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Figure in the Garden
May
20, 2011–Ongoing
The
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, exterior, first floor
Sculpture
Garden installation brings together figurative works from the late 19th century
to the present day. Making its debut in the Sculpture Garden
is Figurengruppe/Group of Figures, by contemporary German artist
Katharina Fritsch (b. 1956). Conceived in 2006–08, the work features nine
life-size sculptures of, among other figures, St. Michael, a Madonna, a giant,
and a snake, all rendered in precise detail and finished in bold colors.
Religious symbolism and references to mythology abound, yet any fixed meaning
remains open and elusive. Group of Figures is joined by earlier works
such as Auguste Rodin’s heroic St. John the Baptist
Preaching (1878–80) and Aristide Maillol’s
pensive Mediterranean (1902–05). Striking a casual pose in his derby
hat is Elie Nadelman’s Man in the Open Air (c. 1915), and perched
atop a tall pedestal is Gaston Lachaise’s open-armed, voluptuous Floating
Figure (1927). Perennial favorites like
Picasso’s She-Goat (1950) and Miró’s Moonbird (1966) are on
view as well, in addition to works by Renée Sintenis, Max Ernst, Alberto
Giacometti, Henry Moore, and Tom Otterness.
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