Carnegie Museum of Art announces Recent Acquisition of Works to the Collection |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 09 December 2008 04:53 |
|
A selection of recent acquisitions includes: Department of Contemporary Art Aaronel deRoy Gruber American (b. 1918) Spherical Plateaus, c. 1968 Acrylic with 1 or 1 1/2 rpm bogey motor and 3 vertical fluorescent tubes 73 1/2 x 15 x 21 in. Gift of the Gruber Family A kinetic sculpture, Spherical Plateaus consists of five layered orbs that are vertically hung within an acrylic exterior. These colorful orbs rotate slowly, blending their colors with each other and with the interior light. Gruber is a distinguished Pittsburgh-based artist, and has been active with Associated Artists of Pittsburgh since 1957. Thomas Schütte German (b. 1954) Zombie VIII, 2008 Bronze 29 1/2 x 33 1/2 x 41 5/16 in. The Henry L. Hillman Fund Zombie VIII reflects Schütte’s ongoing exploration of the grotesqueries of figuration, here manifested in the dismembered and subsequently reanimated parts of his earlier Grosse Geister, or big spirit sculptures. The work is currently installed, along with two other Zombie sculptures and a series of watercolor drawings by the artist, in Life on Mars, the 2008 Carnegie International. Christopher Wool American (b. 1955) Untitled, 2007 Enamel on linen 126 x 96 in. The Henry L. Hillman Fund In the large-scale painting Untitled, the artist’s technique creates a complex illusion of depth in which the black lines disappear and reappear as if behind many layers. As with all of Wool’s works, the turbulent appearance belies an underlying harmony within the composition. Christopher Wool’s work was included in the 1991 Carnegie International. This piece complements six other works by Wool already in the collection. Department of Decorative Arts Michelle Erickson American (b. 1960) Made in China, 2008 Porcelain 15 x 8 x 8 in. Gift of Charlotte and Stanley Bernstein, by exchange Made in China is a visually striking figure that creates a link between the museum’s contemporary and historic ceramic collections. Erickson takes inspiration from 18th-century Chinese Guanyin figures and English sweetmeat dishes, both of which exist in the museum’s collection for comparison. By imbuing historic forms with immediately recognizable modern symbols, such as the Shell Oil logo or Olympic rings, Erickson presents a commentary on contemporary wealth, luxury, vanity, corruption, and international relations through a porcelain medium that embodied the same themes more than 300 years ago. Harvey K. Littleton American (b. 1922) Blue/Lemon Sliced Descending Form, 1989 Glass 13 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 5 in. 5 x 5 x 3 1/2 in. Bequest of Maxine H. Block Harvey K. Littleton is considered the father of the American Studio Glass movement. This is the first work in the museum’s collection by Littleton. Since 1996, William and Maxine Block have given or bequeathed 93 contemporary glass objects to Carnegie Museum of Art, including this work; their gifts comprise nearly half of the contemporary glass collection for which the museum is nationally recognized. Department of Fine Art Wassily Kandinsky Russian (1866–1944) Radierung / No. 4, 1916 Drypoint on wove paper Image # IV, impression 7 of 10 Image: 3 9/16 x 3 1/4 in. Edward N. Haskell Family Acquisition Fund Wassily Kandinsky made this aesthetically powerful drypoint in the chaotic period of World War I, when he concentrated on printmaking, drawing, and watercolor while moving from Germany to Switzerland to Russia to Stockholm and then back again to Russia. This is the third Kandinsky in the museum’s collection, and the earliest; it will also augment the museum’s holdings in 20th-century abstraction. Kandinsky participated in the 1939 Carnegie International. Giovanni Battista Piranesi Italian (1720–1778) The Triumphal Arch, plate: c. 1747–1749, impression: c. 1750–1759 From the series Grotesques (Grotteschi) Engraving, etching, drypoint, and burnishing on paper State 1 of 5 Second edition, first issue Sheet: 20 1/8 x 27 1/2 in. Image: 15 1/8 x 21 1/4 in. Charles J. Rosenbloom Fund This is a strong, first-state impression of a rare print by Piranesi from Grotesques (Grotteschi), an intriguing, small series of imaginary, fantastical, and conceptual works. The unifying themes in the series are human and architectural decay, decline, and ruin, as well as the intermixing of the past with the present. Though there are 23 prints by Piranesi in the museum’s collection, this is the first from the Grotteschi series. Visit The Carnegie Museum of Art at : http://www.cmoa.org/ Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
Related Articles :
