Sculpture Garden

Claes Oldenburg, American, born Sweden, 1929, and Coosje van Bruggen, American, 1942-2009, Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, model 1998, fabricated 1999, painted stainless steel and fiberglass, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation 1998.150.1

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Louise Bourgeois, American, born France, 1911-2010, Spider, 1996, cast 1997, bronze with silver nitrate patina, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation 1997.136.1

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As tall as the spindly trees behind it, a bronze, abstract, free-standing sculpture is made up of a circle set within a shallow box, which is balanced on the tip of an upside-down, thick-legged, V shape. The textured, lumpy legs taper as they move up. A sinewy rope-like texture runs, like a hem, along the outside of the pointed arch. Another form, like a lip, lines the inner edge where the legs pinch together at the top of the arch. The box balanced on the apex is nearly as wide as the legs. The box has a projecting rim, and is corrugated along the outer surfaces and the front edge, as if it had been cut down from a cardboard box. The circle centered in the box also has a projecting rim, like a tall cake pan. Within the circle, a shape like the wing of a bird appears to have been incised. A curving, bowtie-like shape protruding on a rod from the top of the box is incised with a dot at the center of another circle.

Joan Miró, Spanish, 1893-1983, Personnage Gothique, Oiseau-Eclair (Gothic Personage, Bird-Flash), model 1974, cast 1977, bronze, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Copyright © 1998 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington 1992.53.1

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Twenty-one, free-standing, bronze sculptures of headless people are arranged under the green canopies of trees in this horizontal photograph. The earth-brown surfaces of the sculptures are rough. In this view, they cluster together at various distances from each other, and the bodies of all are angled to our right. They stand erect with their legs together and arms pressed tightly along their sides. From this angle, one person is positioned farther from the rest, to our left. Each person stands on a square base that sits on the ground, which appears to be fine mulch or pine needles. Six trees are spaced around the group, and together their canopies fill the top third of this photograph. Beyond the trees is a low, green hedge that encloses the whole group. Sunlight illuminates the front, right-hand surfaces of the sculptures.

Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish, born 1930, Puellae (Girls), 1992, bronze, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation 1998.148.1

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Mark di Suvero, American, born 1933, Aurora, 1992-1993, steel, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation 1996.72.1

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Scott Burton, American, 1939-1989, Six-Part Seating, conceived 1985, fabricated 1998, polished granite, Gift of the Collectors Committee 1998.146.1

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Joel Shapiro, American, born 1941, Untitled, 1989, bronze, Gift of the Collectors Committee 1990.29.1

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A steel square with rounded corners sits upright on a grassy lawn in front of a row of trees under a blue sky. The metal is weathered and lightly pitted to a dark, bronze brown. It looms over the bushes behind it.

Ellsworth Kelly, American, born 1923, Stele II, 1973, one-inch weathering steel, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation 1999.15.2

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A rabbit with long ears and spindly limbs sitting on a boulder is cast in bronze in this freestanding sculpture. In this view, the rabbit’s body is angled to our left. It rests its long muzzle on its right fist, to our left. That elbow rests on the right, bent knee. The other wrist rests on the other bent knee. The textured boulder sits on a disk-like round base also cast in bronze, and the sculpture is displayed on a grassy lawn against a screen of mature green trees.

Barry Flanagan, British, 1941-2009, Thinker on a Rock, 1997, bronze, Gift of John and Mary Pappajohn, Des Moines, Iowa 1999.30.1

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A free-standing, stepped pyramid made of interlocking, white concrete blocks sits on a grassy lawn, rising above the bushes and low trees behind it. This photograph shows the pyramid with one corner coming straight at us so each side is a zigzag of twenty-four steps. The structure is lit from our left so casts gray shadows to our right. One tall tree behind the pyramid extends off the top edge of the photograph and buildings in the distance have cream-white walls and red roofs.

Sol LeWitt, American, 1928-2007, Four-Sided Pyramid, first installation 1997, fabricated 1999, concrete blocks and mortar, Gift of the Donald Fisher Family 1998.149.1

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Lucas Samaras, American, born Greece, 1936, Chair Transformation Number 20B, 1996, patinated bronze, The Nancy Lee and Perry Bass Fund 1998.99.1

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This free-standing sculpture is a three-footed, black metal arch with flat, faceted surfaces along its chunky legs. On the top half, three arms curve up and in to meet at the center. The arms are offset from the three legs and are connected by bands across the middle. The sculpture stands on a grassy park lawn and is nearly as tall as the mature trees behind it. Sunlight gleams on the matte surfaces so some look lighter gray and others are flat black.

Tony Smith, American, 1912-1980, Moondog, model 1964, fabricated 1998-1999, painted aluminum, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation 1997.137.1

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David Smith, American, 1906-1965, Cubi XXVI, 1965, steel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund 1978.14.1

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This free-standing sculpture is made up of panels and geometric shapes of vivid yellow, crimson red, white, and slate gray, all outlined with bold, jet-black lines, to create a simplified, cartoon-like, single-story house. The sculpture sits slightly off the ground on four metal feet, and is displayed on a grassy lawn with an iron fence and trees in the background. One short end of the house faces us, to our left. The peaked wall is white and is pierced with a window divided into six empty panes, two across and three down, and flanked by red shutters. Above the window is a tall, rectangular air vent with six horizontal slats. Below the window a loose grid of three horizontal lines and four short, vertical lines suggest an abstracted brick pattern. The long side of the house moves away from us to our right. It has a red chimney at the center of the gray roof. The wall of the front of the house is canary yellow. There is a white door at the middle and two more six-paned windows with red shutters to each side. Two shallow white steps leading down from the door are suggested by staggered, narrow rectangles. A dove-gray band runs along the bottom of both walls. All of the features, including the windows, shutters, door, chimney, roof, and gray band are outlined in black.

Roy Lichtenstein, American, 1923-1997, House I, model 1996, fabricated 1998, fabricated and painted aluminum, Gift of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation 1998.147.1

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Set in an outdoor garden, a sculpture with two tall metal arms curve up like stylized tree branches to hold a sign between them, which reads, “METROPOLITAIN.” In this photograph, the sign faces us and fence-like rows of panels extend back from the posts, and across the back to enclose three sides. The panels, posts, and the framework holding the sign are all painted sage green. Each panel has a rounded top with a two-lobed, medallion-like center. The arms of the posts reach above the sign, and each curves up and over a burgundy-red light that hangs down like a flower bud. Three wooden benches sit within the enclosure. The sculpture is set within a garden with tall trees, a grassy lawn, and umbrella-covered café tables and chairs. A silver, metal tree rises in the near distance to our left.

Hector Guimard, French, 1867-1942, An Entrance to the Paris Métropolitain, conceived 1902, fabricated 1902/1913, painted cast iron and bronze, Gift of Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod 2000.2.1

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Created with tiny, colored stones and glass, this mosaic shows groups of people along and near the edge of a brilliant, topaz-blue body of water with a large, lemon-yellow, stylized sun in the sky in this horizontal composition. The aquamarine blue and vibrant yellow along with lime green, lilac purple, oyster white, and teal used in the people and landscape give this work a shimmering look. A pair of people recline together under a tree in the lower right corner. A sheep stands nearby, and a bird perches in the tree above. Beyond the tree and to our left, a cluster of box-like forms suggests a city in the distance. Larger in scale, so seeming closer to us, a man wearing a lapis-blue toga and a yellow cap holds a stringed instrument, a lyre, in front of his body. To the left, at the center of the composition, a trio of women each wearing amethyst-purple, magenta-pink, or lapis-blue dresses stand close to each other. They have long, dark hair and their bodies and garments are outlined in black. Between them and the large sun to our left, a winged horse with a buttercup-yellow body and turquoise-blue wings rears up. Near the upper left corner, the stylized sun is represented by a disk surrounded by pointed peaks, surrounded by a larger disk outlined with another ring of triangular points. A winged person holding a set of pan pipes flies above the sun to our left, over a small crescent moon below. Near the lower left corner, two groups of people gather around a body of bright blue water occupied by two fish. The artist signed and dated the work in the lower right corner: “MArC ChAgAll 69.” The mosaic is displayed outside in front of a screen of trees, with a band of bushes with green and orange leaves below.

Marc Chagall, Russian, 1887-1985, Orphée, 1969, stone and glass mosaic, The John U. and Evelyn S. Nef Collection 2011.60.104.1-10

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Tony Smith, American, 1912-1980, Wandering Rocks, 1967, painted steel, Gift of the Collectors Committee 1981.53.1

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Four deep, three-dimensional letters spell out the word AMOR in this free-standing sculpture, with the A and M stacked on top of the O and R to create a square on a low black platform. The letters are coral red with butter-yellow undersides. The elongated, oval-shaped opening within the circular letter O is angled 45 degrees, toward the M at the upper right. We stand slightly to the left in this photograph so we can see the deep sides of the letters. The sculpture is displayed out-of-doors with trees and a tall black fence in the background and plantings around the base.

Robert Indiana, American, born 1928, AMOR, conceived 1998, executed 2006, polychrome aluminium, Gift of Simon and Gillian Salama-Caro in memory of Ruth Klausner ©2013 Morgan Art Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 2012.27.1

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This horizontal photograph shows the twisting branches of a shiny silver tree, the sculpture rising high above the treetops of the living trees behind it. The trunk breaks into two sets of branches about a fifth of the way up the height of the sculpture. The branches to our left in this photograph curve and wind up and out while the branches to our right flare up in straighter lines. Diffused sunlight on the overcast day glints off the metal, creating bright white highlights against steel-gray shadows. The sculpture sits on a patch of grass with bushes and trees behind it.

Roxy Paine, American, born 1966, Graft, 2008-2009, stainless steel and concrete, Gift of Victoria and Roger Sant 2009.109.1

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Modern Art on View during Renovation: Sculpture Garden