"Heard But Not Seen" Screen

Designer Wendell Castle American

Not on view

This screen is from a suite of furniture inspired by the classic German Expressionist horror film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1919); the stark, angular sets created disconcerting warped perspectives, heightening viewers' fears and anxiety (its title is an unsettling play on silent movies, in which characters are seen but not heard). Castle, one of the foremost woodworkers in the post-World War II American studio craft movement, furthers the disorienting, nightmarish quality of this sharply angled, planar screen by offsetting its blue-black painted decoration which evokes the look of the black-and-white film.

"Heard But Not Seen" Screen, Wendell Castle (American, Emporia, Kansas 1932–2018 Scottsville, New York), Italian poplar, gesso, aniline dye, and acrylic paint

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