Clothespin (Oldenburg)

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Clothespin
Clothespin-oldenberg.jpg
Artist Claes Oldenburg
Year1976
Mediumsteel sculpture
Dimensions14 m× 3.73 m× 1.37 m(45 ft× 12 ft 3 in× 4 ft 6 in)
Location Philadelphia
Coordinates 39°57′09″N75°09′56″W / 39.9524°N 75.1656°W / 39.9524; -75.1656 [1]
Ownerprivate [2]

Clothespin is a weathering steel sculpture by Claes Oldenburg, located at Centre Square, 1500 Market Street, Philadelphia. [2] It is designed to appear as a monumental black clothespin. Oldenburg is noted for his attempts to democratize art with large stylized sculptures of everyday objects, and the location of Clothespin, above Philadelphia's 15th Street/City Hall station, allows thousands of commuters to view it on a daily basis. [3] It was commissioned in May 1974 by developer Jack Wolgin as part of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority's percent for art program, and was dedicated June 25, 1976. [4] [5]

Contents

Made of Cor-Ten steel, Clothespin is praised by art critics for its velvety texture and weathered, warm reddish-brown color. [3] The silvery steel "spring" part of the two-textured work resembles the numerals "76", apt for the United States Bicentennial year. [6] Tying in Philadelphia's colonial heritage with its difficult present, Clothespin addresses the city's civic issues and tries to bridge gaps across income levels through its universally recognized form. [7] The design has been likened to the "embracing couple" in Constantin Brâncuși's sculpture The Kiss in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. [4]

There are at least two small-scale models of the sculpture. The first normally stays in the Oldenburg gallery at the Denver Art Museum: Clothespin – 4 Foot Version, completed in 1974. [8] The second, a 10-foot version completed in 1975, is located and occasionally displayed in the Contemporary Art department of the Art Institute of Chicago. [9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Giant Clothespin – Philadelphia, PA", Waymarking.com.
  2. 1 2 "Clothespin, (sculpture)". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Bach, Penny Balkin. Public Art in Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992. p. 241.
  4. 1 2 "Claes Oldenburg's Other Works in Philadelphia". Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Clothespin". Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.
  6. ↑ "Oldenburg Tops Off Philadelphia's Bicentennial with a '76 Clothespin". People. May 24, 1976. Explains the artist: 'Its steel spring forms the figure 76.'
  7. ↑ Hunter, Becky Huff. "Philadelphia Social Art" in Artists Reclaim the Commons. Ed. Glenn Harper and Twylene Moyer. Hamilton, NJ: ISC Press, 2013. p. 268.
  8. ↑ "Claes Oldenburg with Coosje van Bruggen: Drawings". Denver Art Museum. Retrieved December 17, 2018.Clothespin – 4 Foot Version is the sixth item in the slideshow at the top of the page.
  9. ↑ "Clothespin". The Art Institute of Chicago. 1975. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
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