Controversies

Along with the debate surrounding Tilted Arc, Serra's public image has been further affected by two tragic accidents. In November 1971, 34-year-old Raymond Johnson, a laborer installing Serra's Sculpture No. 3 at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, was crushed to death when a two-ton steel plate toppled over on him. A subsequent lawsuit absolved the artist and museum of blame. In October 1989, another worker lost a leg while dismantling a 16-ton Serra sculpture at the Leo Castelli Gallery.^[5]
In 2002, an installation titled Vectors was to be built at the California Institute of Technology from the bequest of Eli Broad. The proposed 80-ton piece,^[71] to be four steel plates of similar material as Tilted Arc zig-zagging across one of the few green spaces at the university, met significant opposition by the student body and professors as being a "'derivative' rehash of earlier works, or an 'arrogant' piece that [belied] Institute values."^[72] The piece was never installed.^[71]

Art market

Only a few of Serra’s top auction prices are for sculpture; the rest are for his works on paper. In 2001, an untitled, 1984 curved steel wall was sold for $1.2 million at Sotheby's in New York.^[73] The current record auction price for a Serra sculpture was paid at Sotheby’s in 2008, where 12-4-8, a 1983 work consisting of three steel plates, sold for $1.65 million.^[74]
Richard Bellamy's Green Gallery was Serra's first dealership.^[75] By 1969 Serra was regularly showing his works at the Leo Castelli Gallery and receiving a regular gallery stipend of $500 a month.^[5] Galerie m in Bochum, Germany, has represented Serra in Europe since 1975. Gagosian Gallery became the artist’s primary dealer in 1991 after opening a space in New York's Soho district with large entryways and a supported foundation. Since 1972, with publisher Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles, Serra has released 170 different prints, 120 of them since 1990.^[73]