Tulip Fever

Adam Dant (1967 - )

Lithograph

2017
  • About the work
    Location
    Country: Turkey
    City: Ankara
    Place: British Embassy
    In 2017 Gavin Turk chose one of the most iconic symbols of the Netherlands to focus on for an exhibition at the Museum van Loon, following a visit to his friend the artist Philippa van Loon. Originating in central Asia, tulips were admired in Islamic gardens in Persia (Iran), blooming across the ancient Silk Route and in Anatolia. They are viewed as a symbol of exploration, trade and migration. In the 16th century the Netherlands had a great trade history with the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) and it was the Van Loon family who were heavily involved in this trade route. Taking this story as a source of inspiration for his exhibition, Turk chose  24 contemporary artists to contribute to the exhibition — each focusing on depictions of tulips. Nineteen of the artists created prints showing tulips in different iterations, from hyperrealistic portraits to ‘exploded flowers’, from frozen blocks of flowers to tulip emojis.
  • About the artist
    Born in Cambridge, Adam Dant lives and works in London after studying Graphic Design at Liverpool School of Art (1987–90), and Fine Art and Printmaking at the Royal College of Art, London (1989–91). In 2002, he won First Prize in the Jerwood Drawing Prize, London. In 1995, Dant created the ‘Donald Parsnips Daily Journal’, an art world pamphlet, that appeared daily for five years. He is known for his "mockuments" – works based on floor plans of the Louvre, the National Gallery and Tate Britain, in which flowcharts lead from image to image to create a psycho-history of the institution being anatomized. Dant was the official Election Artist for the 2015 general election.
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  • Details
    Title
    Tulip Fever
    Portfolio Title
    Turkish Tulips
    Edition
    7/25
    Date
    2017
    Medium
    Lithograph
    Dimensions
    height: 59.4 cm, width: 83.9 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from The House of Fairy Tales, January 2018
    Inscription
    below image: bl: 7/25 ; br: Adam Dant 17
    Provenance
    The House of Fairy Tales; purchased by the GAC 2018
    GAC number
    18749/7