"In 1968 Gottlieb had reached the pinnacle of his career. He had received international recognition and his art was featured in an exhibition that filled both the Whitney and Guggenheim museums in New York. But, in order for Gottlieb to make art, he needed a challenge. Sculpture began on a whim, yet once he started he felt a sense of renewal that is apparent in the work."
-The Philbrook Magazine
Shown: Adolph Gottlieb in his Bowery loft, New York, 1969.
Between 2006 and 2014, an exhibition focused on Adolph Gottlieb's sculpture was exhibited at seven museums in the United States and Europe. The exhibition examined Adolph Gottlieb's 1 1/2 year foray into sculpture in 1967 through 1968. To translate his charged canvases into three-dimensional objects, Gottlieb developed a system of intersecting planes. His first small maquettes were made by cutting, gluing, and painting cardboard to create three-dimensional equivalents of his paintings. Gottlieb later enlarged these objects using painted steel and aluminum to make his sculptures, like his paintings, a vehicle for the expression of feeling.
Below are installation images and features from the exhibition shown at Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Esteban Vicente, Segovia, The Joan and Pilar Miró Foundation, Palma, The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Nice, The Museum Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern, The Akron Art Museum, The University of Michigan Museum of Art, and The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa.
(Left) The exhibition catalogue for the American exhibition featuring Adolph Gottlieb, Arabesque, 1968, Painted steel, 26 3/4 x 38 x 12 1/4 inches. (Center) The exhibition catalogue for the Kaiserslautern and Nice venues featuring Adolph Gottlieb, Petaloid with Curved Arrow, 1968, painted aluminum, 28 1/4 x 25 x 20 1/2 inches. (Right) The exhibition catalogue for the Spanish venues featuring Adolph Gottlieb photographed by Arnold Newman, 1969.
Installation view of "Adolph Gottlieb: Sculptor" at The Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH, October 27, 2012 - February 17, 2013.
Installation view of "Adolph Gottlieb: Sculptor" at The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI, September 21, 2013 - January 5, 2014.
Installation view of "Adolph Gottlieb: Sculptor" at The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK, June 14 - August 25, 2013.
Installation view of "Adolph Gottlieb: Sculptor" at The Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany, February 28 - June 1, 2009.
Installation view of "Adolph Gottlieb: Sculptor" at Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Esteban Vicente, Segovia, June 8 - September 3, 2006.
"I feel a necessity for making the particular colors that I use, or the particular shapes, carry the burden of everything that I want to express, and all has to be concentrated within these few elements." - Adolph Gottlieb
Below are some of the metal sculptures and maquettes that were shown in the exhibition:
All Artwork ©Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation/Licensed by ARS, NY, NY