The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 1, 2023

Untitled

1961

Richard Stankiewicz

(American, 1922–1983)

America, 20th century

Welded steel

Overall: 170.2 x 91.4 x 86.3 cm (67 x 36 x 34 in.)

Gift of the Cleveland Society for Contemporary Art in honor of Edward B. Henning and Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1986.80

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

An art critic once praised Stankiewicz’s work, describing it as a “miracle in the scrapheap.”

Description

Stankiewicz was a virtuoso in creating welded sculpture out of discarded metal, much of which he rescued from junkyards. In this untitled assemblage, three gracefully balanced boiler tanks are carefully counterweighted by pipes and other pieces of scrap. Typical of the artist’s works from this period, its surfaces are enlivened by the scruffy textures and patterns of rust and other forms of corrosion.

Provenance
(Stable Gallery, New York); The Tremaine Collection
1986–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 23
Dezeuze, Anna. Almost Nothing: Observations on Precarious Practices in Contemporary Art. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2017. p. 47. Reproduced: p. 47, fig. 13.
Exhibition history

Wadsworth Atheneum, 1984: "The Tremaine Collection: 20th Century Masters," cat. repr. p. 84

CMA 1987: "Year in Review 1986," Bulletin 74 (February 1987), p. 67, no. 93, repr. p. 56

Addison Gallery of American Art (4/19/2003 - 7/31/2003); AXA Gallery, NY (8/13/2003 - 10/18/2003); McNay Art Museum (4/15/2004 - 7/15/2004) and Museum Jean Tinguely (9/1/2004-11/1/2004): "Miracle in the Scrap Heap:The Sculpture of Richard Stankiewicz" p. 136-137.

Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art (1/25/2007 - 5/13/2007): "CMA@MOCA"

Year in Review for 1986. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-March 15, 1987).

Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).

Miracle in the Scrap Heap: The Sculpture of Richard Stankiewicz. Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA (organizer) (April 19-July 31, 2003); AXA Gallery, NY (August 13-October 18, 2003); McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX (April 15-July 15, 2004); Museu Jean Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland (September 19, 2004-January 16, 2005).

CMA@MOCA (rotation 2). Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 25-May 13, 2007).

New York: 1962-1964. The Jewish Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (July 22, 2022-January 8, 2023) https://thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/new-york-1962-1964.

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1986.80