Clam Digger (Le pêcheur de palourdes)
1972
Clam Digger
(Le pêcheur de palourdes)
1972
An "extremely tactile sculpture [...] part man, part creature of the mud and the shallows" (John Russell, art critic)
Painter Willem de Kooning, a leading figure of Abstract Expressionism, discovered sculpture while staying in Rome in 1969. He made a series of free-standing sculptures in which the gesture of modelling the clay is prominent. This figure, the size of a small man, bears the marksof kneading which, once cast in bronze, look like the folds in tanned skin. With this tormented style, the artist challenges the minimalist works of his contemporaries and reconnects with the art of Auguste Rodin and Alberto Giacometti.
Domain | Sculpture |
---|---|
Techniques | Bronze |
Dimensions | 151 x 63 x 54 cm |
Acquisition | Achat, 1979 |
Inventory no. | AM 1978-735 |
Detailed description
Artist |
Willem de Kooning
(1904, Pays-Bas - 1997, États-Unis) |
---|---|
Main title | Clam Digger (Le pêcheur de palourdes) |
Creation date | 1972 |
Domain | Sculpture |
Techniques | Bronze |
Dimensions | 151 x 63 x 54 cm |
Printing | Ex. n° 6/7 |
Inscriptions | S.N. : [sur le pied droit] de Kooning // 6/7 |
Acquisition | Achat, 1979 |
Collection area | Arts Plastiques - Moderne |
Inventory no. | AM 1978-735 |