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Circus and Slapstick

A work made of one of six panels configured into a cube: cotton, plain weave, double cloth; woven on a loom with a drawloom attachment fabricated by the artist.
© Ethel Stein

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  • A work made of one of six panels configured into a cube: cotton, plain weave, double cloth; woven on a loom with a drawloom attachment fabricated by the artist.

Date:

1996

Artist:

Ethel Stein (American, 1917-2018)
United States

About this artwork

In the mid-1990s Stein started to weave double cloth. She wanted to continue the theme of the color grids woven in series in 1995, but she didn’t know an effective way to show both sides of each weaving. One day driving home she saw an outdoor sign supported by a cubic framework, a structure made in Germany for store displays. She obtained one and made these six double-cloth panels to fit. One panel, featuring a splatter of color, stands apart from the rest. Stein tried to create a suitable splatter pattern by breaking egg after egg in the bathtub, but the effect was never right. Ultimately the splatter pattern used came from her imagination.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Textiles

Artist

Ethel Stein

Title

Circus and Slapstick

Place

New York (Object made in)

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.

Made 1996

Medium

One of six panels configured into a cube: cotton, plain weave, double cloth; woven on a loom with a drawloom attachment fabricated by the artist

Dimensions

97.8 × 95.2 cm (38 1/2 × 37 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Ethel Stein

Reference Number

2012.415f

Copyright

© Ethel Stein

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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