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Attendant 2

A work made of oil on linen.
© 2018 Brice Marden / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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  • A work made of oil on linen.

Date:

1996/99

Artist:

Brice Marden
American, 1938-2023

About this artwork

In the 1980s, Brice Marden abandoned his commitment to strict geometric organization and technical precision in favor of a free-form gestural style of painting. Using twigs and long brushes, the artist created allover compositions consisting of interlaced calligraphic lines. Attendant 2 is part of a series of six paintings that were inspired by Chinese funerary sculptures called attendant figures. These earthenware secular objects, dating from the Western Han period (206 B.C.E.–A.D. 9), were meant to accompany the deceased into the afterlife and most often depicted men and women in a variety of poses, ranging from standing and kneeling to dancing. Designed to be viewed in the round, rather than frontally, like religious sculpture of the time, these statues’ dynamic positions are replicated in the painting’s careful and deliberate system of layered, curvilinear bands of color.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Brice Marden

Title

Attendant 2

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1996–1999

Medium

Oil on linen

Dimensions

208.3 × 144.8 cm (82 × 57 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Dr. Paul and Dorie Sternberg

Reference Number

2001.154

Copyright

© 2018 Brice Marden / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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