The London dealer Pilar Ordovas, who represents the estate of the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida, is taking a temporary space in midtown New York to host the artist’s first exhibition in the US for a generation.
Rhythm-Time-Silence (488 Madison Avenue, 30 October-19 December) comprises eight major sculptures. This was a challenge when looking for a suitable space says Ordovas, referring in particular to the 21-tonne work Consejo al espacio VIII (2000).
This and five other works—including a 1999 piece from Chillida’s celebrated Peine del viento series—are for sale for between $3m and $12m.
It is rare for sculptures of this scale to trade at auction, though when they do they generate increasingly international attention. Chillida’s auction record of £4.1m was made at Christie’s in 2013 for the 8m-high Buscando La Luz IV (2001), bought by Qatar for its university campus in Doha.
For Ordovas, who spent her childhood summers near Chillida’s hometown in Spain’s San Sebastián, the exhibition marks a personal milestone. “I grew up around his works, which had a huge impact on me and in many ways made me want to do what I do,” she says.