Engraved, at the outside bottom of one of the central legs
Bench, 1988
- Wendell Keith Castle, American, 1932 - 2018
Amaranth (purpleheart), aluminum, and cowhide
- Framed: Overall: 35 × 129 3/4 × 48 inches (88.9 cm × 3 m 29.6 cm × 121.9 cm)
Founders Society Purchase with funds from Art of Poland Associates
1988.19
Department
Contemporary Art after 1950
- Hide
- Furniture
- Bench
- Amaranth
- Aluminium
Details
In 1986 the DIA commissioned furniture artist Wendell Castle to fashion a bench for the museum's permanent collection. Castle creates work that continually challenges accepted attitudes about the design, construction, and purpose of furniture. The aluminum framework was the first element constructed. Castle then began carving the armrests in the middle of the bench and the six legs from stack-laminated forms. The outer portions of the arms are constructed using lamination in which small pieces of wood are arranged in formations like brick walls to strengthen the joints.
Signed, Marks, Inscriptions
Provenance
the artist; 1988-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
Published References
Bulletin of the DIA 64, 2-3 (1988): p. 33 (fig. 22). Taragin, Davira. "Evolution of a Commission: a Wendell Castle Bench." Bulletin of the DIA 65, 1 (1989): pp. 49-59 (ill.).
Rights Status
Wendell Keith Castle, Bench, 1988, amaranth (purpleheart), aluminum, and cowhide. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Art of Poland Associates, 1988.19.