About the Artwork
For Mud Bounce Works, Richard Long made marks by bouncing a wooden ball into mud and then onto the paper. The gesture of the bounced ball suggests play and the joy of movement.
A land artist, Long creates forms in the landscape and in the studio, using sticks, rocks, and mud. He then documents these artworks with photography and text. Mud Bounce Works connects to Long’s work The Sierra Madre — A Five Day Walk from Divisadero down into the Canyon of the Rio Urique and Back — Mexico (1979). On the drawing, Long identified the type of ball he used: a Tarahumara wooden throwing ball. The Tarahumara are an Indigenous people in the Sierra Madre in Mexico whose traditions include an endurance running competition during which the teammates kick a wooden ball between one another.
Mud Bounce Marks
1979
Richard Long
born 1945
English
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Mud marks, red and black pen on paper
Sheet: 8 3/16 × 11 11/16 inches (20.8 × 29.7 cm)
Drawings
Prints, Drawings & Photographs
Gift of the Lila and Gilbert Silverman Collection
2023.326
Restricted
Markings
Signed and dated, in pencil, lower right corner: Richard Long 1979
Titled, in red, lower left corner: Mud Bounce Marks Described, in pencil, lower center: Takahumaka Carved Wood Throwing Ball
Provenance
1983, sold by (Anthony d’Offey, London, United Kingdom);1983-2020, purchased by Gilbert B. Silverman [1925-2016] and Lila Silverman [1933-2020] (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA);
2020-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Restricted Contact: Artists Rights Society (ARS) 65 Bleecker Street, 12th Floor New York, NY 10012 Tel: 212-420-9160 | Fax: 212-420-9286 Email: info@arsny.com
Richard Long, Mud Bounce Marks, 1979, mud marks, red and black pen on paper. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of the Lila and Gilbert Silverman Collection, 2023.326.
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