemble of standardized furniture of the Frankfurt kitchen by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky ( 10,000 15,000). A set of six S-chairs mod. no. 275 ( 20,000 30,000), designed by Verner Panton in 1956, is also up for auction, as well as a set of four oversized ceramic sculptures, designed by Alessandro Mendini in 2008, for Superego Editions ( 20,000 28,000). In terms of contemporary design, a bookworm sidetable designed by Ron Arad in 1993 ( 7,000 12,000) and a mobile bar sideboard mod. Bertrand, designed in 1987 by Massimo Iosa Ghini for Memphis Milano ( 7,000 12,000) round up the offer.