1987.350, Martin Puryear, Noblesse O, 1987, red cedar, aluminum paint

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

In Noblesse O. Martin Puryear sculpts with red cedar and then applies aluminum paint to contrast the natural with the man-made, and the interior form with the exterior surface. Puryear's interest in the properties of materials, geometry, and non-Western cultures is realized in a form that resides somewhere between abstraction and figuration, inviting varying interpretations. Puryear's meticulously crafted works transmit a poetic and enigmatic energy that emerges through the simplification of form, yet still possess evidence of the artist's hand.

Martin Puryear studied woodcrafting techniques in Africa and Scandinavia while serving as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in the 1960s. His respect for the value of these cultures and their traditional craft methods is embodied in this elegant funnel-like form, which appears to be a functional object but in fact has no direct counterpart or reference. The delicately shaded silver form may appear to be a simple cone, but the shifting proportions of the base and neck reveal Puryear's keen sense of shape and line as they shift according to the viewers' perception as they walk around the sculpture.

Adapted from

Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Noblesse (1987.350)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 326.
Charles Wylie, Re-Seeing the Contemporary: Selected from the Collection, 2010.

NOTES

Martin Puryear's art represents a graceful union of sculpture, architecture, and craft. In the 1960s, he studied wood-crafting techniques in Sierra Leone and Scandinavia, and his respect for the value of traditional methods of woodworking can be seen in this elegant, yet bold work.
DMA unpublished material = In Noblesse O, from 1987, Puryear sculpts with red cedar and then applies aluminum paint to this otherwise natural surface. Thus, his intention is to contrast the natural with the man-made, the interior form with the exterior surface. The sculptural shape is a series of upside down cones bending ever more slightly upward until the apex of the piece is reached. These subtle shifts in angle animate the work three dimensionally in space, and Puryear's smooth form tapers toward the top like a tree, which suggests it might grow upward organically. The artist's interest in the properties of materials, geometric forms and non-Western cultures continues a 20th century sculptural tradition from Bancusi's time to the present. Puryear's simplified and reductive shapes retain a poetic, mystical dimension that emerges through purification to supersede their formal elegance.

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Martin Puryear (b. 1941)

Cultures

Geography

Process/materials

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

1987: David Mckee Gallery, New York, NY [1]

From 1987: Dallas Museum of Art, General Acquisitions Fund and a gift of The 500, Inc., purchased from above

[1] See check #1912464 in Collections Records Object File 1987.350

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RULES

Apply to objects where number equals 1987.350

General Description

In Noblesse O. Martin Puryear sculpts with red cedar and then applies aluminum paint to contrast the natural with the man-made, and the interior form with the exterior surface. Puryear's interest in the properties of materials, geometry, and non-Western cultures is realized in a form that resides somewhere between abstraction and figuration, inviting varying interpretations. Puryear's meticulously crafted works transmit a poetic and enigmatic energy that emerges through the simplification of form, yet still possess evidence of the artist's hand.

Martin Puryear studied woodcrafting techniques in Africa and Scandinavia while serving as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in the 1960s. His respect for the value of these cultures and their traditional craft methods is embodied in this elegant funnel-like form, which appears to be a functional object but in fact has no direct counterpart or reference. The delicately shaded silver form may appear to be a simple cone, but the shifting proportions of the base and neck reveal Puryear's keen sense of shape and line as they shift according to the viewers' perception as they walk around the sculpture.