FOOTBALL: Sotheby’s to auction provocative ‘England failures’

Sotheby’s is to auction next week the controversial Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s granite memorial to every single defeat that England’s football squad has suffered since 1874.

The ‘Untitled’ work by Maurizio Cattelan in 1999 is expected to fetch £400,000-600,000 in the London sale next Tuesday.
“Carved into it are all the defeats of England’s national football team. I guess it’s a piece which talks about pride, missed opportunities and death,” said the artist.
Etched into black granite, like an epitaph on a memorial, is every occasion the England football team has lost a game. Stretching from Scotland’s 2-1 defeat of England in Glasgow in 1874 to Romania’s 2-1 victory at the 1998 World Cup, this monumental work of art charts the many ignominious moments the national team has suffered over the years.
The monument was created by Cattelan, enfant terrible of the art world, known for his satirical and humorous sculptures. Cattelan’s other well-known works include La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour) which depicts Pope John Paul II being struck down by a meteorite.
The Italian artist first exhibited the football monument at an exhibition in London in 1999 and its sale at Sotheby’s follows England’s worst ever performance at a football World Cup in 2014 (including losses to Italy and Uruguay). The untitled work will be on public exhibition at Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries until Tuesday, March 10, when it will be offered as part of the single-owner “Bear Witness” sale.