Although Jean Tinguely and others have accustomed museum visitors to sculpture made of abandoned materials, it was still quite innovative when Stankiewicz made this work. It was included in the now-famous 1959 show at the Museum of Modern Art, “Sixteen Americans,” where Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly, and others were first presented to a wide public.
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Dimensions:48 1/2 × 28 × 44 in., 134.2 lb. (123.2 × 71.1 × 111.8 cm, 60.9 kg)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006
Object Number:2006.32.59
[Hansa Gallery, New York, 1958]; [Stable Gallery, New York, by January 1959; sold on May 27, 1959 to Newman]; Muriel Kallis Newman, Chicago (1959–2006; her gift to MMA)
New York. Stable Gallery. "Richard Stankiewicz," January 1959, no catalogue.
Art Institute of Chicago. "19th Annual Exhibition: Society for Contemporary Art," April 23–May 24, 1959, no catalogue.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Sixteen Americans," December 16, 1959–February 17, 1960, unnumbered cat. (p. 72; lent by Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Newman, Chicago).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "An American Choice: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection," May 21–September 27, 1981, unnumbered cat. (p. 95).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 17, 2007–February 3, 2008, extended to March 2, 2008, no. 54.
Hilton Kramer. "Modernist Show Moves Met Firmly into Art of 20th Century." New York Times (May 22, 1981), p. C21.
Emmie Donadio inAbstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow, Lisa Mintz Messinger, and Nan Rosenthal. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 174–77, no. 54, ill. (color).
Claes Oldenburg (American (born Sweden), Stockholm 1929–2022 New York)
1962
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