GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Work no. 3, 1939 is a record both of Charles Biederman's restless exploration of the forms of modernity en route to his mature style and his ultimate conviction that a new language of art must be developed, one that respected the innovations of Paul Cézanne but married abstraction with nature.
Biederman evokes Piet Mondrian's highly formal, reductive grid, yet expands the armature forwards, backwards, and outwards in three dimensions. If the Dutch artist reduced visual phenomena to its simplest components (line, shape, and color), Biederman's construction situates that distillation of form within a world of three-dimensionality, insisting both upon the object's presence by intruding into the viewer's space, as well as by using materials (glass and metal rods) that acknowledge the modern world of mechanization and industry. The placement of the metal rods evokes the string constructions of Antoine Pevsner. In addition to investigating the restrictive formalism of Mondrian and the new materials of Constructivism, the multiple layers of Work no. 3, 1939 also pay homage to Paul Cézanne. By incorporating transparency and emphasizing the artwork's flatness and materiality, the work advances Cézanne's rejection of traditional modeling and perspective. Biederman literally exposes the grid to our view, in multiple layers, forcing sculpture and painting to work together to unmask their own conditions of existence.
Adapted from
William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Acquisition proposal (2007.23), January 2007
NOTES
Made revisions based on Sue's comments in GDoc and am tagging complete because the GDoc is in Queta's folder for review. 2/23/2017
Added exhibition history and bibliographic resources listed on the acquisition proposal.
Revised the provenance from the acquisition proposal based on additional information contained in the correspondence file.
Check classification to reflect both painting and sculpture.
Exhibited [taken from the acquisition proposal]:
1965: "Charles Biederman" (retrospective), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
1984: "Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America. 1927-1944," Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, no. 5 [1]
[1] This exhibition also traveled to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1984. The dates for each venue were not provided on the acquisition proposal.
Published references [from the acquisition proposal]:
Biederman, Charles, Art as the Evolution of Visual Knowledge (Privately Printed: 1948): 551
Lane, John R. and Susan C. Larsen, Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America, 1927-1944, exh. cat. (Pittsburgh: Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute): 49, 83
Added books authored by Biederman to the bibliography text-entry field in TMS:
Biederman, Charles. Art as the Evolution of Visual Knowledge (Red Wing: 1948).
Biederman, Charles. Letters on the New Art, (Red Wing, 1951).
Biederman, Charles. The New Cezanne: From Monet to Mondrian, (Red Wing, 1958).
Biederman, Charles. An Art Credo (Lanark, 1965)
Biederman, Charles. Search for New Arts (Red Wing, 1979)
Biederman, Charles. Art-Science-Reality (Red Wing, 1988)
I used both titles in my original content draft submitted to Sue and she asked me to track down which is correct.
- Keyse acquisition proposal uses two titles: "Work no. 3, New York, 1939" and "Work, no. 3, 1939"
- Verso:
- Exhibition labels:
- Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America, 1927-1944- "Work No. 3, New York, 1939" (title used at the Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute (November 5-December 31, 1983) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (June 28-September 9, 1984)
- April 2007 acquisition documentation- Work no. 3, 1939
- Comparable works in other collections-
- Biederman, New York, Number 18 (1938), Met Mus 1980.419
- Biederman, Work, Number 52 (1969), Met Mus 1985.174
- CONCLUSION- I will change my "general description" to use the current assigned title of Work no. 3, 1939. I did not review secondary literature or return to the object file to gather more information on whether this title is accurate or whether it should contain the city as well. (EAS 2/16/2017)
Cultures
Geography
place of origin- NYC
Process/materials
painted wood
glass
metal rods
Historical periods
Individuals
Piet Mondrian
Paul Cezanne
Antoine Pevsner
Subject terms
abstraction
abstract
nature
grid
three-dimensional
industrial
transparency
illusionistic
flat
layers
relief
blue
red
white
black
linear
line
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Mr. and Mrs. John P. Anderson, Red Wing, MN, purchased from the artist
Until d. 2004: their daughter, Johanna A. Ghei (d.2004), by inheritance
Until 2007: her son, Raman J. Ghei, Shorewood, WI, by inheritance
From 2007: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from the above
Notes:
The main sources for this provenance are the object's acquisition proposal and correspondence with the previous owner. Dates of prior owners were not included in the Collection Record Object File as of February 2016.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- The person who purchased this work from Biederman, John Anderson, was the artist's sole patron in the early years of the Great Depression. When the two first met, Biederman was homeless and scavenging for meals on the streets of Chicago. A decade later, Biederman married the sister of Anderson's wife, and both couples relocated to Red Wing, Minnesota.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 2007.23
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
Work no. 3, 1939 is a record both of Charles Biederman's restless exploration of the forms of modernity en route to his mature style and his ultimate conviction that a new language of art must be developed, one that respected the innovations of Paul Cézanne but married abstraction with nature.
Biederman evokes Piet Mondrian's highly formal, reductive grid, yet expands the armature forwards, backwards, and outwards in three dimensions. If the Dutch artist reduced visual phenomena to its simplest components (line, shape, and color), Biederman's construction situates that distillation of form within a world of three-dimensionality, insisting both upon the object's presence by intruding into the viewer's space, as well as by using materials (glass and metal rods) that acknowledge the modern world of mechanization and industry. The placement of the metal rods evokes the string constructions of Antoine Pevsner. In addition to investigating the restrictive formalism of Mondrian and the new materials of Constructivism, the multiple layers of Work no. 3, 1939 also pay homage to Paul Cézanne. By incorporating transparency and emphasizing the artwork's flatness and materiality, the work advances Cézanne's rejection of traditional modeling and perspective. Biederman literally exposes the grid to our view, in multiple layers, forcing sculpture and painting to work together to unmask their own conditions of existence.
Adapted from
William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Acquisition proposal (2007.23), January 2007
Fun Facts
- The person who purchased this work from Biederman, John Anderson, was the artist's sole patron in the early years of the Great Depression. When the two first met, Biederman was homeless and scavenging for meals on the streets of Chicago. A decade later, Biederman married the sister of Anderson's wife, and both couples relocated to Red Wing, Minnesota.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Made revisions based on Sue's comments in GDoc and am tagging complete because the GDoc is in Queta's folder for review. 2/23/2017
Added exhibition history and bibliographic resources listed on the acquisition proposal.
Revised the provenance from the acquisition proposal based on additional information contained in the correspondence file.
Check classification to reflect both painting and sculpture.
Exhibited [taken from the acquisition proposal]:
1965: "Charles Biederman" (retrospective), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
1984: "Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America. 1927-1944," Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, no. 5 [1]
[1] This exhibition also traveled to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1984. The dates for each venue were not provided on the acquisition proposal.
Published references [from the acquisition proposal]:
Biederman, Charles, Art as the Evolution of Visual Knowledge (Privately Printed: 1948): 551
Lane, John R. and Susan C. Larsen, Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America, 1927-1944, exh. cat. (Pittsburgh: Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute): 49, 83
Added books authored by Biederman to the bibliography text-entry field in TMS:
Biederman, Charles. Art as the Evolution of Visual Knowledge (Red Wing: 1948).
Biederman, Charles. Letters on the New Art, (Red Wing, 1951).
Biederman, Charles. The New Cezanne: From Monet to Mondrian, (Red Wing, 1958).
Biederman, Charles. An Art Credo (Lanark, 1965)
Biederman, Charles. Search for New Arts (Red Wing, 1979)
Biederman, Charles. Art-Science-Reality (Red Wing, 1988)
I used both titles in my original content draft submitted to Sue and she asked me to track down which is correct.
- Keyse acquisition proposal uses two titles: "Work no. 3, New York, 1939" and "Work, no. 3, 1939"
- Verso:
- Exhibition labels:
- Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America, 1927-1944- "Work No. 3, New York, 1939" (title used at the Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute (November 5-December 31, 1983) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (June 28-September 9, 1984)
- April 2007 acquisition documentation- Work no. 3, 1939
- Comparable works in other collections-
- Biederman, New York, Number 18 (1938), Met Mus 1980.419
- Biederman, Work, Number 52 (1969), Met Mus 1985.174
- CONCLUSION- I will change my "general description" to use the current assigned title of Work no. 3, 1939. I did not review secondary literature or return to the object file to gather more information on whether this title is accurate or whether it should contain the city as well. (EAS 2/16/2017)
Cultures
Geography
place of origin- NYC
Process/materials
painted wood
glass
metal rods
Historical periods
Individuals
Piet Mondrian
Paul Cezanne
Antoine Pevsner
Subject terms
abstraction
abstract
nature
grid
three-dimensional
industrial
transparency
illusionistic
flat
layers
relief
blue
red
white
black
linear
line
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Mr. and Mrs. John P. Anderson, Red Wing, MN, purchased from the artist
Until d. 2004: their daughter, Johanna A. Ghei (d.2004), by inheritance
Until 2007: her son, Raman J. Ghei, Shorewood, WI, by inheritance
From 2007: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from the above
Notes:
The main sources for this provenance are the object's acquisition proposal and correspondence with the previous owner. Dates of prior owners were not included in the Collection Record Object File as of February 2016.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
2007.23
source file
object_notes_3_c-0322.xml.nores