Sketch for a Fountain by Nicole Eisenman - The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas
Friday, March 29, 2024
Home  >  Beams of light  >  Studio lights  >  Art  >  Sketch for a Fountain by Nicole Eisenman - The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas

User Rating: 5 / 5

Star ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar ActiveStar Active
 

 

The Nasher Sculpture Center proudly unveils its recent acquisition, Sketch for a Fountain, a group of five sculptures by Nicole Eisenman. Conceived for the 2017 Münster Sculpture Projects in Münster, Germany, the work is an ambitious, contemporary reimagining of the timeless subject of fountain statuary.

 

 Nasher Sculpture Center 1

 

Sketch for a Fountain was inspired by the long history of fountains, one of the oldest forms of public art. Eisenman’s figures—larger-than-life, of indeterminate gender, and almost cartoonishly fleshy—exemplify the appeal of her humorous and humane aesthetic.

 

 Laying in the grass 1

 

Lounging and dozing, they could be lingering in an arcadian reverie or sleeping off a bacchanal, their torpor disturbed only by the gentle sprinkles of water spewing from different parts of their bodies, which in places sprout elements that seem to be drawn to the dampness, such as mushrooms and slugs.

 

nasher

 

Eisenman’s figures evoke associations with a range of art historical precedents, including Greco-Roman representations of hermaphrodites, Paul Cézanne’s Bathers, George Segal’s introspective figures, and the whimsical public sculptures of Tom Otterness.

 

Screen Shot 2019 11 11 at 11.11.48 AM 

 

Known initially for her work in painting, Eisenman made sculpture as a student at the Rhode Island School of Design and has recently begun to make a mark for herself in the medium. An important precedent for her Münster project was the 2013 Carnegie International, where, along with a selection of her paintings, she exhibited a group of sculptures in the museum’s sculpture court, alongside Greco-Roman sculptures from the permanent collection, and described her figures as “scruffy, bohemian great-great-grandchildren of those gods.” Working largely in plaster, with occasional items of assemblage, Eisenman has focused primarily on figures and heads.

 

 Leying down by the fountain

 

Installed in and around the pond in Nasher Garden, Sketch for a Fountain expands the consideration of the figure and sculptural ensembles also on view there, such as Segal’s Rush Hour and Magdalena Abakanowicz’s Bronze Crowd. Three of the figures (those with water elements) were purchased through the Kaleta A. Doolin Acquisition Fund for Women Artists, while two sculptures (those without water elements) come to the Nasher as a promised gift from the Green Family Collection.

 

 

Golden Showers

Golden Showers by Nicole Eisenman - 2000

 

Support System for Woman

Support System for Woman by Nicole Eisenman - 1998 

 

Screen Shot 2019 11 11 at 11.19.00 AM

 

Open since October 2003, the Nasher Sculpture Center is home to one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary sculptures in the world.

 

Multiple artists garden

Multiple Artist Nasher Sculpture Garden - Dallas, Texas

 

Screen Shot 2019 11 11 at 11.18.34 AM

 

The Center, which was designed by Prizker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, is located on a 2-acre in the heart of the Dallas Arts District.

 

Screen Shot 2019 11 11 at 11.18.43 AM

 

The museum was a long-held dream of the late Raymond and Patsy Nasher, who together formed a comprehensive collection of masterpieces by Calder, de Kooning, di Suvero, Giacometti, Hepworth, Kelly, Matisse, Miro, Moore, Picasso, Rodin, and Serra, among others, which continues to grow and evolve.

 

Screen Shot 2019 11 11 at 11.19.08 AM

 

On display in the Galleries and Garden are rotating exhibitions of works from the Nasher Collection as well as special exhibitions drawn from other museums and private collections.

 

Screen Shot 2019 11 11 at 11.18.51 AM

 

nasher abakanowicz

 

Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz-Kosmowska (20 June 1930 – 20 April 2017) was a Polish sculptor and fiber artist. She is notable for her use of textiles as a sculptural medium. She is widely regarded as one of Poland's most internationally acclaimed artists.