"Now after 57 years, the sculpture will save them. Proceeds from the sale of the sculpture will go to rebuilding the property and studio, continuing June’s legacy of teaching arts to children through dance, movement, and music."
Untitled S.437 (Hanging, Seven-Lobed, Two-Part Continuous Form within a Form
with Two Small Spheres)
"The February 23, 2014 Modern Art & Design Auction features one of the most impressive sculptures to ever come through the LAMA showroom. Ruth Asawa’s seven-lobed hanging sculpture, Untitled S.437 (1956) (Lot 236), is a beautiful example of the artist’s dedication to her craft and pioneering experiments in wire sculpture." - go to LAMA here.
"In the early 1950s, Asawa found time to work on her wire sculptures amidst significant life events, including her marriage to architect Albert Lanier and the birth of her children. She submitted a sculpture to the San Francisco Art Association Annual at the San Francisco Museum of Art (now San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), her first show outside of Black Mountain. Throughout the next five years, Asawa showed more regularly at local and national galleries and museums, culminating in a piece at the Bienal de São Paolo in Brazil. It was around this time in 1953-54 that June Lane Christensen commissioned Untitled S.437 (Hanging, Seven-Lobed, Two-Part Continuous Form within a Form with Two Small Spheres) for her dance studio in Santa Barbara. In early 1956, Ruth Asawa completed the hanging sculpture and personally installed the work in June’s studio, where June and her husband taught dance, music, and the arts to children. June studied dance in the late 40s and early 50s at Black Mountain College where she came to know Ruth Asawa. June then moved to New York to study with Merce Cunningham, John Cage, and Martha Graham, ultimately bringing modern dance into the awareness of the Santa Barbara dance community. The sculpture hung in the dance studio for nearly 20 years and has continued to serve as an inspiration and muse to June and her work since retiring three years ago at the age of 85.
On November 13, 2008 the Montecito Tea Fire erupted, destroying homes and buildings in the foothills of Santa Barbara. June’s dance studio was one of those buildings burned by the fire. While the property was burning, and her current residence evacuated, the family had very little time to gather their belongings, but they made sure to save the Asawa sculpture. Now after 57 years, the sculpture will save them. Proceeds from the sale of the sculpture will go to rebuilding the property and studio, continuing June’s legacy of teaching arts to children through dance, movement, and music."
text and images taken from here.
Detail of Untitled S.437 (1956), Ruth Asawa
"(Ruth Asawa's) diligence to her craft, her pioneering experiments in wire sculpture, and her comprehensive output in other mediums including public sculpture, painting, and printmaking have established Asawa as one of the most influential modernists of the 20th century."
The February 23, 2014 Modern Art & Design Auction will feature a rare and important Vija Celmins painting from 1964, Untitled (Ham Hock), being sold by the original owner, an impressive and early collection of custom George Nakashima designs from the collection of Edmund J. Bennett, and a large, complex hanging sculpture by Ruth Asawa.
Fine Art highlights include an outstanding selection of Hard Edge paintings by John McLaughlin, Karl Benjamin, Lorser Feitelson, and Frederick Hammersley, in addition to works on paper by Richard Diebenkorn, Robert Motherwell, and Nancy Rubins; multiples by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Ed Ruscha, Joe Goode, and Frank Stella; and sculptures by De Wain Valentine and Charles Arnoldi.
Design highlights include a dining suite and rosewood rocking chair by Sam Maloof, furniture by Gio Ponti, a dining suite by Afra & Tobia Scarpa, a selection of designs by Hans J. Wegner, as well as an assortment of Walter Lamb furniture, Charles and Ray Eames panels custom designed for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and a large selection of Scandinavian designs and ceramics.
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