Claude Rutault

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Claude Rutault

Claude Rutault (* 1941 in Les Trois-Moutiers , Department Vienne ) is a French conceptual artist .

life and work

Claude Rutault does not make his works himself. It deals with the individual elements that make up painting: color, background, image format and hanging. The work pieces are realized by the exhibition organizers concerned, according to the artist's rules. The mechanisms of the art business , based on the interaction between artwork, artist, gallery, museum, collector and auction house, are made visible through his work.

The exhibition houses, which he calls “charge takers”, receive do-it-yourself instructions, the “de-finitions / methods”, of which Rutault has developed around 600 since the 1970s.

At documenta 6 1977 Rutauld exhibited two groups of four canvases each. The dimensions were variable, there was a requirement that the color of the walls had to be the same as the color of the canvases on display. The work was titled Limits of Dependence and Independence .

The organizer of the exhibition had the choice between three options:

  • Painting over the canvas in the color of the wall
  • Paint over the wall in the color of the canvas
  • Paint over the wall and canvas in any color

de-finition / method

  • de-finition / method # 1 “canvas per unit” from 1973ː A stretched canvas, painted over in the color of the wall on which it is hanging. All standard rectangular, square, round or oval canvas formats can be used. The hanging should be traditional.
  • de-finition / method # 292 : “exhibition-suicide 2” ː At the end of the first day of the exhibition, the work will be removed. Either it is sold, then it is given directly to the new owner, or it is not sold, then it is destroyed on the spot.
  • de-finition / method # 295 : “blind painting” from 2010ː The workpiece is in a closed room. Only one person is allowed to enter the room, namely the person who purchased the picture.
  • de-finition / method # 449 : “im / mobilier” from 2010: Two canvases hanging side by side are offered for the square meter price of the building in which they are exhibited.

Exhibitions and collections (selection)

Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst , Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris , Musée d'art moderne et contemporain (Geneva)

Claude Rutault took part in documenta 6 (1977) and 7 (1982) in Kassel .

He is represented by the Perrotin Gallery.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ M-Claude Rutault ( Memento from December 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Catalog for documenta 6: Volume 1, page 126: Painting, Plastic / Environment, Performance, 1977 ISBN 3-920453-00-X
  3. ↑ Vernissage Claude Rutault: Exposition - Suicide at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, accessed on January 5, 2015 (English)
  4. ↑ Widewalls Claude Rutault in New York , accessed January 5, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Rutault, Claude
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French concept artist
DATE OF BIRTH 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Les Trois-Moutiers , Vienne department