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Assemblage is an artistic form (similar to the two-dimensional medium collage) usually created on a defined substrate that consists of three-dimensional elements projecting out of, or from, the substrate. Assemblage is part of the visual arts, and it typically uses found objects but is not, however, limited to these materials.

The origin of the art form dates to the cubist constructions of Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973) c. 1912 – 1914, while the origin of the actual word itself (in its artistic sense) can be traced back to the early 1950s, when Jean Dubuffet (1901 – 1985) created a series of collages of butterfly wings, which he titled assemblages d’empreintes. However, Marcel Duchamp (1887 - 1968), Jean Arp (1886 – 1966), and others had been working with objet trouvé (found objects) for many years prior to Dubuffet. Russian artist Vladimir Tatlin (1885 – 1953) created his “counter-reliefs” in 1914. The earliest woman to try her hand at assemblage was Elsa Baroness von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874 – 1927, German-born avant-garde visual artist and poet, active in Greenwich Village, New York, 1913 - 1923, where her radical self-displays came to embody a living Dada. She was considered one of the most controversial and radical women artists of the era), the Dada Baroness. In Paris in the 1920s Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976), Pablo Picasso and others began making fully 3-dimensional works from metal scraps, found metal objects and wire. In the U.S., one of the earliest and most prolific assemblage artists was Louise Nevelson (1899 – 1988), who began creating her sculptures from found pieces of wood in the late 1930s.

In the 1950s and 1960s, assemblage started to become more widely known and used. Artists like Robert Rauschenberg (1925 – 2008) and Jasper Johns (born 1930) started using scrappy materials and objects to make anti-aesthetic art sculptures, a big part of the ideas that make assemblage what it is. The painter Armando Reverón (1889 – 1954, Venezuelan painter and sculptor, precursor of Arte Povera and considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century in Latin America. While his mental health deteriorated throughout his life, his artistic abilities remained) was one of the first to use this technique when using disposable materials such as bamboo, wires, or kraft paper. In the 30s he made a skeleton with wings of mucilage, adopting this style years before other artists. In 1961, the exhibition The Art of Assemblage was featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibition showcased the work of early 20th century European artists such as Georges Braque (1882 – 1963), Jean Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso and Kurt Schwitters (1887 – 1948), alongside Americans like Man Ray (1890 – 1976), Joseph Cornell (1903 – 1972) and Robert Rauschenberg.

Marie-Louise Ekman created several works relating to this technique in the late 1960s. An early example is found in Mimmi ser mat / Minnie sees food (1967, assemblage/mixed media in acrylic glass box, 25 x 12 x 12 cm), where a miniature plastic figure of Disney’s legendary character overlooks a table laden with food. Ekman has continued working with these quirky and humorous doll’s house interiors where tiny figures make up various, more or less surrealistic, everyday scenes, meticulously arranged in acrylic glass boxes, bell jars or sardine tins.

Celebrated examples of the latter could be found in Solbadarna / Sunbathers (1976) and Fluga och två giraffer / Fly and two Giraffes (1997), both with palettes dominated by Ekman’s beloved pink in her use of faux fur and paint. Ekman recently produced new work which could also be seen as doll’s house interiors, albeit on a massive scale. Throughout November 2023, Ekman transformed one of the Stockholm School of Economics’ classrooms into an art installation and a completely unique learning environment. The work Testamentet / The Testament (2023) contains parts of Ekman’s studio. Saved items, tools, memories, and original works are arranged as they were until very recently in her studio in Stockholm.

Signed and dated ‘ML Ekman 1996’.

Provenance

Private collection (acquired directly from the artist).

Bukowskis, Stockholm, sale 654, Contemporary Art & Design, 24 – 25 April 2024, lot 306.

Firestorm Foundation (acquired at the above).

Copyright Firestorm Foundation