BOETTI, Alighiero (1940-1994)

Classifying the thousand longest rivers in the world. Ascoli Piceno: Sergio D’Auria, 1977.   The Thousand Longest Rivers in the World by Alighiero Boetti is a conceptual project comprising a book and two tapestries, born from a seven-year-long research into the lengths of rivers. The work reflects Boetti’s critical view of classification systems: while it presents an apparently objective and orderly list of the world’s thousand longest rivers, it highlights the impossibility of achieving absolute and definitive measurements. The book, featuring an embroidered cover, includes a brief introduction by Annemarie Sauzeau and a thousand unindexed pages that gather detailed information about each river (name, source, mouth, length), accompanied by notes on name variants and discrepancies in the data. The work underscores the tension between the scientific impulse to organize reality and the awareness of the inherent limits, contradictions, and ambiguities in any attempt at classification.   (215 x 160 x 55mm). Book of 1016 typographically printed pages with embroidered cover. Signed by Alighiero Boetti and Anne-Marie Sauzeau Boetti. Edition of 150 copies with embroidered cover + 300 copies with cardboard cover in red canvas + 50 copies with Roman numbers + some copies not numbered with embroidered cover + some copies signed H.C. This is copy no. 120. Original slipcase. (Few occasional small spots on pages, minor spots on the edges, slight wear on rear cover, slight wear on slipcase). Provenance: Private collection, Milan.   This work is accompanied by photo-certificate of authenticity issued by the Alighiero Boetti Archive, Rome, with no. 10646.

Estimate € 15,000 - 18,000