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The subject of Dinner (Two) refers to Artschwager’s earlier career as a furniture designer and manufacturer. The lithograph depicts a square-topped table, drawn in a simplified one-point perspective, shown obliquely and from above. The “Two” in the title describes the sketchily drawn oval forms on the table, as if for two place settings with utensils, and the two chairs. Curvilinear strokes define the high-backed chairs pulled up to the square table. The truncated ovals of the chairs and the place settings are somewhat reminiscent of Artschwager’s blps, an art form that he conceptualized in 1967–1968. The blps are elongated ovals, resembling the shape of a capsule, either black or white, that are drawn, painted, or created in relief. Although Artschwager’s image is spare, the viewer understands that the table is one made of Formica or wood, suggested by the end-grain patterns visible along the edges of the table.
This lithograph was drawn on stone with tusche ink, both in crayon and liquid form. It may have had a single press run, printed in black ink on white rag paper. The darkest tone is the rectangular form in the background that reads as the far wall of the room. The oily nature of tusche ink made beads on the lithographic stone’s surface and was carefully etched to print as texture—one that simultaneously does and does not look like wallpaper or wall paint. As with much of Artschwager’s work, this image is on the verge of utter banality, save that the drawing strokes have an energy to them, seemingly dashed off with great assurance. Reynolda House Museum of American Art owns a companion lithograph, Table (Two) and Window, also from 1982.
Notes:
[1] Roberta Smith, “Art: Works by Richard Artschwager,” The New York Times, January 29, 1988.
ProvenanceTo 2002
Robert C. Hobbs (born 1946) and Jean Crutchfield, Richmond, VA [1]
From 2002
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Robert C. Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield on December 27, 2002. [2]
Notes:
[1] Letter, December 9, 2001, object file.
[2] Letter, December 27, 2002, object file.
Exhibition History2008
New World Views: Gifts from Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (5/20/2008-8/31/2008)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
Dinner (Two)
Artist
Richard Artschwager
(1923 - 2013)
Date1982
Mediumlithograph printed in black on rag paper
DimensionsFrame: 40 3/4 x 39 1/2 in. (103.5 x 100.3 cm)
Paper: 31 5/8 x 30 3/16 in. (80.3 x 76.7 cm)
Image (visible): 30 7/8 x 29 1/2 in. (78.4 x 74.9 cm)
SignedArtschwager '82
Credit LineGift of Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs
Copyright© 2021 Richard Artschwager / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Object number2002.6.1
DescriptionA painter and sculptor who at one time supported himself by designing furniture, Richard Artschwager was described in The New York Times in this way: “A master of the reconstructed readymade, an assiduous manipulator of appropriated images, forms and uningratiating, non-art materials (often within the same hybridized painting-sculpture), Mr. Artschwager established himself as a free agent, a jack-of-all-trades.” [1]The subject of Dinner (Two) refers to Artschwager’s earlier career as a furniture designer and manufacturer. The lithograph depicts a square-topped table, drawn in a simplified one-point perspective, shown obliquely and from above. The “Two” in the title describes the sketchily drawn oval forms on the table, as if for two place settings with utensils, and the two chairs. Curvilinear strokes define the high-backed chairs pulled up to the square table. The truncated ovals of the chairs and the place settings are somewhat reminiscent of Artschwager’s blps, an art form that he conceptualized in 1967–1968. The blps are elongated ovals, resembling the shape of a capsule, either black or white, that are drawn, painted, or created in relief. Although Artschwager’s image is spare, the viewer understands that the table is one made of Formica or wood, suggested by the end-grain patterns visible along the edges of the table.
This lithograph was drawn on stone with tusche ink, both in crayon and liquid form. It may have had a single press run, printed in black ink on white rag paper. The darkest tone is the rectangular form in the background that reads as the far wall of the room. The oily nature of tusche ink made beads on the lithographic stone’s surface and was carefully etched to print as texture—one that simultaneously does and does not look like wallpaper or wall paint. As with much of Artschwager’s work, this image is on the verge of utter banality, save that the drawing strokes have an energy to them, seemingly dashed off with great assurance. Reynolda House Museum of American Art owns a companion lithograph, Table (Two) and Window, also from 1982.
Notes:
[1] Roberta Smith, “Art: Works by Richard Artschwager,” The New York Times, January 29, 1988.
ProvenanceTo 2002
Robert C. Hobbs (born 1946) and Jean Crutchfield, Richmond, VA [1]
From 2002
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Robert C. Hobbs and Jean Crutchfield on December 27, 2002. [2]
Notes:
[1] Letter, December 9, 2001, object file.
[2] Letter, December 27, 2002, object file.
Exhibition History2008
New World Views: Gifts from Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (5/20/2008-8/31/2008)
Published References
Status
Not on viewCollections