Designer: Willi Gutmann (1927 – 2013)

Item: King Nov sculpture

Manufactured by: UGGI Suisse

Country of origin: Switzerland

Year made: 1968

Materials: Aluminum

Dimensions: 10 ½” x 10” x 3 ¼” as shown. Each piece is 3 ¼” x 3 ¼” x 3 ¼” and the round piece is 5” diameter and 3 ¼” deep

Description: Here is an important aluminum kinetic sculpture by noted Swiss artist Willi Gutmann.  This work has interchangeable parts that can be configured in a variety of different ways, as shown in our photos.  Marked on the edge of the round element with Gutmann’s initials WG, the date 68 for 1968, and S-17.  It also has what we believe is the title King Nov etched in the edge.  We found photos of this piece and its various components in a published catalog of the collection of his work.

Gutmann initially trained and worked as an architect, but transitioned into fine art sculpture in the early 1960s.  He specialized in large outdoor sculptures, but also produced a fine range of small tabletop works in aluminum, as well as some editioned pieced for ALCOA and other firms.

Condition: Very good with scattered scratches and very vey minor edge dings.

References: Wendelberger, Alex, Willi Guttman Collection, Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg Berlin (2017); Wendelberger Neues, Kunst, September 2017 issue