Untitled (#4)

3 February 1960, sold from the artist, Lee Bontecou, by Leo Castelli, Inc. (NY) to Terese and Alvin S. Lane (Riverdale, NY); 13 December 2007, deposited on long-term loan to the Chazen Museum of Art; 2012, bequeathed to the Chazen Museum of Art

• Elvehjem Museum of Art. "The Terese and Alvin S. Lane Collection: Twentieth-Century Sculpture and Sculptors' Works on Paper." Madison, WI: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 1995. cat. no. 6.2

• Modernist Sculpture: The Terese & Alvin S. Lane Collection: Chazen Museum of Art, 7/19/2008–9/28/2008
• Lee Bontecou 1958-1972: Leo Castelli, 10/21/1999–11/24/1999
• Lane Collection, The: Twentieth-Century Sculpture and Sculptors' Works on Paper: Elvehjem Museum of Art, 9/30/1995–12/3/1995

This abstract relief sculpture is constructed primarily of beige or tan canvas panels cut into a variety of irregular, angular shapes. These panels are attached by short threads of thin, rusty wire that look like sutures tied to an underlying three-dimensional metal framework, all suspended within a square, dark metal frame. The composition radiates outward from the central and upper-right areas, which showcase four dark, void-like openings. These four voids—three circular and one that appears square—have dark interiors that suggest deep, conical tunnels. The canvas panels fan out from these voids like shattering fragments or blades of a windmill. The panels are smaller near the center of the voids and become progressively larger and longer as they extend toward the outer square frame. The overall surface effect is fragmented, as if the canvas had been broken and stitched back together around the openings. The entire relief possesses a noticeable three-dimensionality, with the sections around the voids protruding from the surface to form cone-shaped structures. On the lower left, a single, flat, circular canvas panel contrasts against the predominantly straight edges of the other pieces. The muted color scheme is dominated by earth tones of beige and tan, with the rusty metal wires and the black metal frame providing subtle contrast. The artist signed and dated the work at the bottom right edge as “Bontecou ’59.”

• North America
• Sculpture
• Terese and Alvin S. Lane Collection
• Alt Text Accessible

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