George L.K. Morris

Abstract Sculpture Mid 20th Century Modern Non Objective Biomorphic Plaster WPA

1930s/40s

Ron Arad Screw Stools Set of Three Driade Italy Sculpture Industrial Stainless Ron Arad Screw stools, set of three Driade United Kingdom / Italy, 2006 Stainless steel and aluminum 2...

"Barge Toiler" by Max Kalish is a Mid 20th Century modern Depression-Era sculpture from his Labor series. The WPA era work is made of plaster. Max Kalish (1891 – 1945) Barge Toiler 12 x 8”x 4 inches Patinated plaster Signed and monogramed BIO Born in Poland March 1, 1891, figurative sculptor Max Kalish came to the United States in 1894, his family settling in Ohio. A talented youth, Kalish enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Art as a fifteen-year-old, receiving a first-place award for modeling the figure during studies with Herman Matzen. Kalish went to New York City following graduation, studying with Isidore Konti and Herbert Adams...

This stunning, one-of-a-kind abstract metalwork sculpture is an original creation by renowned American artist Angelo Di Benedetto (1913-1992). Measuring 13 ¼ x 11 ¼ x 7 ½ inches, this mid-century modern masterpiece exemplifies Di Benedetto's signature style, which blends geometric shapes and organic forms with the industrial materials of his time. The piece reflects his deep connection to abstraction and his ability to evoke emotion through the medium of metal. About the Artist: Born: New Jersey, 1913 Died: Central City, CO, 1992 Angelo Di Benedetto was the son of Italian immigrants and a pivotal figure in the American modern art movement. After studying at the prestigious Cooper Union Art School in New York City and earning a certificate in freehand drawing, Di Benedetto further honed his skills at the Boston Museum Art School, where he was awarded a scholarship. His talent was recognized early, as he won first prize in his first juried exhibition at the Montclair Museum in 1937. In 1938, Di Benedetto's ethnological study trip to Haiti, sponsored by the Royal Netherlands Steamship Line, deeply influenced his art and broadened his artistic perspective. His first solo exhibition in 1940 at the Montross Gallery in New York City showcased his vibrant Haitian paintings. During World War II, Di Benedetto served in Africa and later in Washington, D.C., before returning to Denver in 1945. Inspired by Colorado’s stunning landscape, he decided to make it his home. By 1947, he had settled in Central City, where he became a key figure in the local art scene. Di Benedetto co-founded the Denver Art Center with Frank Vavra...

TEMPIO BRETTON: from the catalogue MONUMENTA, 19th International Sculpture Biennale, Antwerp, Belgium. Tempio Bretton was created in homage to the celebrated English landscapist Capability Brown for the occasion of an exhibition at Bretton Hall in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park , a park in the style of the great master of English garden design. The inclusion in the English garden of a temple ruin, or "eye-catcher," (architectural folly) was used to draw the eye and mind to a focus in time and space, present the beholder with an immediate relationship to an historic past made new within his or her own surroundings, and create a depth of space never before seen in garden design. I took the idea of the temple ruin eye-catcher and reduced it to a scale at the point where architecture and sculpture merged. Tempio Bretton is not capacious enough to walk into, yet it is considerably larger than a man. One view of it presents a knot of golden columns clustered together, topped by a dome shape. The only clue from this side to the temple's non-conformity to historic principle is a sharp notch cut into the square base. Viewed from the opposite side, the cluster of columns capped by an angular top opens up as if to welcome someone in, yet the mysterious core is still impenetrable. These contradictions articulate a confrontation between past and present, and an exciting truth. The past is always at the heart of our constructions in the present. Walter Dusenbery (born September 21, 1939 in Alameda, California) is an American sculptor. He attended the San Francisco Art Institute, earned an MFA from California College of Arts and Crafts, and then studied in Japan and Italy under Isamu Noguchi. He also held teaching positions at Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Design. From 1971 to 1988, he lived both in Pietrasanta,Italy, and in Little Italy, New York City. Dusenbery's preferred material is stone, particularly travertine or granite. Dusenbery has a particular interest in adding sculpture to public places, such as federal buildings, to humanize the space, but in 1988, he assembled a show of small, entirely hand-carved alabaster sculptures, called "Walter Dusenbery, The Personal Side," at the Fendrick Gallery in Washington, D.C.. In 1977, Dusenbery created Pedogna, on permanent loan from The Metropolitan Museum of Art to Landmarks, the public art program of The University of Texas at Austin. That same year, 1988, he was awarded a large commission for the Fulton County Building Atrium in Atlanta, Georgia. The commission was for three fountains and related structures over three stories in height, designed for informal and ceremonial public events, Limestone, marble, granite and travertine fountains, pavilions, seating and meeting areas, performance and concert platforms, staircases and planters for hanging gardens. After completion of the "Atlantacropolis," Dusenbery withdrew from the gallery world and focused his energy on site-specific commissions. (like the landscape works of Maya Lin and Beverly Pepper) Seeking a large-scale stone studio for projects closer to home, he discovered there were none. In 1995, he approached sculptor and patron of sculpture J. Seward Johnson Jr. with the idea of creating a state-of-the-art stone-carving studio, so that American sculptors would not have to travel abroad to realize their work. Johnson agreed to fund such a facility, if Dusenbery would direct it. In 1996, Dusenbery designed the facility for the Stone Division at Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture, and was its first director. The facility was situated in "a building resembling an airplane hangar," The studio offered the ability to digitally scan three-dimensional forms. The Stone Division was a success and attracted a strong group of sculptors: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Lawrence Argent, Barry X Ball...