a sequence of 9 photolithographic and silkscreen prints, each signed, dated, and editioned '1/50' in pencil on the image, framed, Buhl Collection and Guggenheim Museum exhibition labels on the reverse, 1985 (9)

Peter Blum Gallery, New York, 1996

New York, Thread Waxing Space, Collection in Context: Selected Contemporary Photographs of Hands from the Collection of Henry M. Buhl, September - October 1996, and 8 other national and international venues through 1999 (see Appendix 1)

New York, Guggenheim Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection, June - September 2004, and 4 other international venues through 2007 (see Appendix 1)

West Palm Beach, Norton Museum of Art, A Show of Hands: Photographs and Sculpture from the Buhl Collection, January - March 2008

Seoul, South Korea, Daelim Contemporary Art Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Asian tour), March - May 2009, and 2 other Asian venues through 2011 (see Appendix 1)

Marianne Courville, Collection in Context: Selected Contemporary Photographs of Hands from the Collection of Henry M. Buhl (New York, 1996), pl. 15 (this sequence)

Jennifer Blessing, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Guggenheim Foundation, 2004), pp. 41 and 226 (this sequence)

Although this sequence of prints has not been examined out of its frames, the prints appear to be in excellent condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

No contemporary artist has married images to text so forcefully as Barbara Kruger.  With a background in magazine design, Kruger is adept at appropriating images from various sources, re-sizing and cropping them, and applying text to create works characterized by wit, satire, urgency and, often, the anger of the dispossessed. We Will No Longer Be Seen And Not Heard presents its charged text across nine images, and throws down the gauntlet to an unnamed authority.

As a student at Parsons School of Design, Kruger studied under Diane Arbus (Lot 321) and the designer Marvin Israel.  Israel urged her to assemble a portfolio, and on its strength she was hired by Mademoiselleas a graphic designer in the late 1960s.  In her personal work she experimented with photography and painting, but became increasingly interested in the written and spoken word.  In the early 1970s, she designed a number of politically-minded book covers, and shortly thereafter began to combine text and images in her own work.  The resulting works have an impact based simultaneously on the intensity of her slogans and on her unparalleled talent for pairing them with appropriate and frequently ironic imagery.