Skip to Content
Today Open today 11–5

Trailer Partially Covered with Asphalt

A work made of graphite and black fiber-tipped pen on ivory wove paper.
Art © Estate of Robert Smithson / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Image actions

  • A work made of graphite and black fiber-tipped pen on ivory wove paper.

Date:

1970

Artist:

Robert Smithson
American, 1938-1973

About this artwork

Trailer Partially Covered with Asphalt was originally conceived as an alternative to Juggernaut-Boston Project (1970), a piece designed by Robert Smithson that was never realized three-dimensionally. As noted by Robert Hobbs, this composition, like Juggernaut, illustrates Smithson’s use of entropic figures in his designs. The trailer represents, in the words of Smithson, “monumental inaction” and the idea that systems of order will always fall into disorder.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Robert Smithson

Title

Trailer Partially Covered with Asphalt

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.

1970

Medium

Graphite and black fiber-tipped pen on ivory wove paper

Dimensions

48.3 × 61 cm (19 1/16 × 24 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Virginia Dwan

Reference Number

1988.511

Copyright

Art © Estate of Robert Smithson / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

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.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share