Bruce Nauman

Bruce Nauman was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on December 6, 1941. He began by studying music and mathematics at the University of Wisconsin in 1960 before switching to the art department of the University of California, Davis, and graduating with an MFA in 1966. In 1968, Nauman was taken under the wing of gallery owner Leo Castelli and his career took off. By the age of 31 he had his first retrospective show, at Los Angeles County Museum.

Nauman began with painting but turned to sculpture and to performance art after 1964. He collaborated with William Allan and Robert Nelson on film projects. A year later, he further broadened his creative scope to embrace interactive environments, neon walls, as well as photography and video. His work received its ultimate accolade in 1999 when Nauman was awarded a Golden Lion at the 48th Venice Biennale.

There are two major exhibitions this year where you can get a flavour of his multi-disciplinary work. The first is at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art and runs until September 3, 2007. The second, entitled A Rose Has no Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s, is at the Rivoli Castle, Turin, until September 9, 2007.

This media-friendly artist has been a big success at auction. In 1992 he had his first million plus sale when One hundred live and die, a sculpture in neon lights, sold for USD 1.75 million at Sotheby’s New York. Six years later, his monumental Good Boy, Bad Boy from 1986-87 went for USD 2 million at Sotheby’s New York. The high tide mark for Nauman’s index came with the exceptional USD 9 million sale at Christie’s New York on May 17, 2001, for Henry Moore bound to Fail, back view, a sculpture he had made when he was 26. This sale placed Bruce Nauman at the top of the Artprice rankings for turnover by contemporary artists and his price index doubled. The Nauman boom then abated and prices stalled until 2005. But over the last two years his index has been moving upward again: gaining 87% in 2006 to double its 1990 level. As an illustration of this renewed enthusiasm, on May 17, Second Poem Piece, a sculpture estimated at USD 350,000-450,000, was knocked down at Christie’s New York for USD 1.3 million.

Outside the million-plus pieces, two thirds of Nauman’s market is made up of works that sell for less than USD 15,000. For this kind of price collectors can buy works on video or DVD issued in small editions. On June 2, for instance, Phillips, de Pury & Company sold Walk with Contrapposto, a DVD of a 1968 performance by the artist issued in an edition of 20, for USD 3,200. Those with more modest budgets can also pick up lithographs, which account for more than half of his sales at auction. But prices paid for these multiple works are also rising strongly. No, a 1981 lithograph in an edition of 5 went for USD 6,000 at Christie’s New York in February. In 1998 number 5/5 in the series had sold for just USD 2,400.