Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.

Michael Kvium is without a doubt best known for his paintings, but already at an early stage of his career he began to incorporate sculptures and installations in his work method.

Even during his first major solo exhibition “Cirkus humanus” at Aarhus Art Museum in 1997 he enthusiastically experimented with three-dimensional elements: large, connected puppets made of foam were hung from the ceiling, and in a large rotunda, videos were shown with muscular dystrophy patients in wheelchairs, which in a refined way made the visitor the viewed object. In one of the rooms, there were 2,000 small cast-iron eggs placed on enormous mats laid in extension of each other. Since the first performance videos, made in collaboration with Christian Lemmerz, Michael Kvium has persistently explored an increasingly larger artistic territory not rooted in painting. In the mid-1990s, his well-known gallery of characters began to manifest itself in well-made bronzes that would soon become coveted collector’s items. The eight bronzes up for auction are as far as we know the only ones that exist in one group today. The custom-made podiums ensure a consistent and unique presentation. It all represents a rare chance to acquire an extensive collection of sculptures by the artist.