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Georgia and David K. Welles Sculpture Ga rden GUIDE fr .i 1 t r'-e { iltil rmI a D IU (u E- EARS ) rn NI \ 1{-:vtr*".:: l# I' t t r': r. '^. { ir. l 'r\\1 i r I N I o {If} ffii}" E3} Monroe Street Guidelines for Enjoying the Sculpture Garden We invite you to walk around the Museum's grounds and experience works of art complemented by nature. . Please be respectful ofthe works ofart. . Do not climb on the sculpture. . Please do not litter. Place all refuse in the receptacles provided. . Umbrellas may be borrowed from the Visitors'Services window inside the Monroe Street entrance. . Restrooms and other visitor amenities are available on both floors of the Museum. . The Grove Place entrance on the south side of the Museum is handicapped accessible. . No bicycling, skateboarding, or rollerblading. . No running or jogging when others are present. Welcome to the Sculpture Ga rden "There is no better backgroundfor sculpture than the sky."-Henry Moore An article in the Toledo lVluseum of Art Museum News dated refu rbished front terraces. Along the path, twenty-two scu Ip- October 1g2o noted that tures are sited. We have striven to provide a variety of aesthetic experiences with a diverse collection of the highest quality. It is the plan...of the Toledo Museum to place on the lawn around it such examples of sculpture as it m ay acquire which Some works are figurative, others abstract. Some are ve ry large, are suited to this treatment and eventually to develop in this others quite small. The oldest dates to rgoo; the newest to the natu ra I setting a collection of bea utifu I works of a rt. yea r 2ooo. It is hoped that the Scu lptu re G arden will become a popula r s?ace for gathering, enjoying the outdoors, and Although the lV\useum has occasionally acquired sculptures and experiencing art. installed them on its grounds, the Ceorgia and David K. Welles Sculpture C arden signals the fulfillment of this longstanding f he Mtuseum is grateful to the donors whose generosity has goa I of a n outdoor ga llery of scu Iptu re. The yea r zoor-the made th is Scu lptu re Carden possible. Ou r a ppreciation goes to IVluseu m's centen n ia I a n n ive rsary-ma rks the ded ication of the Ceorgia a nd David K. Welles; the Edwa rd Dru m mond Libbey a nd Scu lptu re C arden, a n a m bitious pla n for the grou nds designed Florence Scott Libbey endowments; IV\arshall Field's; the Apollo by the renowned landscape architecture firm, Olin Partnership. Society; the Anderton Bentley Fund; the children of Larry The Carden featu res a n a rcing wa lkway that lin ks the th ree Thom pson; the IV\useu m Aide s; ? nd others. Judy Kensley lVtcKie Howard Ben Tre America n, born 1 944 American, born 1949 Polar Bear Bench Bearing Figure with Amphora /V\a rble, 2ooo Cranite and glass, 1995 Cift of theToledo /Vtuseum of Art C ift of Ceorgia a nd David K. Welles Aides, 2oo1 @ t99S Howard Ben Tre @ zooo Judy IV\cKie Photo: Cou rtesy Prita m & Ea mes Ca llery Howard Ben Tre conceived Bearing Figure with Amphora as a meta phor for a h u ma n being. Judy /V\cKie wants there to be no mistake: What she makes is furniture The golden orb suspended within the to be lived with and used.Through distinctive animal motifs, she gives sa nd blasted glass a m phora (a n a ncient C reek life to her cabinets, tables, and chairs. lV\cKie possesses a remarkable jar used to store oil, grain, or wine) is meant ability to capture the essence of the animal she is representing to suggest the spark of spiritual intelligence that the artist feels is through her carefully selected medium. ln this instance, she carved centered within every individual. The orb is visible,yet obscured, and it Polar Bear Bench from a block of white marble with crystalflecks that is impossible to touch. lt is similarto the way one person's soul can be suggest the cold, snowy home of the bear.The soft finish invites touch pa rtia lly sensed but never com pletely known by another. The com bina- This undoubtedly pleases IV\cKie, who once said,"l want to make art tion of protective gra n ite su rrou nd a nd in ner glass vessel corresponds that people love." to the outer, pu blic identity a nd in ner, private self of every person. Joel Sha piro lV\e! Kend rick American, born 1941 American, born 1949 U ntitled Sculpture No.4 B ro n ze, 1991 Bron 2e,1994 Cift of Ceorgia and David K. Welles C ift of the Apollo Society, r 994.42 @ r99r Joel Shapiro @ t994 Mel Kend rick Photo: Ti m Thayer 1 994 Joel Shapiro's sculpture invites various interpretations. Blocky figu res suggest /Vlel Kendrick uses large blocks of wood as his human forms in action, although it is prim ary materia l. He slices th rough them d ifficu lt to determ ine the exact deta ils of each gestu re. For insta nce, with a chainsaw and then arranges the cut does this untitled work represent a person falling, running,or sliding? pieces until he is satisfied with the composite shape that emerges. He Or does it represent a figure standing on its head, arms extended to makes no attempt to mask the process of creatiofl: his woodcarving is brace his or her upheld body,with legs extended outward? lnstead of im provisationa I a nd leaves saw ma rks, d rips of glue, a nd other making figures with clea rly defined limbs, Shapiro allows his sculpture evidence of his working method visible. For this piece, the artist cast to suggest a wide ra nge of h u ma n gestu re. the wood form in bronze. Kendrick has noted how casting wood in bronze exaggerates its natu ra I properties, placing a n em phasis on the knots and wood grains that might go unnoticed in the originalwood. Benni Efrat Jim Dine lsraeli, born 1935 America n, born 1 %5 Pyramid's Shadow Column with Rock and Axe B ro n ze,1gl8 Bron 2e,1983 Cift of Dr. and /V\rs. Joseph Cosman, C ift of Ceorgia a nd David K. Welles r983.rr9 @ 1983 Jim Dine @ 1978 Benni Efrat Alrea dy an established painter,printmaker, As a conceptual artist, Benni Efrat a nd d raftsma n, J i m Di ne bega n to cast h igh lights the im porta nce of the bronze scu lptu re when he moved to the idea behind a work of art, instead of West Coast in the ea rly r98os. Bronze has em phasizingthe physica I object itself been a primary medium for him ever since. Pyramid's Shodow dates to the 197os, a time when Efrat was exploring The image of a twisted colu m n first ca me the idea of the shadow. ln this unassuming work, the smaller, open to Dine in a dream.When he found such a column at an architectural form is a representation of the shadow cast by the larger pyramid. reproduction store in Los Angeles, he made a bronze cast of it. He Yet the pyra m id's shadow a lso casts a shadow. With poetic brevity, then combined it with casts of a rock and an axe.The combination Efrat's scu lptu re cha llenges ou r concept of a 'shadow.' lends the work a sense of private mystery. Scott Burton Ceorge Rickey America n, 1 939-1989 American, born 19o7 Pair of Parallelogram Triple N Cyratory lll Chairs Stainless steel, r988 C ra n ite, r g8l Purchased with funds given in C ift of Ceorgia a nd David K. Welles memo ry of Larry Thom pson by h is children, 2ooo.3g @ 1987 Scott Burton @ Ceorge Rickey/VACA, NY NY Photo: Cou rtesy Davidson Ca llery Scott Bu rton's work cha llenges the d isti nction between'craft' and'fine art.'Burton had a democratic desire to make art that was Ceorge Rickey has devoted his career to investigating the poetic possibilities of movement. ln his words,"Control of weight and both aesthetically striking and useful to people. To that end, he balance-and also time-gives me a means of expression comparable scu lpted bea utifu I ta bles, cha i rs, and other fu rn itu re in a wide va riety to colorfor a painter or sound for a composer." Triple N Cyratory lllis an of styles and materials. Burton was also very interested in the way art example of kinetic art, art with movin g?arts. Each of the N-shaped cou ld become a site for socia I interaction. The d ista nce between these two chairs,as well as the way they are angled, was arranged by elements that ma kes u p the scu lptu re is ca refu lly cou nterweighted the artist to encourage conversation.Try them out-they are and balanced on bearings to permit even a gentle breeze to set them s u rprisi n gly comforta ble ! vinis muaolltyio nco. mAsp ealllli nthgr.ee move simultaneously, the resulting pattern is Tony S m ith E I lswo rth Ke I ly America r, 1 912-1980 American, born 1923 l\tloses U ntitled Painted steel, r968 Stainless steel,:993 C ift of lV\a rs h a I I Fie ld's, C ift of Ceorgia a nd David K. Welles by exchange,1998.5 @ 1993 Ellsworth Kelly @ zoor Estate of Tony Sm ith/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Ellsworth Kelly has spent years exploring the Photo: Tim Thayer 2ooo aesthetic possibilities of simple, pure form. He red uces h is pa intings a nd scu lptu res to as few l\Aoses weighs two tons and stands elements as possible, even to the point of using nearly twelve feet tall. Like all his a single shape and color.This elegant steel scu I ptu re, Tony Sm ith developed shaft-twenty feet tall but only two inches l\Aoses with mathematical principles in mind. With his massive, thick-stands in dramatic contrast to the round,fluted lonic columns geometric scu lptu re, he sought to express the profou nd spiritua I of the lV\useum building. lts subtle concave shape echoes the spaces energy he sensed in mathematics and physics. Smith titled his works between the slightly convex columns. At the same tiffie, its concave based on the images they triggered in h is imagination. Th is scu lptu re's edges im ply the a rcs of two imagina ry circles of space beside it. forms rem inded h im of the Hebrew prophet /V\oses hold ing the ta blets Cuggenheim /Vtuseum curator Diane Waldman wrote about Kelly of theTen Commandments in his outstretched arms. combining "his interests in ancient art and architecture with early twentieth-centu ry /V\odern ism to create a body of work that is a sea m less blend of past a nd present, a lmost tra nscend ing time." Alexa nde r Calder American, 1898-1976 Stegosa u rus Pa i nted stee l, ry72-73 Cift of IV\arshall Field's, by exchange, and purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Cift of Edward Drummond Libbey,zooo.6T @ zoor Estate of Alexa nder Ca lder/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photo: Cou rtesy Sotheby's Alexander Calder was one of the most popular and acclaimed a rtists of the twentieth cent ury. Stegosaurus, a late work in h is long a nd prolific ca reel is both a powerfu l, elega nt com position of forms a nd a pl ayf ul reference to the eccentrica lly sha ped d inosa u r. Ca lder had a lifelong fascination with u n usua I a nd fa ncifu I creatu res, in pa rticu la r birds a nd d inosa u rs. He was especia lly skilled in ca ptu ring the essence of a creature or other form by focusing on a single feature. ln this case, the steel plates jutting u pfrom the arches of the sculpture suggest the dinosaur's spiky plates.