SYDNEY AND WALDA BESTHOFF SCULPTURE GARDEN IMAGE CUTLINES GARDEN VIEWS VPavilion.jpg Photo by Judy Cooper A tremendous addition to the cultural life of New Orleans and Louisiana, the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden serves the metropolitan and regional communities. One of the premier sculpture gardens in America, it offers the many visitors to the city an opportunity to enjoy a world-class collection of modern and contemporary sculpture. VGate.jpg Photo by Judy Cooper A pair of cast stone and bronze pavilions with clerestory windows marks the main entry to the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art. The pavilions, which face a large meadow adjacent to the Museum's entry drive, flank a large plaza containing Henry Moore's Reclining Mother and Child. The pavilions and entry plaza also establish a centerline through the depth of the Garden that becomes an organizing element of the design, and contain docent services, information window, staff lounge, staff restroom, security office and public restrooms. VPonBou.jpg Photo by Judy Cooper Rona Pondick's Monkeys present a gleaming tangle of maniacally gamboling creatures under old-growth oak trees. Pathways through the Garden frame the large Oak Grove Lawn which, with the exception of the lagoon, is the most open space in the Garden and contains some of the larger sculptures including Louise Bourgeois' Spider, in the background. VCemMor.jpg Photo by Judy Cooper Three pedestrian bridges cross the lagoon and connect the two sides of the Garden. The entries to the bridges are marked by simple, cast-stone pylons that support bronze lanterns. The garden is bisected by a lagoon which has been reshaped into two basins on either side of the central pedestrian bridge, seen here with Saint Clair Cemin's Acme in the foreground. On the other side of the lagoon, Jesus Bautista Moroles' Las Mesas Bench is surrounded by an inviting seating area. VRenLip.jpg Photo by Judy Cooper The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden offers many beautiful vistas. Here, Pierre Auguste Renoir's Venus Victorious in the foreground, and Jacques Lipchitz's Sacrifice III in the background, flank a view of the Museum. VRenEtrHep.jpg Photo by Judy Cooper Meandering footpaths encircle the elliptical Pine Grove immediately off the main entry plaza, creating a gallery for Pierre Auguste Renoir's Venus Victorious, Sorel Etrog's Large Pulcinella and Hepworth's River Form. One of the Garden's three pedestrian bridges, and a vehicle bridge, form the picturesque backdrop. VSegSne.jpg Photo by Judy Cooper George Segal's Three Figures and Four Benches is an excellent example of the artist's work. Three figures, intentionally rough and unfinished, are posed in an ordinary situation as if frozen in time. All three figures stare off into space wrapped up in their own thoughts leading the viewer to contemplate their relationship to each other and their environment. Kenneth Snelson's Virlane Tower emerges from the water in the background, and on the far right a glistening waterfall cascades into the lagoon from the Cascade Garden Pool which contains Robert Graham's Source Figure. VSneMor.jpg Photo by Judy Cooper The garden is bisected by a lagoon with two basins and connected by three pedestrian bridges. Each of the two basins reflects a sculpture that pierces the sparkling water. Here, Kenneth Snelson's Virlane Tower, by far the tallest sculpture in the Garden, seems to defy gravity. The bridges afford panoramic views of the Garden and lagoon from a distance, while seating areas near and on the bridges provide scenic spots for a respite, such as this area around Jesus Bautista Moroles' Las Mesas Bench. WORKS OF ART Selected works of art alphabetically by artist Agam.jpg Yaacov Agam (Israeli, born 1928) Open Space, 1970, stainless steel, 108 x 96 x 96 in., 1998.127 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Agam is considered one of the founders of the Op (for optical) art movement. His work invites viewer participation and literally changes as you interact with it. Rather than being open as the title suggests, Open Spaces actually frames the view of the space surrounding it. In the background is Richard Rosenblum's Adam. Armajani.jpg Siah Armajani (American, born Iran 1939) Element #29, 1991, painted steel, 114 x 80 x 798 1/2 in. 1998.128 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Using the plain vernacular of architecture, Armajani's sculptures make reference to the archetypal settings and components of communal life. The Elements series is conceived as a de-construction and analysis of the grammar of common constructions: portals, beds, windows, tables, doors, etc. Elements #29 suggests a balcony. A curving purple rail encircles a white platform which becomes a stage for the oddly dramatic presence of a steel mesh box (a bird cage?) set on a base (a table?). Arman.jpg Arman (born Armand Fernandez) (American, born France, 1928) Pablo Casal's Obelisk, 1983, bronze, 240 x 84 x 60 in., 2000.200 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper An exponent in France of Pop Art, Arman creates his sculptures by combining dozens, sometimes hundreds, of similar objects discarded by the consumer culture, such as empty toothpaste tubes or tin cans. Here he has sliced a cello into fragments, cast it in bronze and duplicated it to create a massive tower, a tribute to the late great Spanish-Puerto Rican cellist and human rights activist, Pablo Casals. Botero.jpg Fernando Botero (Colombian, born 1932) Mother and Child, 1988, bronze, 81 x 45 1/2 x 27 in., 2003.157 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Botero's distinctive style, in both painting and sculpture, using voluminous smooth shapes and sharp shifts in scale, is immediately recognizable. He stretches the concept of human proportion in innovative ways. Botero's art is presented in a satirical and humorous manner, in which everyone, humans and animals alike, is super-sized. Bourdelle.jpg Antoine Bourdelle (French, 1861-1929) Hercules the Archer, 1907, bronze, 98 x 94 3/4 in., 1949.17[JA1] Museum Purchase Photo by Judy Cooper Bourdelle, Auguste Rodin's greatest student, carried the classical figurative tradition forward into the 20th century. From 1905 to 1907, Bourdelle worked on the model for Hercules the Archer, considered his most famous work. Hercules is depicted in the fifth of his labors, the shooting of the Stymphalian birds. Bourgeois.jpg Louise Bourgeois (American, born France, 1911) Spider, 1996, bronze, 10 ft 7 in. x 24 ft. 8 in. x 23 ft. 2 in., 1998.112 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper While she began sculpting in 1947, it was only in the 1980s that Bourgeois achieved international fame. Her work addresses universal themes, such as primal emotions, instincts and needs, focusing particularly on female identity and sexuality. Her recent series of monumental spiders are prime examples of the menace, anxiety and drama that characterize her work. Butterfield.jpg Deborah Butterfield (American, born 1949) Restrained, 1999, bronze, 86 x 99 x 46 in., 2000.202 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Born on "Derby Day," Deborah Butterfield, who lives on a ranch in Montana, restricts her subject matter to horses in a variety of materials. For this piece, she constructed a horse from pieces of found wood, cast each piece of wood in bronze, and finally reconstructed the horse and painted the surface to simulate the original material. This technique gives the sculpture the illusion of being made of wood and offers a connection to the natural environment. Cemin.jpg Saint Clair Cemin (American, born Brazil 1951) Acme, 1990, copper, 59 x 44 x 44 in., 2000.203 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Raised in Brazil, studied in Paris, now living in New York, Cemin works in a variety of styles, rearranging and isolating particular motifs in order to encourage the viewer to perceive a different reality. His forms are derived from geometry, logic and fantasy. He chooses materials according to their feeling: bronze feels warm, marble feels cold. Chadwick.jpg Lynn Chadwick (British, 1914-2003) Two Sitting Figures, 1979-80, bronze, 66 x 33 x 56 in., 1998.131 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Chadwick began his career as an architectural draftsman. After World War II, he began experimenting with mobiles. His work soon moved away from the light, airy movement of mobiles to large, ponderously heavy bronze figures that sit or recline directly on the ground. These figures (almost always created in pairs) represent powerful, regal couples whose domineering strength and dignity emerge from a semi-abstract anatomy. Etrog.jpg Sorel Etrog (Canadian, born Romania, 1933) Large Pulcinella, 1965-67, bronze, 113 x 51 1/2 x 27 in., 1998.132 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Pulcinella is a male character from the Italian commedia dell'arte. Although not physically attractive or especially admirable, the character and his humorous defiance of all authority has survived basically unchanged for centuries. Here Etrog's abstracted figure shares with much of his work the combination and intertwining of smooth-flowing organic shapes with the mechanical forms and linkages of modern technology. Frink.jpg Elisabeth Frink (British, 1930-1993) Riace Warriors, I, II, III, IV, 1983-88, patinated bronze, 83 in. h., 1998.133 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper The inspiration for these four standing male figures was the discovery of two bronze, 5th-century-BC Greek sculptures in the late 1970s in the sea off Sicily. Although clearly outstanding works of art, the find made scholars uneasy because the undertone of ferocity in these sculptures challenged accepted ideas about the nature of the classical world. Frink seized on precisely this quality. Her warriors appear profoundly astonished, powerful, and possibly dangerous as they move forward toward the viewer. Indiana.jpg Robert Indiana (American, born 1928) LOVE, Red-Blue, 1966-97, aluminum and acrylic polyurethane enamel, 2004.119 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Indiana was one of a small group of artists in New York around 1960 who began incorporating advertisements, comics, billboards and other manifestations of popular culture into their art—thus creating Pop Art, a unique American style. Indian's love of literature caused him to monumentalize letters and words in his paintings and sculptures. His most famous is LOVE, which has become a Pop icon, even appearing on a U.S. postage stamp. Kohlmeyer.jpg Ida Kohlmeyer (American, 1912-1997) Rebus 3D - 89 - 3, 1989, painted aluminum, 109 1/2 x 97 x 36 in., 1998.137 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper New Orleans painter and sculptor, Ida Kohlmeyer began her artistic career at age 37. Rebus 3D-89-3 is one of a series of sculptures, titled with the word of a riddle where images are used in place of words. A student of the abstract expressionist painter Hans Hofmann, color and spontaneity are characteristic of all of Kohlmeyer's work. Lachaise.jpg Gaston Lachaise (American, born France, 1882-1935) Heroic Man, 1930-34, bronze, 98 x 50 x 32 in 2000.209 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Lachaise was born in Paris and studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Immigrating to America in 1906, he established himself in New York with his voluptuous sculptures of nude women. Heroic Man is the largest of his few depictions of the male figure. With one arm outstretched in benediction, this man is proud and triumphant, like a winning athlete or warrior. The physical power of the body emphasizes the monumental scale of the sculpture. Lipchitz.jpg Jacques Lipchitz (American, born Lithuania, 1891-1973) Sacrifice III, 1949-57, bronze, 55 x 40 x 25 in., 1998.138 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper A contemporary of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Fernand Léger, Lipchitz was the first artist to translate Cubist ideas into sculptural form. He later departed from Cubism to find his own expressive, figurative style. He used biblical and mythological subjects as inspiration, as seen in this allegory of Abraham and Isaac. Map.jpg See Legend Magritte.jpg René Magritte (Belgian, 1898-1967) The Labors of Alexander, 1967, cast bronze in two pieces: tree trunk, 25 x 60 in.; ax, 53 in., 1971.37 Gift of Muriel Bultman Francis Photo by Judy Cooper Magritte is considered one of the most important surrealist artists. He was a founder of the Belgian Surrealist group, which portrayed ordinary objects in unconventional, often mysterious ways. The Labors of Alexander was one of a small group of sculptures inspired by his paintings and was completed shortly before his death. Here the tree roots paradoxically hold an ax, turning reality on its head. McCollum.jpg Allan McCollum (American, born 1944) Perfect Vehicles, 1988, Moorglo on cast cement, 78 x 36 x 36 in., 1998.140 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper McCollum's work speaks of the commodity value that has fallen upon precious things in modern society. These sculptures are "abstractions" of classic oriental vases, but have only the essential, familiar form to justify that designation. Missing is the fine craftsmanship of glazing an decoration. McCollum offers us exaggerated symbols of perfection, renders them all identical, save for the color, and, by his presentation of multiple "vehicles" suggests the crassness of the marketplace. Moore.jpg Henry Moore (British, 1898-1986) Reclining Mother and Child, 1975, bronze, 94 1/2 x 53 1/2 x 47 1/2 in 1998.141 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Since his first sculpture exhibition in 1926, Moore's standing and reclining figures, family groups, helmets and totems established him as one of the 20th century's foremost sculptors. Moore's work displays his interest in African and pre-Columbian art. He sought to convey the timeless, universal qualities of humanity, and of these, the most basic is the bond between mother and child, seen here in a monumental, abstracted form. Moroles.jpg Jesus Bautista Moroles (American, born 1950) Las Mesas Bench, 1989, granite, 156 x 66 x 56 in., 2000.211 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Born and educated in Texas, Moroles brings aspects of his Mexican heritage to the creation of his stone sculptures, often monumental in scale. Working almost exclusively in granite, his work shows an interplay of textures that contrasts cool polished surfaces with rough torn edges. The density of his materials and the daring carving of the stone often evokes a sense of surprise and whimsy. Noguchi.jpg Isamu Noguchi (American, 1904-1989) Rain Mountain, 1982, galvanized steel, 96 1/2 x 21 in., 1991.450 Gift of Mrs. P. Roussel Norman Photo by Judy Cooper Noguchi, born of a Japanese poet father and an American mother, was raised through his thirteenth year in Japan, then sent to the United States to study art. In addition to his sculpture, he made significant contributions to architecture, furniture, theatre and landscaping. Rain Mountain evokes traditional Chinese landscape painting—the flat slices of steel imitate tall mountains, while the varigated surface of the steel conveys a wet, misty atmosphere. Oldenburg&vanBruggen.jpg Claes Oldenburg (American, born Sweden 1929) and Coosje van Bruggen (American, born Netherlands 1942) Safety Pin, 1999, stainless steel, 2004.188 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Oldenburg is recognized internationally as the greatest Pop Art sculptor. He is famous for monumentalizing ordinary objects of daily life, such as scissors, a water faucet, a garden trowel and a typewriter eraser. The radical change of scale in his works has a humorous, even satiric quality. His sculptures make the viewer rethink his own size and relationship in a world of giant objects In his recent work, Oldenburg has collaborated with his wife, Coosje van Bruggen. Pomodoro.jpg Arnaldo Pomodoro (Italian, born 1926) Una Battaglia (A Battle), 1971, bronze and stainless steel, 149 x149 x141 in., 1998.144 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Pomodoro studied architecture and worked as an engineer before turning to sculpture in the early 1950s. A Battle is rendered in Pomodoro's instantly recognizable style—metal that appears deeply gouged and deteriorated. The impacting shaft is made of stainless steel which accentuates the contrast with the polished bronze base—a missile in the heart of a city. The other cast of this piece was acquired by the City of Modena as a memorial to the Resistance partisans of World War II. Pondick.jpg Rona Pondick (American, born 1952) Monkeys, 1998-2001, stainless steel, 41 1/4 x 66 x 85 1/2 in., 2003.84 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Pondick's work has always been about fragments: body parts such as teeth and objects associated with bodily functions. From a new series of sculptures featuring animals, Monkeys presents a gleaming tangle of maniacally gamboling creatures. Pondick has fused casts of her own body parts—her face and arms—to several monkey bodies. These hybrids embody cultural fears about genetic manipulation and experimental mutation. Pullinen.jpg Laila Pullinen (Finnish, born 1933) The Wader, 1996, granite and bronze, 2004.136 Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Herbert Kaufman Photo by Judy Cooper While not well-known in the United States, Pullinen is considered the greatest contemporary sculptor in Scandinavia. her early art studies in Rome gave her an appreciation for classical sculpture, which often is echoed in her work. Pullinen's sculpture utilizes contrasting materials: massive stone against gleaming bronze, repose with movement, weight with power. Sandle.jpg Michael Sandle (British, born 1936) The Drummer, 1985, bronze, 106 x 55 in., 1998.146 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Some of Sandle's first experiences were of World War II, and the memories are still with him. Because of this, his work is intensely metaphorical and forthright in its sense of moral conviction. The Drummer, in a neo-Cubist style, is a chilling image of militarism. Its monumental rigidity and faceless lack of individual personality creates a foreboding of the battle to come. Segal.jpg George Segal (American, 1924-2000) Three Figures and Four Benches, 1979, painted bronze, 52 x 144 x 58 in., 1998.147 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Perhaps because he was born and educated in New York City, Segal had an especially acute appreciation for the paradox of individual solitude in populous urban spaces. Although his introspective figures seem to be ignoring each other, there is an unmistakable tension between them, and the viewer is forced to speculate on their relationships. Segal created his realistic figures by covering live models with plaster-soaked cloth, retaining the white surface even when cast in bronze. Shapiro.jpg Joel Shapiro (American, born 1941) Untitled, 1991, bronze, 84 x 125 x 54 in., 1998.213 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation, 1998.213 Photo by Judy Cooper While first associated with the minimalist artists of the early 1970s, Shapiro soon developed a less rigid, more personal style. Using an economy of forms, he started to experiment with the figure. His blocky geometric forms suggest torsos and limbs. Untitled was originally constructed in wood and then cast in bronze, leaving the impression of the wood on the metal surface. Zadkine.jpg Ossip Zadkine (French, born Russia, 1880-1967) La Poetesse, 1953, bronze 31 x 64 x 24 in., 1998.149 Gift of the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Foundation Photo by Judy Cooper Zadkine lived in the artists' quarter of Montparnasse in Paris, forming life-long friendships with Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Marc Chagall. La Poetesse is part of his critically acclaimed series of figures rendered in a personalized Cubist style. She plays an instrument, showing the ancient connection between music and poetry. The figure is reduced to its simplest form, the body stripped of its flesh, the woman and instrument becoming one. Zorach.jpg William Zorach (American, 1887-1966) The Future Generation, 1942-47, bronze, 39 in. h. Museum Purchase in memory of Richard Koch, 2002.183 Photo by Judy Cooper Zorach exhibited his paintings at the famed 1913 Armory Show in New York, credited with bringing European modern art to America. His work was heavily influenced by ancient Egyptian and Greek art, portraying the human form in a formal, hieratic style. Here a mother holds her infant son capturing the familiar maternal bonds of love, pride and protection. [JA1] Tel. 504.488.2631 Fax 504.484.6662 www.noma.org City Park Post Office Box 19123 New Orleans, LA 70179-0123