Rose Van Vranken Hickey

Rose Van Vranken was born in Passaic, New Jersey, on May 15, 1918. Raised in southern California, Van Vranken grew up in Pasadena. After graduating from Pasadena Junior College, she won an art scholarship to Pomona College (1936–38) and then studied at the California School of Fine Arts and Art Students League in New York City. She also studied with William Zorach and Robert Laurent, and at New York University's Graduate Institute of Fine Art as an Art History student. In 1942, Vranken married Robert Hickey and moved to Iowa City, Iowa. She died in Madison, Wisconsin, on June 17, 2013.

Vranken’s sculptures were primarily based on nature-plants, sea forms, animals, rocks and people. Many of her sculptures, both realistic and abstract, have been designed by fragmenting a large sculpture into other shapes and sizes to create new images. The sculpture and graphics of Rose Van Vranken have been exhibited throughout the United States in many major national and regional shows and have won many awards. Etchings were selected for a touring exhibition in Europe by the National Association of Women Artists and were shown in the Stedelijke Museum in Amsterdam and five other museums. The U.S. State Department has included Van Vranken Sculpture in its Art in Embassies Program. Recent awards have included a "LifeTime Achievement Award" from "Sculptors Dominion" based in San Antonio and an honor award from Salmagundi Club for being a member for 25 years. Since joining Salmagundi in 1979, Van Vranken has won over 30 Salmagundi Awards.

If you’re thinking about decorating your space with abstract sculpture, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

You don’t have to look for a piece that demands attention. Find a work of abstract sculpture that speaks to you. As is the case with any abstract art, whether it’s sculpture, an abstract painting or a grouping of prints, you can select a work for your living room or dining room, for example, that will either casually fade into the background or serve as a focal point. When you’re thinking about how to arrange your furniture and decor, consider color, texture and what kind of energy you’d like a specific room or corner to evoke. Abstract sculpture can go a long way in elevating a home, and its history is interesting if you’re shopping for a new piece today.

As a pioneer in naturalistic forms and figures that vividly express emotion, Auguste Rodin is often called the father of modern sculpture. His work in the 19th and early 20th century broke with artistic conventions and inspired modernism, leading to a new period of avant-garde abstraction.

Among the first artists to push abstract sculpture into the mainstream were Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. They helped define the movement of Cubism, which focused on deconstructing the world abstractly.

Later in the 20th century, the artistic movements of Italian Futurism, Dadaism, Neo-Dadaism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and minimalism all contributed to the advancement of new and more abstract sculpture designs. Italian Futurism, for example, celebrated movement, dynamics and technology in abstract sculpture. These movements passed down ideas that continue to inform abstract sculpture today.

Browse a range of modern abstract sculptures, postmodern abstract sculptures and other kinds of sculpture on 1stDibs.