Two Works: “Perrotin Galleries: Quartz Eroded Venus of Arles”; “Perrotin Galleries: Blue Calcite Eroded Moses”
The two most important offset prints to come out of Galerie Perrotin‘s 2019 Paris exhibition are not posters. Serious collectors already know this. Everyone else keeps making the same four mistakes.
The “Quartz Eroded Venus of Arles” and “Blue Calcite Eroded Moses” are exhibition documents of two landmark sculptures from Daniel Arsham’s “Paris, 3020” show at Perrotin Paris, produced as limited offset prints on 300g coated paper at 90 x 60 cm. Both works derive from large-scale sculptural originals cast from molds of classical masterpieces, and both carry the full weight of that context into secondary market pricing. The print format does not diminish them. It concentrates them.
Myth #1: “These Are Just Exhibition Posters”
Stop. A poster hangs in a dorm room. These do not belong in that sentence.
Arsham’s “Paris, 3020” suite of large-scale sculptures expresses influence from iconic classical busts, friezes, and sculptures derived from antiquity, created after the artist received unprecedented access to the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, a 200-year-old French molding atelier that reproduces masterpieces for several of Europe’s major encyclopedic museums. That access matters. Arsham made use of molds and scans of iconic works from the collections of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Acropolis Museum in Athens, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, and the San Pietro in Vincoli.
So the sculptures themselves carry museum-grade provenance. The offset prints document those exact sculptural works. The “Quartz Eroded Venus of Arles” offset print was produced for the Paris “3020” exhibition, which ran from 11 January to 21 March 2019 at Perrotin. Both prints measure 90 x 60 cm on 300g coated paper. That specification is not incidental. It is institutional.
Moreover, the secondary market confirms this. The “Blue Calcite Eroded Moses” offset print, originally priced at €200, now trades as sold-out on specialist gallery platforms. Sold-out on primary. Appreciating on secondary. That is not poster behavior.
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Myth #2: “The Venus and Moses Are Random Subject Choices”
Nothing Arsham does is random. Every subject selection in “Paris, 3020” follows a deliberate conceptual arc.
The Venus of Arles: A Statue Already About Restoration and Loss
The Venus of Arles is a 1.94-metre-high sculpture of Venus at the Musée du Louvre, rendered in Hymettus marble and dating to the end of the 1st century BC. Workers discovered the Venus in 1651 while digging a well. The head appeared first, at a depth of six feet, which spurred further excavations. Later, after Louis XIV received it in 1681 to decorate the Galerie des Glaces at Versailles, further excavations found no additional fragments.
In other words, this sculpture already carries a history of incompleteness, restoration, and royal possession. Arsham rendered it in quartz and hydrostone, adding a second layer of fictional erosion on top of a work already partially reconstructed by history. That conceptual doubling is precisely why this piece anchors the first room of the exhibition.
The first room of “Paris, 3020” presented two emblematic works from classical antiquity representing women, specifically the goddess Aphrodite and Lucilla, daughter of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, better known as the Venus of Arles and the Head of Lucilla.
The Blue Calcite Moses: Michelangelo Meets Speculative Archaeology
Arsham rendered Michelangelo’s Moses in blue calcite and hydrostone, eroding the figure near his thighs, chest, and head. In the adjacent room, Arsham continued his references to Western art masterpieces by presenting an eroded version of Michelangelo’s seated Moses and the Venus de Milo facing each other. Blue calcite as a material choice carries specific weight. Arsham consistently uses blue calcite for works that read as geological, aquatic, and ancient simultaneously. The Moses in blue calcite feels submerged, as though excavated from a future seafloor. That is not an accident.
Myth #3: “Offset Prints Are Low-Tier Arsham Collectibles”
This myth actively costs collectors money. The hierarchy many people apply to Arsham’s output, sculptures first, editions second, prints last, ignores how the market actually moves.
Print vs. Sculpture: The Access Argument
| Format | Subject | Material | Original Issue Price | Market Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large-scale sculpture | Blue Calcite Eroded Moses | Blue calcite, hydrostone | Gallery inquiry | Unique / museum-tier |
| Offset print | Blue Calcite Eroded Moses | 300g coated paper, 90x60cm | €200 | Sold out, secondary premium |
| Offset print | Quartz Eroded Venus of Arles | 300g coated paper, 90x60cm | €200 | Sold out, secondary premium |
First, the sculptures are not accessible to most collectors. They require gallery relationships, substantial capital, and often prior collecting history with Perrotin. Second, the prints document the exact same works and carry the same exhibition provenance. For entry-level and mid-tier Arsham collectors, these prints are the most direct ownership claim available to the “Paris, 3020” series. That scarcity drives secondary demand upward, not downward.
For almost 15 years, American artist Daniel Arsham has recreated iconic cultural items from the 20th and 21st centuries, crystallizing everything from Walkman cassette players and Sony headphones to Polaroid cameras, Smeg refrigerators, and Nike classics. Such artifacts are recast and reframed, often presented as partially eroded “future relics” that reflect how culture might be historicized by generations to come. The classical antiquity turn in 2019 marks a genuine evolution in his practice, and the “Paris, 3020” prints document that pivot directly.
Myth #4: “The Material Names Are Just Marketing”
Quartz and blue calcite are not brand language. They are precise material descriptions that inform both the visual character of the originals and the collector logic behind the prints.
Why Mineral Names Matter to Arsham’s Practice
At Perrotin, Arsham exhibits large-scale sculptures of eroded wristwatches constructed in selenite, quartz, and hydrostone. Across his entire practice, specific mineral choices signal specific aesthetic and conceptual registers. Quartz reads warm, crystalline, and ancient. Blue calcite reads cold, geological, and oceanic. In his Star Wars collaboration, Arsham crafted C-3PO and R2-D2 in minerals including blue calcite, selenite, and hydrostone. The blue calcite recurs across collaborations because it delivers a consistent visual language of suspended time and deep geological age.
Additionally, the mineral name in the title functions as a direct index to the sculptural original. When a collector owns the “Quartz Eroded Venus of Arles” print, the title specifies exactly which material version of that sculpture they reference. In a practice as edition-dense as Arsham’s, that specificity has real collector value.
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Fictional Archaeology as a Collecting Framework
Arsham develops a practice centered on fictional archaeology, casting everyday consumer objects and cultural artifacts in eroded materials to suggest relics from an imagined future civilization. That framework applies with full force to the “Paris, 3020” classical works. The Venus of Arles and the Moses are not pop-cultural objects. They are already canonical. Arsham imagines them surviving another thousand years, then further eroding. The “Paris, 3020” title itself states that premise: Paris in the year 3020.
Arsham explained that the idea to work with classical antiquity sculptures came two years before the exhibition, while he was in Paris preparing for a museum project. He noted his longstanding interest in the way objects move through time, but described “Paris, 3020” as his first time working specifically with classical and ancient objects.
Comparison: Quartz Venus vs. Blue Calcite Moses as Collector Choices
| Criterion | Quartz Eroded Venus of Arles | Blue Calcite Eroded Moses |
|---|---|---|
| Source sculpture | Louvre collection, 1st century BC | Michelangelo, San Pietro in Vincoli |
| Material palette | Quartz, hydrostone | Blue calcite, hydrostone |
| Visual register | Warm, crystalline, feminine | Cold, oceanic, monumental |
| Exhibition room | Room one, “Paris, 3020” | Room two, “Paris, 3020” |
| Collector appeal | Classical Arsham entry point | Michelangelo crossover demand |
Both prints belong together. Collectors who own one and not the other hold half a conversation. The exhibition presented these works in sequence, and the prints function the same way. Buy both or accept that your collection reflects only part of Arsham’s 2019 argument.
Explore Related Works at Rare Inventory
Rare Inventory stocks a curated selection of works at the intersection of contemporary art, design, and collectible culture. For collectors building around the Perrotin ecosystem and artists who share Arsham’s interest in cultural artifacts and mineral aesthetics, consider these:
Where to Buy the Perrotin Eroded Venus of Arles and Eroded Moses
Rare Inventory, based in France and shipping across Europe, connects collectors to works across the full spectrum of contemporary collectible culture, from Perrotin-adjacent editions to cross-cultural designer releases. Browse the full catalog at rareinventory.com for current availability and to source pieces that sit in dialogue with the Arsham classical series. The team ships across Europe and understands the collector context behind every piece they carry.
Frequently asked questions
Who created the Quartz Eroded Venus of Arles and Blue Calcite Eroded Moses?
Daniel Arsham, an American artist born in 1980, created both works as large-scale sculptures for his “Paris, 3020” exhibition at Galerie Perrotin in Paris. The gallery produced offset prints of both works on 300g coated paper at 90 x 60 cm to accompany the exhibition. Arsham cast the sculptures from molds of the original classical works with the cooperation of the Réunion des Musées Nationaux.
What minerals did Arsham use for these sculptures?
The Venus of Arles sculpture uses quartz and hydrostone. The Moses sculpture uses blue calcite and hydrostone. Both minerals carry specific visual registers in Arsham’s broader practice. Quartz reads warm and crystalline. Blue calcite reads cold and geological. The mineral choice is a deliberate conceptual decision, not a finishing detail.
Are the offset prints signed and numbered?
The “Paris, 3020” offset prints from Perrotin circulate in the secondary market as exhibition prints. Specific edition size and signing details vary by individual print and should be confirmed against physical documentation at point of purchase. Always request a certificate of authenticity and verify print condition against the 300g coated paper specification before buying on the secondary market.
How does “Paris, 3020” fit into Arsham’s broader collecting ecosystem?
For almost 15 years, Arsham has recreated iconic cultural items from the 20th and 21st centuries, inviting audiences to see these commodities anew. The “Paris, 3020” classical series marks the first time he applied that methodology to ancient rather than contemporary objects, making it a genuine turning point in his practice. Collectors who track his output consider the 2019 Perrotin show a category-defining moment. Works from this series sit at the top of any serious Arsham collection.
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