Description: Up for bid is a very nice CLAES OLDENBURG multiple entitled UNATTENDED LUNCHES from the legendary 1968 subscription based art journal S.M.S. (Shit Must Stop). Please see below for more information about these six very collectible S.M.S. portfolios. The Claes Oldenburg contribution comes from the #6 portfolio, and consists of a hand-bound pamphlet with a knotted rope, with an offset print of a magic marker drawing by Oldenburg. The pamphlet contains typewritten pages of proposed menus of quintessential mundane American food for seven unattended lunches. Enclosed within is an envelope containing a poetic typewritten R.S.V.P. The overall dimensions of the pamphlet measure 8.5" x 5.5" and the unfolded letter measures 11" x 8.5". Both the pamphlet and enclosed letter/envelope are in excellent vintage condition. Please see my other auctions for a rare signed version of this CO multiple (from the deluxe edition). "Founded in New York City by artist, collector and dealer William Copley, S.M.S. was an art collection in a box, filled with small-scale, often whimsical, artworks available by subscription. Delivering art through the post offered Copley, and his collaborator Dmitri Petrov, a way to circumvent the art market and make contemporary art accessible to nearly anyone. Inspired by Copley’s mentor and friend Marcel Duchamp’s Boîte-en-valise, S.M.S. was conceived as an inter-media and intergenerational publication that would present artworks by prominent and unknown artists side by side. The magazine gathered an impressive range including the Surrealist luminaries Man Ray and Meret Oppenheim, Pop artists Richard Hamilton and Roy Lichtenstein, composers Lamont Young and Terry Riley, and an up-and-coming generation of conceptual and post-studio artists such as Joseph Kosuth and Bruce Nauman. Regardless of stature, each was paid $100 for their contribution. This egalitarian spirit extended to the communal atmosphere of Copley’s upper west side Letter Edged in Black Press loft which functioned as an unofficial hangout for many of the participants. The six issues of S.M.S. are composed of “original reproductions”—luxurious, exacting replicas of each artist’s work in an edition of approximately 2,000. The magazine spared no expense, seeking out, and even inventing, varied and obscure production methods including Lil Picard’s labor intensive Burned Bow Tie—each of which needed to be individually singed. The enormous edition size—and the affordable price of $125 per subscription—enabled a much broader swath of the public to collect the internationally recognized artists contained in the portfolios. Ultimately short-lived, S.M.S. portfolios were mailed bi-monthly between February and December of 1968 directly to subscribers, with each portfolio containing approximately a dozen works of art." (quote and any extra photography taken directly from sms.sensatejournal.com)
Price: 225 USD
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
End Time: 2025-01-28T07:43:45.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Artist: Claes Oldenburg
Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
Date of Creation: 1950-1969
Original/Reproduction: Original Print
Features: Signed
Edition Type: Limited Edition
Edition Size: 100
Type: Print
