I didn’t know about the Dashkov Vase until David Zwirner emailed it to me today, and even if its name means it’s connected to Princess Dashkova, who helped in the coup that brought Catherine the Great to power, it still stands on its own.
Zwirner Uptown is showing a selection of classical and antique hardstone objects from Galerie Kugel in Paris alongside works by gallery artists. Some of the pairings are a bit straightforward, but perhaps the main takeaway is the experience of time-spanning beauty. Anyway, this vase carved from a block of sardonyx two thousand years ago is not 10 cm tall. You have not held something this small since the iPhone 6. In the installation view it feels a bit lost, frankly, next to a matching Wolfgang Tillmanns Freischwimmer. But in the online checklist, they glow together as equals.
Set in Stone, Galerie Kugel and David Zwirner, 69th st, 12 May -26 June 2026 [davidzwirner]